John Brannon: Cambria is a daffy town

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• Letters to the Editor Feb. 2 - 8

  Letters to the Editor Feb. 2 - 8

  ‘Financial black hole’

  N ote to the Cambria Community Services District: The much-heralded Monterey desalination project is dead. The reasons are numerous, but financing loomed large. Has anyone done the numbers for Cambria? $20 million divided by 6,000 residents amounts to a financial liability many in this community will simply not be able to afford.

  It is time our CCSD gives up on the financial black hole they seem so committed to promote.

• Gardening on the Central Coast doesn’t end in November

  Gardening on the Central Coast doesn’t end in November

  Q: Gardening books say to clean up the garden, then sit back and relax. Is this true? — Donna Hoppe, Cambria

  A: Not quite. Those of us who live on the Central Coast don’t have a “long, dark winter” where we kick back, put our feet up and peruse seed catalogs while we wait for spring. Our climate produces edibles and flowers yearround, and our gardens need attention.

  After you finish pruning, clean up dead leaves and debris, spread new mulch and plant some winter color. November is a good time to put out cool-season annuals like Calendula, Cineraria, Cyclamen, Dianthus, candytuft, Iceland poppies, Nemesia, snapdragons, pansies, and Johnny-jump-ups. Purchase tulips, crocus and hyacinth bulbs and store them in the crisper of your refrigerator in a bed of slightly moist sawdust to give them chill time. The nurseries should be fully stocked with bulbs right now.

• 1,200 bicyclists take to North Coast roads Saturday

  1,200 bicyclists take to North Coast roads Saturday

  San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club will host its annual Lighthouse Bike Ride for Charities on Saturday, Sept. 24. About 1,200 bicycle riders are expected along roads from Cuesta College to Piedras Blancas, mostly on Highway 1.

  Northbound cyclists will exit the freeway and ride on Quintana and Main streets through Morro Bay. Morro Bay police officers will help control traffic.

  The course will open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

• Letters to the Editor 10/12

  Letters to the Editor 10/12

  Tune in to truth ­ What is happening in Manhattan with the Wall Street demonstrations is a learning center. People are coming together and forming discussion groups and classes. If you are watching what is actually going on (Democracy Now.org, ReaderSupportedNews.org, etc.), you see the young people with the doctors, professors, economists, journalists, students, writers, musicians, union workers in all jobs, middle-aged and elder citizens, street people, and blue- and white-collar workers becoming educated together.

  They are criticized for not knowing everything from the start, but that is a ludicrous criticism. They know that something is wrong and that people in power have no intention of fixing it. We the people have to do it.

  The right wing is trying, in their usual frenzy, to say this is a riot of the fringe and is like various revolutions in history, but they don’t mention the obvious one. This movement is most like the American Revolution and the period where a young country worked to try

• Letters to the Editor 10/17

  Letters to the Editor 10/17

  Working toward safety

  One year ago, mother and psychiatric technician Donna Gross was murdered on the job at Napa State Hospital. On Sunday, Oct. 23, workers at Atascadero State Hospital will hold a vigil honoring her and commemorating the first anniversary of her death. Members of the community are invited to attend this event, taking place from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the hospital’s entrance. Simultaneous vigils will occur at all state hospitals and developmental centers across the state.

  Donna’s murder sparked a statewide movement for improved living and working conditions for patients and staff at California’s state hospitals — the Safety Now Coalition. A recent study based on Department of Mental Health and Cal-OSHA records shows that assaults on psychiatric technicians rose by 30 percent and on registered nurses by 52 percent between 2005 and 2009. In the past five years, attacks on staff have doubled at ASH.