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Virtual support: COVID-19 changes access to traditional face-to-face and group methods of addiction counseling
Need help? To find an online Narcotics Anonymous meeting, visit centralcoastna.org or call the 24-hour Central Coast Narcotics Anonymous hotline at (800) 549-7730. For a list of online Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on the Central Coast, visit sloaa.org or call the 24-hour Alcoholics Anonymous hotline at (805) 541-3211. For more information regarding SLO County’s addiction treatment…
Santa Maria residents organize a rally to reopen California
A “Reopen California Now” rally is being planned in Santa Maria for May 2, according to multiple Facebook posts made by local residents promoting the event. Dubbed the “Santa Maria Freedom Rally” by rally organizers, the event is being advertised as part of a larger, statewide movement to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders and…
SLO County boat ramps open to recreational fishermen
If you want to fish in SLO County during the COVID-19 pandemic, you better live in SLO County. Well, kind of. After a nearly four-week closure, a few of SLO County’s most popular boat ramps are open for business and ready to launch recreational fishermen into the big blue—a privilege that officials say could be…
Santa Maria chamber urges governor not to pursue potential executive order on workers’ comp
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce on April 22 asked businesses to reach out to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office to voice concerns about an executive order he is supposedly considering. According to reports from CalMatters and Politico, labor groups are encouraging the governor to move forward with an order that would create a presumption…
COVID-19 antibody testing is coming to Dignity Health
While there isn’t a vaccine for COVID-19 yet, the idea of utilizing the human body’s natural disease fighting responses in order to treat patients is still a possibility, according to Dr. Kevin Ferguson, Medical Director of Clinical Laboratory and Pathology Department at Dignity Health Laboratories, Central Coast Division North. Vaccines use dead or weakened virus…
SLO County warns residents not to gather in groups as crowds hit the beaches amid pandemic
Temperatures rose to 80 degrees in San Luis Obispo County over the weekend, and to beat the heat, crowds of people made their way to area beaches. Morro Bay City Manager Scott Collins said there was an increased number of people in the city over the last weekend in April, however most were respecting social…
Central Coast Dental offices closed voluntarily but are still servicing patients
Local news coverage misrepresented the status of dental offices and their ability to operate during the current shelter-at-home order, according to a statement sent out by the Central Coast Dental Society on April 23. The society is an affiliate of the California Dental Association and the American Dental Association that serves San Luis Obispo County…
Lompoc prison halts phone, email access for inmates during pandemic lockdown
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is responsible for Lompoc’s federal prison, confirmed in an April 24 email to the Sun that all inmate phone and email access is suspended for the duration of a 14-day lockdown due to the prison’s coronavirus outbreak as of April 20. The bureau also confirmed that the number…
Changes coming to North Oak Boulevard but delayed on south side
Grover Beach is going ahead with a series of long-awaited bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements on portions of North Oak Park Boulevard, but similar changes proposed for the south side of the same roadway are being delayed for further review. At a meeting on April 20, Grover Beach City Council reviewed several proposed changes to…
County allocates $4.2 million for Nacimiento pipeline fix
The Lake Nacimiento water pipeline, which delivers supplemental drinking water to several local communities including the city of San Luis Obispo, has been out of commission since September after leaks were discovered in a segment of the 45-mile pipe that traverses the Salinas River. Now, SLO County is emptying the project’s reserve account to fix…
SLO County officials announce a phased reopening plan
At the April 20 SLO County Public Health COVID-19 briefing, county officials stated their intent to create a phased plan to reopen. The initiative is due, according to County Public Health Officer Penny Borenstein, to the county’s low number of positive COVID-19 cases and a considerable amount of testing done through the public and private…
SLO record store keeps turntables spinning amid coronavirus pandemic with online transition
It’s no secret many people and local business are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Boo Boo Records owner Mike White realizes that as he navigates the uncertain climate. “Everyone’s hurting,” White told New Times. “I don’t expect anything from anybody, but it’s nice when we get it and it’s super gratifying. We’re thankful.” As businesses…
We need to ban fracking now
The oil and gas industry fear the continued drop in the prices of their products worsened by the pandemic. They want to ensure our dependency on fossil fuels by taking advantage of this life-threatening virus. While Gov. Gavin Newsom is heroically combating COVID-19, the federal government has been rolling back environmental protections and lifting restrictions…
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2009 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Maybe you’ve seen the cult classic documentary Dancing Outlaw (1991), about Jesco White, a mountain tap dancer. It followed his amazing dancing skills, the grinding poverty he suffered, his alcoholism, and drug addiction. This documentary explores the rest of the White clan, a pack…
Dear Gov. Newsom
First, let me say “thank you” for your continuing work and advocacy for a clean, healthy environment in California. We depend on our elected representatives to inspire conservation, belief in climate science, and action to change harmful and dangerous ways of using and creating energy. The citizens of San Luis Obispo have lived with the…
Local pop band Fialta drops the perfect single for our grief
About a year ago, when Fialta wrote “Made It This Far,” the first single from their upcoming third album, it was to process the loss of a friend, but the track, which was released on April 21, seems to be expressing what we’re all feeling right now. “Time was going gray, you were out of…
Mother Earth’s health is at risk, too
April is the month we celebrate Earth Day. With the COVID-19 health crisis, we realize how critical a healthy and safe environment is for all communities. Many Americans have pulled together to secure safety for themselves and others. This is such a positive example of how our country can make sacrifices to benefit all citizens.…
SLO Rep keeps the arts going online with The Intermission Show
SLO Repertory Theatre’s stage at 888 Morro St. may be dark, but the repertory company’s mission statement of “producing professional theater, nurturing artists, and providing theater education for children and adults” carries on. SLO Rep raised the curtain on its new online series, The Intermission Show, which is now available on YouTube with new episodes…
Keep plastic bags out of the recycling bin!
Recycling properly is most likely near the bottom of everyone’s priorities these days. Yet I’m compelled to share with my local neighbors one very easy and important step that everyone should know about: There should be no plastic bags in your recycling bin! Anything inside a plastic bag automatically gets thrown away. Integrated Waste Management…
ARTS Obispo cancels Open Studios Art Tour amid COVID-19 concerns
The 2020 Open Studios Art Tour, originally scheduled to take place on Oct. 10, 11, 17, and 18, has been officially cancelled due to the global coronavirus crisis, according to an email from the SLO County Arts Council. “With an unknown timeline of how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, we felt it was the…
Let’s be greener now
In the spirit of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, let’s do what we can to address climate change. The Earthcare Committee of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Los Osos has identified a menu of actions that people across our county can take. A short list of actions includes no-cost and low-cost steps that you…
Wildling Museum seeks photography of regional wildlife
Registration to enter the 11th biannual Wildling Nature Photography Competition, hosted by the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature, is now open. The theme of this competition’s latest recurrence is Critters of the Tri-County Region, as applicants are encouraged to submit photos of all forms of wildlife—land and sea mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects—so long…
What about the small businesses?
I am writing to you today with a heavy heart. My family owns a small business, 34 years in our community. Not a franchise, not a chain. We are a small business. More than 90 percent of our store is dedicated to local purveyors, wineries, farmers, and entrepreneurs. Each day we support our community. We…
Paso Robles Youth Arts Center opens enrollment for online classes
The Paso Robles Youth Arts Center’s new Virtual Studio classes begin April 27, and enrollment is open online at pryaf.org. Created as an alternative to the center’s regular on-site classes before COVID-19 closures, the Virtual Studio program includes a total of 30 free, youth-oriented visual and performing arts classes. The program is currently scheduled to…
End it now!
All businesses are essential, if only to the owners who depends upon them for their livelihood. Why is a florist closed but a liquor store open, or an abortion clinic open but a dental office closed? Who makes these decisions? Why do we have ordinances that grant unaccountable power to unelected officials upon declaration of…
Deep thoughts: At home in A-Town, an online somm appears like a mirage in the desert eliciting veritas from vino
Aside from getting a little natural Vitamin D and fresh air here and there, I was hunkering down like the rest of us. I had every intention of staying fit and sober for health’s sake. Then, out of thin air, a wine fairy dropped off some marvelously boutique bottles of vino on my front path…
Free-dumb!
Dear diary, it’s week five of the recommended quarantine, and I am desperate to leave my hovel, sit down and eat at a moderately priced restaurant, drink a drinky-drink, leave a tippy-tip, go get a haircut, enjoy a massage, and not wear a cloth face mask over my alluring visage, but alas, I have too…
Netflix’ Pandemic is timely and informative
PANDEMIC: HOW TO PREVENT AN OUTBREAK What’s it rated? TV-14Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime This timely and informative docuseries introduces viewers to the men and women on the front line of the war against global pandemics. (six 50-min. episodes) Glen This docuseries, which was filmed before the COVID-19 outbreak, predicted the pandemic we’re currently experiencing.…
Tenet furloughs non-COVID-19 related workers
Tenet Health Central Coast furloughed some of its medical staff, but hospital officials say the furloughs will not impact coronavirus-related medical services. In a statement to New Times, Tenet representatives said that with the shelter-in-place orders and cancellation or postponement of most elective procedures, some hospitals units—which are not related to the COVID-19 crisis or…
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
What’s it rated? Unrated When? 2011 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime It’s 1987 and two friends from Wisconsin—Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitch Deprey—decide to head to San Francisco and try their hand at big-city life in the lower Haight. They end up renting an inexpensive apartment with paper-thin walls, and they quickly discover their neighbors—bigoted…
Transgender and nonbinary individuals navigate isolation and creating virtual support groups during the current pandemic
Tranz Central Coast Chair Jaime Woolf said the organization’s members, much like the rest of the San Luis Obispo County community, are feeling economically stressed and isolated due to the shelter-at-home order. That isolation isn’t new to some individuals who identify as transgender or nonbinary, Woolf said, as many have families that aren’t supportive, or…
SLO County raises Los Osos sewer rates, but delays implementation
Despite the ongoing shelter-at-home order and substantial community opposition, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted on April 21 to raise Los Osos sewer rates, while agreeing to delay their implementation until after the COVID-19 emergency is over. The county’s five-year rate schedule will raise the average single-family wastewater bill to $199 per…
