Cover Story
Status quo wins!
It was still early on election night, somewhere around 8:30, but Sam Blakeslee’s party was already in full swing. Supporters for the Republican candidate for the state assembly’s 33rd District were packed into Corner View Restaurant’s upper floor like so many absentee ballots in an Ohio ballot box. Wine was flowing; spirits were high; food…
The lesser of many, many evils
Blow your noisemakers and douse your flags, the election results are in. Actually, don’t blow your noisemakers. I still have a raging hangover from Election Day, what with all the parties I went to, and I still haven’t even sobered up from Halloween. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was still wearing my Superman…
Teenage would-be extortionists
The families of the three teens charged with an Oct. 22 bomb threat at Atascadero High School each will be billed $3,700 by the city of Atascadero for services and expenses associated with the false threat. Had the 17-year-old students succeeded in collecting the $10,000 payment they requested in a threatening lunchtime phone call, they…
Election was a fraud
It does not matter what the numbers say, George Bush will only stay in the White House if he gets away with the massive cheating carried out by his party. There was massive voter suppression in Florida, 58,000 absentee voter ballots stolen in Democratic Broward County, state police visiting elderly black folks and threatening them…
Marian, fix your parking lot
This is just a short letter to bring to the attention of our Marian Medical Center the shabby condition of the two parking lots directly across the street in front of the main entrance. There must be a way to blacktop the dirt surface, which has more holes in it than a slice of Swiss…
Clarification
In last week’s story on the race between Jerry Lenthall and Patty Andreen for San Luis Obispo County’s 3rd District supervisor seat, (“Down to the wire,â€? Oct. 28-Nov. 4), New Times quoted Lenthall as saying, “I’m proud to have the … Chamber of Commerce endorse me.â€? The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce did not…
Not again
There were too many inconsistencies with this election. Why would all exit polls be up for Kerry and then have him miss by as much as 5 percent? Black-box voting is at least one reason. Jay Mellman jmellman@Comcast.net
Firefighters get Homeland Security grants
On Nov. 1, the same day that they announced the close of the 2004 fire season, three San Luis Obispo County fire departments recently announced that they’d received about $800,000 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. All three plan on using the money for various types of equipment. CDF/County Fire, which…
Early a.m. rollover leads to DUI arrest
At about 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning, a Nissan Pathfinder traveling southbound in the 2500 block of Broad Street in SLO smashed into two parked trucks on the side of the road, destroying one and significantly damaging the other. The Pathfinder then veered back into the southbound lanes and flipped several times, finally coming to…
The media vote
Election night can be hell for those of us in the media. Not only the night itself, but the preparation. Tuesday night I had the opportunity to do something on election night I’ve never done before while working in this business: observe. And I was pleasantly amazed and quietly pleased by what I witnessed. Since…
UNICEF success
We’d like to offer a heartfelt “thank you!â€? to the hundreds of San Luis Obispo County schoolchildren who collected donations for this year’s “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEFâ€? program. Generous American children have collected more than $50,000,000 for children in need around our world, and we salute them all as genuine American heroes! Mary Donnelly San…
Let’s define assault weapons
I’m on record for supporting the 1994 assault guns ban. I was prompted by my discovery that pro-gun leaders want to abolish regulations on all guns. Now I understand that failure to define an assault gun was why the ban expired. Earlier I’d advocated removing some guns from the ban, like our Garand rifle and…
Looking for extra cash?
If you’ve ever dreamed of making it big on the silver screen or the black box, working as an extra may be the fastest way to get your foot behind the green door. Background work, as they call it, introduces you to the industry, generates contacts, and could lead to your lucky break. It worked…
The apple can’t fall too far from the tree
Dear Glen, never mind what that jerk D.J. said in the Oct. 28 issue of New Times [Letters]. I used to think you were a dope also for never mentioning my name and work (clay) in your reviews. But ever since seeing your mom and dad’s photo in the local newspaper, summer issue, I figured…
