InBrief: Bentz joins race for CCSD board; Lot clearing review at meeting today; Crews paving highway north of Cambria; Man injured in San Simeon improving; Suess in the Vault, starting Saturday

Bentz joins race for CCSD board

Two more candidates have filed papers to run for local offices, but two races don’t yet have anyone running. The filing deadline is Aug. 6; the general election will be on Nov. 2.

As of Monday, July 19, no one had signed up yet to run for two seats on the San Simeon Community Services District or three seats on the Cambria Community Healthcare District. Terry Lambeth and Dee Dee Ricci’s seats are in play for the San Simeon election; the terms of Runo Lemming, Frank Fratto and John Hedding are expiring on the healthcare board.

Professor and author Valerie Bentz has joined the race for the Cambria Community Services District board, joining incumbent Greg Sanders, businessman/college professor Jim Bahringer and gardener/astrologer Harry Farmer. Two seats are up for grabs; Sanders’ and that of retiring longtime member Peter Chaldecott.

Gretchen Ross of Cayucos has qualified as a candidate for the Coast Unified School District’s Board of Directors, becoming the first person to enter that race. Seats currently held by Dianne Brooke and Del Clegg will be in play; neither has announced their intentions.

If any eligible incumbent doesn’t file for reelection, the filing deadline is Aug. 11.

For details, go to www.slocounty.ca.gov.

— Kathe Tanner

Lot clearing review at meeting today

As Cambria Community Services District winds up its vacant-lot weed-abatement program for 2010, Cal Fire firefighters are fanning out in residential areas, checking for compliance with state laws about clearing flammable plants and brush from North Coast properties with structures on them.

At the district’s board meeting today, Thursday, July 22, directors will hold a public hearing to consider confirming the Cambria Fire Department’s report on the Fire Hazard Fuel Reduction program that included having contractor Mike Rice and his crew clear brush, weeds, grass and downed trees from 83 lots in one month.

In April, the district notified about 2,000 owners of vacant lands in the district of the requirement to have those flammables removed from their properties, in order to reduce fire risk.

Fire Chief Mark Miller said Monday, July 19, that Rice had charged approximately $32,350 for the work, and the district added $33,200 in administration fees, for a total of nearly $65,550 in charges.

Charges for individual lots ranged from about $400 to nearly $2,500. Some figures weren’t final when the report was prepared, but in some cases, the district’s $400 service fee is considerably more than the amount that Rice charged.

Once directors approve the report, the bills will be forwarded to the county tax collector to be added onto the landowners’ property tax bills.

The district’s meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building. For more on the meeting, go to PublicMeetings on Page 4, or get the full agenda listing at www.cambriacsd.org. (A related story appears on Page 3.)

— Kathe Tanner

Crews paving highway north of Cambria

Motorists may be delayed up to 15 minutes on Highway 1 between San Simeon Acres and Hearst Castle as crews pave the road today, July 22, and Friday, July 23, according to Caltrans.

Work hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Work began Monday, July 19. Souza Construction of San Luis Obispo is the contractor for the $405,000 project on a 1.5 mile stretch from Little Pico Creek Bridge to the entrance to the Hearst Castle Visitor Center.

For traffic updates on state highways, call 800-427-7623 or go to www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi.

— Staff

Man injured in San Simeon improving

Extreme sportsman and Pismo Beach resident Kinsley Thomas Wong remained in the intensive care unit of Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center on Monday, July 19, but his condition has been upgraded to serious from critical, hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson said.

“He’s moving in the right direction,” Yukelson said.

Wong, 43, was injured in a kiteboarding crash in San Simeon on Thursday afternoon, July 15.

In kiteboarding, a person is strapped onto a board and is harnessed to a huge kite. The kiteboarder uses wind to propel himself across the sea. Wong, an expert kiteboarder and kiting instructor, is the entrepreneur behind XtremeBigAir in Pismo Beach.

Wong was along the shore south of Pico Creek in San Simeon Acres when the accident happened at about 4 p.m. Thursday.

When a gust of wind caught Wong’s kite, he apparently was pulled out of the water and dropped on the rocks, said retired Cambria dentist Dean Hilger, who was kiting that day.

Emergency responders who examined Wong on the beach near Pico Creek reported that he was unconscious and unresponsive but breathing, said Eryn Tsudama, spokeswoman for Cal Fire.

A Calstar air ambulance took Wong to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, where he was treated before being transferred Thursday evening to Sierra Vista.

— Cynthia Lambert and Kathe Tanner

Suess in the Vault, starting Saturday

The Vault Gallery of Cambria will present “The Art of Dr. Seuss – Rare Editions Event” July 24 to Aug. 8.

Celebrating the artistic legacy of Theodor Seuss Geisel, 24 of the most sought-after artworks will be presented at the gallery with recent releases from The Art of Dr. Seuss collection, one of the largest selections of authorized estate editions ever assembled. This exhibition offers an insider’s view of the extraordinary imagery reproduced from Dr. Seuss’s private collection of paintings and sculptures created throughout his 70 years of artistic innovation.

Artist representative Jeff Schuffman will be present at the exhibition opening at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 24, to provide insights into Geisel’s artistic life, his unique vision and his impact on American culture. A portion of sale proceeds will benefit the Woods Humane Society.

The gallery is at 2289 Main St. in Cambria’s East Village.

— Staff

Car wash to help send kids to camp

A hand car wash fundraiser to help sent Cambria elementary school-aged youth to Hume Lake Christian Camp (Wagon Train) is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 31, in the parking lot at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St.

A $10 donation includes exterior wash and window cleaning. All proceeds will go toward registration fees for the Aug. 1 to 7 camp.

Organizers expressed their appreciation to Tim Winsor for the donation of water and use of a water truck and to the Cambria Community Services District for waiving the fee for use of lot.

Donations of money, car wash supplies, or Woodies Pizza for those working the July 31 fundraiser may be made by calling Leah Reedall at 927-5672.

— Staff

Tyler to lead ‘Search for Soul’ at Cuesta

Cambria author Bobbe Tyler will use her award-winning book “Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guide” in a six-week seminar she’s leading at Cuesta College beginning Aug. 14.

Tyler plans to use the work of psychoanalyst C.G. Jung as she leads participants in reading, discussing and writing “to a deep and meaningful level of the psyche as they respond to six key ‘inner life’ questions awaiting serious consideration.”

Participants are asked to bring writing materials and the book (available for purchase at the first meeting for $15) to every class.

The seminar will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on six Saturdays in Building 4700, Room 4760. The class fee is $76.

For details, go to bobbetyler.com or call 546-3132.

— Staff