Cover Story
Lawrence Kasdan’s youthful love affair with film becomes a venerated career
See Lawrence Kasdan’s films On Saturday, March 21, The Big Chill (1983) screens at Downtown Cinemas at 1:15 p.m. It’s the story of seven college friends who rent a South Carolina house as they gather after a funeral of another friend. It was nominated for three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. That evening in…
A state initiative to aid the homeless made two state-owned properties available for use in SLO County
In his State of the State address on Feb. 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom focused on the statewide homeless issue and his initiatives to help. In his address, Newsom also stated that 1.6 million fewer Californians are living in poverty today than in 2011—which he said was a full quarter of the nation’s decrease. While there…
Recharging with research
Recharge your health ReCHARGE with Strawberries researchers are still looking for several postmenopausal women willing to participate in this study. If you’d like to get involved, contact Kari Pilolla at kpilolla@calpoly.edu or the program at recharge@calpoly.edu. You can also call (805) 756-1175 or visit secureforms.calpoly.edu/recharge for more information. Women are often left out of clinical…
Panic epidemic
Hey guys, we’re all going to die because of COVID-19—aka coronavirus. Wait, actually, we’re not all going to die. In fact, most people probably aren’t even going to be affected by it. People are just losing their minds over the possibility that even one person in San Luis Obispo County might be infected because they…
Paso school district to cut teachers, staff, and considers Bauer Speck Elementary School closure
The dreary weather in Paso Robles on March 10 matched the mood inside its school district’s board room that evening, a small space overflowing with impassioned students, staff, faculty, and community members ready to fight another round of budget cuts. Peppered throughout the packed room, students held up posters begging the Paso Robles Joint Unified…
Green Eats
An Irish Celebration in Harmony will start the St. Patrick’s Day Festivities at Harmony Cellars on March 14 from noon to 4 p.m. Irish-themed fare from The Hurricane Kitchen will be available for purchase as well as wine from Harmony Cellars. Jill Knight will be the musical guest (3255 Harmony Valley Road) … The Madonna…
Coast Union Drama Club presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Coast Union High School in Cambria holds performances of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starting on Friday, March 20, running through Sunday, March 29. Showings take place every Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and every Sunday at 3 p.m., in the school’s gymnasium. This show marks the Coast Union Drama Club’s 25th annual…
Educational Eating
The Performing Arts Center cares that you do well on your finals. Enjoy a relaxing study experience at the PAC on March 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free coffee, tea, and food from House of Bread Bakery Cafe as you study in a serene setting (1 Grand Ave. on campus at Cal…
Pismo Beach seeks mural artist for Pier Plaza
The Pismo Beach Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Commission is seeking an artist for its Pier Plaza Tile Art Mural Project. The mural is to be installed on the end-facing wall of the new Pier Plaza restroom, which has yet to be constructed. The theme of the new mural is “Quintessential Pismo Beach” (figurative designs only,…
Parents are happy. Students are happy. Even the vegans are diggin’ SLO’s new burger joint
Eat organic and live healthy Burger Village promises to serve hormone/antibiotic/rBGH/GMO/herbicide/preservative-free, sustainable, organic, environment-friendly food. And it’s tasty too. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday. Happy hour is Monday through Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m. for $3 beers. Burger Village is located…
Cayucos Pier hosts 10th annual Sea Glass Festival
The 10th annual Cayucos Sea Glass Festival takes place at the Cayucos Pier on Saturday, March 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, March 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Daily admission to the fair is $7. Attendees can look forward to a variety of handcrafted jewelry and glass art from several…
Eat, Drink, and Run
The Paso Crab Feed, hosted by the Rotary Club of Paso Robles will take place at the beautiful Windfall Farms Stallion Barn on March 14, from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets include all-you-can-eat crab, salad, pasta marinara with gourmet meatballs, garlic bread, BarrelHouse beer on tap, and soft drinks. All proceeds benefit the Rotary Club…
Morro Bay secures $62 million and protects frogs
The city of Morro Bay locked down a $62 million federal loan with a .83 percent interest rate for its water reclamation facility on March 10. The funds come after the city received results from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife’s review of the future facility and its potential impacts on the California red-legged…
We want you
Would you be interested in making a valuable contribution to the county of San Luis Obispo? Would you like to see firsthand the challenges our county faces and be involved in helping to find solutions? If the answer is yes, you should apply to become a member of the San Luis Obispo County civil grand…
‘Shooter’ Jennings headlines The Siren in Morro Bay
Like his famous parents—country music legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter—Waylon Albright “Shooter” Jennings is a musical badass, a singer-songwriter who adopted his parents’ love of Southern rock and outlaw county. According to legend, his “Shooter” moniker came from one of two places. His mom said it was his dad’s love of gun-centric Western culture…
Be vigilant, but don’t panic
I rarely agree with President Donald Trump, but what he has said about how the coronavirus compares to the flu has validity. The statistics on the flu are staggering. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates this season there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations, and 8,200 deaths in the USA.…
Hill overtakes Korsgaden—all three incumbent supervisors poised for re-election
More than 104,000 San Luis Obispo County ballots have been counted in the Super Tuesday, March 3, election, and the winners of the local primary races are close to official. John Peschong, Debbie Arnold, and Adam Hill—the 1st District, 5th District, and 3rd District incumbents on the SLO County Board of Supervisors, respectively—are all poised…
Changes for a working-class neighborhood
I have lived for 84 years in the 1876 Pollard House, mentioned in your article “Building Up” (March 5). The 1874 Norcross House is across the street, and the 1878 Jack House and Garden down the block, with many more historic buildings. North Higuera is a historic neighborhood that is mostly one-story houses and businesses,…
Atascadero discusses mobile home rent stabilization
In an effort to aid mobile home park residents who believe park owners are unfairly raising the rent, the Atascadero City Council will continue its ad hoc committee work with residents and owners. During public comment on the issue at the March 10 City Council meeting, Kathy Choate, a longtime resident of a mobile home…
SLO needs affordable, smart housing
Peter Johnson did an excellent job of representing all sides in “Building Up” (March 5), but I want to clarify that this is not a case of preservation versus affordable housing. The North Higuera district—bounded by Marsh, Nipomo, Higuera, and Carmel streets—has been a mostly working-class mixed-use neighborhood for 150 years. Thirty years ago, the…
SLO County to explore $80 million in bonds for housing, libraries
Facing shortfalls in funding for both affordable housing and public libraries, San Luis Obispo County will engage with the public in the coming months to gauge its support for two potential bond measures. SLO County supervisors voted unanimously on March 10 to move ahead with “education and outreach” for the measures, which together could generate…
Vote for Vicki Nohrden in November
In his opinion piece “It’s time to change the world,” (March 5) retiring state Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) illuminates the need for more women in leadership, offering the perfect prelude for promoting a woman to fill his seat this November. Vicki Nohrden is a mother and grandmother who knows from personal experience the hopes, dreams,…
SLO County braces for the novel coronavirus
Stay informed For local updates and official recommendations about the coronavirus (COVID-19), visit readySLO.org. Editor’s Note: This article was published on March 12 before several recent developments, including local school and event closures. Please visit readySLO.org for official announcements. As the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) climbs to above 150 in California, San Luis…
Artist Mark Bryan’s Fake News exhibit allows viewers into his subconscious mind and art therapy sessions
On display Fake News, an exhibit featuring the artwork of Mark Bryan, will be on display at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art through April 26. Corbett Canyon painter Mark Bryan is in therapy. Art therapy, that is. And he’s been in session ever since the 2016 presidential election. “I went to bed and…
Clean Machine Meatballs
I had the opportunity to sample one of chef Ryan Hernandez’s Clean Machine Meals the other day: The Bahn Mi Glazed Pork Meatballs with Sweet Pickled Vegetables over Rice—from his amazing food prep service that delivers weekly, seasonal gluten, soy, dairy, and refined sugar-free meals to pick up at five different gyms from Atascadero to…
Avila Beach isn’t for large events
The Avila Beach Golf Resort events application for more and larger events is scheduled for a San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors public hearing on March 24. I agree with the Concerned Citizens for Avila and the Avila Valley Advisory Council who have urged the board for many years to only allow events at…
Accessible art
Support youth art For more information on the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pryaf.org or contact Development Director Emily Jagger at (805)-238-5825, Ext. 15. Early exposure to the arts is no guarantee for every child. That’s a reality that the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation (PRYAF) knows well. More…
Oh, those stoopid conservatives!
How we see both ourselves and others can be pretty revealing. The same also holds true for political parties. In almost any heated political argument these days, at some point you will hear liberals depicting Trump voters, and conservatives generally, as the ignorant, uneducated rabble, or, in the words of Hillary Clinton, the “deplorables.” Conversely,…
