Cover Story
Local window painters put their personal touch on businesses
The holidays. Let’s all take a moment to heat up a cup of cocoa, snuggle into our comfiest chair, relax, and sigh collectively. These are taxing times for all. Try as you might to escape the frozen shackles of peppermint cheer, the feral throngs of last-minute shoppers, or the deafening silence of awkward family dinners,…
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Tom Carter retired firefighter and small business owner “Homemade pumpkin pie.” Bob Hallum retired “Turkey … and dressing … and gravy.” Rhonda Greenelsh homemaker “Chocolate cream pie.” Grace Greenelsh student “Mashed potatoes.”
The man with the can: Stormy T’s pickled delicacies are worth flipping your lid for
If you haven’t heard from Stormy “T” Trevino in about 13 hours, and you’re more than a little worried, don’t go calling the police. Do what his friends and loved ones do: Check his kitchen first. That’s where you’re sure to find SLO’s resident canner, with his head and heart inside a Mason jar. If…
Breathe Carolina brings their EDM sounds to SLO Brew on Nov. 28
Frequently called “Colorado’s best-kept secret,” Breathe Carolina delivers synth-heavy electronic party songs brimming with optimism, like this lyric from “Blackout”: “I’m only getting started. I won’t blackout. This time I’ve got nothing to waste. Let’s go a little harder. I’m on fire. I won’t blackout. I’m on my way. I’m only getting started.” Partying as…
In Memoriam: Cal Poly art professor Michael Barton Miller
There are teachers you remember just as teachers—people who go by the books and hand out grades. Then, there are teachers who inspire their students, their colleagues, and the community with their dedication and kindness. Michael Barton Miller was, without a doubt, one of the latter. Miller, who passed away recently after a long battle…
Bring on the cheese: A night at the roller derby is a guaranteed good time
I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, which will probably only surprise people who knew me as a jock in high school: I don’t really like watching most sports, even the ones I really like playing. Mostly, it’s just not nearly as satisfying as getting off your butt, throwing on 20 pounds of…
Natural woman: Steynberg Gallery displays Earth Gowns, a collection of narrative dresses
Most of the time when you think of an art exhibit, the image that comes to mind is a room full of traditional paintings, maybe a photograph, or sculpture here and there. It’s not often that an exhibit comes in the form of wearable art. But together, Julie Frankel and Melinda Forbes organized Earth Gowns,…
New ARTshare program promotes the bridge between business and art
Looking at art is one thing. It’s easy, as a viewer, to walk into a gallery or a museum (granted it’s free and not tourist-ridden like the Louvre) and take in the tantalizing brushstrokes, figures, and compositions of painters, sculptors, and craftsmen alike. It’s even easy to talk about art—just drop the words “color,” “shape,”…
Clubs 11/27/14-12/4/14
Goin’ South … THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. CUVEE BISTRO AND CHAMPAGNE BAR: 550 1st St., Avila Beach, 595-2245. Live music Thurs. and Sat. 6-9pm. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the…
Cork poppin’
Sunset, surf, and a glass o’ wine! Tickets go on sale Dec. 1 for the first-ever Blendfest on the Coast event, featuring Paso Wines and the beauty of the Cambria and San Simeon Coastlines (tickets are limited; check out the details at winecoastcountry.com) … The holidays are all about glitz, tinsel, and—of course—sparkling wines. Celebrate…
Dunbar Brewing Company’s Scottish Heavy and Vina Robles’ 2012 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Dunbar Brewing is a true cash-only bar, meaning they only take cash and they only play Johnny Cash. Doesn’t get more honest than that. I recently enjoyed some live tunes by someone other than the man in black (local alt. country band The Whiskeyjacks) while sipping on the Santa Margarita brewery’s own Scottish Heavy.…
Santa paws is coming to town: Woods Humane holds annual holiday open house
Picture this: You’re standing in line to see Santa Claus. Instead of bringing normal, boring, human children to see Santa like all the other moms and dads did, you brought your adorable little twin tabbies Bono and Larry Mullen Junior. Your kitties are basically your kids, and you love them just as much as any…
Cougars & Mustangs
As this final week of November rolls around, it’s easy, as a writer, to stoop to certain cliched lows. For example, I could command you to brace yourselves, for winter is coming. I could try to work in how I’m really thankful for this or that, or could actually pretend that for once I’m about…
The Paso shuffle: A close race brings a slight shift to the Paso Robles City Council
The Paso Robles City Council will get some fresh blood in January, after challenger Jim Reed eked out a victory by a handful of votes. The race, where five candidates were running for two seats, stayed tight from the time ballots were cast to when results were certified. Pamela Avila and Steve Gregory joined Reed…
After the fall: In the wake of an election and an investigation, an altered Arroyo Grande forges ahead
As the clock approached 9 p.m. on the night of Nov. 19, the Arroyo Grande City Council chambers were not unlike a fairground at the end of a grand finale fireworks show. There was a certain kind of somber hush in the room as people filed for the exits, knowing the action was over. Some…
Fighting students: Righetti has a bad day that sends echoes into the future
What happened at Ernest Righetti High School on Nov. 19 sucked. It wasn’t a good day for the district; the high school; its students, parents, or teachers; law enforcement agents; or the community. It was a mess, plain and simple. Shadows of the chaos that overwhelmed the tail end of the school’s Nov. 19 lunch…
Downtown San Luis Obispo’s upcoming makeover
Downtown San Luis Obispo is on track to keep getting sexier. As part of an ongoing downtown beautification process, the SLO City Council on Nov. 18 voted to move forward with another block of the “downtown renewal project.” The work will include new Mission-style sidewalks, new tree gates, removing and replacing some trees, new trashcans,…
Water rate hike approved in Nipomo
After a lengthy study and discussion process, the Nipomo Community Services District (NCSD) Board of Directors approved a substantial rate increase at its Nov. 21 meeting in order to pay for the NCSD’s Supplemental Water Project. According to NCSD calculations, “average” residential water ratepayers using 36 units per month will see their overall water rate…
After recount, Higginbotham remains victor in Pismo Beach
San Luis Obispo County’s tightest 2014 race has finally come to a close. After a two-day recount supported by both incumbent Pismo Beach Mayor Shelly Higginbotham and challenger Kevin Kreowski, Higginbotham was once again declared the victor as the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office announced recount results on Nov. 25. Initial election results certified on Nov. 19…
Felony charges against the remaining six of the Doobie Dozen have been dismissed
Four years after San Luis Obispo County law enforcement officers scooped up 12 people in a large-scale sting against medical marijuana operations, the last of the defendants are now able to walk away from their felony charges. Hours before New Times went to press on Nov. 25, the SLO County District Attorney’s Office moved to…
Notes of hick
It’s a little-known fact that at the 1842 Pensacola Summit for Local Drunks, at the behest of Whiskey Bartholomew who, the previous evening, got lit at the local tavern and went on a long and embarrassing rant in which he claimed to agree with the principles of trickle-down economics, all alcoholics present at the gathering…
Sentence given in Paso Robles steer-burning case
A man accused of setting a young steer on fire at Paso Robles High School on Oct. 26 of last year has been sentenced to jail and ordered to seek treatment. On Nov. 20, Garrett Kaplan, 24, of Paso Robles, pleaded no contest to felony animal cruelty. Kaplan was given a one-year sentence, 90 days…
Don’t leave the library in the dark
I recently went to my local branch of the SLO Library System, located at 800 W. Branch, Arroyo Grande. It was about 6 p.m., about an hour after the sun had set, and the library was closing at 7. Right away, as I drove up, I noticed how dark it was in the upper parking…
Pet owners: Beware of wily coyotes
Sad to relate that my beautiful, black rescue kitty, “Mister Johnson,” disappeared from my yard on Veterans Day. He had never even left my yard before, and I think he got nabbed by a coyote. I see them running the hills and creekbeds near my Cayucos home all the time while out on my bike,…
Remember nuance?
In our public airspace, don’t you see how the rhetoric comes from the inside out? I’m noticing that people who aren’t working on developing compassion and seeing the humanity in all people are the ones who simplify things into stock labels and simple vilification. For instance, our president is a human being like the rest…
‘The thing between the legs’
Shredder has ironically become the Voice of Reason as of late, especially in light of the recent exploits of one particular fraternity’s misogynistic actions (“Remember to not get raped,” Nov. 13). I wasn’t surprised when I first read about Pi Kappa Alpha’s said Facebook posts. But what got me was the onslaught of sexism occurring…
Bottled water is the true enemy
SLO County needs to address something bigger than the Styrofoam issue. We are being charged for plastic bags, yet the sale of bottled water has soared. There is no campaign to stop the sale of bottled water. Did you know we are paying more per ounce for that water than gas? Tests have proven that…
