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The following article is only a portion of this special edition of New Times. Pick up this week’s issue to see the rest! Brian Singer graduated from the Cal Poly Applied Art and Design program in 1995 with hopes of becoming an accomplished fine artist. When he left San Luis Obispo for the professional world,…
Magic brownie chef heads to trial
After pleading not guilty to charges of food tampering, Arthur Wayne Bethel will return to court on Oct. 12 for a felony trial in the ongoing case of a four-twenty prank at Sierra Vista Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. On April 20, Bethel allegedly sent a plate of marijuana-fortified brownies to the hospital with…
Duke announces plan to sell Morro Bay plant
Duke is going to sell its natural-gas power plant in Morro Bay. According to a press release, Duke Energy announced a plan to sell off “all of Duke Energy North America’s physical and commercial assets outside the Midwestern United States.” The decision to sell off its merchant plants came from the corporate level, said David…
Commish will run for 2nd District Supe seat
Standing in front of the new San Luis Obispo County Government Center with his family and campaign staff this week, Bruce Gibson announced his bid to run for 2nd District county supervisor in June 2006. Standing at Gibson’s side for part of the press conference was Shirley Bianchi, the current 2nd District supervisor who recently…
Derks confesses to 1985 rape and murder
Peter Derks, the Arroyo Grande landscaper law enforcement investigators linked to a 20-year-old murder in Montaña de Oro State Park, has pleaded guilty and now faces life in prison without parole. Derks, who would have faced the death penalty had he gone to trial, was arrested last year after semen and other biological material found…
Get yer butts off the beach
ECOSLO, the Central Coast’s non-profit environmental resource center, is organizing the annual San Luis Obispo County Coastal Cleanup Day. This event has run for over 20 years and will take place this Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon in 23 cleanup sites from San Simeon to Point Sal. To simplify things, there will…
Letters
What is this, the Al-Jazeera Times? Let me see if I got this right. Bayard Stockton slams FEMA, Bush, the federal government, and goes on and on with a childish diatribe about a horrible act of nature and forgets some important facts (“Tears for America,” Sept. 8-15). Last time I checked, cities, counties, and state…
SLO ACLU to be no longer
In a statement, Ty Griffin, ACLU-SLO president, said: “The San Luis Obispo County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has informally notified its parent organization, the ACLU of Southern California, that it intends to dissolve. Because there has been no formal notification, neither the local chapter nor ACLU-SC has any further comment at this…
Going green
While most Cal Poly students are returning from a summer away from school, a small number of students are preparing to leave for three weeks. This summer a small group of Cal Poly students have been quickly erecting a house for a national sustainable-building competition. The house is completely powered by solar energy and is…
Too cool for school
Well, tra la la. Cal Poly’s inducting a new crop of potential alumni donors and cramming San Luis Obispo full of steaming hormones and leaking vandals once again. Against all my recommendations, New Times got suckered into the back-to-school-season hype and cranked out yet another special issue, packed with supposedly useful and insightful information for…
Police release info on Ostman murder
The SLO Police Department released more information last week regarding the murder of 59-year-old Sharon Ostman on July 11. Ostman’s body was found on the edge of San Luis Obispo Creek, below Mission Plaza. According to a SLOPD press release, Ostman died “as a result of a physical assault that did not involve a firearm…
Suicide forums tackle the taboo
“In his notes, he’d written ‘don’t forget me.'” Sherry Lack was not about to let that happen. Her son, Dean, committed suicide in 1999, eight days after his 15th birthday. Since then, Lack has shared her story in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria during annual suicide-prevention forums. This year, the Atascadero resident will also get…
Katrina aftermath
I continue holding my breath, over the last days and nights, as I remain completely overwhelmed with a persistent mix of compassion, sadness, dread, and hopeful promise for the people of the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans in particular. I wanted to write on local issues and ideas of concern, and talk to solutions for…
