Cover Story
A new oil-drilling proposal in Huasna Valley is nothing like the last one and exactly the same
Life has been good in the Huasna Valley. For the past year, the day to day in this bucolic pocket of farms and ranches south of Arroyo Grande has returned to the regular pleasant doldrums of rural living. Residents have organized online to begin an adopt-a-road program. They notify each other when there’s a fire,…
What’s the best April Fool’s joke you’ve heard of?
Nova Chavez food preparer “All the furniture nailed to the ceiling.” Justin Munro store manager “I used to see people sit in trashcans. When people would go to throw something away, they’d jump out and scare them.” Lindsey Milner graduate student “Somebody I know once told her mom she was pregnant.” Jennifer Rogez recent graduate…
Introducing Mutt Couture: Not your average collar
Tired of those boring old nylon collars and leashes purchased from big-box stores that fall apart and shred just after a short time? Want something with just a little more of a designer look to it without overpaying? And don’t forget about comfort for your furry best friend. Introducing, Mutt Couture. And no, we’re not…
Cougars & Mustangs
The Central Coast is truly home to an immense amount of talent. Earlier this semester, I had the privilege of attending a work of theater at Cuesta College that took my breath away. It was stunning and heartfelt, full of wonderful performances by local students and fantastic choreography. Scenes moved from one to another like…
Refinement needed: After encountering intense opposition to an oil-by-rail project in Nipomo, authorities say they have to reassess
Once fast tracked for a speedy review process, the proposed Phillips 66 rail spur extension project at the Santa Maria Refinery in Nipomo has now shifted tracks, and the proverbial conductor has hit the brakes. After substantial outcry and a flood of public comments about the project, San Luis Obispo County officials told New Times…
Weather or not? Mixed feelings linger as authorities investigate the recent deaths of 25 sheep
It’s been a month since Storm Titan dumped more than 6 inches of rain on the longing earth. As quickly as that storm came and went, so did news of an incident that resulted in 25 dead sheep. But while the storm quickly left, the controversy surrounding those ovine corpses didn’t, putting a prominent local…
Tempers rise in a Hill vs. CAPSLO flare-up
It’s been a sore subject. Homeless services provided by the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County Inc. (CAPSLO), a wide-ranging service agency that also includes Head Start and other programs, have been the subject of much controversy in recent years. Locals have flung accusations of fiscal irresponsibility, and CAPSLO has, at times, responded…
Moriarty gets a third attorney
Al Moriarty, the former Grover Beach financier and alleged $22 million Ponzi-schemer, was back in court on March 19. Moriarty has been without a lawyer since his second attorney, Scott Whitenack, had to bow out of the case due to legal troubles of his own on Jan. 29. On March 19, Judge Teresa Estrada-Mullaney appointed…
CalCoast founder Karen Velie is found guilty of DUI
After a protracted legal battle, Karen Velie—former New Times writer and co-founder of the controversial CalCoastNews website—was found guilty of driving under the influence on March 25. Velie was initially arrested on Aug. 13 of last year, and an Aug. 21 article published on CalCoastNews claimed the arrest appeared to be “directly connected” to the…
Strong smells and strong words: Applicants withdraw their proposal for a controversial green waste composting facility
To read the letter submitted by project applicants, click here. In a fiery statement released March 25, applicants for a proposed green waste composting facility planned just outside San Luis Obispo said they were throwing in the towel and withdrawing the proposal. The project was slated for review at the March 27 SLO County Planning…
‘No’ means sue me?
Watch out, ladies (of both genders), there’s a new smooth talker in town, and he wants you to know he’s nothing like the smooth talker who was sniffing around these parts several years ago reeking of Axe Body Spray and CVS’s discounted holiday chocolate. Remember him? The guy who mounted a prolonged and determined campaign…
This is why there are so many Republicans
This is why there are so many Republicans My Democratic colleagues often wonder how the Republican Party, whose economic policies blatantly support only the rich at everyone else’s expense, continues to exist. The Republicans’ environmental positions even make them look like they are members of an alien species bent on human destruction. Yet they generally…
Pismo is concerned about water
We are currently going door to door with an important petition to put an initiative on the November ballot. For more information, please go to savepricecanyon.com. If you are a registered Pismo Beach voter and we haven’t come to your door, email us at savepricecanyon@gmail.com, notify us on Facebook, or call command central/Sheila at 773-4035,…
Home, sweet Los Osos
As a 25-year resident of Los Osos, I have serious concerns about the proposal to convert the former BofA building into a 24-hour drive-thru fast food restaurant. We moved here to raise our children exactly because Los Osos is an eclectic and unique small town, without a huge multinational corporate presence. Both of our now…
Something is rotten in Paso
Current residents need look no further to find the rotten “eggs” in the city of Paso Robles (“Rotten in Paso,” The Tribune, March 26) than the city manager and the city mayor (“Paso Poised for Growth”, The Tribune, March 26). Both are so set on “green” dollar signs that they have ignored current residents’ concerns…
There’s always more to the story
Until March 10, Pearl Harbor was, to me, the setting of a story, relegated to black-and-white photos in history books. Pearl Harbor was a day on the calendar: Dec. 7, “a date which will live in infamy.” I had only the lessons in school to thank for keeping the setting and date alive in my…
Lenten repenting
People give up all kinds of daily “vices” for Lent—the six-week time period on the Christian calendar, after Mardi Gras and before Easter. It is a time when followers of Catholicism and some Christian denominations choose to give up something from their daily routine in order to work on their spiritual relationship, during the time…
Tolosa 2012 No Oak Chardonnay Central Coast
I love this stainless steel fermented chardonnay far more than the over-oaked chards I sample regularly. While dining on a seafood feast at the Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach, this beautifully crafted wine perfectly complemented the rich bisque and the Alaskan red king crab we feasted on. No wonder, winemaker Larry Brooks has been making…
Emphasis on freshness: Ember offers honest food straight from our local farms
I asked chef Brian Collins, the owner and genius behind the exciting new restaurant, Ember, to describe his impressively fresh cuisine. He explained it’s farmers market driven, inspired by France and Spain. Collins is a professional with an innate talent for creating dishes. Nearly everything comes into his kitchen from this region’s most renowned farms,…
Austin singer-songwriter Gina Chavez plays Sally Loo’s on March 27
If, like me, you couldn’t get your bosses to send you to the SXSW music festival, a little taste of the Austin scene is coming to us. Gina Chavez, an award-winning Austin performer, will tour through SLO in support of her second album, up.rooted. Chavez’s new album was produced by Michael Ramos (Patty Griffin and John Mellancamp)…
Piper Kerman’s ‘Orange is the New Black’ is Cuesta College’s 2014 Book of the Year
Orange Is the New Black, Piper Kerman’s New York Times bestselling memoir chronicling her year as an inmate at a women’s prison, is Cuesta College’s 2014 Book of the Year. Now a popular Netflix original series by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, the book is a quieter, more reflective account of Kerman’s experiences. In exchange for…
When it rains, it pours: Three events 60 miles apart challenge the laws of physics
Sometimes San Luis Obispo feels a little bit like Pleasantville—for all the wrong reasons. Nothing to do, except visit the bar for the six hundred thousandth time since moving here. Nowhere to go, except possibly the beach for the seven hundred thousandth time since moving here. Don’t get me wrong: I like the beach. But…
Cal Poly Arts presents The Met: Live in HD’s screening of Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’
“Opera” is a concept nearly as overstuffed and pushy as the proverbial lady who signals the end of the show. Between the divas and the prima donnas, the mezzos and the tessituras and the recitatives, who can keep it straight? Forget all that! Opera is simply the circus of the rich, and just like the…
Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo presents a new interpretation of Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’
The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s 1953 dramatization of the Salem witch trials, written as a reaction to McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee, is a great American play by one of the greatest American playwrights. It is a moving play, a well-written play, and one of the best examples of protest theatre this country has…
Clubs 3/27/14
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…
