Cover Story
Regulated revenue: New rules, delayed season cut into local crabbers earning potential
Local crabbers and fishermen struggle to make ends meet due to stormy weather, a delayed fishing season, and a new state mandate. On Dec. 26, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that fisheries stretching roughly from Bodega Bay to Point Conception would finally open on Dec. 31, but now under one condition—crabbers…
New cottage style bakery Jackie’s Treats to Sea stems from a local confectioner’s lifelong hobby
Sea for yourself Find out more about Jackie’s Treats to Sea on the cottage bakery’s Instagram page, @treatstosea, or Facebook page, facebook.com/treatstosea. Baker and founder Jacqueline Rubio offers delivery options to residents in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Muffins. Cookies. Cupcakes. No matter which of her baked goods is up for review, Jacqueline…
White Noise is a game attempt to capture on film author Don DeLillo’s ‘unfilmable’ novel
WHITE NOISE What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Netflix Writer-director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha, The Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story) brings author Don DeLillo’s 1985 satirical postmodern novel to the big screen. Jack Gladney (Adam Driver) is a college professor who’s…
Best Sellers
What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2021 Where’s it showing? Rent on Amazon Prime, Redbox, Vudu, and Apple TV Lucy (Aubrey Plaza) inherited her book publication business from her father, whose skillful editing and salesman smarts led to Harris Shaw’s (Michael Caine) hit novel way long ago. Unfortunately, the world of publishing has changed and Lucy…
Babylon
What’s it rated? R When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10 “Excessive” is probably the best word to describe Babylon, writer-director Damien Chazelle’s (Whiplash, La La Land) new film—an often gross and graphic exploration of Hollywood’s pre-code nascent days, its transition from silent films to talkies, and the industry’s ease with…
The public art in the Orcutt Road/Tank Farm Road roundabout was a bad decision
Roundabouts: I live in the Orcutt Road/Tank Farm Road area and drive around that circle almost every day, and each time feel sadness about the sculpture placed there in a deep bed of concrete. Kudos to the crews who constructed the new directed-traffic pathways with curbs, paving blocks, and attractive plantings. They did a nice…
Nautical Bean opens new location in collaboration with The Bunker in SLO
Be in the know While The Bunker is under construction, visit thebunkerslo.com to see more about the artists it features. Follow it on Instagram, @thebunkerslo, to keep up to date about when the renovated space at 810 Orcutt Road will open. For more info on Nautical Bean and its various locations throughout San Luis Obispo…
New laws are being enacted without state lawmakers thinking ‘what could go wrong?’
Our legislators in Sacramento have been busy “helping us” again; they have passed—and Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed—several new laws that will impact people on the Central Coast and everywhere else in the once golden state. Some may have an adverse impact on traffic safety, others your pocketbook. Two important changes go into effect in…
DANA Adobe and Cultural Center showcases photos by John Craig
On Sunday, Jan. 22, the DANA Adobe and Cultural Center will host an opening reception for its new exhibition, Photography of My Diné (Navajo) Family and Images of the Southwestern Landscape, a solo showcase of photos by John Craig. Admission to the reception, which starts at 1 p.m., is free for DANA members, $8 for…
Winner winner chicken dinner
The first SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting of 2023 was kind of like a Trump rally for Democrats. The board chamber was packed to overflowing, filled with cheers and applause for the new liberal majority, and complete with murmured jeers for the old conservative one. Newbie 4th District Supervisor Jimmy “I Finally Made It”…
Art Center Morro Bay hosts drawing demo with Amelie Butkus
Writer and illustrator Amelie Butkus will lead a free drawing demonstration at Art Center Morro Bay on Monday, Jan. 23, from 3 to 5 p.m. Butkus will demonstrate her process in drawing full-body characters that express distinct emotions in both facial and body language. To find out more about the demo, visit artcentermorrobay.org. The venue…
SLO County swears in new Board of Supervisors majority
The fierce campaigning, vicious attack ads, and bitter recounts of 2022 made way for joyous smiles, thunderous applause, and a peaceful changing of the guard at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors’ first meeting of 2023. Newly elected supervisors Bruce Gibson, Dawn Ortiz-Legg, and Jimmy Paulding took their oaths of office on Jan.…
Local theater group stages Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
By the Sea Productions presents its staged reading of The Crucible at St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Morro Bay for one weekend only, starting on Friday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., with additional performances on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 15, at 3 p.m. From prolific writer Arthur…
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties saw more pet surrenders at a time when animal adoptions decreased nationally
It started with a Facebook rumor. People on the Lost Pets of San Luis Obispo County group wondered and debated in December if pet owners surrendered their older dogs to shelters to make room for new puppies arriving as Christmas gifts. “Please tell me people really don’t do this!?” commented a user named Abby Allen.…
For those about to rock, Steel Panther salutes you on Jan. 7, at the Fremont Theater
Hide your daughters (or at least hide this column from your young children) because as far as Los Angeles-based comedic glam metal band Steel Panther is concerned, profanity and adopting the over-the-top personas of obnoxious horndog rockstars in service to an ironic tribute to the most-base clichés of ’80s hair bands is the pastiche they’re…
Paso moves ahead with Pioneer Park sale, awaits state approval
Seven years of negotiations over the sale of Pioneer Park to the state of California are close to resolution after the Paso Robles City Council’s recent approval of a new agreement between the parties. The decision met with raucous applause from attendees at the Dec. 20 council meeting. “It certainly goes a long way to…
Phone scams impersonating Sheriff’s Office return to SLO
An old scam reappeared in San Luis Obispo County with a new disguise. In December 2022, the SLO County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning about scam phone calls where swindlers impersonate members of local law enforcement. “Typically, in the past, we would get reports of these types of scams around the holidays,” Sheriff’s Office spokesperson…
SLO city to keep its election model after settlement
The city of San Luis Obispo will maintain its at-large election model and not adopt city council districts after reaching a settlement with an attorney who’d accused it of violating the California Voting Rights Act. SLO Mayor Erica Stewart told New Times that both parties in the negotiations, which date back to 2019, ultimately agreed…
Morro Bay’s Water Reclamation Facility operational ahead of schedule
After two years of construction, Morro Bay’s Water Reclamation Facility is ahead of schedule. According to Greg Kwolek, director of Public Works, the expected completion date for the facility was March 23, 2023, but the city already hit that deadline set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. “We’ve been taking all the city’s wastewater…
SLO County prepares for powerful rainstorm
The National Weather Service anticipated that hazardous weather conditions would grip San Luis Obispo County from Jan. 4 to late the next morning. That notice put Jonathan Stornetta, the Paso Robles fire and emergency services chief, on high alert. “We’re expecting 2 to 4 inches of rain in the valley that includes Paso Robles, 4…
PG&E grant enables State Parks to pay for class field trips to coastal landmarks
For thousands of school-age kids, the San Luis Obispo County coastline is a premier destination for epic field trips. The Central Coast State Parks Association plays an important role in that. The nonprofit arm of State Parks routinely offers educational field trip tours at local landmarks like the Oceano Dunes, the Morro Bay Museum of…
