Cover Story
Quiet riot
Success, but at what cost? The cops were right. Their strongly worded television and newspaper ads kept out-of-town revelers away. Their massive numbers and quick response kept rowdy crowds from forming. And the $500,000 they spent meant that San Luis Obispo didn’t wake up Sunday morning like it did last year: with a hangover; hundreds…
Mardi Gras oppression is unconstitutional
As a musician living in SLO, I am concerned about the outrageously unconstitutional campaign to stop a religious holiday. Yes, I said it: Mardi Gras is a Catholic religious holiday. Using police force to oppress participants of religious events is illegal. The ads make statements that run contrary to the U.S. Constitution, such as threats…
Time to discuss issues like adults
Once in a while an issue arises that launches a volley of letters from the opposing factions of “Christiansâ€? and “Liberals.â€? Usually initiated by the former it ignites the latter, and so on. Inevitably, the Christian viewpoint is stated with malice, contempt, and posturing more akin to a school playground. Christians are fallible humans, with…
What the county’s talking about this week
Los Osos recall gaining steam Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) is on the verge of another recall. So that sewer project they so painstakingly designed and approved may be headed straight down the drain. Brainchild of CSD board members Stan…
Safe, but not sound
Worked like a charm. The message, the motive, the means. I’m not surprised. I don’t know about you, but drunk or sober, young or old, I wouldn’t find it fun getting shot at, or clubbed, or tied up. Nor would I like a trip to jail or paying triple fines. That just doesn’t sound like…
Just what the doctor ordered
If attorney Lou Koory has his way, medical marijuana growers and users in San Luis Obispo County will be armed with the most viable defense against criminal prosecution since the passage of Proposition 215 eight years ago. Koory currently represents Robert Marshall, who has been charged with felony cultivation for growing 70 cannabis plants in…
Smokin’ and sizzlin’ on the Mesa
A change is afoot in the southern outreaches of SLO County, and as the Arroyo Grande mesa blossoms from a rustic backwater into a patchwork of million-dollar estates, new businesses are springing up to service the upwardly mobile rancheros. At the corner of South Halcyon and Mesa View Drive in rural Arroyo Grande, a new…
Don’t forget smaller local media
Excellent article by Harris on the news (“The news … starts now,â€? Commentary, Feb. 3-10). Usually media folks do not talk about themselves. I agree with your coverage of local news sources, but you didn’t mention my sources: HopeDance, “60 Minutes,â€? “Democracy Now!â€? I am also connected to Link and Free Speech TV, which have…
Police misconduct needs to be exposed
In response to Norm Adams’ Jan 13-20 letter (“Quit yer cop bashingâ€?) and Patrick Hedges’ “tough jobâ€? (Jan. 27-Feb. 3): Mr. Adams, it is fortunate that an ignorant, simple-minded individual such as yourself isn’t in law enforcement. I am sure that Patrick Hedges continues to cover up department flaws and covers for abusive and corrupt…
Students hype Poly Gras
The real Mardi Gras party is this weekend and it’s called Poly Gras, or at least that’s what some students at Cal Poly are pushing for. A week after 400 police officers prevented any major violence from erupting, students are saying they’re ready to party — without the cops, and without triple fines for nudity…
Marina kayak concession was a real asset
Kayakers, the State Park Marina kayak concession has closed. This is a great loss. I won’t share scuttlebutt about this business decision; however, I will share sorrow. I managed that marina a few years back. Winter days and the upcoming spring can have the best climate to go for a back-bay nature tour. Yes, the…
Felony charges filed in new fraud case
Last week the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s office filed two felony counts against a San Luis Obispo man for allegedly defrauding one of the county’s largest school districts. The D.A.’s office says that Reginald Anthony Fagan, who worked as a groundskeeper for the Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD) until February 2000, filed two…
Media in this county have liberal bias
The Tribune is becoming the provincial “PRAVDAâ€? and mouthpiece of the Democratic Party, and its left-wing daily “spin.â€? Its articles, opinion pages, and cartoons are slanted way left, and are akin to the likes of the New Times, Michael Moore, Al Franken, Air America, and Dave Congalton’s (KVEC 920 AM) daily disdain of all things…
Selective memory?
Normal Mehl’s rebuttal (“Don’t be a sore loser,â€? Letters, Feb. 3-10) to the commentary regarding the Bush inauguration is redolent of the self-righteous contempt and the selective memory that people of his political ilk continue to spew. If Clinton is the only president to induce shame in Mr. Mehl, he must have not paid much…
Yo quiero Mardi Gras
With Mardi Gras now about as fun as a glass of seltzer water with a stalk of celery stuck in it, the SLO Downtown Association appears to be trying to recoup its celebratory losses by coming up with another excuse to throw a party that has nothing to do with San Luis Obispo and everything…
Paso stinks in more ways than one
When I was young, a person first coming into Paso Robles would notice the rotten egg smell of the sulfur water. After being in town for a while, people wouldn’t notice the smell anymore. Later the federal government required that the wells be capped in order to prevent the sulfur water from contaminating the river.…
Think your own thoughts
Normal Mehl’s letter to the editor concerning Robert Sachs’ commentary was quite a bitter response for a winner. This is the kind of conservative that has been living on corporate welfare and the workers’ backs all his life and knows a Republican president will be able to supply more support for his lifestyle. It is…
My gift of knowledge to you, Norm
To our president’s supporter, Normal Mehl from Santa Maria, who supported W with shouts of the World Trade Center, $80 million being spent on war, and I quote, “no president has had to deal with a major attack on U.S. soil since the Revolutionâ€?: Wow. You are a gem. I honestly wonder how many other…
