Cover Story
Running Man
As the sun sets over a track in Pismo Beach, a young man with no legs and only one arm is running. His black, futuristic-looking legs make plunk, plunk, plunk noises as they hit the gravel, and what remains of his right arm jerks in time with his pumping left arm. When he gets to…
You want proof?
A demand for “opponentsâ€? to the current sewer to provide proof (other systems at lower costs exist) is just what we are begging to do. Thank you for the challenge! Let’s start with these: Proof of fact: The CSD is the only one who can present a project to the SWRCB for approval and funding.…
Penelope’s bids farewell
After operating Penelope’s since 1978, Don Wooley has announced that he will be closing his popular gift and card store in order to retire and to travel the world with his wife. The Wooleys plan to kick off their retirement in the Caribbean. “The time has come,â€? Wooley. “I’ve got about 50 years of things…
To protest or not to protest
Citizens upset about the inauguration of President Bush will be protesting Thursday, Jan. 20. Peace activists and others distraught over the outcome of the election will meet at the SLO County Government Center on Monterey Street at 5:30 p.m. The group will march through the Farmers’ Market. “I think it’s important for people to remind…
Mardi-har-har
An old college roommate stopped by my house the other night. Not old as in “80 years old,” but old as in “he was always asking for money, and it got really old.” I couldn’t remember his name, but fortunately he started talking first when I answered the door. “Hey, Shredder Man, I need a…
This inauguration is a sham
I am struggling with the upcoming inauguration in Washington, D.C., and I know there are others going through similar misgivings. I wonder how many. And of those who do have misgivings, I wonder how many actually feel, like I do, that this inauguration is illegitimate, a sham, and an affront to American democracy. It comes…
SLOPD briefs city officials on Mardi Gras precautions
There will be lots of advertising, warning ruffians to stay away. There will be lots of meetings with everyone from the Chamber of Commerce to bar owners and frat houses. And there will be lots of cops on the street: lots and lots and lots of cops. About 400, if the San Luis Police Department’s…
You can’t win … it’s a dumb rule
It feels good to write it even if it doesn’t end up as the rebuttal I planned. All the name-calling was probably unnecessary, but I have started a new thing around town with the coffee Nazi and I rather like it. I am quite aware that you are doing your job, Ms. Espinoza, and any…
I’m not the lone ranger!
I’m gratified that your publication chose to report on a renewed effort to change the Fish and Game hunting policy on the Morro Bay National Estuary (“Getting their goose,â€? Jan. 13-20), but a few key points were deleted and there were some minor errors in the facts: First of all, I am not the lone…
Fine, then. I’ll take my business elsewhere
As a longtime Central Coast resident, I have enjoyed taking the short drive to SLO on a nearly weekly basis for entertainment purposes. I too wish to protect and support your local police and general community’s desire to have a safe and sane Mardi Gras weekend. However, I found your advertisement titled “The party is…
Fire fees will be returned
SLO County will likely return years worth of fire fees collected from Oceano, Los Osos, and Santa Margarita. The county collected the fees from builders in those areas. The fees went into county coffers when they should have been returned to each community service district. The supervisors adopted an ordinance to collect fire fees in…
Cambria can be spared
Surely Cambria’s magnificent coastline and simple beauty have benefited greatly over the decades from the considered oversight and careful protections afforded by the Coastal Commission. Yet when Cambria wishes to flex some provincial muscle for solely self serving interests, the careful rule of law of the Commission is suddenly an overbearing burden denying Cambria its…
Can Jarek ‘The Sheriff’ Molski be stopped?
When Jarek Molski, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, sued The Whale’s Tale restaurant in Morro Bay last November, his lawyer used a telling nickname when he referred to his client: Jarek “The Sheriffâ€? Molski. Since 1998, Molski has filed 387 lawsuits in federal court against a host of California’s restaurants, bowling alleys, wineries, and fast-food joints, alleging…
‘Sideways’: We weren’t impressed
To echo your past opinion issued last week (“Sideways to the top,â€? cover story, Jan. 13-20), my wife and I are avid movie fans and cannot understand the acclaim “Sidewaysâ€? has received and how it continues to make the lists of best movies of 2004. The primary ingredient in all great movies, “conflict,â€? centered on…
Librarians assemble for assemblyman
Every year at the end of January, California legislators get together with librarians from their respective districts to learn about the current state of libraries, be they public, special, or school. And every year librarians meet with their legislators to protect library interests. Mainly, to make sure that no state funding or grant programs for…
Tribune city editor says bye-bye
Rick Jackoway — former New Times managing editor and current city editor at the Tribune — is leaving for Springfield, Mo. and a job as the metro editor at the News-Leader, a Gannett-owned daily newspaper slightly larger than the Tribune. Jackoway has worked in San Luis Obispo County for the last 16 years — first…
Surely Cambria’s magnificent coastline and simple beauty have benefited greatly over the decades from the considered oversight and careful protections afforded by the Coastal Commission. Yet when Cambria wishes to flex some provincial
I’d like the town of Los Osos to thank three local people for guiding the new 17,000-square-foot skate park location. When there was an opportunity to move it across the street to the sewer park location, they unanimously opposed it. Pandora Nash-Karner as park commissioner could have implemented a mitigation measure to use the empty…
I support the recall
I’ve been watching this sewer fiasco for two years now. The Los Osos CSD is so obviously stuck on their agenda, they’re failing to miss the obvious … that maybe their project is a boondoggle and failure. That’s seeming more apparent as the Technical Task Force refines the original ponding “dream.â€? The estimated price tag…
New anti-nuke group
A new statewide organization with a mission to lobby against nuclear power plants has formed in San Luis Obispo. The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility (ANR) is a spin-off of the Mothers for Peace. “The goal is to amend the public resource code, which basically says you can’t build nuclear power plants,â€? said David Weisman, ANR…
Christians won’t advocate homosexuality
Kinz is wrong (Letters, Jan. 13-20). Christians do not hate homosexuals, they hate what they do and advocate: promiscuous bisexualism and aids inducing homosexuality, teaching children that this behavior is okay. The Supreme Court may agree. It appears to have spoken on two concepts: 1) Adoption by homosexuals. 2) The acknowledgement that this type of…
EPA gives local estuaries C and D grades
“Fair to poorâ€? — that’s how the federal Environmental Protection Agency described the condition of estuaries along the Central Coast in a report the agency released this week. Over two years — 1999 and 2000 — the EPA tested water at six different places in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties where rivers and…
‘Convenient’ indeed
I was intrigued by the revelations in the various articles in the Jan. 6-13 New Times regarding Supervisor Lenthall and his flight to the Coastal Commission hearings on PG&E’s private jet. I drove — in a severe rainstorm — to that hearing, sharing a carpool and expenses with four other concerned county residents. Mr. Lenthall…
