A Grover Beach chef, who competed on national TV, is gearing up for the next phase in his career
When the Food Network called chef Jacob Town, he thought it was the greatest gift he’d ever received during his 30 years in the industry. After a two-hour interview and a couple of days in limbo, Town and his wife, Brooke, found out their restaurant, The Spoon Trade, was cast on season 49, episode 11,…
Pick up your trash at trailheads
The natural world left alone to remain in its natural splendor is always best, San Luis Obispo. Our most wonderful town is a hub for hikers exploring numerous trails near town. The crux of this timely note is to recognize an alarming change or trend I have noticed. That being an endless array of trash,…
Grow up, everybody
Now let me get this right. The authors of “Why we must fight back” (Oct. 2) are proposing that the answer to the despicable partisan gerrymandering in Texas is to do the same thing here. If so, what else do we need to do to “fight back”? Are we going to do the name-calling, the…
Stop wringing your hands and do something!
We all know by now that the Republican Party is flailing. It has become a cult of spineless sycophants, kowtowing to a dictator, with no concern for its constituents. That’s not even debatable. So why is there no consistent protesting going? Big national, international rallies are great, but what are we doing between these events?…
Get ready to vote in the upcoming special election
The League of Women Voters urges all eligible SLO County voters to get ready to vote in the upcoming special election on Nov. 4 by registering to vote, studying fact-based information on Proposition 50, and casting an informed vote. Vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 4 election will be sent to all active registered voters in…
Being woke is better than being out cold
I get a kick out of the current moniker used to dis those with whom they disagree (“Woke,” Sept. 25). I find it funny that some think it is better to be the opposite of woke: asleep. Betraying the oath to uphold and protect the Constitution? Ignoring the rule of law? Marginalizing those who are…
The Lopez solution
Editor’s note: This piece was written in collaboration with San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper and Los Padres Forestwatch Lopez Lake is an essential local resource providing water for the Five Cities, farms, and recreation. But beneath the surface lies a problem that generations of local leaders have failed to resolve: Lopez Dam has been operating without…
Pay to hike?
Shall we add the Pismo Preserve to the list of SLO County parking debacles? First San Luis Obispo raised its top rate to $4 an hour before public outcry led to dropping it to $2.75. Then Paso Robles attempted paid parking, but the first 2 hours were free, but you still needed to register your…
SLO County supervisor asks for more transparent Dana Reserve settlement
San Luis Obispo County 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson called for more transparency in the Dana Reserve settlement agreement, ahead of the Board of Supervisors’ November hearing on the project’s revised plan. “Beyond changes to the project itself, the agreement includes payments from the developer to those groups—I’ve been told those payments amount to over…
Author John Hampsey will read from Soda Lake in Cal Poly’s Phillips Hall on Oct.17
Humans are naturally curious. As a species, we want to know how things work, to figure things out, to understand. So what to do with a novel like local author John C. Hampsey’s Soda Lake? It’s fragmented, episodic, told from shifting points of view, arcane, often opaque. It’s the sort of novel that can make…
Los Osos and Morro Bay residents hope to reopen two San Luis Coastal school sites for community benefit
Closed since 2001, Los Osos’s Sunnyside School is the latest campus that residents are hoping can be converted to boost outdoor recreation access. “I’ve lived in Los Osos for a very long time. With my young family back in the ’90s and early 2000s, we used the school a lot for playing soccer or playing…
New book examines the life of SLO County’s notorious Wild West bandit Joaquin Murrieta
New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian John Boessenecker will release, Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta: The Bandit Chief Who Terrorized California and Launched the Legend of Zorro, on Oct. 21, and San Luis Obispo’s Wild West days are featured prominently throughout. Boessenecker, a San Francisco trial lawyer and former police officer,…
The Tribune said its recent lawsuit exposed the need for stronger public record policies
The legal storm between The Tribune, the city of Paso Robles, and Councilmember Chris Bausch is settled, but local governments need better public records rules, according to Tribune Editor Joe Tarica. Tarica said he considered the case a success—a small-town paper tackling government transparency. “Yes, 100 percent, it’s been worth it,” Tarica said. “It’s interesting…
Sung Won Yun’s Inner Landscape is in the Cuesta College Art Gallery
New York City-based multidisciplinary visual artist Sung Won Yun is displaying new works in a show called Inner Landscape at Cuesta College’s Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery through Oct. 17. His work in graphite, ink, watercolor, acrylic, and photography “explores the connections between memory, nature, and time,” according to the gallery. “Inspired by geological formations…
PRJUSD won’t fire high school coach for online Charlie Kirk remarks
Residents urged the Paso Robles school board to dismiss the high schools’ assistant basketball coach at its most recent meeting, alleging that her Facebook post, shared shortly after the death of Charlie Kirk, promoted violence against white people and Republicans. During the Sept. 23 Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) school board meeting, Vanessa…
The Smashing Machine follows early MMA fighter Mark Kerr through his ups and downs
Writer-director Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time) helms this biopic about pioneering mixed-martial arts and two-time UFC champion Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson). (123 min.) THE SMASHING MACHINEWhat’s it rated? RWhat’s it worth, Anna? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Glen? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Palm, Park, Stadium 10 Glen “Human cockfighting” was the pejorative…
The Land Conservancy will start charging for Pismo Preserve parking
Free parking at Pismo Preserve will be a thing of the past starting Oct. 16, when daily parking per vehicle will come with a $5 price tag. According to the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, which owns the preserve, costs have been going up and donations have been declining since the onset of…
The Paper takes The Office faux-documentary approach to a struggling smalltown newspaper
Greg Daniels, creator of The Office, has given fans of the iconic show a treat with this follow-up mockumentary series, The Paper. Our documentary team from 20 years ago is now in the Midwest following scrappy local newspaper the Toledo Truth Teller. THE PAPERWhat’s it rated? TV-14When? 2025Where’s it showing? Peacock The first episode is…
Santa Margarita Ranch development to start after 17 years
Santa Margarita Ranch has been up for development for as long as 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson has been in office—that’s about 17 years. But as of Sept. 23, more than 100 home sites are up for sale on the 14,000-acre North County property. “It was a project that started around the time I took…
Little Big Man is an excellent early example of a revisionist Western
Arthur Penn (The Left Handed Gun, Bonnie and Clyde, The Missouri Breaks) directs Calder Willingham’s screenplay based on Thomas Berger’s 1964 novel of the same name about Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), who lives through a series of Wild West misadventures. The film is framed as a 121-year-old Crabb narrates his life story to a historian…
Write Now Therapy offers workshops that combine writing with therapy
What would you like to work on?How are you going to get there? These are just a couple of the questions that B.K. Bergman asks participants to answer in their workbooks over the course of a Write Now Therapy retreat. “It’s kind of like giving them a toolbox, to kind of help them through [their problem],”…
Clone yourself because there are too many good concerts coming up
It’s another one of those weeks where there’re more great shows than I have space to write about. Let’s start with Good Medicine and Numbskull, which are bringing Pecos and the Rooftops to BarrelHouse Brewing on Thursday, Oct. 16 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $31.62 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with Austin Meade opening. Pecos and The Rooftops have…
