Cover Story
Run to the hills: Bryce Wilson tackles the SLO Marathon
View a slideshow of Bryce Wilson’s SLO Marathon progression. I started running four years ago. Since that time, I’ve lost 50 pounds and dropped two pants sizes. I’ve also grown numb to the sight of black toenails, bleeding nipples, and other things that would make normal people seek medical care. My left leg is a mass…
Which comic book supervillain would you be?
Zak Hicks teacher aide “The Joker. He’s just super cunning … and sarcastic.” Stephan Teodosescu student “The Riddler. I remember that movie as a kid. He was scary.” Luis Lopez sales associate “Apocalypse.” Neal Smith Tom’s Toys “The Joker because he does whatever he wants.”
His heart bleeds milk: Lou Tedone, 91, makes mozzarella 365 days a year
When you get to be 91, sweetheart—you tend to lose some strength,” Dr. Lou Tedone said, his voice tinged with good humor and the whisper of a Brooklyn accent. It is the morning of April 21 and the 91-year-old just finished lugging a weighty pot of water from counter to stove. As the senior citizen…
I’m there!
Tis the season to get tipsy in the plaza, y’all. SLO Wine’s 25th Anniversary Roll out the Barrels Celebration continues with Barrels in the Plaza unrolling this April 30. The grand tasting will kick off in SLO Mission Plaza with a slew of local wines and edible goodies galore! Also, be sure to check out…
2011 VINTJS Paso Robles Red Wine and Robert Hall’s 2014 Rose de Robles
A quality date doesn’t have to cost a fortune to be romantic. Why should your next bottle of wine be any different? Whether you’re watching the sun sink in your backyard or dancing in the dining room to KISS, now’s the time to look around at your life and appreciate what—and who—you have to hold.…
MindBody expands headquarters
As of April 24, MindBody expanded its headquarters to encompass an extra 64,000 square feet. The new building has a laid-back atmosphere, with lush plant life adorning the offices and new features like a child care center and a bistro. MindBody provides web-scheduling and marketing software to small health- and fitness-based businesses. Since its start…
Cougars & Mustangs
Welcome to the Merry, Merry Month of May! What’s so merry about it, you ask? Does Jolly St. Nicholas secretly deliver presents to all the good little mammals of May? Are you kidding me? The dude works all year to have a single night of such immense strain that it takes an entire year to…
God complex: Alleged creationist teachings are causing an uproar in Arroyo Grande
After receiving complaints from parents in Arroyo Grande and both local and national atheist organizations, the Lucia Mar Unified School District recently launched an investigation into reports of an Arroyo Grande High School science teacher teaching creationism in class. Until recently, AGHS teacher Brandon Pettenger was listed on the school’s website as teaching chemistry and…
An outgoing panel could be given new life in its review of Diablo Canyon
With a little more than 10 years before the last license is scheduled to expire at Diablo Canyon, regulators and independent reviewers remain up to their bureaucratic elbows in the data that began pouring out late last year. Looking forward, some of them might have a much stronger sway in reviewing the plant. On April…
A former Cal Poly football player takes a plea deal
Cortland Fort—one of the five former Cal Poly football players accused of planning or carrying out an August 2014 armed robbery—agreed to a plea deal on April 20. Fort pleaded no contest to a single felony count of conspiracy to commit grand theft and, in return, will avoid jail time. Prosecutor Eric Dobroth told New…
Cambria hires a PR contractor
The little community known as the “Pines by the Sea” now has a well-connected man vouching for them in the big halls of Sacramento. The Cambria Community Services District (CSD) recently hired Dean Florez and his consulting firm, Balance Public Relations, to represent the district on water supply and wastewater matters for a short-term period.…
Arroyo Grande will have a new city manager and attorney
For the first time since Nov. 19, 2014, Arroyo Grande will have a permanent city manager. At the Arroyo Grande City Council’s April 28 meeting, the council unanimously voted to appoint Dianne Thompson as the new city manager. Thompson—who previously served as city manager for Cotati (in Sonoma County) from 2007 to 2014 and city…
Hands in Nepal seeks donations for solar lights
After news broke that a massive earthquake had devastated the people of Nepal, nearly 8,000 miles away, the board members of Hands in Nepal got together to think of how they could help. The tiny nonprofit based out of Santa Margarita—it’s so small that the nonprofit database GuideStar lists its income as $0—has built schools…
More property returned to former Doobie Dozen
Two more people who were arrested as part of a large medical marijuana sting now have permission to retrieve their property that’s been sitting in evidence since late 2010. On April 23, Amy and Chris Austin were granted a motion to have their property returned; it had been locked up following an inter-agency sting—Operation Green…
Falling on deaf ears
It’s common knowledge that university faculty members are a bunch of self-important whiners sucking at the government teat while indoctrinating students in their leftist philosophies. They teach a few hours a day and then spend some time “researching” or something, flirt with a co-ed or two, and then go home to their fancy houses and…
There’s been a lot of water posturing
The big selling point touted by PRAAGS, PRO Water Equity, and the Board of Supervisors (BOS) is that the establishment of a water district will result in “local control.” There will be no more local control than currently exists today. In fact, the “control” will be exactly the same. AB 2453 clearly states that neither…
Atascadero Library is losing a legend
The time has come for the announcement that our long time Youth Services Librarian Joan Bloomfield is retiring on May 9. Joan has worked for the Atascadero Library for 26 years (October 1988) and has been a huge asset to the children of Atascadero. She has engineered some of the best children’s programming ever presented…
SLO County libraries honor Asian-Pacific Heritage Month
In addition to Free Comic Book Day, May also brings us Asian-Pacific Heritage Month. As such, SLO County libraries will be celebrating with a series of readings, film screenings, performances, and displays. On May 2, you can see Monkeys Grasp for the Moon, an interactive program about Chinese American artist Xu Bing, at the Atascadero…
Free Comic Book Day sweeps SLO County on May 2
There are exactly three things to look forward to during the first week of May: Polish Constitution Day (duh!), the strong possibility of a new Marvel superhero movie, and Free Comic Book Day. This year, my friends, you get all three. On May 1, you can see the return of Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.,…
The Central Coast Shakespeare Festival fundraiser, Bard Aid, promises to be a sublime afternoon of music and theater on May 2 at Filipponi Ranch Winery
How’d you like to sip some fine wines in a rustic ranch setting under oak and sycamore trees while being entertained by four of the Central Coast’s finest musical acts, in between which you’ll see costumed Shakespearian actors performing snippets of The Bard’s famed plays, all while getting hot-stone foot massages and being fed peeled…
Phil Lee delights a sold-out crowd at Steynberg Gallery on April 25
It’s Friday, April 25, and my wife and I roll in to Steynberg Gallery where Ragged Company and Phil Lee are set to perform in about 30 minutes. Then tragedy strikes! Peter Steynberg’s famous curry is sold out! Instead, we order caprese sandwiches, which are great, but I really wanted curry. We order a couple…
Accomplished pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane performs at the PAC
When he was still an ankle biter, around the age of 4 or 5 years old, Jeffrey Kahane began playing the piano. His parents had bought one for his older brother, but it was Jeffrey who went on to become the internationally renowned classical pianist and conductor he is today. “I just think, like most…
PCPA stages the classic musical ‘My Fair Lady’
The house lights dim, the stage lights go up, and the overture begins with great fanfare. You can see toes tapping in the audience to the endless score of hits—the urgent strings of “You Did It,” the elegant yearning of “On the Street Where You Live,” and the buoyant joy of “I Could’ve Danced All…
Clubs 4/30/15 – 5/7/15
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 Pismo…
