-December 2,2019-
Wake up call – County Democratic registration surges
As of October 1, 2019 Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the county 60,694 to 59,546 – a slim majority to vote in the March 2020 primary. Historically the GOP outnumber Demos in the county by a good size majority. Looks like things are changing.
Much more significant is how dramatically Democratic registration has increased from January 2016 during the primary season that year. Back then, Democratic voters numbered 48,212 and GOP registration stood at a commanding 57,783 – almost 10,000 more Republicans than Demos. Figures are from the Secretary of State.
So over that 4-year period Demos added just under 12,500 voters eligible while the GOP added just 1763 in SLO County. That’s a 7 to 1 advantage.
The trend matches an even bigger surge in Demo voters across California, up over 1.5 million voters since January 2016 while the GOP added just 26,000 statewide.
Gas prices: good news, bad news
Gas prices may be lower as we move into December 2019 but SLO County is still one of the most expensive counties in the state to buy gas. According to AAA the average price in SLO this week is $4.02 down from $4.25 a month ago. Diesel prices in SLO are still up there at 20 cents more than regular. Ironically the cheapest place to buy gas in the state is in Lemoore just 30 miles from the SLO county line where you can buy gas for $2.76 a gallon.
Removing the cable lines
City of Morro Bay reports that several large ships have been seen off of Montana de Oro State Park recently, which are there removing two disused undersea transoceanic fiberoptic cables that land in the park. Their smaller support vessels have been working in and out of the harbor on a daily basis.
Butterflies are back
The Monarch butterfly population has made sudden come back along the coast of California according to the Western Monarch Research Center.
A month ago KSBY reported the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove saw a significant drop in the number of monarch’s this winter season.
At the time the report the grove has about 1,000 monarchs. The number of monarch’s at the grove at this same time last year was 3,077 according to docents.
But the latest Nov 2019 count is way up, more than double the number seen this time last year at the Pismo Reserve (see chart).It is migration time for this species so the numbers are changing.
Sea otters double in Morro Bay
In a November 28 blog published by the Morro Bay Estuary Program, the blog pointed to the fact that “Sea otters thrive in Morro Bay”
It says “Southern sea otters, once thought to be extinct, thrive in Morro Bay. They spend much of their time resting to conserve energy and hunting for the shellfish, octopuses, crabs, urchins, and other invertebrates that live at the bottom of the bay. Over the past decade, the population of sea otters within the estuary has more than doubled. Wildlife watchers would once thrill to see a dozen otters in the bay. Now, it’s common to see between thirty and fifty otters inside the bay on any given day.”
Morro Bay may sell water to Cal Poly
Over the past several months, Morro Bay staff has met with Cal Poly representatives to discuss the possibility of the City providing the campus with additional water supply that had been identified in their master planning for water supply resiliency. This water supply would be from Morro Bay’s State Water Allocation. The City would be able to provide this allocation to Cal Poly as a result of the additional potable water added to the City’s portfolio through the WRF project. In concept, Cal Poly would take delivery of the water from the Chorro Valley Pipeline and said allocation and the sale would also be subject to District approval. The potential benefits to the City could include: Cost recovery of unused State Water allocation, recovery of capital and debt service costs for the WRF potable water infrastructure, interconnection with other water purveyor and emergency supply agreements.”
Merrimaker bar set to open in Baywood
After an interior remodel, new owner Bill Lee is ready to open the Merrimaker bar he bought last summer. The bar has been closed for weeks as work to upgrade plumbing and interior walls has moved forward. No worries that the rough exterior and iconic sign remain the same.The Baywood bar is expected open again for business this coming Wednesday, December 4.
Purple urchins for dinner?
Looking to give kelp beds a chance to recover an explosion of purple urchins along the West Coast, how about pitching in by dining on purple urchins? Odd way to save the planet?
UC Davis researchers are working with Bay Area shellfish company Urchinomics to explore the possibility of removing purple urchins from their sea floor barrens and fattening them up for market—in short, urchin ranching.
If the resulting product gives kelp beds a chance to recover, dining on purple urchin could go beyondRogers-Bennett and UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Director Gary Cherr will begin trials this fall to see if urchin ranching could be a viable strategy.