Cover Story
An issue with a view
We thought last year was a record, but we should have known that a paltry 526 entries would soon be beat. This year, in the 12th installment of New Times’ annual Winning Images contest, office managers Michael Antonette and Katie Gray prepared invitations and watched as readers brought in 718 submissions. Maybe there are more…
Lunchbox recall prompted by positive lead test
Folks who received free canvas lunchboxes with a logo that reads “Eat Fruits & Vegetables and Be Active” are being urged to dispose of them immediately because they may contain elevated levels of lead. # According to health officials, about 56,000 of the potentially lead-contaminated lunchboxes were distributed throughout the state to students of low-income…
Excited about savings?
A young male with an apparent fetish for footware bargains was recently seen masturbating and exposing himself at the Prime Outlets in Pismo Beach. In the early evening of Nov. 6, the suspect pulled down his sweatpants and exposed himself to clerks at Payless Shoes, according to Pismo Beach Police. He then left the discounted…
Why not socialized medicine?
In vetoing the recent legislation to expand federal health coverage to children, President George Bush explained that this was a first step toward socialized medicine. That term–“socialized medicine”–evokes a knee-jerk response in just about everyone. It smacks of government interference in our lives, government selection of our doctors, and an inefficient bureaucratic system resulting in…
Medical marijuana to your doorstep
Without a functioning medical marijuana dispensary in San Luis Obispo County, some patients seeking to benefit from the promises of Proposition 215 are examining alternative options for obtaining their THC-laced remedies. # Home delivery is one such possibility that, after growing in popularity elsewhere in California, seems to be newly budding on the Central Coast.…
Tradition on the menu
Who would’ve thought a new Italian restaurant opening between two other Italian eateries on San Luis Obispo’s Monterey Street–both well established and popular with locals–would stand a chance of surviving? After meeting the charming restaurateur Josephine Van Ness, I walked away impressed by her passion for the restaurant business, especially after learning she grew up…
Cuesta: Headhunting the man from Weed
Cuesta College may soon have a new president. The Central Coast community college has offered the position to Dr. David Pelham, the current president of the College of the Siskiyous, according to Jill Ivie, the media relations coordinator for Cuesta. Cuesta’s board of trustees narrowed a list of candidates down to Pelham after conducting background…
Masters of mash-ups
Now a dozen years into a unique experiment that’s mixed musicians of different ethnicities, artistic sensibilities, and political philosophies, Ozomatli has emerged as a wholly unique entity. # That band continues to pioneer Spanish-English mash-ups of hip hop, salsa, cumbia, dub, and Middle Eastern funk, and on their fourth studio album, Don’t Mess With the…
Let the sun shine
After handling snakes, tarantulas and mice, students at Bellevue Charter School are now enjoying a key amenity: warm water with which to wash their hands. Until recently, kids had no germ-killing hot water to scrub up with # after visiting the Scitechtorium–the school’s interactive science building. Thanks to a grant by the Academy of Engineering…
Cambrians: no to water rate hike
Sustained applause from a standing-room-only crowd filled the Cambria Vets Hall on Nov. 2, after directors of the Cambria Community Services District unanimously certified a successful community protest vote against a hefty water and sewer rate hike. With 2,271 official protest letters filed by home-owners, renters, and business owners, Cambria became one of the first…
Carrizo: Here comes the sun
PG&E announced plans to purchase power from a solar-thermal power plant to be built in rural San Luis Obispo County. The Carrizo Solar Energy Farm Project is expected to deliver 177 megawatts per day by 2010 and cover one square mile of land outside the Carrizo Plains National Monument. It’s expected to create an estimated…
Letters
A lack of understanding breeds fear After reading numerous letters in response to Norman Mehl’s letter on nuclear power (“Nuclear is practical,” Oct. 25), I realize how many of the letters were written by individuals whose point was lost due to their clear disrespect for another point of view. The Nov. 1 letters written by…
Not Super-sized: Supervisors vote for a scaled-down pay hike
After exchanging some nervous jokes and hemming and hawing a bit at their most recent meeting, members of the SLO County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to give themselves a 6.34 percent raise this year. The hike comes on top of an 11.5 percent raise from the previous year, but it was less than some…
Money, money, money, money
I finally finished Pat the Bunny. Talk about a tome! I started it a few years back (I didn’t want to read War and Peace or some other cliche novel), and just last night wrapped up the gripping narrative of a small and verifiably fuzzy rodent-like animal, some kids, a dad who doesn’t shave very…
Fast facts
Watch professional golfers and other top players compete for $125,000 in prizes at the Straight Down Fall Classic at San Luis Obispo Country Club on Nov. 9, 10, and 11. The public is invited, with no admission fee. Presented by Heritage Oaks Bank, the tournament features PGA, Champions, and Nationwide Tour professionals club professionals and…
The language of the soul
Poets are an interesting bunch, a resourceful and rare breed of artist not typically motivated by money or fame. These lyricists seem mostly content (or malcontent) with possessing just enough ink and paper to get thoughts and images out of their minds and into the world, where the work is meant to be read. Aloud.…
