Cover Story
Eight square miles, surrounded by reality
My head hurts. There’s this ringing in my ear. I think I’ve developed a Ginseng dependency. Friends and confidants think I’m grappling with a closet heroin addiction, but they’re wrong. # You see, I’ve been hanging out in Los Osos the past few weeks, in an attempt to wrap my head around the sewer debate as Sam Blakeslee’s…
Here’s to a different kind of cop
For a time, it seemed as though Jim Johnson’s death might slip under the radar, with barely a nod from the masses and the obligatory half-inch notice in the local daily. But Johnson’s passing July 7, at age 71, serves as a reminder of an era that has faded—right along with the light in the eyes…
Downtown SLO hotel deal approved
A complicated agreement involving a downtown public parking lot and a potential five-story 70-room hotel—negotiated behind closed doors—has been approved by the SLO City Council, after former mayor Peg Pinard blasted the process as “an abuse of public power.â€? Council members voted 3-1 in a public meeting Tuesday to approve a complex memorandum of understanding with…
What happened to Rachael?
In early 2005, Rachael Bowers Bendett started preparing for a new life away from a turbulent marriage. According to friends, she filed for divorce and focused on her three young children. She was looking forward to a rural life in Los Osos. A life with horses. A life that would ultimately never be realized. On…
Drink in the possibilities
The only thing wine lovers like better than uncorking a fine vintage is a good deal on an excellent bottle. At the recently opened Monterey Street Wine Company, co-owners John Stipicevich and Doug Shaw assembled a list of carefully selected wines that cost between $4.99 and $52.99. # “If we are known for anything, I…
Chemical balk
The story of the Los Osos 45 shifted into mystery-dinner-theater mode this week with the sudden appearance of a certain long-forgotten groundwater study. # Mention of a 1987 nitrate isotope report by Dr. Roy Spalding of the University of Nebraska caused a stir at a July 7 presentation by Ripley Pacific engineers, but, until July 19,…
Am I my senator’s keeper?
Boy, am I glad I’m not Abel Maldonado right now. Every morning, I wake up and pick someone to be glad I’m not. Yesterday, it was Pismo councilman Bill Rabenaldt, who’s on badge probation for his wacky Fourth of July antics. The day before that it was Al Gore, because I just wouldn’t want all…
Letters
Drunk-driving laws should be harsherThis is in response to the opinion published on June 29 by Siobhan McDowell of Pismo Beach (“I have no sympathy for drunk driversâ€?). I am sorry about McDowell’s mother’s death. I share the same no-tolerance attitude toward drinking and driving. My husband and I were hit by a drunk driver.…
The man in black
A Department of Homeland Security agent guarded a courthouse corridor the afternoon of July 18 as Egyptian-born Ahmed Fahmy, of Morro Bay, discussed his immediate future with an immigration caseworker. The man—with DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in some capacity—barred family, friends, and media from moving to the end of the hallway. He also…
Raisins in the sun
The Central Coast’s lucrative future as a premium wine-producing region is severely threatened by global warming, a new international scientific study has concluded. # Climate change brought on by burning fossil fuels is likely to ruin the ideal wine growing conditions found in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County by the end of the 21st century,…
Talk about Diablo
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold its first community meeting since a June 2 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ordered the federal body to conduct a study on the environmental impact of a potential terrorist attack on Diablo Canyon. The meeting is set for July 25 at the Embassy Suites hotel on Madonna Road…
Fast Facts
Tanner Jack’s, a premier barbecue-sauce company for 20 years, continues its tradition of excellence with the opening of a new steakhouse at the corner of Highway 1 and Halcyon Road on the Mesa in Arroyo Grande. “We have cookin’ with a smoking attitude,â€? said Jack Stevens, co-owner of Tanner Jack’s. “We infuse the meats with…
