Cover Story
Ballots in your bills
Imagine if elections were completely different. Imagine if ballots # weren’t secret, if not voting would count as voting “yes.” Imagine an election where people who don’t own homes can’t necessarily vote at all. Now stop imagining. Those are all characteristics of Proposition 218 votes, several of which are underway in San Luis Obispo County over…
A vortex for trouble
Salty winds blow steadily off the Pacific, rustling the dried grass and occasionally stirring up dust as they pass over the site of the defunct Cambria Air Force Base, just south of Cambria. The 34-acre Cold War relic maintains an eerie calm, belying the excitement of recent raids by officials from the Air Pollution Control…
Watch the black smoke fly
Few things could be considered more epic–or iconic, for that matter–than the American Wild West. Unless you’re talking about Broadway. Or Elton John, who has to be right up there with McDonald’s or Coca-Cola in terms of ubiquitousness. Combining these three giants of American culture into one musical almost sounds like too much of a…
Not much changes for Pismo pigeons
Those pigeons pooping near the Pismo Beach Pier have once again made local headlines. The Santa Maria-based Pigeon Relocation Group, which reached an agreement with the Pismo Beach City Council in August to relocate the bothersome birds, recently backed out of the deal–claiming that too much public protest created a concern among members. About a…
Fast facts
In an effort to raise awareness about sexual assault and empower the community to take a stand against sexual violence, Cal Poly’s Sexual Assault Free Environment Resource will host the sixth annual Run to Remember on Oct. 24. The 5k run will take place at 6 p.m. on the campus’ Health Center Lawn, with early…
Blackbeard would be proud
Arrr. Wasteful scallywags be warned: Do not toss ye’ withered plants off the plank just yet. A trio of local green-thumbed pirate re-enactors has recently formed a grassroots organization that nurses injured plant life back to health, then donates the revived shrubs to the underprivileged. “Our mission is to rescue, revive, recycle, and reuse plants…
Take the trip
# Can you imagine how hot it must be to wear a Steve Perry wig and sing Journey songs under hot stage lights? Think of it: Sweat’s pouring down your face, threatening to make your eyeliner run. You’re probably wearing one of those tailed tux jackets, so your pits are hot enough to smelt copper.…
Range of talent
Rather than write an ordinary restaurant review (albeit one deserving high praise), I prefer telling the story of an uncommon chef. I often meet passionate young cooks who share with me their dream of attending one of our esteemed American culinary academies, which compels me to set them straight by explaining there are two ways…
County supervisors look at pay increase
SLO County supervisors are considering raising their own salaries by as much as 18 percent, which would take their pay up to $93,400 a year, plus benefits. An item about that and other pay raise options was on the agenda for their Oct. 16 meeting, but the item went undiscussed. A public hearing is set…
Athletes don’t have to take P.E.–for now
The San Luis Obispo Unified School District board of trustees narrowly voted to grant a temporary exemption from physical education classes for students who play on high school sports teams. Prior to this school year, a similar exemption was common in the district, but a new state law mandated that all high school freshmen and…
Nipomo considers $80 million desal plant
Nipomo will “almost certainly” choose seawater desalination as the best option for resolving its water shortage, Nipomo Community Services District General Manager Bruce Buel told the SLO County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 16. The service district’s consultant, Boyle Engineering, has looked at three possible locations for an $80 million desal plant with water intake…
Letters
Maybe the whole place should be parking When I hear of stories like that of the conflict in Pozo (“A Pozo state of mind,” Oct. 11), I can’t help but feel that it is indicative of the greed in our culture. Enough is never enough. While the owners say all the right things and appear…
Sheriff was told he would have likely been fired
Sheriff Pat Hedges was told by SLO County’s chief administrative officer, David Edge, that if the law official weren’t in an elected office, he probably would have been fired by the county for covertly videotaping a meeting between Chief Deputy Gary Hoving and Sgt. Jay Donovan a year ago. That’s one of many revelations contained…
The sheriff reads New Times
Just call us Exihibit No. 1, or Appendix A for short. In SLO County Sheriff Pat Hedges’ increasingly Nixonian legal defense of his surreptitious videotaping of a top deputy, he listed the New Times’ Oct. 4 cover story about the calls for him to stand down while he’s being investigated as his primary evidence that…
Friends no more
Dear “friends”: It’s been almost three years since I found my place on the Internet, an address to post pictures of myself for strangers, keep track of long-distance friends, and act on my own voyeuristic urges: MySpace. It’s free, easy to use, and entertaining, but lately, I’ve begun to wonder, is MySpace evil? Admittedly, when…
Hillside projects face opposition
Proponents of developing four linked projects in the now-open hillside above SLO’s Johnson Avenue have run into organized neighborhood opposition and a handful of unforeseen stumbling blocks, including the recusal of one prominent supporter, Mayor Dave Romero, whose home is so near one of the projects that attorneys advised him he would have a conflict…
