In letters: Want to help Los Osos families recover from flood? Check out this concert | Opinion

After the flood

In all the struggles that can consume us, it’s been very heartwarming to see the tremendous community support for the Los Osos families recovering from the January rain bomb cyclone.

Individuals and service organizations, including People Helping People, Kiwanis, Rotary and Los Osos Cares, have all responded with financial aid and services to assist the affected families without hesitation.

If you would like to help, a “Diggin’ Deep Benefit Relief Concert Extravaganza” will be held Sunday, Feb. 26, from noon to 6:00 p.m. at the South Bay Community Center in Los Osos. Administered by the non-profit People Helping People, all donations are tax-deductible with dedicated proceeds distributed to victim families to fill specific needs.

.Five top local bands are volunteering and food and beverage, the venue and labor are all donated. Admission is free. We need sponsors, contributions for the silent auction, as well as donations. This is not just about Los Osos, this is about doing something for our fellow SLO County residents who could not have prepared for the rain that broke daily records going back to 1893. Be part of something positive, enjoy great music, and make a difference for people who need you. Please see supportlososos.com for how to do that.

Gary J. Freiberg, Los Osos

Stop littering, people!

As I drive around SLO County, I am struck by litter and garbage everywhere.

It’s beautiful right now with the greening of the hillsides from all the much-needed rain we received. So very sad to see the beauty marred by litter and garbage. The creek bed has garbage in the trees that line it. I have truly never seen such an abomination in a creek. There have been floods before, but the quantity of garbage this year is unreal. I got on Highway 101 South on Los Osos Valley Road and was greeted with garbage spread on both sides of the ramp.

We used to fine people for littering the countryside. Why don’t we do that anymore? We need something to stop people from destroying our beautiful county.

Judy Brown, San Luis Obispo

Wrong about condor deaths

I read Mr. Lawrence Keane’s complaint about Mr. John FitzRandolph’s article on California condors and lead poisoning. While I’ve read many articles and watched movies/videos about the difficult work the Condor Recovery Program has done to keep the species from extinction, I think Mr. Keane may be behind in his knowledge of the science.

Upon each bird’s death, they are sent in for a necropsy. Of all the condors that have died since the program began, 51% are due to lead ammunition (not paint chips). Analytics from the UCSC lab can show the exact source by using blood isotope ratios and a bird’s feathers.

Lead has been a known poison for a long time (why it’s been removed from paint, gasoline etc). Ducks Unlimited supports the removal of lead (in fishing lures) as lead poisons all wildlife. I volunteer at Pacific Wildlife Care and seeing raptors (who also eat carrion) or water fowl with lead poisoning is one of the saddest things to observe: First thing affected is their ability to eat. The treatment is painful (EDTA shots twice a day for a week or more). Not always successful as the poisoning is cumulative. Hoping more copper ammo becomes available for hunters.

Marcelle Bakula, Cambria

He’s no Nancy

Why aren’t Republicans interested in the good of the country? What with the power invested in them by their new majority, they’ve ousted three valuable Democrats from their committees. In their stead are several questionable Republicans.

Remember when Kevin McCarthy represented part of San Luis Obispo County back when things were more-or-less normal? He’s gone off the deep end in favor of power. Nancy Pelosi he’s not, and never will be.

Rosalie Valvo, Morro Bay

Kudos to SLO city clean-up crew

Right in the middle of the recent storm with the creek behind my house on Stenner Creek roaring by with tremendous force, a branch 20 feet long dropped on my easement. I tried to cut as many of the smaller branches as I could and filled the green waste to the top. But I still had a giant, thick branch to deal with.

No problem. It was the city of SLO at its best: Mike and Dave, with Freddie’s advice, cleaned it up with their Makita saws. Thanks again, guys! It was the city at its finest!

Joe Johnson, San Luis Obispo

Left-turn trap?

Warning: The traffic flow at the exit from the main San Luis Obispo post office has recently changed.

The left turns into the Madonna Shopping center are now illegal. It is necessary to drive to the end of Dalidio Drive and return along Dalidio, allowing for a right turn only into the shopping area.

I learned this lesson the hard way by being on the receiving end of a citation from one of the two police officers who were sitting on their motorcycles waiting for their “prey” — me and many others — to make the “error” and make the left turn that was legal until quite recently.

Gone are the days when a warning to innocent drivers might be given. It seems a much better way is to punish the taxpaying citizens of SLO by employing two officers to pounce on this minor, and clearly not dangerous, infraction. This situation creates a bad feeling and a waste of time for all involved, except I suppose the benefit becomes the hefty fines that are imposed.

Kathleen H. York, San Luis Obispo

Red, white and blue?

As we pledge allegiance to a red, white and blue flag, questions arise. What do these colors represent? Is the red for the blood spilled on our soil? Is the white for the supremacy letting it? Is the blue for the uniform worn by its instruments?

Do these questions make you uncomfortable? Or is it the answers? Regardless of your answers, if you don’t want anyone to answer “Yes,” what are you willing to do to make it a unanimous “No”?

Is one form of reparations ensuring that these colors really stand for our willing sacrifices for our cause, our devotion to and aspiration to fulfill its ideals, and our loyalty to them and our union, so that liberty and justice for all is not only an abstract virtue, vacuous phrase or cruel joke, but our job description as citizens of this democratic republic?

David Broadwater, Atascadero

This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 5:30 AM.