Cover Story
Atascadero leaders have something to hide
Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Three can keep a secret if two are dead.â€? The implication, of course, is that the only way to keep information private is to keep it to yourself. Unfortunately for public officials—especially public officials who may have broken the law—secrets are hard to keep to just one person, let…
Help uproot the weed problem
Most people think they know all they need to know about weeds. They come up in the middle of the flowerbeds, through cracks in the sidewalk, and all over the lawn. They get stuck in your socks and in your dog’s fur and, occasionally, even under your skin. Weeds are just one of life’s little…
Junkyard brings jail time
Some might call it trash, some treasure: piles of tires, rusting house trailers, broken-down singlewides, corroded car bodies sitting in the shade of oaks and pines. The results of clean-up orders for two rural North County properties are equally contrasting. After neighbors reported suspected meth labs set up in the rundown trailers, San Luis Obispo County…
Police postpone purging Parson’s pot
San Luis Obispo County Judge Michael Duffy declined a motion on July 11 asking the Grover Beach Police Department to return 20.4 grams of medical marijuana to patient Kenneth Parson, recently acquitted of a possession charge. The decision brought one of two important cases currently on the county docket regarding the return of medically tagged cannabis…
The Cuesta campaign kerfuffle
There’s good news for county taxpayer advocates: Cue the midgets and roll out the yellow brick road—it appears Cuesta’s plans of hastily plunking a Measure G redux on the Nov. 7 ballot are effectively dead. Ding, dong, and all of that. # During a well-attended Board of Trustees meeting on July 5 at the SLO campus,…
Paso trusts God—sort of
The Paso Robles City Council voted unanimously July 5 to hang a banner sporting the embattled national motto in chambers where the body discusses city issues. The move caused surprisingly few ripples in the North County for one reason that eluded the mainstream media. “What we approved was a government seal,â€? councilman Fred Strong clarified. “When…
Five-story hotel takes shape
Closed-door negotiations to change the face of downtown San Luis Obispo will see the light of day for the first time on July 18, when the city council decides whether to approve an exclusive agreement for a massive hotel complex known as the Garden Street Terraces. Culminating 10 months of confidential meetings, the city’s agreement with…
Letters
Ryan, you screwed up ‘55 Fiction’Just finished your “55 Fictionâ€? story (June 29). Most of them suck, and, in fact, one—“You’ve Got to be Kidding Meâ€?—is simply a rehash of a joke going around six months ago! Not original! Ask around! However, the fact that no one from the city of San Luis Obispo got…
The truth really, really hurts
The headline for my column today, in case it was too big for you to read, says “The truth really, really hurts.â€? Ain’t that the truth. And don’t it hurt. Because it’s the truth. As much as I like jabbing and sniping at people, I don’t like hurting them, which is why I don’t ever…
Like ‘I Love Lucy,’ but with Wal-Mart
Atascadero City Manager Wade McKinney may have some explaining to do, especially since city officials have leaked secretive documents to the public that appear to reveal that he was aware of negotiations with Wal-Mart and was actively involved in orchestrating the arrival of the box store to the intersection of Del Rio Road and El…
FAST FACTS
A locally owned phone and Internet systems provider—NORCAST—has begun a program titled “Empowering Non-profits.â€? As the first phase of this program, NORCAST will provide three local nonprofit organizations with free telephone and Internet services for a year. In order to be eligible, organizations must be classified as 501c3 and return at least 65 percent of…
To market, to market
Apple Farm Inn’s new gourmet shop, Market at the Mill, is situated a mere 30 or so yards from the highway. But the little shop, ensconced in birch trees and the fragrant scent of popcorn and homemade ice cream, seems worlds away from busy automotive travel, work, and mundane to-do lists. In fact, the Market…
Ripley’s believe it or not
“It was ranked atop the previous study, which is interesting,â€? Ripley Pacific engineer Bahman Sheikh commented with a grimace at a July 7 sewer solutions meeting in Los Osos. # The “itâ€? referred to Tri-W, a candidate site for the treatment facility in a now county-helmed Los Osos sewer project, and an enduring thorn in the…
