Cover Story
A remembrance of libraries past
Once upon a time the public library was considered a pillar of democracy, but today it’s a different story, especially in San Luis Obispo County: It’s a tale of survival CHAPTER 1 Library fact: Reference librarians will find answers to your questions on just about any subject, from recipes and car-wiring diagrams to genealogy to…
And that’s the way it is
And that’s the way it is I was driving my Segway down Higuera when a jerk driver blabbing away into a cell phone suddenly backed out of an alley right in front of me. I couldn’t avoid the guy, so I plowed straight into the passenger-side door at 8 mph. My 12-year-old son in the…
Gathering guns and gold
January 1, 2000 was the date, you’ll remember, when the world, as we knew it, ended—or was supposed to. And even though I swore I wasn’t going to become part of the mad rush to “prepare for the worst,â€? I got caught up in it anyway, believing that the only means of escape was to…
Like Lance in France (but easier)
Starting Feb. 19, more than 15 world-class cycling teams will compete in the first-ever Tour de California, an eight-day, 700-mile race loosely modeled after the Tour de France. Beginning in the Bay Area and traveling all the way to Los Angeles, these professional athletes will pedal through some of the state’s most stunning landscapes, though…
The perils of hot pursuit
The SLO County Sheriff’s Department proudly announced last week the purchase of 60 new tire-deflation devices called Stop Sticks, which are designed to assist officers during high-speed chases. Commander Scott Thompson says the Stop Sticks, which cost $60 each, will help end chases more quickly. (The average length of a sheriff’s department high-speed pursuit last…
DOWN THE DRAIN
After soundly defeating efforts to “Save the Dreamâ€? and repeatedly failing to resuscitate the promise, the bitterly divided community of Los Osos is now tiptoeing into a perilous quagmire of contaminated groundwater, disappearing funding, and imminent bankruptcy. On Friday, Jan. 6, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board imposed a penalty of $6.6 million…
FAST FACTS
FAST FACTS In thanks for all the public support and in celebration of its new “store/FiLM library/activist office,â€? Hopedance Films is holding a party on Jan. 21, from 3-6 p.m. at Caffe Luna in SLO. The public is invited to participate in the event, which will feature delicious food, desserts, and fair-trade beverages provided by…
Let the good times roll… very quietly
Mardi Gras has officially begun and so far there’s not a riot in sight. Last Friday, King Jay, The Kommunicator, offered his Twelfth Night Proclamation with Queen Gerry, The Enabler, at his side. About a dozen revelers huddled under the public clock at the County Courthouse, replete in their Mardi Gras finery, to hear King…
New power plant owners generate new questions
The deal is done. Four months after Duke said it would sell its Morro Bay power plant, officials announced that LS Power, a relatively unknown company headquartered in New Jersey, would purchase the natural gas power plant, along with seven other Duke plants around the country at a total cost of $1.5 billion. Morro Bay…
Another speed factory found
Things are not looking too good for Salvador Nuno. The 38-year-old man from Paso Robles was taken off to county jail last week on charges of doing what too many people have been doing throughout the Central Coast area over the recent years—running a meth lab. According to the SLO County Sheriff’s Department, detectives armed…
Letters
Missing the mark I just got 30 days notice to vacate while I was home sick on Tuesday. I have lived in my home for two-and-a-half years. My two children were born in that home. One of the last affordable housing complexes in Los Osos is being vacated to accommodate the county’s requirement that the…
Middle of the road
Ron Cogan of San Luis Obispo, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal, debuted the first Green Car of the Year award at last weekend’s Los Angeles Auto Show. A jury of distinguished automotive and environmental icons weighed the merits of five finalists for the 2006 Green Car of the Year, all gasoline-electric hybrids: the…
