Cover Story
The writing on the wall
The autumn afternoon feels more like a mid-summer heat wave, and thus the walk along San Luis Obispo’s railroad corridor is like treading through hell on earth. Despite the heat, the man ahead quickly leads the way. “Follow me. Keep up,” he orders as he jumps down from the tracks to a chain fence that…
American legend
“Kris Kristofferson’s coming to the PAC,” I told a young friend of mine recently, followed by her totally blank look. “You know, he was one of the Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings.” Still nothing. “He wrote ‘Me and Bobby McGee.’” “I thought Janis Joplin sang that song,” my friend said. “She…
Artifacts
Open Studios Art Tour The Open Studios Art Tour takes place Oct. 18 to 19 and Oct. 25 to 26 all over SLO County. Info and tickets: sloartscouncil.org or 544-9251.Here are some high-lights Art Zero And The Executive Gallery Open Studios and sculpture garden, 4251 S. Higuera St., Suite 800, in SLO, Oct. 18…
Evolution revolution
New Times Are you a writer or an actor first? Gordon Greene My first career was as an actor, and then I got more interested in directing. It was a long time before I got into writing in a big way. I taught theater as well. One of my students was Curt [Miner–the Reverend at…
Come see the – hey Sleeping Beauty!
If brevity truly is the soul of wit, then the SLO Little Theatre is about to unleash a heavy dose of clever upon local audiences. “We are a culture of ADD in a way, so I think this is perfect for us,” said SLO Little Theatre Production Manager Katie Mack-Montenegro of the theater’s First Annual…
Of flags, katanas, and tutus
Rev C. Hite fashioned strips of Chinese newspapers into Taiwanese flags, mounted them on bamboo canes, and planted them in the ground near the creek. When the wind rises, the banners begin to ripple, catching the marriages and funerals enmeshed on paper in a sort of life dance. Sometimes she wraps fabric around rocks at…
Take a walk on the wild side
Kayakers Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt followed summer from Alaska to Argentina in a retrofitted, vegetable oil-powered Japanese fire truck. They could have filled a novel with the ubiquitous topic “What I did on my summer vacation,” but they spared us all and made a rad movie instead. Oil and Water Project is Warren and…
Kim Crawford 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
This vintage is certainly surprising when American wineries are still harvesting the 2008 vintage. But New Zealand’s harvest occurs between February and May. It’s young but it’s deliciously refreshing. It opens with pink grapefruit, grass, and herbal notes with a zippy high note of lemon-lime. Tasty as an aperitif and it complements shellfish, tuna Nicoise,…
Morovino 2005 Sangiovese Sta. Rita Hills
This big red offers flavors of sweet black cherry, plums, and spice with nuances of dried cherries. A good choice for grilled steaks, cheese stuffed pasta, or lasagna with a hearty meat rag_, and quite drinkable on its own. Vintner Andrea Bradford suggests decanting to allow it to open up and blossom. Just $26, it’s…
Good stewards of the land
Although my column covers the Central Coast wine scene, I receive wine samples from wineries in regions throughout California that sell their wines in local wine shops. A recent sample from Napa Valley’s popular Sterling Winery had me particularly interested. Winemaker Malcolm Seibly now produces a Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from certified organic vineyards in…
Vote for Prop. 8
My family and I urge you to vote yes on Proposition 8, marriage only between man and woman, the reason being that otherwise our moral values will certainly deteriorate and lead to intolerable consequences. Our moral codes come from religious principles handed down in the bibles of most faiths. None of these codes sanction homosexual…
Never again
The Depression in Holland began in 1935 and slowly everything was taken away from the people. Then Adolf Hitler came in 1940 and promised the farmers a good life, but instead, he walked into Holland and became the dictator. He murdered newborns from Jewish families, including babies with birth defects and people who were severely…
Wait a minute
On Oct. 2, a commentary by Alan Cooper stated that I had “quibbled with a number of stated goals” of the Save our Downtown organization (“Save our downtown,” Oct. 2). Alan knows that I’m the planning commissioner who led the opposition to the original proposal to raise height limits in the downtown core without sufficient…
Defeat the bullies
“Pro Wal-Mart pulls ahead with $150K from retailer.” This headline, in the Tribune on Oct. 11, might have been written as “Biggest company in world tries to buy local election.” Wal-Mart donated $150,000 to stop D-08, the Atascadero Shield Initiative. And our Chamber of Commerce has the audacity to accept $2,000 for a “business showcase”…
Do the right thing
I am feeling so frustrated with the tactics used to convince voters to support Proposition 8! I am tired of all the distortions and lies about churches losing their tax-exempt status or being sued if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages, children being forced to learn that same-sex marriage is “normal,” and county employees being…
Take a direct approach
I’m against the $85 billion bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85 billion to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200 million bonafide U.S. citizens, age 18 or older. Our population is about 301 million-plus, counting every man, woman, and child. So…
Are we safer?
Well, the DEA seems to have succeeded in ridding the Santa Barbara area of medical marijuana dispensaries (“No more medical marijuana on the Central Coast,” Oct. 9). So what, precisely have the Feds achieved? Some patients who need medical marijuana will now have to do without, suffering untreated pain, nausea, vomiting, or other symptoms. But…
Show mercy
This Nov. 4, Proposition 2, Standards for Confining Farm Animals, will ask Californians for a decision on how animals raised for food should be treated. Many of these animals are egg-laying hens confined in battery cages. Proposition 2 simply asks that these animals—along with breeding pigs and veal calves—have enough space to stand up, turn…
Keep investigating
Thank you for printing the story on the Andrea Hug case (“Ten years cold,” Oct. 2). It’s another reason why I love the New Times. It makes me wonder how many more girls have been killed by this guy and this incompetence?
Rosie Gallardo – Manager of Old Mission Thrift Store
NEW TIMES: What has been the weirdest thing that people have donated or come in asking for? GALLARDO: Once, we came in to open the store and there was this big bag of turkey bones waiting among the donations. It was huge! It’s one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen. NEW TIMES: To what…
Vote yes on Proposition 2
California voters will have an historic opportunity to dramatically reduce the suffering of more than 20 million animals raised for food in this state every year by voting YES on Proposition 2. At Farm Sanctuary, we see the effects of factory farming every day in hundreds of rescued farm animals who live at our 300-acre…
The End Credits Roll
So we come to the end at last. As anyone who has read my “Blast From the Past” movie column for Insomniac Video knows, I’m not usually one who lacks for words. But I sit here at my computer, and I simply don’t know what to say. I knew one day The Insomniac would end,…
What election issue is the most pertinent to you?
Tony Badalamenti retired “The financial state of the economy and the illegal war in Iraq.” Eric Egaas banker “I’d have to say the wars, both in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Amy Lee Consolati clinical social worker “The state of the economy and the hope for a return to economic stability.” David Cox creamery worker “For me,…
Props to the people
First, know that you must read to the end of this column to find out how to vote on the propositions in this election. I’m certain that you’ve come to Lil’ S.H.R.E.D. to know how to vote because I am, after all, a newspaper opinion writer, and we’re the ones who tell people how to…
Fast Facts
Just in time for flu season, the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center will host a free flu vaccine clinic for the community on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 am to 11 am. Vaccines will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Pepole who are at high risk from the flu will be…
Talks resume
Feeling disenfranchised from the political process, Sue Maisner has found a new way to invigorate democracy by encouraging greater citizen input to government. Maisner founded SLO Coffee House Activists, monthly nonpartisan forums wherein concerned citizens can support each other to push politicians on the issues. Gathering each month at a coffee house in SLO County,…
Candidates face off in Chamber debate
San Luis Obispo city candidates for mayor and City Council assembled in one of the lavish halls at the Madonna Inn on Oct. 9 for a question and answer session with SLO’s upper crust, who paid $30 a plate to attend the event organized by the Chamber of Commerce and SLO Rotary. The only candidates…
Big cuts in store for county
While the economy continues its slump, SLO County’s government faces deep, long-term cuts just to keep the county afloat, officials were told this week. Under current economic realities, reductions in public services are inevitable. County Administrative Officer David Edge was miserably to the point when he laid out the forecast to SLO County Supervisors. The…
Morro Bay smokers get to keep parks
About 10 children filed one-by-one before the Morro Bay City Council to tell members why they wanted smoking banned from city parks, but it wasn’t enough to convince three council members. The final vote was 3 to 2 against tightening the city’s smoking regulations. Morro Bay already prohibits smoking on beaches and piers and has…
County employee dies at work
A SLO County auditor collapsed and died in the Government Center on Oct. 7. According to the Office of the Auditor, Lawrence “Larry” Booth, 61, suffered an aortic aneurysm and collapsed. Paramedics arrived but were unable to revive him. Booth was an internal audit chief for the office, where he had worked for more than…
$700 billion bailout: What’s in it for me?
When Congress returned with an amended $700 billion bailout plan, the new version included several perks and goodies aimed at promoting alternative and “green” energy at the individual level, among them a reimbursement package for bike commuters. Beginning Jan. 1, employees who regularly commute between their home and work can claim a monthly $20 credit…
Morro Bay plant closure deemed likely
With its 450-foot tall smokestacks alternately viewed as blemishes and beacons, the sporadically used Morro Bay Power Plant now appears headed for permanent closure. After 2015, “continued operation of the plant is unlikely,” according to a letter from a company official to Morro Bay Mayor Janice Peters and members of the City Council. And if…
Santa Margarita gets salty
Santa Margarita Ranch, the highly contentious ag-cluster subdivision, was shot down by the Planning Commission on Oct. 9. The most contentious issue wasn’t that it was denied, but when. If local politicos are right, Santa Margarita Ranch still has a good shot at a successful appeal to the Board of Supervisors; speci-fically, the current Board…
