Newspaper of the Central Coast SanLuisObispo.com THE...
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IN TODAY’S HOME Where it’s always 1949 Cambria home goes retro THE TRIBUNE Friday, February 16, 2007 For home delivery: 781-7878 San Luis Obispo County, California 50¢ INCLUDES TAX Newspaper of the Central Coast • SanLuisObispo.com Business C1 Classifieds E1 Comics C6 Crossword E7 Calendar B3 Dear Abby C5 Horoscope C5 Lottery A2 Movies C4 Nation A5 Obituaries B2 Opinion B4 Sports D1 State A4 TV Listings C5 World A7 Your guide to this newspaper Weather Mostly sunny skies today around the county. Highs of 69 at the coast, 77 inland and 74 in the North County. Full forecast, Page D6 Local home sales, median price drop again ALSO, grape harvest was way down from record 2005 >> ON PAGE C1 TOP BUSINESS STORIES Today’s vote on Iraq puts Republicans under pressure >> ON PAGE A3 H O U S EO FR E P R E S E NT A TI V E S TOP NEWS STORIES CALIFORNIA: Two accused of burning woman to death A4 FOSSILS: Even 6,100 years ago, people craved chili peppers’ sizzle A7 TOP LOCAL STORIES Parks panel backs veterans memorial A T AS CAD E R O >> ON PAGE B1 AR R O Y OG R AN D E Local woman remembered through dance >> ON PAGE B1 High school performance will celebrate the life of a young cancer victim The city Parks and Recreation Commission votes to support the statue proposed for Atascadero Lake Park Mousetraps that go zoom >> ON PAGE B1 BE LIKE EMMITT STYLE & TRENDS | IN LIVING , C8 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE UPDATE | IN SPORTS, D1 WHO WILL POLY PLAY? Coming this week in The Tribune SATURDAY: PEOPLE Focus on Couric How Katie Couric is putting her stamp on the ‘CBS Evening News’ SUNDAY: SPECIAL SECTION Guide to the race Everything you need to know about the Tour of California’s visit to SLO MONDAY: PERSONAL TECH Kids rejoice! Why video games could actually be good — and educational — for your kids SUDDENLY, REGULAR GUYS ARE GIVING DANCE LESSONS A TRY By David Whitney [email protected] WASHINGTON — A deal between federal wa- ter officials and several irrigation districts in the Central Valley may keep selenium-tainted water there instead of allowing it to be pumped through a pipeline and into the ocean near Cayucos. The Federal Bureau of Reclamation has worked for years to determine how to dispose of billions of gallons of water with high levels of the naturally occurring mineral. One proposal that surfaced in 2002 and was reinvigorated last year called for the water to be dumped in the ocean off San Luis Obispo County. But federal transfer of a big piece of the Cen- tral Valley Project to irrigators so they can pay for disposing the drain water in their area, and not the coast, was floated on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Initial reactions ranged from skepti- cism to outright praise. The collaboration involving the federal Bureau of Reclamation and 10 irrigation districts (led by kingpin Westlands Water District) would transfer, at no cost, the federal portion of the CVP’s San Luis Unit — reservoirs, pumping plants, about 100 miles of canals and possibly even power plants — to a joint-powers authority that irrigators would create to pay for cleaning up the drainage mess. The San Luis Unit is in the west San Joaquin Valley. Deal could keep tainted water from coast Mardi Gras ————————— Please see SELENIUM, Back Page Electrifying education: Kids get a charge out of demonstration Local krewes are celebrating quietly amid a crackdown on rowdy revelers By Sally Connell [email protected] Mardi Gras of San Luis Obispo has not picked a king and queen this year, and there will be no masked ball full of costumed revelers. In fact, organizers report, the only public gathering where regular folk can rub shoulders with Mardi Gras krewe members is at a craw- fish boil Sunday at Frog & Peach Pub in San Luis Obispo. It’s a far cry from the days when there was a festival, a parade and a ball. But those festivities stretch back to a time be- fore 2004, when San Luis Obispo’s Mardi Gras became synonymous with rowdy, rioting young people and subsequent crackdowns by police. This year, the folks at SLO Mardi Gras have been partying — feathers and all — but in a much less visible way. The three major krewes, the Krewe of Sybarites, the Krewe of Beleza Sol and the Krewe of Bon Temps, have thrown themed pri- The state Coastal Commission wants to meet with state parks officials to talk about how to bet- ter protect threatened and endangered species at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. The commission is not satisfied with the sur- vival rates of young snowy plovers, one of two rare species of shorebird that nest in the park. On Thursday, the commission considered pro- tections now in place for threatened and endan- gered wildlife at the park. For more on how Coastal Commission staff will proceed with the panel’s wishes, see Page B1. By Seth Borenstein Associated Press WASHINGTON — It may be cold comfort during a frigid Feb- ruary, but last month was by far the hottest January ever. The broken record was fueled by a waning El Niño and a gradu- ally warming world, according to U.S. scientists who reported the data Thursday. Records on the planet’s temperature have been kept since 1880. Spurred on by unusually warm Siberia, Canada, northern Asia and Europe, the world’s land areas were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than a normal January, ac- cording to the U.S. National Climat- ic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. That didn’t just nudge past the old record set in 2002 but broke that mark by 0.81 degrees, which mete- orologists said is a lot because such records often are broken by hun- dredths of a degree at a time. The temperature of the world’s land and water combined — the most effective measurement — was 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal, breaking the old record by more than one- quarter of a degree. Ocean tem- peratures alone didn’t set a record. In the Northern Hemisphere, land areas were 4.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal for January, breaking the old record by about three-quarters of a degree. But the United States was about normal. The nation was 0.94 de- grees Fahrenheit above normal for January, ranking only the 49th warmest since 1895. No parade, no ball — only a crawfish boil TRIBUNE PHOTO BY JOE JOHNSTON Electricity filled the air of the gymnasium at Centennial Park in Paso Robles on Thursday morning as demonstrations of a Tesla coil, a high-frequency transformer, excited high school and middle school students. The equipment and presentation by Terry Schwalk of the Santa Cruz Institute of Particle Physics was the second annual Tesla event in Paso Robles. High school teachers Ralph Lewis, shown here, and Mark Fairbank earned applause from the students after donning metal suits and putting themselves in contact with the 1 million volts of electricity emitted from the coil. Please see MARDI GRAS, Back Page Panel wants to discuss shorebird safety at Dunes Central Valley’s selenium-fouled water may not be pumped into the ocean near Cayucos after all Cold snap aside, January was world’s hottest ever
Transcript of Newspaper of the Central Coast SanLuisObispo.com THE...
IN TODAY’S HOME
Where it’salways 1949Cambria home goes retro
THE TRIBUNEFriday, February 16, 2007For home delivery: 781-7878 S a n L u i s O b i s p o C o u n t y , C a l i f o r n i a
50¢INCLUDES TAX
Newspaper of the Central Coast • SanLuisObispo.com
Business C1
Classifieds E1
Comics C6
Crossword E7
Calendar B3
Dear Abby C5
Horoscope C5
Lottery A2
Movies C4
Nation A5
Obituaries B2
Opinion B4
Sports D1
State A4
TV Listings C5
World A7
Your guide to this newspaperWeatherMostly sunny skies todayaround the county. Highs of 69at the coast, 77 inland and 74in the North County.
Full forecast, Page D6
Local home sales,median pricedrop againALSO, grape harvest wasway down from record 2005
>> ON PAGE C1
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Today’s vote on Iraq putsRepublicans under pressure>> ON PAGE A3
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TOP NEWS STORIES
CALIFORNIA: Twoaccused of burningwoman to death A4
FOSSILS: Even 6,100years ago, people cravedchili peppers’ sizzle A7
TOP LOCAL STORIES
Parks panel backsveterans memorial
ATASCADERO
>> ON PAGE B1
ARROYO GRANDE
Local womanrememberedthrough dance
>> ON PAGE B1
High school performancewill celebrate the lifeof a young cancer victim
The city Parks and Recreation Commission votes tosupport the statue proposed for Atascadero Lake Park
Mousetrapsthat go zoom>> ON PAGE B1
BE LIKEEMMITT
STYLE & TRENDS | IN LIVING, C8FOOTBALL SCHEDULE UPDATE | INSPORTS, D1
WHO WILL POLY PLAY?
Coming this week in The TribuneSATURDAY: PEOPLE
Focus on CouricHow Katie Couric is puttingher stamp on the ‘CBSEvening News’
SUNDAY: SPECIAL SECTION
Guide to the raceEverything you need toknow about the Tour ofCalifornia’s visit to SLO
MONDAY: PERSONAL TECH
Kids rejoice!Why video games couldactually be good — andeducational — for your kids
SUDDENLY, REGULAR GUYS AREGIVING DANCE LESSONS A TRY
By David [email protected]
WASHINGTON — A deal between federal wa-ter officials and several irrigation districts in theCentral Valley may keep selenium-tainted waterthere instead of allowing it to be pumped througha pipeline and into the ocean near Cayucos.
The Federal Bureau of Reclamation has
worked for years to determine how to dispose ofbillions of gallons of water with high levels ofthe naturally occurring mineral. One proposalthat surfaced in 2002 and was reinvigorated lastyear called for the water to be dumped in theocean off San Luis Obispo County.
But federal transfer of a big piece of the Cen-tral Valley Project to irrigators so they can pay
for disposing the drain water in their area, andnot the coast, was floated on Capitol Hill onThursday. Initial reactions ranged from skepti-cism to outright praise.
The collaboration involving the federal Bureauof Reclamation and 10 irrigation districts (led bykingpin Westlands Water District) would transfer,at no cost, the federal portion of the CVP’s San
Luis Unit — reservoirs, pumping plants, about100 miles of canals and possibly even power plants— to a joint-powers authority that irrigators wouldcreate to pay for cleaning up the drainage mess.
The San Luis Unit is in the west San JoaquinValley.
Deal could keep tainted water from coast
M a r d i G r a s—————————
Please see SELENIUM, Back Page
Electrifying education: Kids get a charge out of demonstration
Local krewes are celebrating quietlyamid a crackdown on rowdy revelers
By Sally [email protected]
Mardi Gras of San Luis Obispo has not pickeda king and queen this year, and there will be nomasked ball full of costumed revelers.
In fact, organizers report, the only publicgathering where regular folk can rub shoulderswith Mardi Gras krewe members is at a craw-fish boil Sunday at Frog & Peach Pub in SanLuis Obispo.
It’s a far cry from the days when there was afestival, a parade and a ball.
But those festivities stretch back to a time be-fore 2004, when San Luis Obispo’s Mardi Grasbecame synonymous with rowdy, rioting youngpeople and subsequent crackdowns by police.
This year, the folks at SLO Mardi Gras havebeen partying — feathers and all — but in amuch less visible way.
The three major krewes, the Krewe ofSybarites, the Krewe of Beleza Sol and theKrewe of Bon Temps, have thrown themed pri-
The state Coastal Commission wants to meetwith state parks officials to talk about how to bet-ter protect threatened and endangered speciesat the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular RecreationArea.
The commission is not satisfied with the sur-vival rates of young snowy plovers, one of two rarespecies of shorebird that nest in the park.
On Thursday, the commission considered pro-tections now in place for threatened and endan-gered wildlife at the park.
For more on how Coastal Commission staffwill proceed with the panel’s wishes, see Page B1.
By Seth BorensteinAssociated Press
WASHINGTON — It may becold comfort during a frigid Feb-ruary, but last month was by farthe hottest January ever.
The broken record was fueledby a waning El Niño and a gradu-ally warming world, according toU.S. scientists who reported thedata Thursday. Records on the
planet’s temperature have beenkept since 1880.
Spurred on by unusually warmSiberia, Canada, northern Asia andEurope, the world’s land areaswere 3.4 degrees Fahrenheitwarmer than a normal January, ac-cording to the U.S. National Climat-ic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.That didn’t just nudge past the oldrecord set in 2002 but broke that
mark by 0.81 degrees, which mete-orologists said is a lot because suchrecords often are broken by hun-dredths of a degree at a time.
The temperature of the world’sland and water combined — themost effective measurement —was 1.53 degrees Fahrenheitwarmer than normal, breaking theold record by more than one-quarter of a degree. Ocean tem-
peratures alone didn’t set a record.In the Northern Hemisphere,
land areas were 4.1 degreesFahrenheit warmer than normal forJanuary, breaking the old record byabout three-quarters of a degree.
But the United States was aboutnormal. The nation was 0.94 de-grees Fahrenheit above normalfor January, ranking only the 49thwarmest since 1895.
No parade,no ball — onlya crawfish boil
TRIBUNE PHOTO BY JOE JOHNSTON
Electricity filled the air of the gymnasium at CentennialPark in Paso Robles on Thursday morning as demonstrationsof a Tesla coil, a high-frequency transformer, excited highschool and middle school students. The equipment andpresentation by Terry Schwalk of the Santa Cruz Institute of
Particle Physics was the second annual Tesla event in PasoRobles. High school teachers Ralph Lewis, shown here, andMark Fairbank earned applause from the students afterdonning metal suits and putting themselves in contact withthe 1 million volts of electricity emitted from the coil.
Please see MARDI GRAS, Back Page
Panel wants to discussshorebird safety at Dunes
Central Valley’s selenium-fouled water may not be pumped into the ocean near Cayucos after all
Cold snap aside, January was world’s hottest ever
