Cover Story
Perfect 10
On Monday, Oct. 17, New Times’ general manager looked at the sparse number of entries for this year’s photography contest and was a little worried. “Is this usual?” he asked. I myself was beginning to sweat a bit. Could this be the year the photo contest “jumped the shark”? Michael, the office receptionist and a…
You better watch out
Christmas is like a penny dropped off of the Empire State Building, zooming faster and faster until it smacks you in the head and splits your skull open, making your brains leak out all over the place. That’s how I like to think of the holiday, anyway – when I do think about it, which…
KCPR raises funds for a better signal
Cal Poly radio station KCPR (93.1 FM) is planning to move its transmitter to Cuesta Peak in order to improve its overall reception and expand listenership north of Cuesta Grade and as far south as Santa Maria. The 35-year-old radio station is located on the Cal Poly campus and is run by an all-volunteer staff…
Maybe next time, Arnold
As of Wednesday, it appears voters in California rejected all eight state propositions in Tuesday’s election. With 90 percent of votes counted, all four of the referendum propositions endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had failed; two of them, Proposition 76, on spending caps, and Proposition 77, on redistricting, by wide margins. Proposition 75, on union…
‘The High Cost of Low Price’
To say that Wal-Mart is in the hot seat again is like saying that the Bush administration, though it’s working hard, has a few problems. Add to Wal-Mart’s current load of litigations a secret memo leaked to the New York Times revealing internal weakness and a plan to cut worker benefits and hire more part-time…
Morro Bay Council to check Duke deal
On Nov. 14 the Morro Bay City Council will decide whether to approve an outfall lease agreement with Duke that would bring more than $1.5 million to the city by the end of January, and an end to nearly five years of negotiations. The outfall lease agreement allows Duke to discharge water used in the…
Government compromises on red-legged frog habitat
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) unveiled on Nov. 3 a scaled-down allotment of protected habitat for the state’s largest amphibian, the red-legged frog – long thought to be the inspiration for Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” The new map benefits from updated information and upgraded mapping capabilities, according to…
Elderly woman sexually assaulted in her home
Police are still looking for an unidentified man who entered the home of an 83-year-old woman in the Patricia Street area of SLO and sexually assaulted her. The assault occurred on Oct. 30 at 5:30 a.m. Police say the man is medium-sized and was wearing dark clothing. Police do not suspect Anthony Dacayana, the sexual…
Reduced Diablo safety rating due to mis-checked boxes
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) downgraded a safety rating at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant due to record-keeping errors. Plant operators misidentified three drills as actual emergencies by checking the wrong boxes in forms that were submitted to the NRC. This caused the emergency exercise indicator to go from green, or satisfactory, to white, or…
Controversial redevelopment chief reinstated
The Atascadero City Council decided Tuesday night to revoke their earlier action of asking for the resignation of Marty Tracey, the city’s deputy director of redevelopment. The Council met for about 30 minutes in closed session to discuss “anticipated litigation” before announcing their concession. Tracey is expected back at work as early as tomorrow, Mayor…
Letters
No justice for life’s innocent A lot of decent people will surely be outraged after reading the New Times article “Devil among us” (Nov. 3-10), but it’s a familiar story … a sociopathic career criminal is paroled from prison again and again only to claim more victims. Rational folks might wonder why this keeps happening,…
Paper Tigers
A local youth league football coach spent Wednesday morning in court trying to keep his team in the regional playoffs. Coach Kirby Gordon hopes to receive a restraining order against the Central Coast Youth Football League (CCYFL) that would stall senior-level playoff games unless the SLO Senior Tigers are allowed to participate. The Tigers were…
Fight continues over local offshore oil leases
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior came out swinging in the umpteenth round in the fight over Central Coast offshore oil leases. The secretary on Nov. 2 filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging an August ruling that the federal government can’t immediately extend time on 37 oil and gas leases…
Shot in the dark
There may not be a flu vaccine shortage this year in SLO County, but a lot of people are confused about where to get a shot due to clinic cancellations, abrupt Internet notices, or non-supply. For example, several local health centers recommended by SLO County Health, like Med-Plus, MedWorks, and Health Plus, haven’t received the…
The talking cure
No matter how emotionally and mentally healthy we think we are, we all have a problem or two that needs working out, but we frequently don’t know where to turn. Enter Cal Poly Community Counseling Center, a 20-year-old program that offers counseling to people in the community. “It’s a low-cost counseling clinic associated with the…
Derks gets life in prison
The man convicted of killing and raping a Cal Poly student 20 years ago in MontaNa de Oro was sentenced to life in prison Monday. Peter Derks, 59, of Arroyo Grande, was charged last June with the murder of Mary Catherine Waterbury in October of 1985 because his DNA matched semen found on the victim.…
