Similar stories:

• SLO Food Bank survey reveals faces of hunger

  SLO Food Bank survey reveals faces of hunger

  If there is one epitomizing image of hunger in San Luis Obispo County that tells the story of the average resident in need of food, it might be a 48-year-old Hispanic woman, with a full-time job but no medical or other benefits, and no children, earning $1,200 a month.

  That is the profile of an average participant in a survey that aimed to find out who in the county is hungry and why. The work was conducted through a partnership between Cal Poly students and faculty and the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County.

  By interviewing more than 800 residents from Shandon to Nipomo, they were able to compile a more comprehensive picture of residents in need and their access to food. The results, released Friday, will be used to determine how to meet those needs, said Carl Hansen, executive director of the Food Bank Coalition.

• Food as good as money at library

  Food as good as money at library

  Got an overdue library fine or reserve fee? If it’s $1 or less, “pay” for that charge with a non-perishable food item during the third annual “Food 4 Fines Week,” which this year is from Tuesday, April 10 through Saturday, April 14, at the Cambria library or any branch in the countywide library system.

  There is no limit to how many fees may be covered by food donations. However, other types of library fees, such as those for lost or damaged items, are not included in the food-for-forgiveness program.

  Food donation barrels are to be set up at each library branch, and organizers are encouraging everyone to donate, even those without outstanding library fines or fees.

• Bouquets and Brickbats: Grover too quick to nix merger idea

  Bouquets and Brickbats: Grover too quick to nix merger idea

  No citizen’s arrests, but we’re dispatching a battalion of brickbats to the Grover Beach City Council for summarily slamming the door on a proposed merger of the Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach police departments.

  The cities already have combined their fire departments, but it looks like asimilar arrangement for police services is DOA.

  At a meeting this week, Grover council members unanimously objected to the idea of contracting with Arroyo Grande to provide police services to Grover.

• Donations by state employees on the rise

  Donations by state employees on the rise

  State employees in San Luis Obispo County contributed 3 percent more to the California State Employees Charitable Campaign last year than they did in 2010, totaling $150,000, according to the United Way of San Luis Obispo County.

• Letters to the Editor 4/4

  Letters to the Editor 4/4

  Computer farce

  The court’s computer monitors, inputs and retrieves data from a system, which is the California Practice Act. The laws set forth in this act are at least 42 years behind federal and other state acts.

  The California act is slanted for the benefit of the richer client and the bigger firm. It generates far more paper, which has to be tracked by computer. For example, during that part of a lawsuit where the parties obtain information from one another, i.e., discovery, the bigger firm asks for more than it is entitled to and resists giving the required information. These actions force the parties to apply to the court, i.e., make a motion supported by documents. Twenty percent of the court’s motion time is used for discovery motions!