Opinion


San Luis Obispo’s Laguna Lake needs dredging

OPINION By JIM FOLEY The Laguna Lake Natural Reserve Conservation Plan is long and complicated and the dredging permit process itself is also long and complicated. According to the city biologist there may be agencies that don’t even want us... (Continue reading)

Terrible choices for leadership in Los Osos

OPINION By TOM SALMON The Los Osos Community Services District has three seats up for election on Nov. 4. While some are optimistic to see change, I’d like to shed some light on who remains on the board for another... (Continue reading)

Why I oppose the Arroyo Grande City Charter

OPINION By JIM HILL The passage of Arroyo Grande City Charter, Measure C-14 on city ballots, would make two fundamental changes from the general law requirements that are not in residents’ interests. First, as explicitly stated in Section 302 of... (Continue reading)

Another back-room romance: government and local media

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” — Philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky OPINION By DANIEL BLACKBURN It used to be that citizens who had the nerve to... (Continue reading)

Dirty dealings at Arroyo Grande Council meeting

OPINION By TORY RAND As I walked into the Arroyo Grande City Council Chambers on the evening of Oct. 14, after having done so many times over the last year, I immediately noticed one thing, instead of the usual six... (Continue reading)

Dredging Laguna Lake before the rains makes sense

OPINION By JIM FOLEY An open letter to the San Luis Obispo City Council: I have been a resident of San Luis Obispo for 35 years, 18 spent living on Laguna Lake. For well over a decade, I and many... (Continue reading)

The NRC needs to consider seismic data in Diablo Canyon license renewal

OPINION By FRIENDS OF THE EARTH Friends of the Earth has filed a petition to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission proceeding that would allow Pacific Gas & Electric’s controversial Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors to run for an additional twenty... (Continue reading)

Arroyo Grande citizens have a right to know

OPINION By OTIS PAGE The citizens of Arroyo Grande’s rights to know, per the Brown Act, that they may be informed, is preempted, forestalled, obstructed and blocked by California Code 54957. It provides for the exclusion of the citizens from... (Continue reading)

County should manage Paso Robles groundwater basin

OPINION By SUE HARVEY There’s lots of talk out there but you may be wondering what’s up with the future of groundwater management in the Paso Robles water basin. On October 14 the supervisors will be deciding if they want... (Continue reading)

Speaker ejected from contentious Arroyo Grande Council meeting

OPINION By OTIS PAGE In a very special example of hindsight, the Arroyo Grande City Council called a special meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning to take public comments, hail the Brown Act, on the plan to select an... (Continue reading)