Atascadero shoudn't secede from countywide waste agency

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• Ban on plastic bags at L.A. markets is approved

  Ban on plastic bags at L.A. markets is approved

  Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation Wednesday to adopt a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region's waterways and the ocean.

• Decision due on plastic bag ban

  Decision due on plastic bag ban

  San Luis Obispo County's waste management board will decide Wednesday whether to ban single-use plastic bags in most stores — a change that would affect the lives of just about everyone in the county who shops.

  Should the proposed ordinance go into effect, it would prohibit the bags at most supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience and big-box stores.

  It would allow retailers to charge 10 cents per paper bag. The hope, however, is that customers will substitute cloth bags when they go shopping. An education campaign to encourage a change in behavior has begun.

• 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.”

• Don’t fall for 'robo call' campaign

  Don’t fall for 'robo call' campaign

  A last-minute “robo call” campaign against a countywide plastic bag ban is an ugly attempt to bully local officials into changing their minds. They shouldn’t fall for it.

  A recap: Over the weekend, many county residents received calls from a mysterious organization calling itself the Environmental Safety Alliance, warning that reusable bags can be harbingers of bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses. The calls urged opposition to the ban, which comes up for afinal vote today before the county Integrated Waste Manage ment Authority board.

  We don’t know which is more despicable: That the calls are preying on public fears by portraying reusable bags as public health threats — never mind that many, many people have been using them for years, with no ill effects — or that no one will own up to bankrolling the effort.

• Bouquets and Brickbats: Cheers for plastic bag ban

  Bouquets and Brickbats: Cheers for plastic bag ban

  We’re delivering a biodegradable bouquet to each member of the county waste management board who voted in favor of the ban on single-use plastic grocery bags. The change may take some getting used to, but any inconvenience is minor when you consider the benefits, including a reduction in ugly litter on roads, parks, beaches and waterways.

  ... and boos to threat of legal action

  Even before the ink was dry on the newly enacted countywide ban on plastic shopping bags, opponents were bombastically threatening to sue within 30 days. In addition to dire warnings about dangerous bacteria lurking in reusable bags, opponents attacked the ban as “tyranny wrapped in environmentalism” and an intrusion on personal choice.