Cover Story
Freedom from the press
“Speak harshly and carry a big stick” could have been the unofficial policy of the SLOPD during this year’s anti-Mardi Gras campaign. “The party is over,” read ads printed in this and other newspapers. “Out-of-town visitors are not welcome.” If you get rowdy at Mardi Gras, expect to get served, the SLOPD warned students and…
It’s not about combustion
Regarding Brahama D. Sharma’s letter (June 2-9), “Biodiesel still requires combustion”: Yes, it does. And so do almost all forms of vehicle transportation, excepting an electric car plugged into an all-solar home, or perhaps nuclear power. Mr. Sharma fails to note that while burning biodiesel does produce carbon emissions, the carbon produced is contained within…
Learning by brewing
After “Sideways” redefined Santa Barbara County as the viticultural Mecca of the western hemisphere, The Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach and Central Coast Brewing in San Luis Obispo have decided to take the Central Coast onward and upward through the mouthwatering magic of malted libations. Leave your whining college roommate behind, bring an appetite for…
Stay out of the drug war
Fellow San Luis Obispo residents: How many of you have heard about someone who has smoked pot, or done a drug before? I’ve heard about it so many times I’d be able to buy my schoolbooks for free. Now there’s a legislation trying to be passed called “Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection…
EOC thanks the community
I am writing to thank the guardian angel that has offered to match all donations made to the EOC South County Clinic by June 30, and everyone who has donated so far. To date a total of just over $23,000 has been raised, but we still have a ways to go to secure the future…
A legacy to be proud of
When I first visited Talley Vineyard’s old Adobe tasting room in 1996, while conversing with the friendly staff, I said I’d relocated here from San Francisco, prompting one woman to say, “You must be depressed about leaving San Francisco.” “No,” I had to laugh at her assumption I was suffering from withdrawal. “Not yet anyway.”…
Thanks for helping our garden grow
The SLO Botanical Garden is grateful to a generous community, including New Times. The May 21st San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden “Springtime Garden Tour” was a big success by all counts, attracting nearly 600 visitors and resulting in bighearted proceeds going toward the completion of a new education building. Credit for this remarkable success goes…
That lawsuits are ‘frivolous’ is your opinion
John Peabody should learn more about the term editorializing and how it shows up in reporting (“Life after Molski,” June 2-9). He speaks of the Molski lawsuits that plagued the area only in terms of their frivolousness, as if he himself were a store- or restaurant-owner trying to assuage his own fears about a decade-long…
Duh, Solar Decathlon is about learning
In response to Linda Torrey’s criticism of Cal Poly’s Solar Decathlon project (“Money, energy could be better spent,” Letters, June 2-9), I’d like to point out that our effort is much more than just building a house; we’re designing a working prototype, with our eyes set on the goal of making sustainability and green building…
Driven to extremes
I don’t know about you, but the whole drunken mess involving a possibly surly cop, a possibly surly Safe Ride Home driver, and a vanload of certainly tipsy passengers is giving me a headache to rival a hangover. Our story unfolds on a recent night in the downtown bar scene, with Judy Dyer picking up…
Court says feds can still bust medical pot
In a long awaited decision, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday that the federal government still has the right to prosecute those who use or grow marijuana – even in states with pro medical marijuana laws. The case stemmed from an Aug. 15, 2002 incident when Butte County deputy sheriffs and Drug Enforcement Administration…
Why did I not read about this in New Times?
I know in the past New Times has taken an investigative stance toward some high-profile wrongdoings. This story about an illegal alien giving birth alone in an Oceano bathroom has your front page written all over it. I was shocked by the newspaper article last week in the Tribune where a young woman gave birth…
What the County’s Talking About This Week
Judge tosses another Molski suit, sort of Citing a confusing mix of disability laws, a federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by paraplegic litigant Jarek Molski against a Santa Barbara County eatery. Molski, who has filed more than 380 lawsuits in federal court against a host of restaurants, bowling alleys, and wineries,…
Lucia Mar needs to reevaluate priorities
How many high school seniors have you known that have no clue as to what they want to do with their lives upon graduation? How many have gone on to college and spent the first couple of years bouncing back and forth before finally settling on a major? The students enrolled at the Arroyo Grande…
What a view!
Thanks to PG&E and the phone and cable companies, we can now see the ocean and hills unobstructed by utility hardware! What a difference! No longer are there any poles or wires on Highway One from the Chaney Avenue/Ocean Boulevard exit south of Cayucos to the city of Morro Bay! Thank you to everyone that…
Over-the-counter pot?
The issue of using marijuana in SLO County goes way back (“Out of joint,” June 2-9). This writer definitely thanks Mr. Don Hornaday, father of the staff writer for New Times Mr. Jeff Hornaday, in making the positive observations about the Central Coast after moving from Lake Forest, Orange County. May Mr. Jeff Hornaday be…
Troubled waters
Move-the-sewer proponents in Los Osos won a small victory last week when a second appellate court judge ruled that the community services district may in fact require a four-fifths majority to authorize spending state loan money on the town’s notoriously contentious sewer system. “It’s a mini-victory,” board director Julie Tacker said, “but there’s still a…
Reefer madness revisited?
Regarding Jeff Hornaday’s thoughtful article (“Out of joint,” June 2-9): If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are…
SLO police raid downtown meth lab
A San Luis Obispo man and his girlfriend are currently in jail on drug and child cruelty charges after law enforcement discovered a suspected methamphetamine lab in the couple’s San Luis Obispo home. San Luis Obispo police say they went to the Buchon Street home after neighbors complained of a “strong chemical smell.” After entering…
