Cover Story
Spring Arts Annual 2022
Spring 2022 is shaping up to be chock-full of events—just like old, pre-pandemic times. New Times’ annual Spring Arts issue has all the good ones ready for you to tick off your list, from gallery exhibits to plays to live music, crafting activities, wine celebrations, street fairs, and food festivals, Calendar Editor Caleb Wiseblood curated…
SLO city brings Fitness Court gym to Emerson Park
Starting on the ground, then moving to concrete blocks, then metal bars, I shift from station to station, jumping, contorting, and exerting myself at San Luis Obispo’s new outdoor gym in Emerson Park. Throughout the seven-minute circuit workout, an instructor’s voice blares through my phone speaker, reminding me of what to do next and when…
Come hell or Highwater: New SLO restaurant delivers liquid and culinary creations inspired by rock legends
Join the band Highwater, located at 1127 Broad St., suite B, in SLO, is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 5 to 10 p.m., and for Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit highwaterslo.com, follow @highwaterslo on Instagram, or call (805) 439-1259. “Crafting a cocktail menu is like creating the ideal…
The Lost Daughter is a rumination on parental guilt
THE LOST DAUGHTER What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Netflix In her feature-length debut, writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal helms this story about a woman confronting her past, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Italian author Elena Ferrante. Olivia Coleman…
Wolf Like Me
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Peacock This Peacock original series brings together funny people Josh Gad and Isla Fisher in a kooky rom-com series that follows the beginning of a relationship between two people who each have their own freighter-sized amount of baggage. Gary (Gad) is a single father to the…
2022 marks the Central Coast Music Teachers Association’s 50th anniversary
The music never stops Visit centralcoastmusic.org for more info on the Central Coast Music Teachers Association, which aims to promote music education offerings throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. On the association’s website, visitors can click on a tab for any Central Coast city, ranging from Cambria to Lompoc, to see who’s teaching…
Grammy-nominated hip-hop duo Black Violin plays the SLO Performing Arts Center on March 20
For Wilner Baptiste and Kevin Sylvester, learning to play classical music wasn’t their childhood dream. Baptiste, who plays under the stage name Wil B, wanted to learn the saxophone, but viola was the only instrument. In Sylvester’s (stage name Kev Marcus) case, he got himself in “a little trouble,” and his mom made him go…
Oceano’s Great American Melodrama shines spotlight on Sherlock Holmes in latest production
The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano presents its production of Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of the Four, which premieres on Thursday, March 17, and is scheduled to run through Saturday, April 30. Adapted for the stage from Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery novel, this madcap musical features a cast of five actors who…
Abbott Elementary
What’s it rated? TV-PG When? 2021-present Where’s it showing? Hulu Creator Quinta Brunson stars in the mockumentary TV series Abbott Elementary—starting its second season on March 22—that follows the challenges of budget-strapped inner city elementary school in Philadelphia. Set up like The Office (2005-2013), an unseen documentary camera crew follows the dedicated teachers and challenged…
Buen Dia Design celebrates first anniversary and releases 50 new art prints
In celebration of its one-year anniversary, Buen Dia Design announced the release of 50 new photographs, illustrations, and other kinds of wall art available at the studio. The studio specializes in California-inspired, eco-friendly art prints, made from 100 percent cotton paper and printed with vegetable-based inks. The selection of newly released prints includes landscape photographs…
Who’s smearing whom?
The Tribune accused the San Luis Obispo County GOP of a plan to “smear anyone linked to the late Adam Hill” in an editorial on March 13 (“SLO County GOP’s election strategy: Smear anyone ‘linked’ to the late Adam Hill”). Sorry, the plan is to provide the public the ugly truth about several candidates running…
Oceano puts fire tax back on a primary election ballot
Voters from the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) might experience déjà vu when they scan their primary election ballot this summer. Measure A-22—called Measure A-20 when voters rejected it in 2020—is a special tax on all real property in the OCSD. It would be collected to maintain rapid response times for 911 medical emergency and…
How can we prevent a world war?
Everyone who read the New Times article about the Narozhnyi family should have deep sympathy for their plight (“At War from afar,” March 10). Vladimir Putin is Hitler with a Russian face, both were and are brutal monsters that spread death and hatred based on their lies and greed for power. Hitler smashed into Poland…
Coastal Commission denies single family home projects in Cambria, citing water issues—now an applicant plans to sue
When Al Hadian bought two lots on Cambria Pines Road in 2018, he didn’t expect to run into any issues while developing the properties. He went through the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department’s permitting process and was ready to build a home on his property—but then he ran into a roadblock. “It was sent…
The Ukraine situation is serious
“Rooting for Ukraine” (March 10): What a juvenile, moronic headline. This isn’t the Super Bowl. It’s not March Madness. This is a war with people dying. New Times should treat it as such. Charles Soter Los Osos
As Arroyo Grande increases its water rates, residents and officials try to escape the costly drought cycle
Amid extreme drought conditions on the Central Coast, water rates in Arroyo Grande are about to shoot up. Being more mindful about daily water use seems like the obvious solution to save both money and parched land—but not according to the city’s new water and wastewater rate study. “We’re stuck in the cycle of the…
Industry and Hollister Peak don’t mix
Many years ago I attended a SLO County Board of Supervisors’ meeting for the first time. I was moved to comment on a golf course proposed to be built at the foot of Hollister Peak just off Highway 1. Now we have another proposal from another tone-deaf company that apparently can find nowhere else for…
SLO County supervisors to abolish inclusionary housing program
Calling it a “tax” on new market homes and ineffective policy, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted on March 15 to repeal its inclusionary housing ordinance—its only source of local revenue to support affordable housing. The 4-1 vote came after supervisors heard an update on the ordinance and after the building industry…
Think before you vote
The Tribune’s March 13 editorial (“SLO County GOP’s election strategy: Smear anyone ‘linked’ to the late Adam Hill”) is very telling of the local GOP strategy: negativity, smears, lies, conspiracies, hate speech, character assassination, false accusations … over improving the quality of life for SLO citizens and businesses. Is this what we want of our…
Scott Smith to stay with Coast Unified as superintendent
After receiving a controversial pay raise earlier this year, only to announce his retirement shortly thereafter, a North Coast school administrator was just hired as Coast Unified School District’s new superintendent. Scott Smith, who currently splits his time as superintendent between Cayucos Elementary School District and Coast Unified under a shared services agreement, was offered…
Ortiz-Legg should have recused herself long ago
During the Feb. 15, 2022, SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting, 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg finally admitted that she has a direct conflict of interest on the closing of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant as she was an employee of PG&E leading up to and during her first few months of serving on the…
Grover Beach partners with 5CHC for future shelter
Grover Beach’s winter warming center and proposed Pallet-style homes are about to receive a companion. At least, the land has been earmarked for it. The Grover Beach City Council unanimously approved the purchase of 0.44 acres of unused property at 955 South 4th St. during its March 14 meeting. With the help of 5 Cities…
Sweet relief
Good news, everybody! Our affordable housing crisis is solved! According to the SLO County Board of Supervisors, unincorporated areas of the county no longer need the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (IHO), which required developers to either build affordable housing units as part of their developments or pay county fees that would go to other affordable developments.…
SLO balks at further crackdowns on St. Patrick’s Day partying
After several pre-St. Patrick’s Day parties spilled into residential neighborhoods and awoke residents early in the morning on March 12, the San Luis Obispo City Council discussed whether or not stiffer penalties could deter Cal Poly students from partying around the holiday. But, similar to past years, the council ultimately left it alone. “I absolutely…
Legal questions remain about Paso school pool proposal
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) is closer than ever to building a long-awaited pool after district leadership proposed a compromise solution. But the legality of it all is still murky. “We need to build this pool, but we can’t break the law to do it,” PRJUSD board member Chris Bausch said. The initial…
