Cover Story
A-Town 2.0? Atascadero ushers in plans to grow downtown
Atascadero Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore sits back in a chair on a Monday afternoon and looks around his City Hall office. Scattered and leaned up against the walls of his office are poster boards of color-coded city zoning maps, schematics of upcoming development projects, and a printout of Atascadero’s “Downtown Revitalization Plan” that was…
What is your farewell to Prince?
Gio Espinosa Bello Mundo Cafe employee “Thanks for the funky lifestyle.” Cyd Scarpella Beverly’s sales associate “We loved his music and we’ll miss him. I think he was one of the bests; I actually like him better than Michael Jackson.” Karen Powers business owner “Thank you for all the amazing music you brought into our…
SLO High School students tackle mental health issues
While youth mental health continues to be a growing concern for adults, a group of local students decided to take it upon themselves the help raise awareness about the issue. Members of SLO High School’s Associated Student Body held a week of activities and discussion on the topic beginning April 11 through April 15. Those…
Cougars & Mustangs
Today’s installment of Cougars and Mustangs is brought to you by the biological need to excrete matter. That’s right, it’s time to talk about bathrooms. Bathroom policies, bathroom etiquette, bathroom cleanliness. Public restrooms, to be truthful, can be the bane of some people’s very day-to-day process. There are many reasons for this. The first, and…
California prison realignment has left Dairy Creek Golf Course thirsty for water
For most people who watched the green grass at Dairy Creek Golf Course turn brown, it’s easy to blame the typical suspect—California’s drought. And it’s true: Around the time the ongoing drought began, the course reduced irrigation. But while that played a minor role, it’s not the culprit. Instead, another ongoing California process was to…
Military’s use of SLO Airport may have played a role in groundwater contamination
Rumors that the SLO County Regional Airport might be responsible for a toxic chemical found in private wells in the Buckley Road area began immediately after the problem was first discovered. And while investigators have yet to determine what role, if any, the airport played in the contamination of 12 private wells by the chemical…
A tale of two Haggens
While SLO city residents can celebrate the opening of a new grocery store to fill the former Haggen location off Foothill Boulevard, Arroyo Grande shoppers continue to wait for someone to fill the vacant location in their city. It’s been nearly six months since the Washington-based Haggen Food and Pharmacy grocery store chain shuttered locations…
SLO City Council will hear The Rock, again
For SLO Brew owners and local music fans rejoicing after a key approval for the company to once again host live music, a case of the old time blues might be coming. That familiar tune will be played again at the San Luis Obispo City Council’s May 3 meeting, where an already-approved proposal from The…
Man convicted of 2005 ‘skateboard murder’ released
After spending 10 years in prison, the man convicted as a teenager for the brutal bludgeoning death of an elderly SLO man has been released from custody. SLO County Superior Court Judge Linda Hurst ordered the release of Robert Roman Holguin April 27. Holguin was convicted of first-degree murder at the age of 13 in…
Victim of alleged murder-for-hire plot sues suspect
The man who police say was the target of an alleged murder-for-hire plot filed a civil lawsuit against the man accused of trying to order the hit. Aaron Stireman filed the suit in San Luis Obispo Superior Court against former business acquaintance-turned competitor Anthony Gene “Tony” Stevens, who now sits in SLO County Jail facing…
Another complaint filed against Erik Howell
A local politician and California Coastal Commissioner entangled in controversy following the firing of Coastal Commission Director Charles Lester now has one more thing hanging over his head. On April 18, an anonymous individual filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) alleging that Pismo Beach City Councilmember and Coastal Commissioner Erik…
Fish and Wildlife investigates dye in Atascadero Lake
Atascadero Lake was bluer than usual on April 18—too blue, actually. If its brightness looked unnatural to lake enjoyers that day, it’s because it was. Sometime on or before April 18, an unknown individual discharged an undetermined substance—believed by the city of Atascadero to be a “pond dye” product—into the waters of Atascadero Lake, violating…
Stephen Ross’ 2014 Pinot Gris and Sidecar’s Naked Fox
Poolside white wine spritzers have met their match! This crisp refreshment is here to cool your jets, whether you’re hanging by the Elks Lodge pool or on the beach on a perfect Avila afternoon. SLO winemaker Stephen Ross is originally from Minnesota, where he experimented in the family basement with rhubarb and apple wines. Can…
Deliciousness for mom!
Good reads: This year, gift mom a local cookbook to show your love and appreciation. Three good picks: The SLO Farmers’ Market Cookbook (slofarmersmarketcookbook.com), Mee Heng Low Gin Family Cookbook (facebook.com/MHLGinFamilyCookbook), and the Cahoots Cookbook (cahootscatering.com) … Break out the best wine bottles and finest cheeses this Mother’s Day, May 8. Dozens of wineries from…
Heirloom walnuts at Limerock Orchards in Paso burst with better, buttery flavor
If the family farm has fallen by the wayside, Limerock Orchards is a working museum piece, frozen in time. Deanne and Richard Gonzales purchased their sprawling Paso Robles property off Peachy Canyon Road some 35 years ago. Together, they vowed to transform the land’s existing 23-acre walnut orchard into flourishing bounty. Since then, the couple…
Bingeable: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Where? Netflix. Women get a bad rap for a lot of things, but specifically women are often characterized as the emotionally weaker gender that’s always about to cry when the slightest thing goes wrong. In reality, most of the women I know have been hit with some pretty shitty things that would be enough to…
Canvas + Craft Beer brings art class to Libertine Pub in Morro Bay
The opportunity to drink cold beers while painting a masterpiece has just arrived in Morro Bay. Canvas + Craft Beer will allow you to awaken your inner artist and paint under the influence of Abbey Onikoyi, artist and owner of Spirits of Africa Gallery in San Luis Obispo. Onikoyi will guide attendees to craft a…
Captain Nemo Comics celebrates Free Comic Book Day on May 7
Calling all nerds! Captain Nemo Comics can help you celebrate your love of sequential art on Free Comic Book Day with—you guessed it—free comic books. “Free Comic Book Day is a great event for the whole community,” Raymond Hanson, manager of Captain Nemo Comics, said in press materials. “The variety of stories that are told…
SLO hacks into new potential at Central Coast Youth Hackathon
In high school, I didn’t do space camp; I didn’t do school band; and I definitely didn’t do drama club. I thought I was too cool to do anything that wasn’t screaming into a microphone while playing Call of Duty with my Cheetos-dusted fingers. As an adult who’s about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree…
A dog-gone good time: Stunt Dog Experience comes to Cal Poly PAC
It all started with a mutt of a dog and a Frisbee. Years ago, in the late ’90s, Chris Perondi was just another guy doing the 9-to-5 grind when he decided to get a dog from a local shelter. His name was Pepper and he was a high-energy border collie cattle dog mix. Perondi wanted…
Cal Poly professor Kelly Moreno offers an insider’s account of psychosis in debut novel ‘A Duty to Betray’
The human mind can be a very strange place. Nobody knows that better than psychologist and forensic examiner Dr. Kelly Moreno, whose debut novel, A Duty to Betray, explores the relationship between therapist Rick Ruiz and his troubled patient Mr. Tran, who’s bent on revenge after Dr. Ruiz’s diagnosis of malingering landed Mr. Tran in…
Parkfield Bluegrass Festival offers family fun over Mother’s Day weekend, May 5-8
According to the sign outside Parkfield, its population is 18 souls, but come Mother’s Day weekend, the little unincorporated hamlet dubbed the “Earthquake Capital of the World” will swell a bit when the Bluegrass Music Society of the Central Coast proudly presents the 18th Annual Parkfield Bluegrass Festival on Thursday, May 5, through Sunday, May 8. It’s…
Fight, fight, fight!
Wow! Just wow! I’m really getting a run for my money as the most childish voice in the political conversation. In fact, I feel like a giddy grade school kid watching the school bully and the whiny mama’s boy face off in an epic playground slapfest while the local gossip runs to complain to the…
A clouded view of water and housing
To: Honorable Mayor Jan Marx and City Council members: The water forum held in mid-April promulgated numerous questions and various responses, which I will not attempt to reframe or acknowledge in detail. Since I was unable to attend due to having received no written notice, my comments are based on my own sense of things…
Who needs to house the workforce?
It was heartwarming to read that at least one Nipomo resident was able to see the bright side to an otherwise vicious felony arson. Eleanor Haber need not worry that the hard-working men and women who feed her family will come anywhere near her brood. The remaining homes will now be occupied by others. My…
Proposed Cayucos fire tax is absurd
I recently purchased a home in Cayucos and my special district fire tax is $103 a year. My parents own a home in Los Osos and their special district fire tax is $80. I asked a friend who owns a home in Cambria, and they pay $91 a year. Now, Cayucos wants to increase it…
A media challenge
In January, the Hagadone-owned community weekly I started my newspaper career at closed. The Bigfork Eagle kept its website, which is no longer populated by a staff of two dedicated to the unincorporated tiny town at the edge of Flathead Lake in Montana—instead, it’s filled with stories written by the Daily Interlake, the “parent” paper…
Clubs 4/28/16 – 5/5/16
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-5000, cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Rd. 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…
