Volume 10
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Issue 5
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August 11-24, 2016
YOUR COMMUNITY IN YOUR HANDS These kiddos came with their parents to celebrate the third anniversary of See Canyon Cider Co. on the tasting room’s picturesque grounds. Photo by Camas Frank with more info on page 4.
Dredging Plan Heads to Council
Black Lives Matter on the Central Coast
By Camas Frank
By Camas Frank
E
xactly two years ago folks were standing in the middle of Laguna Lake taking panorama shots from the bottom of a dustbowl. Times may have changed as the lake grew blue and beautiful again this April, but the issues that locals in the subdivisions abutting the Lake rose then, about a history of neglect and sediment buildup are starting to be addressed. The City of SLO’s Natural Resource Manager Bob Hill
tolosapress.com
led a public meeting Aug.4 for locals to hear what staff has come up with regarding the Laguna Lake Dredging and Sediment Management Project. Held in the Multi-Purpose Room at Laguna Middle School, about 120 residents turned out. Hill, Assistant City Manager Derek Johnson and members of the hired consultant team from MNS Engineering gave a brief run See Lake, page 11
Expanding Art Page 12
Building Spree Page 43
B
reaking through the initial discomfort of discussing race in a mostly-White community, isn’t easy. Most people don’t want to have the conversation. However, as part of the global village, residents in SLO are unusually good at connecting with national events. When a terrorist in Orlando committed acts of mass violence and hatred against the LGBT community, allies in SLO rallied with the local Gay And
Lesbian Alliance to hold a march to Mission Plaza and a vigil in solidarity. Sadly the violence hasn’t ended with large one-off attacks and while it was easier for locals to unite against sudden and shocking malice carried out on the bodies of one minority group, it’s taken a slow burn of repeated headlines to catch attention for others.
See Black Lives, page 12