Cover Story
California feels the burn
The first traces of smoke climbed into the daylight above Cuesta Grade at about 11:15 on the morning of June 23. Traffic along 101 slowed as motorists craned to catch a glimpse of the blaze as it crept toward buildings crowning the terrace. A spotter plane whirled counterclockwise above the event, eventually joined, perhaps 20…
FAST FACTS
Several K-12 students from around the county installed a series of hand-painted signs at Morro Strand State beach. The signs are geared toward weekend revelers and everyday beachgoers, reminding them to “share the shoreâ€? with the endangered snowy plover. The signs and artwork, which are sponsored by the Morro Coast Audubon Society, are meant to…
Letters
Bring on the ocean Can someone contact Al Gore and find out when the Arroyo Grande Creek valley will become ocean? I am rarin’ to list our home as seashore property. Roy BergerArroyo Grande ‘Truth’ is the most terrifying film everHaving just seen the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,â€? I believe that this documentary should be shown…
Peace group files against Diablo construction
A coalition led by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 5 to halt the construction of a dry storage facility at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. On June 2, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco # ordered the NRC to conduct an environmental…
Opportunity trawls
In the wake of yet another decision by the California Department of Fish and Game to turn off Central Coast marine waters to commercial fishing, a change in tactics by an international green group may give beleaguered local anglers a way out. The Nature Conservancy, a Virginia-based eco-lobby group, announced on June 27 the purchase of…
SLO tackles gender and safety issues
While RuPaul presides over a drag show for San Luis Obispo’s Gay Pride Week, Sacramento legislators are battling over two divisive gender-based education bills. # The bills creating the controversy—AB 606, which made it through the Senate Education Committee with a vote of 8-2 on June 21 and is now awaiting a hearing of the Senate…
Say it, don’t spray it
On July 3, police arrested five teens—armed with cans of gray and silver spray paint—in connection with a rash of new graffiti in San Luis Obispo. After receiving a tip that the young taggers were spray painting the walls and stairwells of the Marsh Street parking garage (with messages such as “Superio XIII,â€? “Brown Pride,â€? “Psycho,â€?…
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of beer
During the early morning of July 4, after paying for a candy bar and cigarettes, 37-year-old John Long reportedly told the cashier, “I’m taking this too,â€? snatched two 18 packs of Budweiser, and left in a stolen 1994 Honda Civic driven by 22-year-old Derick Mello. “He told me not to call the police or he would…
The crown jewels
The word Noor, for many people, brings to mind black or dark, especially coupled with the black motif inside the new jewelry store that bears the name. Maybe you’re thinking the word “noir?â€? Noor actually means light in Farsi (Persian), and is symbolic of friendship and the business union of owners Alexander Raissipour, a Persian…
Same old, same old
I’m gay. I’ve been keeping it a secret for years, but, yes, I’ll say it now. I decided to be born attracted to members of the same sex, or however we’ve all agreed it happens now, and I’m tired of fighting my true inherent biological nature of choice. We’re here, and, um, however the rest…
Letters
Bring on the ocean Can someone contact Al Gore and find out when the Arroyo Grande Creek valley will become ocean? I am rarin’ to list our home as seashore property.Roy BergerArroyo Grande ‘Truth’ is the most terrifying film ever Having just seen the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,â€? I believe that this documentary should be shown in…
Vote no, go to court
Arroyo Grande city councilmembers and planning commissioners who voted to protect the town’s creek are being sued as individuals by developers after sending a creekside project back to the drawing board. The lawsuit filed by Pace Brothers Construction argues that the city officials are “takingâ€? the company’s property in the Village of Arroyo Grande by voting…
Keep your ‘family’ away from me
Another Independence Day has come and gone, and it’s now officially safe for 20-something non-revelers who loathe sticky-fingered young cherubs and their loud, domineering families to leave the security of their apartments. Independence Day 2005 was an unmitigated nightmare, with young children and strollers blocking sidewalks, bumping into people, and generally disrupting a day that…
Ideal gas law
An eco-fiscal staring contest between two California members of Congress—Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and Richard Pombo, R-Tracy—swung suddenly to the right on June 29 when the U.S. House finally passed the controversial Deep Ocean Energy Resources (DOER) Act. After years of ever-narrowing misses, supporters of the bill sweetened the pot enough to score a preliminary…
The third home has been redesigned several times.
“For over 18 months, the city has led [Pace Brothers Construction] down the garden path with promises that ‘re-designs’ will satisfy concerns, only to pull the rug out from development plans,â€? the suit states. City councilmembers who voted to deny the project stated that the house was too large and “out of balance with the size…
