Cover Story
Consulting waste
To comprehend how the new Morro Bay and Cayucos sewage treatment plant is being designed, you need to know what happened on May 12. On that day, speaking to a 10-person panel comprising the Morro Bay City Council and Cayucos Sanitary District Board of Directors—otherwise known as the Joint Powers Authority, or JPA—Project Manager Dennis…
Wilderness is for all–not just the elite
Charlee Smith calls me a liar several times (“This smacks of environmental elitism,” May 19) in the course of trying to dispute the main argument in my May 5 opinion piece “McCarthy, have you no shame?”—namely that Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s anti-wilderness bill, H.R. 1581, would end the designation of wilderness lands if it became law.…
How would you describe a horse to someone who had never seen one before?
Kristin Kleiber retail manager “Sarah Jessica Parker on all fours with a little more fur.” Grant Schaab student “They can be big or small. They have a tail and a mane, and they smell bad. And don’t scare them because they could kick you and hurt you.” Josh Loveless student “It’s a big beast with…
We must continue to support Israel
The United States has always been a strong supporter of Israel, and we must continue to support the only Democracy in the Middle East. The Palestinians seek recognition of a Palestinian state while refusing to recognize Israel’s to exist as a homeland for all of the Jewish people. We must continue to protect Israel’s right…
Go for municipal utility companies
SmartMeters are installed on homes regardless of radio frequency radiation concentrations or consumer sensitivities. PG&E is now proposing one-time charges and monthly fees from consumers who want to stop SmartMeter RF radiation. Our municipal right-of-ways already contain gas/electric, without new fees. To stop the RF emanating from our home, I agree to paying a new…
Gas prices hurt us
I can’t believe there hasn’t been more coverage on the unjust gas price increases in the press and from our government. The average worker has had his wages cut, rising costs, and job loss, while the big companies continue to manipulate things so they make even more money at the workers’ expense. A barrel of…
This justice groups stands against bullying
I was honored to moderate a recent forum, “Sticks and Stones, Bullying in the Schools and the Community,” sponsored by the Central Coast Clergy and Laity for Justice (CCCLJ). It featured young panelists from minority communities who had been targeted by bullies, as well as SLO Police Chief Deborah Linden for the Anti Defamation League…
Start with charity in our own borders
Regarding the president’s May 19 speech: Charity begins at home, and our “home” is our homeland: the USA. President Obama told us we must invest (give) Egypt and Tunisia our money so they won’t “be saddled with the debts of its past.” And “it will stabilize and modernize the economies.” How about America’s debts of…
Don’t treat heroes like terrorists
A provision in the new 9/11 health bill recently passed by Congress hits the thousands of first responders who were hailed as heroes a decade ago after the World Trade Center attack, and who later became sick as a result. They will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism…
Identify your values and vote accordingly
On May 17, the SLO City Council voted to place two measures on a special all mail-in ballot on Aug. 30; they are pension reform and the repeal of binding arbitration. There is a considerable amount of information that must be disseminated to fully understand the reasons why the City Council introduced these measures and…
I’ve got a money-saving idea, SLO
It’s so wonderful to know Carrie Mattingly, SLO’s utilities director, does “a little jig inside” whenever somebody says, “Oh! I love San Luis Obispo, you’re so lucky to live there!” That’s the news on page 1 of the latest edition of Resource, a four-color, slick propaganda flyer mailed regularly by the city to its residents.…
Selling Grover’s garden defies logic
The latest word from Grover Beach City Hall is the plan to sell the fully utilized and developed community garden at 920 Brighton Ave. to the city’s redevelopment agency for a low-income housing project. The reason given for this action is that the city needs the money for their general fund to meet current expenses,…
Steffi Saul-Ketzler
NEW TIMES What prompted you to teach infants to swim? SAUL-KETZLER Several years ago, when my first daughter was an infant, we had an incident in our neighborhood where a 3-year-old girl drowned. We knew the family, and it was very sad. I wanted to teach young kids to swim, but a lot of people…
Premature prosecution
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m considering taking a much-deserved vacation. My first choice, of course, is Cancun, where the tequila flows like manna from heaven and you only get kidnapped if you look like you have money. Bakersfield looks nice as well. And it might fall within my price range, assuming I…
A quake could cut Diablo access, escape
As heroic workers in Japan struggle in their radiation suits to gain control of the ongoing meltdown at the Fukushima reactors, bureaucrats in business suits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are attempting to verbally control the resulting fallout within the nuclear industry here. Shortly after the Fukushima crisis began, the NRC announced to Congress and…
CLUBS
Goin’ South … THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: 750 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach, 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music every Fri.-Sat., 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell, Doc Stoltey. GATHER WINE BAR: 122 E. Branch St. in the Village of Arroyo Grande, 5/26: Rocky Logue, 5/27: Meredith Hobbs, 5/28:…
Attention amphibiphiles!
Are you into frogs? That’s weird. But don’t worry—you’re certainly not alone. Tim Cotterill, a sculptor famous for his bronze renderings of frogs, koi, birds, and geckos, must be positively crazy about frogs. The artist, who calls himself the Frogman, leapt across the pond from England in the late ’80s. Today, Cotterill has artwork in…
Shindig time!
Like an old mule that moves only when it feels like it, Cuesta Ridge has finally, obstinately delivered a studio album. How long have they been together? Seven freakin’ years! What took so long? Doesn’t matter. Hard Luck Tough Times was worth the wait. The all-too-brief nine-song album features the band’s signature virtuoso pickin’ and…
Is it hot in here?
If you’re reading this, that means either Jesus didn’t come to Earth and take all the Christians to Heaven in The Rapture, or worse, he did come but he didn’t take me! I was going to go to Sustenance Cooking Studio for the “End of the World Party” on Saturday, May 21. It was billed…
Bunny ears in translation
We’ve all played the game–whether thoughtfully and intentionally to prove a point about gossip, or as insipid participants in the endless chain of “he said/she said.” On the evening of June 3, as the respectable gallery-goers hemorrhage from the respectable San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, the schoolyard classic—telephone–is getting turned on its head. Instigators…
Oh, the places you’ll go!
The way curators Tod Rafferty and Brian Lawler describe it, just getting their exhibit “The Achievers: The Art of Engineering” in working order was a feat of engineering itself. There were photographs to print and hang; video footage to edit; and huge, bizarre contraptions of the land, air, and sea to be borrowed and wheeled…
Treana 2009 White Central Coast
I loved this white Rhone blend while dining at Rosie’s. It’s 50 percent Marsanne and 50 percent Viognier, and so versatile it paired well with each dish I tried. Citrus flavors harmonize with notes of nectarines, peaches, pineapple, and honey in this beautifully balanced white Rhone. Rich and creamy with hints of minerality, it’s irresistible…
Rodney Strong 2009 Chardonnay Sonoma County
Chardonnay aficionados will enjoy this easy-to-like white for its value price and its availability. It opens with friendly apple and pear aromas and flavors that are nicely offset by lemon and tropical notes. Hints of vanilla and spice linger on the finish thanks to 60 percent barrel fermentation in French and American oak, 40 percent…
Mom-and-pop shop provides good eats
Nothing beats comfort foods for lifting your spirits when you’re feeling down. In fact, soulful foods can take you back in time to that cozy kitchen where your grandma cooked your favorite chicken pot pie or macaroni and cheese. According to the Food Network, comfort food is regional: It’s pizza in Brooklyn, fried chicken in…
Cougars and Mustangs
While Cuesta College students are living it up during their first week of summer break and waking up with killer hangovers, Cal Poly kids are settling down for finals and are taking home prestigious awards. Cha-ching! Kevin Yamauchi, a Cal Poly biomechanics master’s candidate, was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship worth $90,000…
Burger mania!
Sylvester’s, home of the 5-pound burger dubbed the “Big One,” is holding its annual burger-eating competition on May 29 at its Los Osos establishment. Contestants will square off against one another in the ultimate man vs. food challenge, attempting to gobble down the beefy behemoth as fast as they can in pursuit of $1,000 in…
Lucia Mar dreams
Jim Hogeboom, superintendent of the Lucia Mar Unified School District, is an ambitious man. Hogeboom is in charge of the largest school district in SLO County. It stretches from Shell Beach to the county line and consists of 11 elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools. Though most of his schools are rated…
Define ‘collective’
It’s been nearly six months, but the first in a series of trials for the San Luis Obispo County residents arrested after a controversial December 2010 investigation of medical marijuana collectives may be nearing jury selection. At times, it appeared as if the case wouldn’t even make it to trial. Between May 20 and 24,…
Corrections
• In the May 19 story, “County budget sees cuts aplenty,” the number of unfilled positions was misstated. Thirty-two San Luis Obispo County government positions were eliminated and a majority were unfilled, however, some employees are due to be laid off. • The cost and beneficiary of the Afternoon of Epicurean Delights fundraiser were incorrect…
SLO booze busts turn up six violations
Half a dozen San Luis Obispo businesses were busted for slinging booze to underage decoys. On May 23, the SLO Police Department and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) conducted a compliance check operation in which a minor attempted to purchase alcohol from 11 bars and restaurants throughout the city. Six of the…
County hopes to keep Oceano from wetting itself
In about three or four months, San Luis Obispo County officials should have a plan to develop a plan on how they’re going to tackle flooding in Oceano—just in time for the flood season in Oceano. With December’s nightmare of flooded homes and rivers of liquid waste pouring into the small coastal community still fresh…
Carson Starkey’s parents settle with frat
The family of a Cal Poly student who died after participating in a fraternity initiation has settled a lawsuit with the frat out of court. Carson Starkey, an 18-year-old Cal Poly architecture freshman, died the morning of Dec. 2, 2008, after consuming excessive quantities of alcohol at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon “Brown Bag Night” rushing…
Cal Poly rape suspects not charged
Two suspects accused in two separate rape cases at Cal Poly will not face any criminal charges, according to Cal Poly police. The reported rapes occurred at Cal Poly Village on May 12 and May 15. Police sources say they were unable to find sufficient evidence to prosecute the suspects in either case. Both cases…
SLO buys $6,500 in iPads for art juries
Just weeks before the San Luis Obispo City Council is scheduled to decide which harsh cuts will be necessary to balance the city’s shrinking budget, the council decided there were some things the city shouldn’t do without: iPads. The council approved spending $6,500 on iPads at its May 17 meeting. The money will buy nine…
Local group sues over Carrizo solar project
Environmental groups and activists have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop a proposed solar-power project from covering the Carrizo Plains. “This is a case about the threat to one of the last remaining wild grassland areas in California,” reads the first line of the lawsuit, filed by Carrizo Commons, North County Watch, and…
