Cover Story
Drop into the movies: The SLO International Film Fest gets gnarly
Showtime! The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival runs from Tuesday, April 25, through Sunday, April 30, at various locations. A complete schedule is available at slofilmfest.org, but highlights include: • Opening Night on Tuesday, April 25, with a screening of BlackBerry, the film’s second screening after its SXSW premiere, about the rise and fall…
Liven your time in San Luis Obispo Superior Court with reliable, delicious food and coffee from Sasquatch Café
Signal the sasquatch Grab a bite or drink from Sasquatch Café in the SLO Superior Court at 1050 Monterey St. Café hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. The kitchen is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Skip the great outdoors in your…
VETART holds pop-up art cafe showcasing veterans’ art in Paso Robles
Making meaning Experience art from veterans from across SLO County at the Deprise Brescia Art Gallery (located at 829 10th St. in Paso Robles) on April 22 from 10 am to 4 pm. The event is free to the public and all are welcome. For more information on VETART events visit vetart.org and visit deprisebrescia.com…
The Big Door Prize
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus What are you supposed to be? If you stripped away all of the pieces of your everyday life and looked at what your destiny is supposed to be, what would your title be? Are you a hero? Maybe even royalty? Perhaps you are…
SLO County adopts redistricting map similar to 2011 map, repeals Patten map
San Luis Obispo County turned back the clock on April 18 and adopted a new redistricting map that mirrors what it’d used for the decade prior—before the county transitioned to the redrawn and controversial “Patten map” last year. The 3-2 Board of Supervisors vote formalized a court settlement reached last month with SLO County Citizens…
Rabbit Hole
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Paramount Plus Creators Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris, Focus) helm this new series on Paramount Plus that follows John Weir (Kiefer Sutherland), a private espionage operative who’s especially adept at orchestrating complicated plans rife with deception. The series’ nonlinear plotting keeps…
Symphony of the Vines holds fundraiser in Paso Robles
On Saturday, April 22, Symphony of the Vines will host Celebrate the Arts, a fundraiser with art, live music, wine, and appetizers, at the Riding residence in Paso Robles, from 4 to 6 p.m. The hilltop residence is the home of local art supporters Ken and Marilyn Riding. For location details and additional info, email…
Enney takes lead in Paso Robles school board election
Recently ousted Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) trustee Kenney Enney is leading in his bid to reclaim a seat on the contentious North County school board. Election night results on April 18 showed Enney with a 52 percent to 48 percent edge over challenger Angela Hollander—a difference of 412 votes out of nearly…
Opera SLO conductor leads upcoming shows in SLO, Lompoc
Local conductor Brian Asher Alhadeff will direct the Lompoc Pops Orchestra during its next concert on Monday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church in Lompoc. Alhadeff is widely known for his longtime work with the 55-piece orchestra, as well as his full-time conductor role with Opera San Luis Obispo. Prolific…
SLO County asks to reintegrate with waste management agency
After two years of flying solo, SLO County recently asked to rejoin the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA), a fate that rests with the cities and community services districts it once served alongside on the agency’s board. “There are a lot of things that have to happen for the county to rejoin the IWMA officially,…
State lifts restrictions on Nacimiento water, giving SLO County new options
After almost 70 years, San Luis Obispo County’s use of water from Lake Nacimiento will no longer be restricted—a shift in policy that could be key to helping cities across the county meet new state sustainability standards. The April 7 change to the Monterey County-based permit affects Nacimiento Water Project participants, including the city of…
It’s time to consider actual socialism
What comes to mind when thinking of public housing? Is it Cabrini-Green or Bronx style public housing with all its 1970, racist, graffiti-ridden connotations? Or perhaps, for the cosmopolitan set, Scandinavian (read “white”) public housing, complete with kindergartens, manicured lawns, functional public transportation, and strong state support? What America has is a patchwork system of…
An open letter about merging Oceano and Grover Beach
When the concept of annexation or “merger” of Oceano with Grover Beach was presented as a solution for the impending fire services challenge facing Oceano, we were favorable to the idea. After speaking with community members and gaining more understanding, it is now difficult to imagine how such an action would solve the fire services…
Yes, Donegan, Dems worry about the wrong things
John Donegan made an excellent point in his opinion piece last week (“Prosecuting Trump,” April 13). Democrats are too worried about justice and accountability, and not worried enough about what centrists think. Low-level felonies are just a normal part of presidential politics, and it’s enlightening to hear this from a retired attorney. When all the…
‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’
These are the words that were often mentioned by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King in his fight and leadership of the civil rights movement for equal justice. Today the fight for ending the prohibition of cannabis has been won in 38 state capitols, three U.S territories, and the District of Columbia. More than…
Seek the truth and stand up for it
It’s not about red versus blue, but what do we value? What do we honor? What’s best for our families, for our descendants, for our friends and neighbors, for the freedom our forefathers did their best to create and preserve. For all those who gave their lives in battle fighting for freedom. Politics has become…
I am a relentless warrior against fascism, bigotry, and ‘able-ism’
As I write this, my Jewish friends are observing Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah—Yom HaShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. A recent survey revealed that 63 percent of Americans don’t know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Nearly 20 percent of millennials and Gen Z in New York—New York!—feel that Jews caused the…
Common Sense Party is a new independent organization seeking to flip the political script
There’s a new political party on the block, and it proposes to be neither right nor left but simply “forward.” “Common Sense Party is taking a new, unconventional, untraditional approach of rather than social and economic reform, we’re actually focusing on the fundamental issues of governance: voting, democracy, and accountability and transparency of our candidates…
Still Waters Vineyards in Paso Robles stays true to its roots after 20 years
Groovin’ at the Grove Visit Still Waters Vineyards at 2750 Old Grove Lane in Paso Robles daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are available until 4 p.m. Peruse live music, special events, and tasting options at stillwatersvineyards.com or on Instagram and Facebook @stillwatersvineyards. Set amid green rolling hills in the El Pomar District…
Consequences suck
One North County school district is showing us why it was so important for small jurisdictions to change their election models from at-large to by-district. It’s all about representation. In the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, the remaining two years left on an at-large seat that will shift to by-district in the next cycle…
The SLO Film Fest presents 3 bands, DJ set, and 12 music videos on April 26 in the Fremont
In case you hadn’t noticed, the Fremont Theater has reverted to its movie house days this week as the SLO International Film Festival takes over to screen movies and present special events, but there is one day for music fans that promises to be very cool indeed. This year, the film festival once again solicited…
Jury declares Stephen Deflaun guilty of first-degree murders
The first half of a two-decade-old double homicide trial concluded on April 19 with the jury finding defendant Stephen Deflaun guilty of multiple murders in the first degree and of assaulting a law enforcement agent with a firearm. “What began as a disagreement over a campsite ended as a tragic confluence of mental illness and…
BlackBerry chronicles the rise and fall of the first smartphone, screening on opening night at the SLO International Film Festival on April 25
BLACKBERRY What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Fremont Theater; and April 27 at 10:15 a.m. and April 29 at 4 p.m. in Downtown Centre Cinemas Co-writer and director Matt Johnson helms this story about the…
