Owen and Beru suffer a Landspeeder accident

[Molyneux]

As for why Obi-Wan was out of the loop - I know it's not canon, but I always liked the comic with robot-from-the-waist-down Darth Maul attacking on Tatooine. It explains the 'crazy old wizard's distance nicely.

[Lord Pounder]

In the OT Owen Lars certainly seemed to want to deny Ben access to Luke. Owen chased Obi-Wan off when he tried to give Luke his fathers Lightsaber and from the comments Lars makes about Ben being a "crazy old wizard" it's safe to say Ben wasn't consulted a lot on Luke's upbringing.

Also a point in question, DesertFly mentioned that Obi-Wan would have had a lot of contacts on Tatooine to keep an eye on Luke. I serriously doubt this. Obi-Wan is one of the few surviving Jedi. He'd be putting himself in jeopardy by placing spy;s all over the place. Plus it kinda defeats the purpose of being a hermit. My guess is that Obi-Wan was keeeping an eye on Luke via the Force. If he sensed Luke in any danger he'd show up, just like when the Tuskens attacked Luke.

[DesertFly]

Also a point in question, DesertFly mentioned that Obi-Wan would have had a lot of contacts on Tatooine to keep an eye on Luke. I serriously doubt this. Obi-Wan is one of the few surviving Jedi. He'd be putting himself in jeopardy by placing spy;s all over the place. Plus it kinda defeats the purpose of being a hermit.

He was a hermit, but he wasn't living on air. His hut clearly shows things I would have a hard time imagining Ben Kenobi fabricating. Clearly some trade had to go on. Being a hermit doesn't necessarily mean that you cut off all contact with outside civilization: look at how easily Ben was able to find a good cantina and a good pilot; it's almost like he'd spent some time in Mos Eisley and knew his way around. He could still easily be a hermit from the galaxy in general and spend the occasional Sunday in town. As long as he's not drawing attention to himself, it's not like anyone on Tatooine is going to care where he's from or why he's there. I'd imagine there are a few other people and aliens like him around there: hiding from their past, but not cut off completely from everyone around them.

EDIT-- And "contacts" could just mean some guys he swaps drinks with every once in awhile, or the lady he buys his veggies from. It doesn't take a lot of social interaction to ask simple questions like, "What's happening? How's the family? Heard of anyone heading to the academy this week?"

[Solauren]

I don't think Luke would go far in the academy.

BAIL ORGANA wouldn't let him.

Consider; Organa knew

Luke = Anakin's son
Anakin = Alive

It's entirely possible (hell, somewhat feasible), (if I would do it, Organa is smart enough to do it) to be watching for any signs of a 'Luke Skywalker from Tattooine' heading to an military academy. Possible via bribed officials and the like.

I mean, come on, if you were Bail, wouldn't you be watching to make sure Luke didn't end up in the Imperial military?

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Bigg's attempt to recruit Luke in the cut out scences of A New Hope were at the request of Organa