Cover Story
Code noncompliance: A property with repeated code violations was sold to CAPSLO, but the owner fought for a sliver of land
San Luis Obispo resident William Sievers wasn’t ready to fully let go of his troubled 46 Prado Road property, now owned by the Community Action Partnership of SLO (CAPSLO). A 6,534-square-foot narrow sliver of land fell through the cracks when his property was sold to CAPSLO by a receivership group appointed to bring it up…
Retired attorney Collette Hillier releases Cultivating Justice: Empowering Youth, a book that explains our rights
Buy the book You can buy a copy of local author Collette Hillier’s new book, Cultivating Justice: Empowering Youth, at online retailers such as Amazon (amazon.com) and others, or in the Collette Store (collette.store). Editor’s note: The subject of this article, author Collette Hillier, is Glen Starkey’s wife’s brother’s wife’s mother. Can you name the…
Trampled
In early April, the Trump administration revoked the visa of a recent Cal Poly graduate, a promising young immigrant. Just a few months ago, our neighbors hosted his wedding to an American citizen with roots in the Palestinian diaspora. He’d lived in the U.S. for eight years and always been a stellar student, even serving…
Guns, gas, and grandpa
Pismo Beach’s squirrel situation sounds dire. At this point, the city’s only options are guns or gas. Poison is out—and has been out for two years, thanks to a combination of sympathetic City Council members and a state worried about the rest of its animal ecosystem. And that’s part of the problem. The population is…
Art Center Morro Bay hosts Out of Bounds!—a juried exhibition with an April 19 reception
Art Center Morro Bay presents Out of Bounds!—the Pastel Society of the West Coast’s (PSWC) first open juried exhibition that will fill both levels of the gallery. “The exhibition goes beyond the traditional use of pastel medium,” PSWC explained in press materials. “This exciting exhibition of unique works breaks out of the bounds of time-honored…
SLO Friday Night Live youth campaigns discourage underage drinking
Positive impacts drive the San Luis Obispo Friday Night Live program as local youth educate and encourage their peers to avoid underage drinking during April, Alcohol Awareness Month. Katherine Gross is a SLO County Friday Night Live program coordinator and oversees Shandon Middle and High schools, Santa Lucia School, and Coast Unified School District. But…
Gallery at Marina Square presents Sandra Sanders’ acrylic paintings
Sandra Sanders will display her colorful acrylic paintings in the lower gallery of Morro Bay’s Gallery at Marina Square through April 30. She’s one of three featured artists this month, along with watercolorist Nancy Jensen and assemblage sculptor Alan Cohen. “Sandra Sanders, born and raised in California, grew up on a small farm in the…
The Amateur follows a CIA analyst out to avenge his murdered wife
THE AMATEUR What’s it rated? PG-13What’s it worth, Anna? MatineeWhat’s it worth, Glen? MatineeWhere’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10 James Hawes (One Life) directs this vigilante spy thriller about Charlie Heller (Rami Malek), a CIA cryptographer who defies his superiors to avenge the death of his wife (Rachel Brosnahan) in a London…
Vistra withdraws Morro Bay battery plant application
A five-year effort to put battery energy storage in Morro Bay is over—at least for now—after Vistra withdrew its application with the city to build the plant earlier this month. Vistra announced its exit in a letter addressed to the city on April 4, asking Morro Bay to cease any further processing of its, at…
Escape to Italy at Breda’s new pastry and chocolate shop in San Luis Obispo
Sweet spot Breda Pasticceria e Cioccolateria, located at 1021 Higuera St. in downtown San Luis Obispo, is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit breda-slo.com. Follow menu drops and events on Instagram and Facebook @breda_slo. Everything is coming up roses for Florencia Breda. The renowned local pastry chef,…
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer chronicles the botched investigation into a series of missing and murdered women
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix The Gilgo Beach serial killings haunted the Long Island community for years. What was once just a 911 call followed by a missing person unfolded into a multitude of slayings, one uncovered after the other spanning 15 years and the loss of at least 11…
SLO County police and store owners combat shoplifting using Prop. 36 and posting culprits on social media
Looking behind him, a man on a bike pedals in the wrong direction down Marsh Street and swerves left onto Chorro Street, cutting in front of a large white truck, which stops abruptly. Hanging a right into the Chase Bank parking lot, the rider drops a jacket. Adam Kemp, who was filming the whole thing,…
SLO slaps Righetti with lawsuit for causing landslides in open space area and doing improper repairs
The city of San Luis Obispo took the Righetti company to court for allegedly triggering a landslide in the Righetti Hill open space and covering up the damage poorly without authorization. “The conditions, annoyances and/or injuries created a substantial and unreasonable interference with the plaintiff’s and surrounding community members’ peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their…
Sunset Tribe and Luv Lab present Earth: Day Party at Kreuzberg California on April 20
Are you ready for an event that “honors diversity and our shared planetary experiences, uniting local DJs, musicians, fashion designers, and [a] painter?” Then plan to join live Gypsy and electronica duo Elysian Moon as Sunset Tribe and Luv Lab Present Earth: Day Party this Sunday, April 20, at Kreuzberg California (4 to 11 p.m.;…
G20 casts Viola Davis as a badass U.S. president fighting terrorists
What’s it rated? R When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Prime Patricia Riggen (Under the Same Moon, The 33, Miracles from Heaven) directs this action thriller about U.S. President Danielle Sutton (Viola Davis), who must tap into her past military experience when terrorists descend on the G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa. Think of it…
Is it Trump derangement syndrome or deranged Trump syndrome?
For years, MAGA has been mocking democrats using their oh, so clever, acronym, TDS. I secretly have to admit here that I was at first confused by their use of TDS because I could not figure out what exactly The Daily Show had to do with MAGA. But enough about my mental shortcomings and back…
Los Padres National Forest expected to be affected by executive order that expands logging
Amid a slew of executive orders from the Trump administration, one to expand logging efforts has a local nonprofit worried about the potential impacts for endangered species, erosion, and wildfire prevention Los Padres National Forest. On March 1, the executive order “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” ordered the streamlining of logging permitting throughout the…
It could happen to you
I am amazed at how easily columnist John Donegan, a lawyer, can shrug off the Trump administration’s refusal to provide basic due process to a 29-year-old sheet metal apprentice from Maryland, who is a lawful U.S. resident and married to an American citizen (“Showdown at the not-so-OK Corral,” April 10). I am sure that if,…
Pismo Beach tries to curb bluff-eroding squirrel population
Squirrels are wreaking havoc in Pismo Beach, and the federal government told the city it should do something about the problem. “Their tunneling moves water through and out of the bluffs and helps accelerate the collapse of the bluffs,” Public Works Director Rosemarie Gaglione told the Pismo Beach City Council at its April 16 meeting.…
Panetta should tell us his thoughts on impeaching the president
In early April, our congressional representative, Jimmy Panetta (California’s 19th Congressional District), did not directly respond to questions about whether he supports impeaching Trump. This is upsetting, and I regret seeing this lack of foresight and leadership from my district’s representative. As a concerned citizen and voter from Paso Robles, it’s obvious to me that…
The war to control the American people
Donald Trump’s requirement that Harvard University comply to his DEI guidelines or lose federal funding came out of Hitler’s playbook. He was demanding that he would dictate what Harvard would teach; how professors should think; and what students should learn. Harvard refused to capitulate to Trump’s fascist demands. Trump lost his war to control the…
