Central Coast News

Issues & Ideas: A new governor, prison integration, offshore wind energy and a chef-turned-farmer

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer,

Published January 7, 2019 at 2:53 PM PST

(Clockwise from bottom left) Gavin Newsom takes office, protesters are angry about a new CDCR program, and the stories of of a Central Coast winemaker and chef-turned-farmer on this week's Issues & Ideas.

On this week's Issues and Ideas: Monday marks the transition from Jerry Brown to Gavin Newsom as California's next governor; we'll hear stories about "Brownisms" and Newsom promises. Tyler Pratt reports on a new California prison integration program has inmates' families worried for their safety. And Greta Mart attends a recent public forum on offshore wind energy and reports on how state and federal officials are taking public comment on locations proposed for offshore wind energy development—two of which are off San Luis Obispo County's coast.

Travel correspondent Thomas Wilmer takes us on Journeys of Discovery to get to know a local organic winemaker, and find out about a San Luis Obispo writers' group. And finally, local food writer Jaime Lewis brings us a story of about a local young French chef who rose through the ranks of some of the Central Coast's finest restaurants and then one day left it all behind, to become a farmer. All that and more on the latest edition of KCBX's Issues and Ideas.

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Tom Wilmer

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.

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Tyler Pratt

Tyler Pratt was a reporter, host and producer at KCBX from 2018 to 2020. You could hear him on weekdays filing news reports and hosting afternoon programming. Tyler hails from the deserts of West Texas but likes to call the the swamps of Louisiana home. He fell in love with public radio over a decade ago while studying improv comedy at the Second City in Los Angeles. He spent so much time in his car listening to KCRW while driving between auditions and various jobs that he eventually became inspired to switch careers from acting to radio journalism.

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Jaime Lewis

Jaime Lewis is a local food writer and radio producer. Her resume includes editor of Edible San Luis Obispo & Wine Country Magazine, food columnist for 805 Living Magazine and SLO Life Magazine, Central Coast reporter for Wines & Vines Magazine, and a contributor to publications as varied as Life & Thyme, ITALY Magazine, The Tasting Panel, SOMM Journal, The Clever Root, Vegetarian Times, The Santa Barbara Independent and Edible Santa Barbara Magazine. Lewis is a certified Level III/Advanced with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) abnd been a frequent guest on radio shows including The Dave Congalton Show (KVEC) and Issues & Ideas (KCBX). She earned her B.A. in art history and music at Vassar College. Lewis was born and raised on the Central Coast.

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