SanLuisObispo.com: Bill Morem

Bill Morem: Charter cookie conundrum crumbles

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:52 PDT

For the most part, I tend not to gripe; I’m just not hard-wired that way. That isn’t to say I can’t enjoy a good gripe when I hear one, though.

Take my friend Lionel, for example. When he read in The Tribune about Charter cable automatically downloading “cookies” into home computers for the purpose of learning computer-user buying habits, he became righteously miffed.

First a little background for those with Luddite sensibilities such as mine.

Bill Morem: Botanical garden’s plan outsmarts environment

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:21 PDT

Without question, a major bonus point of living around here is the weather. Season in and out, it’s kind of like Goldilocks’ ideal porridge: not too hot, not too cold.

OK, maybe it gets a little toasty over the Grade right about now, but by and large we have the good fortune of living in one of just a few true Mediterranean climates in the world.

That said, we’re also staring down the barrel of what may be one of our cyclical droughts, meaning our sunny clime is going to hit our wallets as water undoubtedly heads the way of oil — ever more scarce and expensive.

Bill Morem: Once upon a Time, SLO termed eyesore

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:14 PDT

In the first column I filed for this space a little over a year ago, I noted that a Time magazine article had once referred to San Luis Obispo as “a well-known eyesore.”

“Mon Dieu,” some wrote, “this can’t be so.” Others were just as flabbergasted. “Zut alors! Pass the cheese Danish,” they cried.

Was it possible? How could the city that has been the darling of nearly every periodical that rates livability factors around the globe have been a one-time eyesore?

Bill Morem: Cadillac plan, moped result with traffic calming device in Los Osos

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:29 PDT

Ten months after I last blasted the powers that be over the Santa Ysabel traffic calming and beautification project in Los Osos—a $783,182 boondoggle that achieved neither of its intended goals—the issue still draws heat in the town.

There is good news to report, though. The traffic islands have been planted with a variety of shrubs and flowers.

This was achieved through a terrific collaboration among neighbors, the county and the Los Osos Community Services District.

Bill Morem: Job market is hot if college grads choose wisely

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:17 PDT

Ah, early summer. A time when our friends in the North County gird for a run-up in the heat index, the coast cloaks itself with June gloom and our Cal Poly grads find out which way the trade winds blow in the job market.

On this last note, it doesn’t look as if you 2008 graduates will be sorting fruit according to size, checking handkerchiefs for flaws, or asking drive-through patrons if they’d like fries with their meal — although those are all honorable jobs.

After four or five (OK, maybe even six) years at one of the nation’s finest institutions, you’re in hot demand if you’re holding a degree in electrical or mechanical engineering, accounting, business administration or anything in the high-tech fields—all areas in which Poly is known nationally for excellence.

Bill Morem: Our hungry neighbors need you now

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:52 PDT

Picture a city the size of San Luis Obispo — some 44,000 residents — where every single person is hungry.

As a matter of perspective, that’s roughly the number of our neighbors countywide who sought help last year in putting food on their tables.

Do you find it appalling that so many of our neighbors can go to bed hungry each night? Do you find it unconscionable that the bulk of those individuals are among our county’s most fragile, our elders and our young?

Bill Morem: For some guys, their cars are their passion (warning: this column may be too racy for some)

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:29 PDT

Warning: The following fare may be a little racy for some. There, you’re forewarned.

Obviously the case of the drunken, naked man trying to play out autoerotic fantasies with a taxi in Avila Beach isn’t something we read about every day.

Although it may seem at times as though we’re living in a world gone mad, it takes someone like Cody Eugene Williams, 27, of El Dorado Hills to come along and do his best to prove it. That’s why I depend on the sharp sensibilities of my Nipomo friend, Patti Launders.

Bill Morem: Don’t crucify Sarah Christie for doing her job

Thu, 22 May 2008 07:20 PDT

et me offer this caveat right off the bat: I’m not one of those conservationists who feel a need to rinse my mouth after uttering the word “developer.” I know and like dozens of people in the building trades; 99 percent of them are sterling of character and splendid in deed.

I make this disclaimer in defense of Sarah Christie.

Christie is Supervisor Jim Patterson’s appointee to the county Planning Commission and has developed a reputation in certain circles as being prickly with issues involving land-use changes that will favor development.

Bill Morem: Chumash give ‘Living Here’ new meaning

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:14 PDT

As they say, it was my turn in the barrel: I was tasked last December with editing our annual guide to life on the Central Coast, “Living Here 2008.”

The magazine (which is free to subscribers but $4.50 otherwise) is a compendium of things to do, places to go, arts, entertainment, wine guide, recreation and histories and outlooks of the county’s various communities.

After the book publishes in late March, invariably complaints about its content come rolling in: Why did our city not get a picture when every other city did? Our city is larger than so-and-so city; why did they get more ink than us? Why was our museum left out? How do I get my vineyard’s tasting hours into next year’s issue?

Bill Morem: Help springs eternal, thanks to volunteers

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:36 PDT

For whatever reason — perhaps the giddiness and renewal that spring brings (or the fact that the month starts with an homage to fools) —April is chock-full of special observance days and weeks.

Take, for instance, “International ‘Louie Louie’ Day” (April 11), perhaps an opportunity to sing (over and over) the most incomprehensible lyrics ever put to music.

Then there’s “Take a Wild Guess Day” (April 15), “National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day” (April 16), “Blah! Blah! Blah! Day” (April 17) and “Sky Awareness Week” (April 20-26).