Allan Cooper
Ian Parkinson is my sheriff but he does not speak for me when he opposes gun control.
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Reduce global warming, plant a tree
OPINION by ALLAN COOPER In urban “heat islands,” vast stretches of asphalt magnify and reflect sun, sending CO2 directly skyward and creating “dead zones” below. Adding street trees can actually lower summer temperatures through evaporative cooling. A tree forms an oasis of shade, provides wildlife habitat, and improves air quality. Forest soil acts as a sponge for water […]... (Continue Reading)
Should SLO reevaluate plans to increase work-force housing?
OPINION by ALLAN COOPER Many residents in San Luis Obispo who work to preserve the quality of their environment support increasing the supply of so-called “work force housing.” This is fundamentally good for the environment because it could reduce long commutes in and out of our work centers. However the SLO City Council holds these […]... (Continue Reading)
SLO residents rally to have their voices heard
OPINION by ALLAN COOPER On Tuesday, July 5, at 5 p.m., a group of residents will be standing on the San Luis Obispo City Hall steps with signs reading “Resident Voices Matter.” Why? Because over the past two years our collective voices, particularly within the context of SLO City Council appeals, are not being heard. […]... (Continue Reading)
SLO is truly Camelot
OPINION by ALLAN COOPER Welcome to San Luis Obispo, the “happy city of denial” where city officials, the Downtown Association and the police department annually produce self-congratulatory crime reports. Just the other day, the city informs us that DUI’s aren’t really going up. There are merely more cops on the beat. Last year we heard […]... (Continue Reading)
Letter to the editor: No excuse for torture
OPINION By ALLAN COOPER Listening to Dick Cheney defend torture on “Meet The Press” is akin to hearing Idi Amin justify cannibalism. Imagine that you are one of the 26 innocent detainees who was confined for 29 hours in a box that measures 21 inches wide, 30 inches deep and 30 inches high, you can […]... (Continue Reading)
Letter to the editor: Why newspapers are folding
OPINION By ALLAN COOPER I am one of the few people I know who actually enjoys reading a daily newspaper printed on paper and delivered to my door. However, many years have passed, and I’m not counting, when I have repeatedly complained to my local newspaper that I have not had a paper delivered. I […]... (Continue Reading)
Letter to the editor: SLO’s unfair permitting process
OPINION By ALLAN COOPER When San Luis Obispo City staff denied, in January, a bar/tavern use permit at 1060 Osos Street, their rationale was as follows: “A new bar/tavern, the 64th license downtown…compounds the state of over concentration and thwarts the city’s recent progress in controlling the downtown alcohol environment.” In spite of this, planning […]... (Continue Reading)
Letter to the editor: Ban cluster bombs
OPINION By ALLAN COOPER President Obama was quoted recently saying that the murder of reporter James Foley by Islamic State militants was an act of terrorism. Obama’s saber-rattling speech was obviously provoked by the manner in which Foley was executed…vis-a-vis decapitation…which has been described by the popular press as “barbaric.” And yet the U.S. is […]... (Continue Reading)
Ian Parkinson does not speak for me
OPINION By ALLAN COOPER Ian Parkinson is my sheriff but he does not speak for me when he opposes gun control. He argues that the problem does not lie with the over-preponderance of guns in our society but rather with the untreated problem of the mentally ill. Though I fully agree society has not fulfilled […]... (Continue Reading)
