Cover Story
The art of compromise
In the not-too-distant future, Allen Root will erect a new piece of public art in Mitchell Park paid for with your money. Many of you will admire this new creation for its colorful playfulness and clever design. Some of you will be left scratching your heads, wondering “Why did they pick that?â€? # The “theyâ€? in…
Letters
Chubby young beggars? I spent 2 years homeless in Big Sur. where I lived in a tent, slept in my car at times and had two jobs. For me it was a choice not to pay rent. I hiked an hour up a trail to get to my camp. Others living “up the creek” formed a…
Secrets of top chefs and area winemakers
There is nothing quite so satisfying as hosting a mind-bending dinner coupled with the perfect wine. Edna Valley Vineyard’s cooking and wine-pairing classes offer an opportunity to experience firsthand the way local chefs create their culinary masterpieces and how to choose the ideal vintage wine to accompany each savory dish. # “There are certain ingredients, textures,…
Kinder, gentler roadworks
Road crews in the North County are operating under a new mandate for environmental sensitivity, according to Max Keller, North County section supervisor for the SLO County Public Works Department. A resurfacing project for scenic Pozo Road is the first one where “we’re taking a maintenance project and making it an environmental projectâ€? by preserving most…
Outlook not so good
I was sitting at the bus stop the other day when this fortuneteller offered to read my palm, so I said “sureâ€? and offered her my hand. She held my palm up to her face and scanned it for a while, but I guess she got bored because she stopped about halfway through and asked…
Judge and jury
For Sarah Christie, it must seem like a textbook example for her graduate-level course, Political Pressure in the Public Policy Arena. Christie takes the heat in the latest report of the SLO County Grand Jury, based on a secret investigation into the workings of the county planning commission on which she serves. # As a professional…
The on-going hunt for Sharon Ostman’s killer
It has been eight months since 59-year-old Sharon Ostman’s half-naked body was discovered partially submerged in San Luis Obispo Creek downtown near the Mission. She had been savagely beaten, sexually assaulted, and murdered. For the last 20 years of her life, Ostman wandered the streets of SLO, homeless, weathered, and confused. Police and members of…
Marijuana movement
SLO County’s first and only storefront medical marijuana dispensary has found a new home in Morro Bay. Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers (CCCC) was previously located in Atascadero, where city officials shut it down less than four weeks after it opened. Rather than continue to battle for his right to run the business, CCCC owner Charles…
Things fall apart
What can we here on the Central Coast learn about redevelopment efforts taking place on the Gulf Coast? According to a group of Cal Poly students, who recently visited the hurricane-ravaged region, a great deal. Granted, six months after Katrina and Rita swept through New Orleans, it’s difficult to tell how well the recovery effort…
Fast Facts
Line up your pie pans, purchase the perfect apples, and compete for the right to claim your apple pie is the best in SLO County. Idler’s is hosting its 22 annual “mom and apple pieâ€? baking contest. Idler’s will award the grand prize winner a new KitchenAid Pro-Series stainless steel range. The second place winner…
Heads Up
In Bogota, Colombia, the government is proposing a law requiring everyone over 14 to carry a condom at all times, to help reduce unwanted pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.  San Luis Obispo County could take the lead here, as it did on smoking. In my lifetime, the number of humans on this fragile planet has…
Shorter sewage timeline?
Morro Bay city council members may be starting to agree with local nature-lovers that it’s time to clean up the sewage outfall off Morro Strand Beach (“Sewage, swimmers and sea otters,â€? New Times, March 16). The Council requested a last-minute postponement of the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s scheduled hearing on the Morro Bay/Cayucos sewage…
