May 07
Edward Gardner Lewis and wife Mabel bought the 23,000 acre rancho that would become the colony of Atascadero for $850,000 in 1913. The utopian dreamer, land speculator and publisher envisioned a new city. By 1915 a tent city sold the subdivided lots and was the place for people to stay while building their homes. The …
Apr 23
I have been told by some who work in a prison setting, they prefer not to know an inmate’s history. All they can deal with is the now. It could be overwhelming to reflect on the combined damage a group of mental health patients had caused. In the mid-sixties a then new approach included group …
Sep 16
World War II would drastically change society on the home front. Some changes were temporary and frivolous. Silk was needed for parachutes and rubber for tires; stockings were no longer on the shelves. The ingenuity of the cosmetics industry came to the aid of fashion conscious women. Leg makeup. You could even draw a seam …
Jul 22
Hate speech is repugnant to me. Yet I don’t want the government making lists of what not to read and burning books. Often viewpoints now seen as mainstream started as an fringe view in the past. Voting rights for women and African-Americans were not mainstream views in the eyes of America’s founding fathers. Sometimes America …
Mar 15
Afternoon papers put special pressure on finding images the same day. If snow fell a phone call might come in before sunrise to get out and find a picture by first light and hustle back to the paper to develop, edit and print so the presses could run at noon with a picture from the …
Oct 26
March 29, 1955 The pre-dawn stillness of the Nevada desert was torn with a brilliant flash followed by a shock wave and roar. Atop a 500 foot steel tower, atoms collided violently at 4:55 am. A mushroom cloud lifted into pre-dawn sky, a small sun so powerful that the glow was "plainly visible" in San …
Jul 04
Fireowrks over Atascadero Lake were provided by Jaycees. © Jack Wilson/The Tribune 7-4-1966 Two things never look good in black and white. Food and fireworks. Fireworks are one of the tricky things a newspaper photographer is tasked with recording. Back in the film days you couldn't check your images as you shot and make adjustments. …
Jan 02
It is a rare thing to be the First Baby, even rarer to be the last. Jason Sturges came into the world as Paso Robles closed its hospital in February of 1977 as Twin Cities Hospital opened. Who were the twins that joined to form Twin Cities Hospital? The name was derived from Atascadero General …
Jun 23
Children of the 60s and 70s saw chimpanzees as friendly critters. They were dressed up in clothes, given a banana and portrayed as our funny cousins. The 1966 television show Daktari told the story of an African veterinarian and often episodes would feature Judy the chimp, this show didn’t play simian dress up. Episodes still …
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