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From the land, with love
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Off the hook
Supporters of the 12 San Luis Obispo County residents arrested in a recent mobile medical marijuana dispensary sting arrived early Jan. 11 at the steps of the county courthouse. The doors hadn’t even opened yet, but once they did, those supporters soon learned that charges against three of the arrestees were rejected by prosecutors. Speaking…
Which natural disaster would you most want to be in?
Caleb Pelletier college student “A volcano that blots out the sun and causes a winter that never ends. Then I could play in the snow before I die.” Jodi Dykhouse bartender “In an airplane, because it won’t affect me much.” Emily Graves college student “A tornado. I can go to the cellar, but still go…
Sing it, siblings!
Awarding last year’s Best Song winner at the New Times Music Awards was a no brainer, according to judges, who unanimously bestowed the honor on Inga Swearingen for her sweet and moving “Brick by Brick,” a duet with her sister that chronicles watching their parents rebuild their home. It seriously makes me tear up every…
The Legend of Livermore Valley
Travel writer Tom Wilmer discovered the scandalously unsung wine region of Livermore Valley by accident. “I had been doing radio interviews with winemakers up there for KCBX,” he said. “I thought, I’ll buy a couple books on the area from Amazon. I went online, and there were zero. So it was obvious that there was…
If you can’t beat ’em …
It’s Monday, Jan. 10, and I’m walking through a windy winter morning in downtown SLO. I’m taking the Walking Tour of Box Art, crossing off little circles on a map that came with the Activity Guide I got from the Parks and Rec department. I’m starting with No. 13, a series of seven bands of…
Anything is possible when you work for the circus!
“I hope those cats are unionized,” one viewer comments on the YouTube video “Popovich and his circus cats.” The fourth-generation Russian circus performer, who rescues all of his furry co-stars from animal shelters, can be seen walking across the stage while a sleek black cat deftly weaves its way around his ankles. A beautiful calico…
Scripts are for suckers!
Colin Mochrie has the perfect lazy man’s job. In fact, the star of the improv show Whose Line is it Anyway? has built a career on his lack of preparation. For the past seven years, Mochrie and fellow Whose Line…? veteran Brad Sherwood have toured the country with the utterly spontaneous The Colin and Brad…
There’s concrete, and there’s concrete
You know how concrete mixers go around and around? They’re hypnotizing, what with all that gray stuff slopping and slushing in there. More than once I’ve had to fight off the urge to throw myself headlong into one. It’s called Rapture of the Aggregate, and it’s how I lost an uncle. Why am I talking…
Healthcare innovation in our backyard
Few 24-year-olds have the persistence and confidence of Rebeca Ponce. A born-and-raised SLO native, Ponce decided she wanted to volunteer with Ugandan North American Medical Society (UNAMS). “I didn’t take no for an answer,” she said. “I basically just asked them what I needed to get done in order to go to Uganda with the…
Lend a hand
Danny Chaffin is studying for his bachelor’s in peace. No, really. Chaffin, a 23-year-old with a head of tousled brown hair beneath a knit cap, all topping a tall lanky frame, is in phase two of a project to bring peace to Nepal by building schools. It all began after a year of school at…
No ticket, no problem
People often wonder what drives those who give their precious time to help others. In the case of the locals who command Cambria’s one-of-a-kind free bus service, they might wonder, instead: What drives them to drive those who can’t drive themselves? At first light on a crisp January morning, Cambria resident Al Curtice pulled an…
Atascadero police chief resigns
The chief of police for the Atascadero Police Department, Jim Mulhall, stepped down suddenly, claiming he was “taking a break” from his long career in law enforcement to spend more time with family. City Manager Wade McKinney accepted Jim Mulhall’s resignation Jan. 7. According to city officials, Commander Stephen Gesell will step in as acting…
Gov. Brown’s budget proposal upsets nearly everyone
Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to accomplish something in his first few weeks in office that took his predecessor years to accomplish: He’s infuriated many of the state’s Republicans and Democrats at the same time. Brown released his budget proposal on Jan. 10, and it was a doozy. It calls for $12.5 billion in cuts…
Two visions of the county Animal Shelter
An update on the status of the San Luis Obispo County Animal Shelter to the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 11 offered an opportunity to listen to two different versions of life at the pound. According to County Health Agency Director Jeff Hamm and a report written by his staff, the county is making steady…
SLO citizens show for their slice of the dough
More than 250 people showed up for the San Luis Obispo City Financial Planning Community Forum wanting one thing: money. No, they weren’t there to personally pocket municipal cash, but for a chance to tell city leaders how they should spend tax dollars. Revenue cuts represented a newly popular category this year. Residents were given…
Morro Bay Planning Commission gets a mixed bag
On Jan. 11, the Morro Bay City Council denied a request to completely reboot its Planning Commission. It also shot down a commission recommendation on a contentious sewer project. Three commission members’ terms expire at the end of the month. Newly elected Mayor Bill Yates led the charge in an attempt to replace the remaining…
Livestock to be cleared out of Carrizo Plains
An agreement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by local environmental groups to protect the Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve from livestock overgrazing. The settlement made in San Francisco Superior Court Jan. 10 mandates that all livestock are to be removed from the reserve until environmental studies can be completed to determine the effects of…
D’oh! Nuts!
Jacob Pickering, co-owner of the SLO Donut Company in San Luis Obispo, shared a few words of wisdom a close friend once told him: “Donuts are like porn: People may not admit to liking it, but sure enough, everyone enjoys it from time to time.” Seeing the words “donut” and “porn” in the same sentence…
Denny Johansen
NEW TIMES How long has the lighthouse been around? JOHANSEN Well, the bill that passed the construction of the lighthouse was passed on June 24, 1886. Actual construction started in 1889 and was finished in 1890. We celebrated the lighthouse’s 120th birthday last June. NEW TIMES Can you explain what lighthouse keepers do?…
Give the gift of conversation
In a world dominated by Facebook, YouTube, and iPhone apps, it is not surprising we have lost our sense of person-to-person contact. Instead of catching up with an old friend over a hot cup of coffee, we can jump onto Facebook and pull up their profile page. With just a few clicks of a mouse,…
California is broken because you can’t fix stupid
There’s been a lot of talk about how Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to fix California’s deficit, but very little about why. How liberal voters, unions and activist judges fought, opposed, and attacked him at every turn; how 80 cents of every government dollar were spent on employee salaries and benefits; and how hyper-environmentalist, anti-business regulations, and…
One ambulance should be enough
Hey Americans, I am just blown away each and every time when I see multiple firefighter trucks, police cars, and ambulances rushing to some place somewhere in SLO County, responding to a 911 call where somebody just dropped dead, or fell off a ladder, or had a heart attack. The other day, when driving near…
Violent imagery needs to stop, or the violence won’t
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, Ariz., addressed the media after the attempted assassination of Democratic U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the assassination of Federal Judge John Roll at Rep. Giffords’s “Congress on the Corner” public event in Tucson, Ariz. He stated that Representative Giffords was likely the specific target of the attack, declaring, “When…
Hear the ‘Baaaaaaa’
Often those who lie and promote agendas of fear and hate are good at it. They can yell fire where there is none, and sheep-like followers will actually smell the non-existing smoke … and act accordingly.
Violent rhetoric run amok
Sarah Palin with her “don’t retreat … reload,” Sharron Angle and her “second amendment remedies,” and Joe “You Lie” Wilson, and the hatred and belief in myths and lies spewed by Glenn Beck, et al, have finally borne fruit. A young man in Arizona has shot a Democratic Congresswoman, a federal judge, and innocent men,…
The media used the shooting for their agenda
The criminal act of the shooting in Arizona is beyond sadness and disgust. However, it is interesting how fast the mainstream media jumped at the chance to point the guilty finger to the right without knowing the facts at all. Notice Paul Krugman’s diatribe immediately printed by the Tribune. This act was done by a…
How can we speak up?
The ruling by Judge Crandall was not a surprise. It just shows that the judge agreed that the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board did not act improperly because 45 Los Osos homeowners in the prohibition zone are polluting the ground water. There are 4,500 homeowners in the prohibition zone polluting the ground water.…
You couldn’t see this, Glen?
Regarding the Jan. 6 Split Screen for The King’s Speech (“Talk of the crown”): At the risk of seeming impolite, I must say you really must have gone to sleep for part of the film, Mr. Starkey, as you completely missed the scene where Logue was speaking to King George and he told Logue that…
Clubs
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Dry Creek 2008 Zinfandel Heritage
I have always loved Zinfandel grown in Sonoma’s Dry Creek and Russian River Valley appellations, and this blend was grown in both regions. It’s elegant in style yet offers a mouth-filling array of blackberries and black cherries, highlighted with tangy raspberry and plum notes. The long, tasty finish is pleasantly spicy with white pepper notes.…
Costa de Oro 2009 Pinot Noir Rosé Santa Maria Valley
A great rosé isn’t just for summertime and warm weather. And this pretty pink wine is great whether you drink it as an aperitif or a quaffer. Darkly hued, it’s bursting with fresh notes of strawberry, black cherry, and plum highlighted with notes of raspberry and spice. But don’t drink it too cold; that hides…
A modern wine café and market
When I first heard about Meze—“meh-zay,” as they call appetizers in the Mediterranean and Middle East—I thought it was strictly a wine market and deli. But that didn’t come close to describing the menu that’s drawing so many people here. This market offers an upscale menu with a good selection of small plates that range…
