SLO County Roundup

The Pacific Wildlife Care rehabilitation center in Morro Bay is the first such facility in the nation to receive a federal permit to band birds.

The permit from the National Banding Laboratory allows animal rescue workers to place temporary bands on birds that they rehabilitate, said Kelly Vandenheuvel, the group’s spokeswoman. The bands will enable tracking of the birds in the months following their release.

Rescue workers had noticed that some birds were familiar with hand-feeding routines at the rehab center, which made them suspect that the birds were repeat visitors.

The bands are expected to last six months in the wild before falling off. The bands will contain the rehab center’s telephone number and other contact information.

The first bird to receive one of the bands is a juvenile turkey vulture who is scheduled for release at the Lake Nacimiento dam.

— David Sneed

Cal Poly

The university’s Graphic Communication Institute is offering four workshops on Saturdays in September for anyone interested in improving their print, web and multimedia software and design skills.

The topics are “Photoshop: Basic Production for Web and Print,” “Deconstructing Web Pages,” “E-books and Digital Publishing” and “InDesign CS5 Jumpstart.” Workshops are either one-day events or offered on two consecutive Saturdays.

Brian Lawler, Lorraine Donegan and Ken Rothmuller — who are faculty from the Graphic Communication Department — and industry expert Hal Hinderliter are teaching the workshops.

Registration is $195 for each workshop with a 10 percent discount for registering for more than one.

Details are at http://grci.calpoly.edu/promos/wrkshps-0910-flyer.html or at 756-2645.

— Nick Wilson