Cover Story
Cued up: The 24th Congressional seat is open after 18 years and a bevy of candidates are looking for the break
It’s 2016, and it’s an election year. Not only does that include a presidential race and a handful of contested local races, but also one for California’s 24th Congressional District, which is up for grabs. In April 2015, Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced her retirement, leaving behind the seat she’s held for the Democratic Party…
Pismo residents file FPPC complaint against Coastal Commissioner Erik Howell
A group of Pismo Beach residents opposed to a neighboring housing development are accusing City Councilmember and California Coastal Commissioner Erik Howell of being swayed by a hefty campaign contribution. Residents say Howell changed his position on the project two months after he received a contribution for his 2016 City Council re-election campaign from the…
Meow or never: Animal services organizations confront cat overpopulation in SLO’s North County
View photos of Santa Margarita’s feral cat colony. SLO County has a cat problem. Stray and feral cat populations have exploded in recent years, most alarmingly in North County, where “community cats” are overwhelming animal shelters, multiplying faster than they can be neutered, and putting a strain on the availability of both natural and human…
Bingeable: Love
Where? Streaming on Netflix Try to remember one of the weirdest hookups of your life and you still (hopefully) wouldn’t even come close to the unnecessary awkwardness that is happening between Mickey and Gus in Netflix’s new series, Love. While it may seem incredibly cheesy to give a show the broadest of titles, Love, it…
Caught in a moment: Bowie’s first U.S. tour lives on in photos at Boo Boo Records
The arena was packed, music was blasting, and fans were rocking out. He leaned forward from his seat to get that perfect shot of glam rocker David Bowie, when suddenly a large man—the rock star’s manager—tapped on the photographer’s shoulder, demanding his lens. The year was 1972 and it was Bowie’s first time performing in…
What are you looking for in political candidates this election season?
Lisa Koons server “To make sure they’re trustworthy and don’t go back on what they say.” Kaitlyn Tolin barista “I’m interested to see who is going to head each party in the presidential race. Locally, I’m interested to see what happens with the idea of a marine sanctuary off our coast. I see both sides…
SLOMA exhibits explore relationship between man and nature
Nature is calling. And you should answer, by taking a trip to the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. Be Wilder I Be Wilder: The Art of Jenny Kendler will be up on display at SLOMA’s Gray Wing starting April 1. Kendler’s work explores our complex relationship with the natural world through sculptural works, drawings,…
Suspend Motion Aerial Arts expands Suburban Road studio
Sometimes you just have to move on to bigger and better things. The high-flying aerialists at Suspend Motion in San Luis Obispo will soon have even more space to hang out in. As the studio gears up for its fifth annual aerial ballet performance of Eventyr: Circus of Fairy Tales on Memorial Day weekend, its…
A herculean effort: A puppy’s journey from legs casts to Madonna Mountain
If you have a vendetta against pit bulls, I don’t want to hear it. If you’re going to try and tell me some B.S. about how pit bulls have a predisposition to be more violent than other dogs and that’s why scumbags like Michael Vick force them to fight, then we definitely can’t be friends.…
And the art goes on: Studios on the Park exhibit explores ages of art
The circle of life stops for no man. The earth keeps on spinning round and round, each sunrise bleeds into the following sunset, and the art of the day continues changing with the passage of time. Looking to the ever-evolving inspiration, style, and subject matter of art, the Paso Robles Art Association settled on the…
Rising country pop star Olivia Lane brings her infectious sounds to Tooth & Nail Winery on March 26th
From her big open-voiced anthem of “Steal Me Away” to the hip-hop-tinged “You Part 2,” rising country star Olivia Lane demonstrates she can play it straight or take country music to places it’s rarely gone. One thing that’s consistent in every one of her songs is her infectious effusiveness. “But hey hey I’m OK/ hangin’…
Clubs 3/24/16 – 3/31/16
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-5000, cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Rd. in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on…
Choose your own adventure: You play bartender and pizza maker at Blast 825 Taproom in downtown SLO
How many times have you stared into an overwhelming vortex of craft beer taps, only to ask the bartender, “What’s good?” I mean, how does one choose the perfect pint? There’s the pale ale, the oatmeal stout, the raspberry sour aged in oak barrels. And there’s the double IPA from that famous brewery in San…
Boing, boing!
Easter bunny’s coming to town: Madonna Inn will host an epic breakfast buffet this March 27 complete with omelet station, scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, French toast, au gratin potatoes, fresh muffins, mini bagels and cream cheese, sausage and gravy, fresh-squeezed OJ, and—of course—coffee and Madonna Inn cake! Not sure you can handle…
Central Coast Brewing Company’s Lemon Peel Pils and True Myth’s 2014 Paragon Vineyard Chardonnay
Maybe it’s because the Meyer lemon trees on my block are blowing up with fresh, juicy bounty, but I am all about the tangy citrus notes in Central Coast Brewing Co.’s refreshing Lemon Peel Pils. This clean German pilsner offers up a fresh, balanced finish and a distinct, floral hop aroma that is almost as…
Parched
Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink.” I guess Coleridge’s ancient mariner didn’t have access to a nuke plant’s desalination system and an extra $36 million lying around to connect it to his water system. On March 23, the SLO County Board of Supervisors all agreed on something—miracle!—and that something was to spend…
Get flocking: Prank-centric pink flamingo fundraiser benefits GALA building
After dark on March 16, Kristin Armstrong was tiptoeing around in the semi-lit night sticking neon pink birds all over someone’s lawn. She heard a noise and looked up. There was a woman peering through one of the house’s windows, staring at her. “I got busted,” Armstrong said. “This lady went to close a window,…
Cougars & Mustangs
At Cal Poly this year, April 8 and 9 will be devoted to making the world a better place. There are two major reasons for this, to be shared with you shortly. The first is the fourth annual Cal Poly Hackathon, which tasks its participants with collaborating to develop some project—including but not necessarily limited…
Candidates announce bid for SLO City Council
Two San Luis Obispo residents filed paperwork to run for open City Council seats in the November election: Brett Strickland and Andy Pease. Both are newcomers to city politics. As of press time, Pease hadn’t officially announced, saying she planned to do so in the morning of March 24. Both candidates have active campaign websites.…
Atascadero City Council allows residential marijuana cultivation
Medical marijuana patients living in Atascadero will be allowed to grow their own marijuana plants on a restricted basis, the Atascadero City Council decided on March 22. The council unanimously passed an amendment to a city zoning code introduced in January banning all forms of marijuana cultivation. The amendment reverses part of that ordinance by…
A.J. Santana faces jury in SLO courtroom
A former SLO County District Attorney’s Office investigator charged with perjury will finally have the chance to make his case before a jury. The trial of August “A.J.” Santana began in SLO County Superior Court March 23, following a day of jury selection. Santana is facing felony perjury charges after prosecutors with the California Attorney…
Cambrian victim of intoxicated truck driver wins $2 million verdict
A Cambria woman who was the victim of a violent collision with an intoxicated commercial truck driver won a massive award from a SLO County jury earlier this month. That jury awarded the victim a little more than $2.1 million in damages, making it one of the larger jury awards handed down in SLO County,…
Los Osos residents be wary
For Los Osos, it is time to stand together. Many of the residents of Los Osos feel battered and bruised by the sewer issue. We have been pushed around, threatened, and lied to. A contentious battle was waged on both sides with no clear winner. No matter what side you were on, it is now…
Fareed’s water plan is half-cracked
Justin Fareed is a genius! Pure brilliance! What better way to release the people from the shackles of government overreach and save the taxpayers money than to build a desalination plant to address the Paso Robles groundwater overdraft? Such vision! One of today’s true conservatives. Let’s send this man to Washington where he can work…
Nuclear energy is not clean energy
There are two schools of thought regarding nuclear generation of electricity: the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” way and the “Dealing with the Facts” way. One of the facts is that nuclear reactors are an extremely inefficient way to generate energy. Albert Einstein said, “Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water.” It…
About that whole global warming thing …
For those who are concerned about manmade global warming, you no longer need to worry about it. Obama brokered a deal that solves the problem. The U.S. and other industrialized nations are going to cut their emissions (the U.S. 25 to 28 percent below the 2005 level) by 2025 and pay $100 billion in tax…
Leftover shoe goo
Is the city government of Arroyo Grande an unpleasant, even nasty place to work? Some people seem to think so. But the city leaders, Mayor Jim Hill and City Councilmember Tim Brown—who have supposedly encouraged such an environment—don’t agree. They think everything is hunky-dory in the workplace over which they preside. The question became public…
