Apr 26
They did not know they were in a race against time. A year later torrential rains would cause flooding everywhere but downstream from Lopez Dam. There the new structure would impound water filling the reservoir much more quickly than expected. Here workers pour concrete around the intake structure in January of 1968. The facility provides …
Dec 05
Humans like to build on flat level land. Problem is the water likes it too. We can go decades between floods in San Luis County but when a cloud bursts the results can be swift. Any time rain falls faster than one inch per hour flooding is likely to follow. Parts of South Higuera Street …
Apr 25
It just got harder to find commercial bottled water in a National Park. According to an environmental specialist at Grand Canyon disposable bottles make up 20% of the Grand Canyon’s waste stream, and 30% of the recyclables. So to the get rid of the problem, the disposable bottles were banished from the store shelves inside …
Mar 18
General Douglas MacArthur was ordered to evacuate from the Philippines by President Franklin Roosevelt as the situation deteriorated. The general, his wife and son escaped through the Japanese blockade on torpedo boats on March 11-12. MacArthur later flew to Australia and vowed “I came out of Bataan and I shall return.” The general had retired …
Feb 23
Though the moment was fleeting, San Luis Obispo could have been mentioned in the same breath as Pisa, Italy. For a few hours in the summer of 1980, a failed demolition attempt gave the town a leaning water tower. There is nothing like high explosives and an defunct relic to make a good picture. The …
Feb 22
The epic flooding of 1914 has been covered in two previous posts. One shows flooding as Tally Ho Creek cuts through Branch Street in Arroyo Grande. The other shows the structure that gives Bridge Street a name, undermined by flooding. This looks to be the same bridge from the opposite point of view and view …
Jan 17
“And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” — John Steinbeck, East of Eden According to meteorologist John Lindsey, barring rainfall late this month, we are on track for …
Jan 12
Below the placid surface of Lopez Lake, a mystery from long ago. Had she survived she would have been an over 70-year-old woman when the dam was under construction. As the dam took shape the discovery of a grave upstream forced the county to act. From the then Telegram-Tribune, January 10, 1968: ‘La Maria’ leaves …
Jan 07
The year dawned with news of American and Philippine troops trying to hold ground against repeated attacks. Manila and the naval base at Cavite fell into Japanese hands as Allied troops formed a line at the top of Bataan Peninsula. This and the fortified island of Corregidor would deny use of Manila Bay to the …
Dec 28
The Tribune did not cover the first Polar Bear Dip in Cayucos. Only a handful of people went in the water at the inception of the event in 1981. By the second splash it was on the assignment list for the Tribune photography staff and has been ever since. Let this be a warning to …
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