Whew! and that’s great news for every single SLO County resident.

We all benefit from Cuesta, either directly or indirectly — whether it’s by taking classes; hiring employees who have been educated at Cuesta; enjoying athletics or other special events there; selling goods and services to Cuesta students and staff; or being assisted by the nurses, paramedics, teachers, lawyers, auto mechanics, engineers, architects, child care providers, merchants and the many, many other professional people in our community who got their start at Cuesta.

Yes, there is more work to do: Cuesta is still on warning status, and another accreditation is looming in 2014. But for now, break out the bouquets; Cuesta is here to stay.

Condo landlords deserve to pay

Shoddily built brickbats are landing with a thump on the doorsteps of the owners of the illegally converted Pine Creek condos in San Luis Obispo.

Acting on a complaint, city staffers inspected the condos near Cal Poly and discovered that several units had been illegally partitioned to add extra bedrooms, creating fire and safety hazards for the students who rented them. As a result, 40 tenants were told to vacate.

The landlords are financially responsible for paying for temporary housing for the students. That should be the least of their punishment. No one expects student housing to be like a four-star hotel, but it should at least be safe, secure and legal.

People’s Kitchen needs new home

Shouts of Grace Church deserves a buttercup bouquet for providing a home to the People’s Kitchen in Grover Beach for nearly five years.

People’s Kitchen has been serving as many as 80 hot lunches every day from the church’s West Grand Avenue location. But as of the end of July, that space will no longer be available because Shouts of Grace is moving its Sunday services to the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande. That means People’s Kitchen is in search of anew home in Grover Beach or Oceano.

That’s a familiar situation for this hardy group of volunteers; the group has relocated several times since the first meals were served from the back of a truck in 1992.

So how about it? Any churches or other nonprofits willing to consider stepping up to the plate and provide the organization with a new location?

Farewell to venerable camera shop

Finally, we toss a Kodachrome bouquet to Jim’s Campus Camera, which is closing next month after a remarkable 42 years in business. The shop has been a fixture in the downtown area for so long, it’s hard to picture SLO without it. We thank owner Dennis Johansen and the staff, current and former, for helping us capture decades of memories.