Cover Story
Where are they?
Jani Gutierrez loves taking her kids to the park. On a recent spring morning, Gutierrez sat on a bench and watched her two small children play with other kids their age on the grass near the ocean in South San Luis Obispo County. She enjoys sitting on benches with other mothers most weekdays, talking about…
No butts about it
The sights and smells of smokers lighting up on state coastlines will soon be a thing of the past if a long-awaited ban wins final approval from state senators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Senate Bill 4, also known as the No Smoking at State Parks and Beaches Act, is the latest in a slew of…
What would make everyone happy?
Cynthia Perrine wildlife biologist “Make everyone get a massage” Glenn Dickson network engineer “Teaching people to enjoy their circumstances and educating them so they can improve their circumstances” Maya Andlig cooking studio partner “Being a good listener; or if that doesn’t work, goat cheese” Nate Cook Cal Poly junior “You can’t.”
Jumpbrush, Pacific Coast Dance Convergence
Local choreographers Lisa Deyo (founder and director of Deyo Dances), Drew Silvaggio (artistic director of Civic Ballet), Diana Stanton (co-artistic director of Variable Velocity), and Theresa Slobodnik (ballet director for Dance Obispo) are pooling their talent for a three-day festival of dance classes (ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, conditioning, contact improvisation, and an interactive workshop), workshops,…
Eye of the beholder
I should have gone yesterday,” I’m thinking to myself as I drive out to Morro Bay on Sunday, April 11, for the citywide yard sale. Gray clouds blanket the sky. Wind whips through the trees. I figure I’ll attack the town from the south and head north, so I’m sneaking in the back way, cutting…
Miller’s megapixels
Like so many fateful artistic journeys, Steve E. Miller’s decision to exhibit photographs taken with his iPhone began on Facebook. Miller, New Times’ staff photographer, is never without his camera. He’s a hulking, Jesus look-alike metal head with a camera perpetually strapped to his shoulder. Last spring, he purchased an iPhone 3G, unwittingly supplying himself…
Lyrical, educational, folklorico
For many children growing up in Mexican or Mexican American homes, watching ballet folklorico is a traditional family pastime. When those children grow up, it’s not always easy for them to find organizations that encourage and expand upon their interest in their cultural heritage—especially for students attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Third-year industrial…
American treasures
Woody Guthrie left two important legacies: a wealth of quintessential American folk music, and a family of offspring who have carried on his work of chronicling the ever-evolving American milieu. On Tuesday, April 20, at 8 p.m. in Arroyo Grande’s Clark Center (489-9444), three generations of Guthries, headed by Woody’s kid Arlo, roll through the…
Booth-switching blues
More conflict is brewing between the SLO Downtown Association, SLO County Farmers’ Market Association, and now downtown business owners who have been largely excluded from the debate. “We have had to go fishing for information,” one business owner—let’s call him Mike—said of the Downtown Association. “And we’ve been lied to.” Another business owner, let’s call…
PXP hopes for a new deal
After months of stalled planning, the three environmental groups made infamous for penning a semi-private deal with a Texas-based oil company have revealed a newly revised agreement aimed at ending drilling off the Santa Barbara coastline. On April 7, Santa Barbara Democratic Rep. Lois Capps and 1st District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal joined…
Cops respond to violence at outdoor ‘rave’
The event was promoted online as “The Neverending Party,” but at 11:04 p.m., after only three hours of revelry, seven sheriff’s deputies and a medical unit arrived at the scene on April 11 to shut the party down. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rob Bryn said the deputies originally responded to traffic complaints and reports of pedestrians…
Supes push resolution to union conflict
Not many unions would scoff at a salary increase, but the SLO Deputy County Counsel Association did. On April 14, SLO County supervisors unanimously voted to end an “impasse” with the union of about 10 fulltime county legal professionals and essentially force a compensation package after talks between the two sides failed. The results of…
She’s baaack!
Gail Wilcox, the former deputy county administrator who was fired amid sex scandals and conflicts of interest, has been thrown back into the fray, but this time she’s playing for the other team. SLO County Employees Association (SLOCEA), the largest county employee’s union, has hired Wilcox to complete a classification and compensation study to be…
D.A. adds child porn to Arnold charges
Ed Arnold’s political career is in question after prosecutors filed two new charges against the already beleaguered Arroyo Grande city councilman. The new charges involve child pornography. Arnold pleaded not guilty April 14 to possessing child pornography as well as using a minor for pornographic purposes, both felonies. According to the motion filed with the…
Bacteria to the rescue
Winemakers are not so innocent as they’d like you to think: Their business produces waste. Lots of it. To make 10,000 cases, a winery will release 1,000 gallons of wastewater per day during crush—water that eventually goes into the ground. The wastewater is contaminated with concentrated sugars, particulates, and carries little oxygen: deadly to fish…
Moez Bensalem
NEW TIMES: What inspired you to start a new farmers market in San Luis Obispo? BENSALEM: Many of the local farmers and vendors mentioned that they would like to have another farmers market in San Luis Obispo. We spoke together about the idea, and I offered to them a day and a location. We…
I’m with stupid
And I thought it was going to be a dull news week. Silly me. Who figured anything could’ve top the apocalyptic laundry list of pointless SLO City Council bans from last week? Dammit all! They banned duck feeding to keep ducks from pooping in the lake. Deep breaths, ol’ Shred; deep breaths. What could possibly…
Health-care legislation increases birth options
A provision in the new legislation for health care gives women more latitude to decide where, how, and with what kind of professional they will give birth, and may lead to a birth center finally being established in San Luis Obispo. Most Americans don’t know that 42 percent of all births in the United States…
It’s ‘growth,’ not ‘green’ between the lines
The Trib reported in early March that “a coalition to form a Green Coast Innovation Zone on the Central Coast is moving forward … .” It read: “The idea to promote the region as a place to encourage green technology firms started after several local representatives went to a Washington summit on clean energy hosted…
Get a hobby, Nell
“Noisy hoards of fossil fueled machines that speed down a public beach … .” First, I believe it was the safety of the children: Off-road vehicles were endangering children who were at the beach. Next, it was the number of people killed at the Dunes, one or two per year—people needed to be stopped from…
Little Theatre’s show is a treasure
I recently saw the Little Theater production of Taking Leave, and I loved it. It is a very funny play about dementia. Of course, it is serious and sensitive as well, but the excellent directing, acting, and set make it a real treasure. We’re all getting older!
Closing dunes to riders would bring more revenue
I have lived on the Central Coast for more than 30 years and heard the arguments for and against the ATV riders on the dunes. What prompts me to write now is the ridiculous notion that if we finally close the dunes to these outsiders (Fresno/Central Valley rats) our towns would turn into ghost towns…
I hope I can clear some air for the Catholic Church
I am a Roman Catholic who is getting a bit tired of the mudslinging and misinformation being thrown at the Church and the Pope. It’s quite obvious that people who are in a state of negation against the Church are so willing to grab at anything to disparage it without knowing the details. I refer…
People like you wouldn’t have helped in World War II
I have news for you Roy: The “collateral damage” you describe has already been done and it had nothing to do with Afghanistan (“The war in Afghanistan cannot be won,” April 8). I remember the lefties Obama and Biden saying that the war in Iraq could not be won—now they take credit for Iraq’s democracy.…
Give government employees average wages
Just read the article about how the government employees at the airport decided they were tired of a local cab company, so they no longer allow that cab to deliver passengers to the airport (“Taxi company sues county,” April 8). Outdoor cigarette smoke, “unruly gatherings,” sand from sand dunes, farmers plowing “incorrectly.” Give me a…
Local ducks don’t need birth control
For mean-hearted, lying stupidity, it’s hard to beat SLO’s new duck feeding ban (“Sorry Daffy and Donald: no more free meals,” April 8). Overpaid bureaucrats who incubated this monster claim it’s ducky birth control to fight water pollution. Nonsense! It’s legislated starvation to get rid of the ducks. Pollution is only a pretext. These are…
Laetitia Sparkling XD
img3212This delicious, non-vintage bubbly was quite a treat when I tasted it at Laetitia’s annual Effervescent Evening. The five-course dinner by chef Maegen Loring was equally fabulous, from the passed appetizers to the grand finale of this sparkler with coconut cake and root beer reduction. I raved about it and realized afterward that this slightly…
Niner opens, grandly
There’s a new winery and tasting room in Paso Robles that’s capturing a lot of attention with its impressive new stone barn winery and expansive hospitality center. It’s the spectacular, new home of Niner Wine Estates, owned by Dick and Pam Niner. Located on Highway 46 West, it’s directly across from the wood barn, a…
Clubs
Goin’ South … CAFÉ ANDREINI: 131 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 481-6117. Thurs.: Live music at 6pm. COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Dr., Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music Night every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO: 2727 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-4300 or TheDolphinBay.com. ELMO’S NIPOMO SALOON: 131 South Thompson Road, Nipomo, 929-5362. Karaoke…
