Cover Story
Connecting communities: Amid opposition and a lawsuit, the Coastal Commission approved a paved 1.25-mile trail between Morro Bay and Cayucos
Despite public concern and an ongoing lawsuit, the California Coastal Commission recently approved construction of a connector trail from Morro Bay to Cayucos. The newly approved trail has been in the works for at least two decades and will fill a 1.25-mile gap in the already existing California Coastal Trail along Highway 1, providing a…
OCSD discusses opposition to contract transferring Oceano’s fire services to county
Fire services remain a touchy subject in Oceano after a recently approved contract transfers responsibility for the area to San Luis Obispo County. “As the past [Oceano Community Services District] board member and committee member in support of the 2020 fire tax increase, I’m here to say I told you so,” previous OCSD board president…
Surfnet set to bring fiber broadband services to rural North County
San Luis Obispo County’s rural north is about to be hooked on a fiber diet of the digital kind. A $10 million grant from the California Public Utilities Commission will enable wireless internet service provider Surfnet Communications to provide high-speed fiber broadband services to the underserved parts of SLO, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties.…
Morro Bay receives final emergency relief payout from 2023 storms
The Morro Bay Public Works Department announced it received a final emergency relief payout of more than $270,000 from the Federal Highway Association (FHWA) for road repairs after the storms of 2023. Those storms damaged 43 of California’s 58 counties, including San Luis Obispo County, and left Morro Bay’s Radcliff Avenue, Main Streeet, Embarcadero, and…
PCPA’s Little Shop of Horrors is big, bold, and bloody brilliant
Plant ahead The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) presents its production of Little Shop of Horrors at the Solvang Festival Theater through Sunday, July 7. Visit pcpa.org or facebook.com/pacificconservatorytheatre, or call (805) 922-8313 for tickets and more info. The Solvang Festival Theater is located at 420 2nd St., Solvang. Few artists are more synonymous with Disney’s…
Mid-July marks the debut of the Great American Melodrama’s Gunsmokin’ in Oceano
The Great American Melodrama in Oceano presents its production of Gunsmokin’, which opens on Friday, July 12. Performances of the new show are scheduled to run at the theater through Saturday, Sept. 7. Set in the town of Rooster Punch, the play follows various locals who fear they won’t be able to afford tax increases…
Hope on Park brings curated curiosity to wine tasting in downtown Paso Robles
Saunter or secure Hope on Park’s walk-up friendly tasting bar is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1140 Pine St. in Paso Robles. Tastings in its three creative spaces require reservations. Visit hopefamilywines.com/hope-on-park/ to fill out a reservation form or call (805) 591-0744. The Hope Family Wines ancestral tree grew another branch…
Oceano Seabreeze Market highlights local artisans, crafters, and more
Discover Oceano hosts the Oceano Seabreeze Market on Saturday, July 13, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Oceano Train Depot. Attendees will have the chance to buy or browse selections of handcrafted goods and other items from local artists and curators. Admission is free. Visit discoveroceanoca.com for more details. Δ
Moonshiner Collective plays another “Under the Moon” concert on July 6, at Tooth & Nail Winery
Pure magic is the best way to describe Moonshiner Collective’s Under the Moon concert series. Using powerful battery generators to run lights and their high-end PA system, the band performs off-the-grid in outdoor settings. “Whether in the middle of a vineyard or next to the ocean, the ambience set by the band’s music, vintage lanterns,…
Daddio is an engrossing talkfest
DADDIO What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Chuck? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? The Palm, Stadium 10 Writer-director Christy Hall in her feature-length debut helms this introspective drama about a woman (Dakota Johnson), simply listed as Girlie in the credits, engaging in a surprisingly deep conversation with her…
Avert the dictator
It appears that for some yet-unknown reason, John Donegan (“None dare call it treason,” June 6) is using a history lesson as a thinly-veiled attempt to convince us that the fears of Donald Trump becoming a dictator are overblown. John correctly states that we had a four-term president once in Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), a…
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Hulu When Redding, California, wife and mother Sherri Papini went missing while out on a run, the world took notice. After all, Sherri was just the kind of missing person that gets media attention—a fairly affluent white woman with a seemingly healthy family life. Sherri’s husband,…
The Blob
In the 1958 B movie, The Blob, a gelatinous malevolent space monster crashes to earth and proceeds to absorb and digest every person it encounters, growing ever larger and stronger from each terrestrial snack. Likewise, Donald Trump seems to be growing ever stronger politically from each salvo of Democratic attacks on him. Following Trump’s recent…
Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1
What’s it rated? R When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Fair Oaks, Park, Stadium 10 I’m a sucker for a good Western, and Kevin Costner is without question an icon of the genre. From Silverado (1985) to Dances with Wolves (1990) to Wyatt Earp (1994) to Open Range (2003), Costner proves to be…
Send in the clowns?
Let’s say you’re a SLO Town resident, living your dream and minding your own business, but then you discover your beloved city’s government has approved a Clown School next to your house that’s going to impact your neighborhood with a ton of noise (ahooga horns and popping balloon animals), traffic (mostly little cars that fit…
A Cal Poly professor and filmmaker highlights the life lessons of those over 65
While some try every method in the book to slow the process of aging, others embrace white hairs and wrinkles with open arms and view it as a blessing to be able to live for so many years. Regardless, with age comes experience, and Sky Bergman, a Cal Poly professor emeritus of photography and video,…
Golden State Wind will begin ocean surveys for offshore wind
Surveys of the Morro Bay offshore wind leasing area started on July 2 with Golden State Wind. Its site is located about 53 miles from Morro Bay in federally owned waters, and Golden State Wind’s Community Liaison Erica Crawford told New Times that the company will be collecting information about the contours of the seafloor.…
Soaring appeal fees leave SLO residents worried about feeling the pinch when participating in the public input process
San Luis Obispo resident Kathie Walker and her husband are familiar with the effects of sharing their Alta Vista neighborhood with bacchanalian fraternities. An emergency medical services pilot, Walker’s husband works between 12 and 14 hours daily. Frequent rowdy college parties steadily get in the way of shut eye. “He only has 10 hours to…
SLO City Council slaps Casa Street and Murray Avenue property with ‘public nuisance’ label
Vacant and dilapidated for years, two single family residences at the crossing of Casa Street and Murray Avenue received the status of public nuisance from the San Luis Obispo City Council. In a bid to save the property overrun by vegetation, debris and trash, unwanted furniture, and suspicious activity and trespassing, the City Council passed…
Fireworks spark fire in Paso Robles after being banned
Fire season blazes into Paso Robles as firefighters responded to three separate incidents just before the Fourth of July holiday. One fire is assumed to be caused by consumer fireworks which were prohibited by the city. According to Paso Robles Deputy Fire Chief Randy Harris, the Fire Department had received multiple witness accounts of hearing…
