If the 7.0-magnitude earthquake 30 miles off the northern California shore was not a wake-up call for residents of San Luis Obispo, are they waiting for the one that could possibly strike 30 yards off the coast of San Luis Obispo? Seismologists have long warned that an overdue “Big One” (7.8 magnitude or higher), which […]
Opinion
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Soaring to new heights
Old Town Lompoc is about to grow up. At the ripe age of 150 years old, the city is primed for a good ol’ fashioned growth spurt—from 45 feet to 50 feet tall. Lompoc is aiming for increasing its housing density, both to comply with state law and some city goals. To do that, the […]
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Environmental groups are threatening South SLO County’s water security
As the San Luis Obispo County supervisor representing South County, I am deeply concerned about the recent lawsuit and court decision against the county regarding the county’s operation of Lopez Dam. This lawsuit is a judicial end run around the county’s years-long administrative process with the state and federal agencies that are responsible for regulating […]
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Jazz Jubilee Central Coast 2024—a big success!
The Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club has been promoting jazz on the Central Coast with monthly dance concerts and an annual festival for almost 50 years. BSR also provides scholarships to Jazz Camp for young musicians who are interested in furthering their knowledge of music and jazz—learning from the pros! This fall, the Basin […]
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Issues and action
In a first for Lompoc, the city now has an environmental justice element. City staff may have swung this one through the council in the nick of time! Mayor Jenelle Osborne is on the way out and Mayor Elect Jim Mosby is on his way in. I can’t imagine any sort of environmental justice anything […]
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Lompoc has had consistently poor mail service
“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor the gloom of night stays these couriers from the completion of their appointed rounds” has been the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service for generations. According to its website, one of the official missions of the U.S. Postal Service “is to provide the nation with reliable” service. […]
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Democracy’s gotten a raw deal
The “original sin” was having super delegates in the first place (“Democrats are paying now for their 2020 deal with the devil,” Nov. 21). If democracy had been allowed to run its natural course, in 2016, Bernie Sanders would have beaten Trump and we wouldn’t be having this conversation today. Of the people, by the […]
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Masatani’s Market will be sorely missed
Change is in the air. Masatani’s Market is closing in Guadalupe, possibly replaced by another business, run by someone else. MM has been part of Guadalupe’s community since 1922. When the Masatani family was interned during World War II, the community welcomed their return and supported the business ever since. It really was the unofficial […]
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Renewable energy will eventually replace fossil fuel
Thank you for publishing another well-informed and well-written piece by John Ashbaugh (“Don’t be afraid to talk about climate change during the holidays,” Dec. 5). The statement by Trump’s nominee for secretary for energy, Chris Wright, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either,” is just wishful […]
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It’s never too late
Tourism is the answer to all of our budget woes! Even if the economy tanks, tourists will still be here—oh wait, probably not. But still, they should be paying for our needs! At least according to voters in the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara County, who voted to increase bed taxes in Solvang, Buellton, […]
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Don’t be afraid to talk about climate change during the holidays
It’s drizzling as I write this, just before Thanksgiving. Maybe we’ll have a “normal” rainfall year! Maybe we can set aside our perpetual worries about another drought cycle. As the hills “green up,” we can worry less about wildfires erupting in our hillsides and destroying us, as we saw in the Mountain Fire in Ventura […]
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We’re cutting down an oak forest in Nipomo
The Dana “Reserve” is an oxymoron, since it reserves nothing. More than 3,000 native California quercus agrifolia, which have lived free in the land of their ancestors for millennia, are to be sacrificed on the altar of lucre. Take a deep breath, and it is air they have filtered. Walk beneath their canopy, take a […]
