Education Today 2026
Aug. 20 is the first day of school around these parts, which can mean so many things—a new school, new friends, new subjects to be interested in. It also means that some students won’t be allowed to use their phones on campus the way they have in the past. But that depends on where they’re…
Fraud victims recount their experiences on local Scam Squad podcast
Finding fresh material each week for her podcast is rarely a struggle for Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office Chief Criminal Investigator Kristina Perkins. “It’s unfortunately easy to find content for Scam Squad because there’s so much out there,” Perkins said. “It’s usually just a variation of the same type of scam … happening everywhere.”…
Students facing homelessness in Lucia Mar navigate a system with few beds and massive funding gaps
For hundreds of students in the Lucia Mar Unified School District, the reality of “home” is a rotation of hotel rooms, crowded living spaces, or the backseat of a car. While San Luis Obispo County’s most recent homelessness Point-in-Time Count, released in late July, reported a 22 percent decline in overall homelessness, the number of…
Paso Robles students are graduating with skills, certifications, and career experience
Career Technical Education is no longer niche at Paso Robles schools. For more than half of Paso Robles High School students, the career-readiness program has become part of their standard education experience. The district now offers 18 Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways at Paso Robles High and two more at Liberty High School, giving students…
California’s Phone-Free School Act took effect in July, but local parents want uniform enforcement
Two years after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Phone-Free School Act, kids in California are about to find out the effects of the bill once they return from summer break. By July 1, 2026, every school district, county office of education, and charter school had to develop and adopt policies to limit on-campus smartphone use.…
More ADUs poised to arrive at Nipomo Mesa’s Monarch Dunes
The blueprint for Monarch Dunes, a resort and residential area on the Nipomo Mesa containing golf facilities and the Trilogy homes, was recently tweaked again. The Monarch Dunes Specific Plan has undergone multiple changes since it was first approved in 1998. The most recent update was unanimously approved by the San Luis Obispo County Board…
Paso explores alternative t $150 million Highway 46 project
Highway 46 is one of Paso Robles’ busiest corridors, carrying commuters, freight, and travelers between the Central Coast and the Central Valley. Because traffic continues to grow, the city recently approved a study that could reshape how drivers cross the highway and potentially replace a $150 million project that has sat on the shelf for…
Nearly 3,000 SLO County ballots rejected over late postmarks
Nearly 3,000 San Luis Obispo County mail-in ballots went uncounted in the June 2 primary election after receiving postmarks dated after Election Day, a sharp increase tied to changes in U.S. Postal Service processing. According to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, 2,923 vote-by-mail ballots were rejected this primary because they were postmarked after…
SLO County withdraws transportation tax measure from November ballot
San Luis Obispo County isn’t willing to risk repeating failure when it comes to a half-cent sales tax measure to build better roads. Acting as the local transportation authority, the SLO Council of Governments (SLOCOG) requested that the Board of Supervisors withdraw the order of election for Measure H, known as the SLO County Local…
Busy signal
Screens are on everything these days, even refrigerators, staring at you as you open the door, silently judging you. Cars have screens, gas pumps, ATMs, thermostats, washer and dryer panels—screens!!! And now we want our kids to stop using them. Good luck with that. According to the 2025 Common Sense Media census, 40 percent of…
America has much to learn from the Greeks in 13th Century BCE
I’ve seen Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey twice already. Every American should see it at least once. For its entertainment value alone, this film is worth occupying a seat for three hours: It’s packed with thrills and chills. Nolan stays mostly faithful to Homer’s ancient tale of Odysseus’ harrowing ordeal as he tries to return to…
SLO’s Personnel Board has another opportunity to look at censure
I’ve sat through a lot of city meetings over the years, and I try to give elected officials the benefit of the doubt. So I want to be fair here. But I also think the facts matter, and in this case, I don’t think the San Luis Obispo Personnel Board got them quite right. The…
Diablo Canyon bait and switch
As public hearings continue regarding the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, San Luis Obispo County residents must confront a terrifying reality. While regulators use rare loopholes to bypass environmental rules for a supposedly brief five-year extension, this is the bait, the truth is a multi-decade push to secure power for a surging tech sector and unpublicized…
New Times is amplifying antisemitism
On July 16, New Times published a cartoon by Russell Hodin depicting the Pentagon overlaid with a Star of David, encircled in chains, captioned “U.S. Department of Eretz Israel.” This is not satire. It is a centuries-old antisemitic trope alleging nefarious Jewish power The false accusation that Jews secretly control governments has fueled antisemitic hatred…
SLO’s Emerson Park plan doesn’t align with its recent DEI announcement
It was interesting to read the city of San Luis Obispo’s recent DEI announcement, especially the city’s commitment to “increasing access,” “fostering belonging,” “advancing structural and institutional equity,” and “improving community health and well-being.” It prompted a simple question: How are those same principles being applied to our Emerson/Old Town neighborhood? Increasing access: The city…
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is all about the importance of friends
Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) directs this fourth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man series. After Dr. Stephen Strange’s spell at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), no one remembers Peter Parker (Tom Holland)—not his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), and not even his girlfriend, MJ…
Voicemails for Isabelle is a tearjerking rom-com about grief and healing
Jill (Zoey Deutch) is a young woman navigating her life and career as a baker in San Francisco and coping with the death of her younger sister, Isabelle (Ciaro Bravo), from cystic fibrosis. With intense pressure from her boss, Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman), and an f-boy hookup at work named Tyler (Toby Sandeman), Jill is…
Miss You, Love You is bittersweet dramedy about grief and loss
Grieving widow Diane Patterson (Allison Janney) is forced to plan her husband’s funeral with her estranged son’s assistant, Jamie Simms (Andrew Rannells), after her globetrotting son is unwilling to return home, in writer-director Jim Rash’s (The Way Way Back, Downhill) bittersweet new dramedy. When we meet Diana, she’s prickly. We discover that she and her…
Sales of locally made landscapes to benefit the Land Conservancy Aug. 7 and 8
Since 1984, the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County has permanently protected more than 68,000 acres of SLO County land. Since 1993, SLOPE—San Luis Outdoor Painters for the Environment—has supported those efforts by creating stunning plein air paintings, selling them, and donating a portion of their sales to the nonprofit land trust to continue…
Not for Sale exchanges art for goods, services through Aug. 28
Want some art but don’t have money to buy it? Maybe you have something to trade. The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College is currently hosting an exhibition by artists offering their work in trade in Not for Sale: Barter Exchange, which continues through Friday, Aug. 28. “This summer, the gallery becomes a…
Western Monarch Butterflies doc screens Aug. 10 at Bay Theatre
If you live on the Central Coast, chances are you’ve seen monarchs in your yard. They’re an important part of our ecosystem, but the butterfly’s numbers are dwindling. You can learn more when the Central Coast State Parks Association screens a documentary about monarchs on Monday, Aug. 10, in the Bay Theatre (doors at 5,…
Nederlander Concerts presents alt-country up-and-comers Ole 60 at Vina Robles
Wood-shedding is real, people. Sometimes musicians really do get together in an old shed and start making music together, only to emerge a fully functioning powerhouse band. Take, for instance, Kentucky alt-country act Ole 60, that writes vividly rendered narrative songs about small-town life, working-class struggles, heartbreak and longing, grief, and addiction … painting these…
Paso Robles’ Yes Cocktail Co. pens the ultimate mixology manual
“Whenever we teach a mixology class at the Yes Cocktail Co. tasting room (in Paso Robles), we start by talking about what makes a cocktail or mocktail truly great,” write proprietors Brandon Alpert and Lauren Butler in The Happy Hour Book. “The answer is simple: balance. Not booze for the sake of booze (that’s called…
