Friday, February 3, 2012     Volume: 26, Issue: 27
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Weekly Poll
Should deceased Santa Maria officer Alberto Covarrubias Jr. have received a police funeral?

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
His final actions should forfeit that honor.
It's tragic, but the Santa Maria PD are partially responsible.
The decision should be left to his family.

Vote! | Poll Results

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Search or post SLO County food and wine establishments

Phantom arboritions

Cover Story

Phantom arboritions

BY MATT FOUNTAIN

They can lurk in the shadows of the great coastal redwood. Thriving in the dark and damp, and lying tucked away among the massive trunks of redwoods, they are easily overlooked by the casual passerby. In many ways, the elusive and enigmatic albino redwood lives up to its nickname “Ghost Tree.” The ghosts, while not native to San Luis Obispo County, could be closer ... [ Read More ]

Top 5 Articles

News: Questions linger in Santa Maria police shooting
News: First Solar closes deal, furloughs workers
News: The price of civility
Cover Story: Phantom arboritions
News: Lucia Mar breaks ground on New Tech High
 
At New Times, we believe that homelessness is not a problem that can be attacked with money or plans. When we think of homelessness, we don't think of statistics; we think of people. We think of people who've had problems in their lives, and they all have a story to tell... Learn More
 

News

Questions linger in Santa Maria police shooting

BY JEREMY THOMAS

As the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department continued its investigation into the shooting death of a Santa Maria police officer by a fellow officer, more details trickl...

Misdemeanor charges dropped in Glitters trial

BY MATT FOUNTAIN

A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge dropped a set of misdemeanor charges against a local jewelry store employee accused of buying and attempting to sell two stolen p...

First Solar closes deal, furloughs workers

BY COLIN RIGLEY

First Solar finalized a deal to sell off its 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm in eastern San Luis Obispo County and furloughed nearly half of its workforce due to engineering pro...

County Planning Commission suggests redefining recreation

BY NICK POWELL

County planners are beginning to get a clearer picture for how they should deal with a slew of outdoor activities that seem to have baffled most county officials. On Jan. 26,...

A menacing animal ordinance is on the way

BY COLIN RIGLEY

San Luis Obispo County could soon be tightening the screws on people who improperly keep menacing or aggressive animals. On Feb. 7, SLO County supervisors are scheduled to in...

Commission finalizes PG&E Diablo denial

BY MATT FOUNTAIN

State regulators have agreed with a Dec. 21 decision by a San Francisco-based administrative law judge to deny Pacific Gas & Electric’s request to use $85 million in cus...

Lucia Mar breaks ground on New Tech High

BY COLIN RIGLEY

Officials from the Lucia Mar Unified School District joined Pacific Gas & Electric to break ground on the new Central Coast New Tech High School on Jan. 26. With co...

Pismo Beach expansion postponed

BY ROBERT A. McDONALD

The latest round in the fight over the future of the City of Pismo Beach ended in a tie last month, and it remains to be seen who will have the advantage when the conflict res...

The price of civility

BY COLIN RIGLEY

Last summer, San Luis Obispo County’s Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz held a secret meeting in closed session with the county Board of Supervisors to deliver a ...

Cougars & Mustangs

BY JASON KEEDY

Sometimes, during my infrequent breaks between texting, Facebooking, or any other sedentary exercise that shrouds itself under the guise of social activity, I think that maybe...

Commentary

Music for the masses

BY DAVID VIENNA

Local musician Chase Hall recently opined in this very section of the paper that a lack of “critical thinking” among fans and artists in San Luis Obispo contributes to wha...

Letters

Don't waste more of our money on this case

Leslie Ramsey

Thanks for the article on Deputy D.A. Craig Van Rooyen (“D.A. dismisses Doobie Dozen defendants—for now,” Jan. 19). Here is a guy willing to waste hundreds of thousands...

Paso leaders have run the city into the ground

Gary Nemeth

This Paso Robles council has gotten us into this mess by following App, voting in his recommendations and cuts in programs and services. The council’s No. 1 priority is to p...

Current candidates should focus on preventing World War III

Scott C. Presnal

During this election year of 2012, I wonder if the Republican candidates or our President Obama know about the threat of nuclear war when it comes to Israel’s protection? I ...

I'd like to call someone in my own country

George Robertson

“[We] will send you a notice within 45 days advising you of the price increase,” the woman replied for the third time! I asked, “if the price increase is effective on F...

An appeal for saving the eucalyptus

Anne Kellogg

I woke at 3:30 a.m. with thoughts of the trees in Sweet Springs. Aroused in the middle of the night, I wondered why I care about the eucalyptus trees—these non-native trees,...

Shredder

Play ball

My favorite activity of all time—better than playing hide and seek with blind orphans, better than tickling puppies until they giggle rainbows—is tossing back a six-pack o...

Street Talk

What would be the worst thing to find in the trunk of your car?

Lilia Mendez Ana Lopez Tessa Paneri Charlie Lanini

Strokes and Plugs

A change of Atmodsphere

BY MAEVA CONSIDINE

It’s no secret that SLO’s streets can harbor some rather offensive smells stemming from late-night bar crawls.The wonderful earthy and fresh-laundry-infused scent that pou...

Arts

A smattering of applause

BY ANNA WELTNER

Attending the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s opening weekend with the intention of generating some sort of conclusive report is a fool’s errand at best. There...

Phantom menace!

BY GLEN STARKEY

It’s Saturday, Jan. 28, at 11:30 a.m. when I arrive at 672 Higuera St., where artists have been arriving since 8 a.m.  to pay $25 to enter up to three pieces in a juried ar...

Passing glances

BY ANNA WELTNER

The work of computer technician-turned-artist Steven Boothe and the premise of Peter Lovenheim’s book In the Neighborhood have so much in common, it’s a relief they found ...

Music

Taken by Storm

BY GLEN STARKEY

“Hey, my vagina is eight miles wide, absolutely everyone can come inside, if you’re ever frightened just run and hide, my vagina is eight miles wide.” Those are the lyr...

Film

Into the fray

Director and co-writer Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) directs Liam Neeson and Dermot Mulroney as two members of an Alaskan oil drilling crew that struggles to survi...

Cuisine

Food to get you through ... the break-up

BY MAEVA CONSIDINE

“It’s over.” Maybe the words were said in a text, or a tweet, or maybe they weren’t said at all, but the fact remains: Your relationship is kaput. Whether it was a ...

Kathy's Pick

Palmina 2010 Arneis Santa Ynez Valley Honea Vineyard

This lovely, elegant white wine by winemaker Steve Clifton is a great choice for an aperitif, or for pairing with raw or cooked fish. Pale in color and quite dry, it offers fr...

Saucelito Canyon 2010 Zinfandel Estate Arroyo Grande Valley

I loved this elegant Zinfandel (I can’t remember the last time I described a Central Coast Zinfandel as elegant) at first sip. An amazing blend of red and black berries with...

Hot Dates

Striking visuals, tasty vittles, and charity doodles

A selection of wineries and galleries in downtown Paso Robles will stay open from 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 4 for First Saturdays: Wine and the Arts. Seven venues will participate i...

Life imitates reality

On Feb. 4, you can experience the magic of Dancing with the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance without staring at a television screen. The only difference is that there will ...

Chew on this awhile

If you’ve ever been flung across time and space by an oddball artist from Boston, you know how discombobulating it can be, and how nothing rectifies the situation like good ...