SLO County Roundup

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• Paso Robles teen center gets freshening up

  Paso Robles teen center gets freshening up

  Bright shapes of color helped some Paso Robles’ youth express how having a teen center in the city is important to them.

  The participants in Community Action Partnership’s Generation Next youth leadership program finished painting a mural Monday, which they will unveil to the community Thursday, marking the completion of their latest community service project to promote the center’s new name.

  Formerly called LifeBound Leadership, the Paso Robles program aims to help youth become leaders through classes and activities so teens stay out of trouble. There’s also a similar program in Nipomo.

• South County programs let teens 'Aim High'

  South County programs let teens 'Aim High'

  On Feb. 1, at a mental health forum in Arroyo Grande sponsored by Transitions-Mental Health Association, called Journey of Hope, I was entranced by a vocal and guitar song presented by James Statler, executive director of the Community Counseling Center, and Helen Tang, 17, of Nipomo High School.

  Called “Aim High,” the song was a collaboration between Statler when he was director of Generation Next (formerly LifeBound) in Nipomo and his students. Helen’s clear voice rang out in the large auditorium.

  Fast-forward to March at Andreini’s Coffee House in the Arroyo Grande Village, where I got to hear the song again, this time performed just for me. Tang is the president of Nipomo High School’s Friday Night Live chapter.

• Deadlines for Mid-State Fair applications are approaching

  Deadlines for Mid-State Fair applications are approaching

  As organizers gear up for the California Mid State Fair, they encourage the public to keep deadlines in mind for Friends of the Fair applications and 4-H and FFA scholarship applications.

• Letters to the Editor 1/16

  Letters to the Editor 1/16

  Truth about ID laws

  President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have been accused of trying to “scare up some votes” by opposing the voter suppression movement by the Republican right wing across the nation in this election year. Here are the facts to counter the half-truths and outright lies used to justify the new voter ID laws passed in many Republican run states.

  First, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN, never committed “voter fraud” as the right wing suggests. A few of their paid registration form gatherers submitted their material, ACORN checked the forms, “tagged” the ones found fraudulent and submitted them all as required by law. The Republican propaganda machine called this Democrats’ “massive fraud and corrupt practices.”

• Viewpoint: Healthy families advance the health of a community

  Viewpoint: Healthy families advance the health of a community

  Back in 1776, we found common ground around “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Today, while we respect and honor our Americanism, we tend to find ourselves belonging to an ever-evolving variety of diverse groups. How we increase our capacity to recognize common ground when our groups honor a cornucopia of different values and missions can seem daunting at times.

  At United Way of San Luis Obispo, we believe we can find common ground around “Life, liberty and the pursuit of education, income and health.”

  We’re advancing the common good through our focus on education, income and health — the building blocks to a good quality of life.