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Keep it brief: 28th annual 55 Fiction
This year we kept it simple, just like submitters kept it brief, and New Times staff members from different departments wrangled through the stacks of words that made up the last year’s worth of 55 Fiction entries. They corralled the chosen ones into a short pile meant for print in our 28th annual 55 Fiction…
Suspect arrested for allegedly busting windows with metal bearings
Police arrested the man who allegedly caused more than $20,000 in damage vandalizing banks, businesses in SLO, and a police station in Morro Bay. The man, identified as 26-year-old Joshua Ryan Meissner of Morro Bay, was arrested July 7 in connection with the multiple instances of vandalism and booked into SLO County Jail…
55 Fiction 2015
This year we kept it simple, just like submitters kept it brief, and New Times staff members from different departments wrangled through the stacks of words that made up the last year’s worth of 55 Fiction entries. They corralled the chosen ones into a short pile meant for print in our 28th annual 55 Fiction…
What are your opinions on Megan’s Law and displaying a convicted sex offender’s address online?
Juan Jazo student “I think it’s necessary for a community’s peace of mind.” Scott Jackson employee at Boba Stop “It’s good to be aware, but it’s also shitty to hold someone to their past, unless it’s a repeated offense. Anyone who doesn’t know the true story will be forever labeled.” Greg Strickland prosecutor “It’s good.…
Cougars & Mustangs
I’m not entirely sure if this was true for everyone, but in my experience, middle school was a tremendously awkward transitional phase in my educational career. I began to understand more about my interests, have further opportunities to act upon them, get a better sense overall of who my friends were, but there were such…
Equality, finally: The Supreme Court calls marriage–for everyone–a fundamental right
On June 26 the Supreme Court issued its most direct and monumental LGBT-rights decision to date. With a 5-4 ruling, the highest court in the country called marriage a right and shut down all state laws that prohibit same-sex marriage. From here on out, there’s no more “gay marriage,” only marriage. Locals gathered at the…
A place to call home: Lawsuit filed against Grover Beach by a sex offender was years in the making
Grover Beach is being sued over its residency restrictions on sex-offenders, and there shouldn’t be anyone surprised about it. Officials with the city, which is one of only two in SLO County that passed restrictions on top of those required by state law, likely knew the ordinance would eventually be challenged in court, but moved…
CalFire to run Cambria Fire Department
Effective July 1, Cal Fire is in charge of the Cambria Fire Department. The Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) Board of Directors decided on June 25 to enter into a contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. The one-year, $228,856 contract will hand over management to Cal Fire Battalion…
PG&E says Diablo fuel cask snafu didn’t endanger safety
Officials insisted that the improper loading of casks that store spent fuel at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant didn’t compromise public safety. The issue came up during an annual public meeting in SLO on June 24 that included top plant officials and representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). According to documents posted on…
Fewer fireworks on the Central Coast this Fourth of July
For one day a year, freedom and fireworks are synonymous. But on this Fourth of July, in response to an elevated fire risk caused by record drought, y’all are going to have to ’Merica in other ways. Even though, July 4 comes at the peak of California’s annual fire season, the risk is even higher…
Local news site gets into a SLAPP fight
Was a 2012 online news article about hazardous waste disposal in SLO hard-hitting investigative reporting or a defamatory attack on a local businessman? That question’s still waiting for an answer as a legal battle continues to rage on in court. A three-judge panel for the California Court of Appeals heard arguments June 30 about whether…
SLO staff recommends passing a Nipomo marijuana dispensary permit
A proposed medical marijuana dispensary in Nipomo is one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to SLO County’s Planning and Building Department staff. The staff is recommending the approval of a minor use permit for Ethnobotanica. The company, which currently offers mobile dispensary services, is seeking to open a brick-and-mortar at a 2,600-square-foot location…
Vaccines now mandatory for California school children
On June 30, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the controversial vaccination bill, SB 277, eliminating religious and personal belief vaccine exemptions. All California school children must now be vaccinated upon entering kindergarten, unless they have a medical exemption. The bill was introduced alongside SB 792, which requires child care workers to be immunized against influenza (flu),…
Firefly Haven offers new path to healing in Arroyo Grande
It’s like coming to your best friend’s house, where you can walk around barefoot, get a hug if you need one, and be yourself completely. That is how Heidi Seastrand describes Firefly Haven, a new urban healing retreat in Arroyo Grande. “I want people to feel like they’ve found the home they’ve always been looking…
There are alternatives to meat
Thank you for sharing the insightful commentary “Save water, go vegetarian” (New Times, June 25). The opinion piece brought to light the enormous amount of water needed to produce meat for the typical American diet. With the severe drought we are all facing, we just cannot afford to be in denial about the fact that…
SLO not happy
San Luis Obispo, the so-called “happiest city in America,” has, in fact, a huge number of deep-seated, difficult problems and unsolved issues. Like everywhere in the West, we suffer from seemingly endless drought. Bills for water and sewer services are going up and for dubious reasons. Homelessness in SLO County is getting worse, not better,…
Go U.S. Supreme Court!
I am amazed and thrilled by the recent trio of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court: legalizing same-sex marriage across the USA, upholding nationwide subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and allowing proof of de facto discrimination by showing disparate impact. The court’s centrists, Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts, have cast their…
Think twice before publishing the r-word
What gives you the right to publish the word “retarded.” Not only is it a word that’s hurtful, it insults people with disabilities. We all come in unique forms. Does that make us retarded? No, it makes us stronger. I’m an adult with a disability, does that make me a retard? It actually makes me…
New Times should be more sensitive
For the next Street Talk section in your upcoming New Times, I suggest you survey four adults living with disabilities concerning how it feels to see the word “retarded” used flippantly and printed in your magazine as a cheap attempt for laughs. However shallow the child you interviewed is, is really of no concern to…
You disappointed me, New Times
I was reading Street Talk in the June 25 New Times and one comment used a word that was disrespectful and disappointing because there are a lot of people with disabilities, including myself, and the r-word has been used in a negative and hurtful way toward me. I feel that everyone should be treated with…
How could you print something like that, New Times?
I opened the June 25 New Times to Street Talk and read the words of Joshua Compton. Why would you possibly print his hateful words in what is normally a fun and light-hearted column? New Times readers don’t need see that there is one more ignorant person living in our community. The r-word is an…
Dear New Times readers
We received several letters over the last week regarding a comment made by someone we interviewed for the June 25 Street Talk. All of them expressed disappointment that the paper would print a direct quote from someone who used the “r-word.” So many letters came in that I felt the need to respond (which could…
Save water, eat healthy
Going on year five of continuous drought, in addition to many preceding years of dry weather, California farmers and ranchers have an arduous task in continuing to produce food for their local communities, the state, the nation, and even the rest of the world. It is our livelihoods, and we are more than willing to…
I’ve got the power!
I don’t want to pat myself on the back, mainly because I’ll feel like I’m doing yoga, but when I’m right, I’m right, and baby, I’m on a roll! Last week I wrote about tool bag Ted Cruz and his stance on same-sex marriage, predicting that the 14th Amendment constitutionally guarantees a right to marriage,…
Studios on the Park exhibits the work of Harold Spencer and sons
How often do parents and their kids get together for the sole purpose of creating with pure abandon? Not often enough. In celebration of artistic divergence and the diversity that can be found within one single family, Studios on the Park will play host to artist Harold Spencer and his two sons for an exhibit…
Belinda Carlisle headlines Pride in the Plaza on July 12
This year’s celebration of the Central Coast LGBQT community promises to be more colorful and vibrant than ever. Better yet—the whole enchilada culminates in an anticipated live performance by Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s in Mission Plaza July 12. The free, family-friendly concert will feature throwbacks like “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” “We Got…
Bliss Café’s Mystic Mango and 2013 Lazy Bones Paso Robles Cabernet Franc
Green eggs and ham? I’m cool with that. Green has never been more appetizing than in this cool veggie-packed smoothie. Almond milk, frozen bananas, mango, fresh kale, coconut oil, white American ginseng, raw vanilla bean, and raw dates come together to lower your body temperature and your stress levels. Less money than springing for a…
Opening bashes!
Burbank Ranch Winery will host a grand opening celebration in honor of its new 19,000-square-foot tasting room and production center in Templeton this July 10 to 12. The once downtown Paso tasting room has moved into its new expanded digs at 5685 El Pomar Drive, and boy are wine club members stoked. Sip on flights…
Bowl’d colors downtown SLO açaí purple
There’s something so addicting about a really good açaí bowl,” Bowl’d co-owner Chris Tarcon says. “When I’m eating it, I never want it to end. There’s something in the açaí that makes you want another one. After two days, I’m craving the next one.” I know exactly what he means. A contractor works in the…
‘Chapter Two’ by Neil Simon comes to Pewter Plough
“First love” is complicated enough as it is. The second time around, it can get even hairier. Hairier usually equals funnier, and funnier means comedic gold to be mined! This is what the folks at Pewter Plough Playhouse have in mind with their new semi-autobiographical comedy, Chapter Two, written by Neil Simon. Recent widower George—encouraged…
Women celebrates the female at Steynberg Gallery
It’s Monday, June 26—Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner and Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s birthdays. It’s also artist David Settino Scott’s birthday. He’s 77, and I’m sitting in his kitchen talking about his upcoming Steynberg Gallery show, Women, which opens this Friday, July 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. A while ago, I…
Two new shows light up the stage at Great American Melodrama
For an actor of the melodrama, there’s nothing worse than coming off stage without a whole lot of boos and hisses to show for it. That is, if you’re a melodrama actor playing the villain. If you’re the hero, you’re probably looking to incite as many cheers and hoorays as possible. Either way, the truth…
Kids can get their hands on cool tools at SLO Makerspace summer camp
Sven Gasser is a pretty capable guy—the kind of guy who can build an electric guitar from scratch (it doesn’t have to sound good to still be a really cool experiment). For the past two years, he’s been hammering away at a boat in his garage; a boat that he one day hopes to navigate…
The Stone Foxes rock the Seven Sisters Fest
There’s going to be a ton of great music next weekend at the third annual Seven Sisters Fest—Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12, at El Chorro Park off Highway 1 across from Cuesta College—but I’m really looking forward to one in particular, San Francisco’s The Stone Foxes, a bad-ass rock ’n’ roll band that…
Clubs 7/2/15 – 7/9/15
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. 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 Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on alternating…
