is the Pet of the Month!

By MARY FOPPIANO

Karen Blue found Dakota on Pet Finders in Fresno. She had family view her at Petco and had the Sake of Dogs Rescue hold her until she made the drive. Karen and Zoey (Dakota’s adopted name) were able to enjoy their thirteenth anniversary on

Super Bowl weekend still together. Zoey loves living in Avila Beach and looks forward to her daily walks, doggie treats, and constant compliments on how cute she is. So, it comes as no surprise that she has entered several doggie parades and won a few awards!

kathy mastako

Board Of Directors

After nearly 133 years, the lighthouse at Point San Luis finally has a book about its history. (Full disclosure: the author of this article is the author of the book.) “The Lighthouse at Point San Luis, A collection of short (true) stories” was published under the United States Lighthouse Society imprint, using Amazon’s print-on-demand platform.

To quote from the book’s introduction, “it’s a collection of tales — true tales, not tall tales — mainly about the people who lived and worked at the lighthouse during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The last chapter covers a later period, with stories about the young military men and their families stationed at the lighthouse during the twentieth century’s middle years.”

The book starts with a story about the building of the lighthouse, and the hapless contractor who, plagued by a recordbreaking rainy season and a hard-toplease lighthouse service official, finished the job nearly five months after the completion date specified in his contract. As a consequence, the government held back $3,737.50 from the $18,893 he was owed for the job — a $25 per day forfeiture imposed for late delivery. To add insult to injury, he unwittingly underbid the job. For example, he claimed he was told he could land building materials on the beach below the building site. This proved impossible. Instead, he was forced to build a wharf, tramway, and lighter at his own expense to unload lumber, bricks, and other supplies. He tried several times to convince the government to rescind its financial penalty, as did his daughter after his death, but the government proved intransigent.

Captain Henry Wilson Young is the subject of another story. Young was principal keeper at Point San Luis for 15 years, from its start in 1890 until 1905. What isn’t in the story, though, is his first impression of the destruction caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Young had transferred from Point San Luis to the Alcatraz Island light the previous