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In need of generosity: Giving Tuesday adds a second day of generosity to the calendar for organizations struggling to meet the community’s needs
Donate time, money, or kindness To learn more about the upcoming Giving Tuesday Now and get ideas about how you can help, visit now.givingtuesday.org. Get your SLO Botanical Garden plant fix at slobg.org. Visit Community Partners in Caring online at partnersincaring.org. For the first time in 30 years, the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is…
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition launches new program for pandemic rides
Similar to most nonprofits, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition has been forced to shift its programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the shelter-in-place order, the organization would visit schools throughout the county to teach kids how to ride bikes and about bike safety, but with schools closed, this effort stopped. To fill the gap,…
Residents urged not to delay emergency room visits
If a medical emergency arises, don’t delay seeking care because of COVID-19. That’s one simple message that local hospitals want residents to hear, as emergency rooms across the U.S. see precipitous declines in patients amid the pandemic. At local Dignity Health hospitals—French Hospital in San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande Hospital, and Marion Regional Medical Center…
Santa Maria testing site opens, Lompoc and Santa Barbara sites to follow
Santa Barbara County’s first community based testing site opened in Santa Maria on May 5 and was fully booked on its first day, the county’s public health department reported. Located at the Santa Maria Fairpark, the site is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and has a 132 daily test capacity. Santa Barbara Emergency…
Morro Bay public boat ramp opens to tourists
Morro Bay’s public boat launch ramp is officially open for business—to tourists and locals alike. After a near month-long closure followed by a restricted, locals-only reopening, Morro Bay Harbor Department opened its ramp to all members of the general public and discontinued its restriction on out-of-towners on May 1, just in time for the first…
Some retailers could begin reopening before Mother’s Day
For all those who were scrambling to buy a last minute Mother’s Day present, you may be in luck. Florists and other retailers may be opening in limited capacities by the end of the week. A few weeks after laying out a framework that Gov. Gavin Newsom said would guide the state’s approach to easing…
Paso Robles residents could see an rate increase for waste services on July 1
Similar to the cities of Atascadero, Grover Beach, and San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles is facing a potential solid waste rate increase due to China’s restrictions on the scrap material it will accept and a limited local labor pool. Paso Robles resident Katherine Barnett said in an email to New Times that she recently received…
Threat of beach closures sparks outrage on Central Coast
If you played little league or club soccer as a kid, you know how it goes. One bad egg—that kid who’s always late or has a budding problem with authority—can turn a friendly practice into the whole team running laps. In the metaphorical soccer scrimmage between California and COVID-19, Orange County is the problem child…
Pandemic slows down Santa Maria affordable housing project
Days of rain and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis delayed the construction of an affordable housing project in Santa Maria that was supposed to open in February but is now slated for June. The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara is working on the Residences at Depot Street, which includes two buildings with a…
Marsh Street bridge construction will impact downtown traffic for months
After years of planning, the city of San Luis Obispo is finally poised to replace the Marsh Street bridge, a more than a century-old concrete creek crossing at the edge of downtown. Construction on the $5.5 million project, which was awarded to Souza Construction on March 17, will begin in mid-May. It involves replacing the…
Lopez and Santa Margarita Lakes saw visitors from outside of SLO County
In anticipation of the warm weather throughout San Luis Obispo County, Lopez Lake Marina posted on its Facebook page that its restaurant, store, and boat rentals would be opening on April 24 with some restrictions on the number of visitors. According to the San Luis Obispo County parks department, Lopez and Santa Margarita lakes have…
SLO Oriental Market introduces curbside pickup during COVID-19 pandemic
In the initial aftermath of the March 19 shelter-at-home order taking effect, panic buying ensued at supermarkets across the county. Toilet paper, hand sanitizers, frozen foods, staple items—all of them were flying off shelves as everyone filled their carts. But SLO Oriental Market co-owner Fani Gau, said her store might have been San Luis Obispo’s…
With stimulus check in hand, we’re ready for a night off from cooking—time for Kochi Korean BBQ to go
Korean barbecue and sushi to-go Order and pay for pickup or delivery online at toasttab.com/kochi. Yelp.com has a coupon for buy two entrees, get one free appetizer. Kochi Korean BBQ & Shabu Shabu is located at 6900 El Camino Real, Atascadero. Call (805) 464-2999. Shelter-at-home hours are 1 to 8 p.m. daily. Never in my…
Port San Luis fishermen’s market pilot approved
San Luis Obispo County residents could be getting a new place to buy fresh-caught fish—directly from the hands that did the catching. At a meeting on April 28, the Port San Luis Harbor Commission voted 4-1 to allow the implementation of a fishermen’s market pilot program on Harford Pier, inside the building soon to be…
Unmasking the media
Oh, I just love it when a “national” broadcast news reporter submerges himself or herself in the hoary depths of a debacle. This is where they gain their stripes. This is raw reporting at its finest. Over the ages, news reporters have strived to hurl themselves into the teeth of a storm, or war, or…
It’s too soon to open
Great Shredder column in New Times (“Free-dumb,” April 23)! This week, I participated in a Zoom meeting with state Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and SLO County Public Health Director Dr. Penny Borenstein. It was a short session but you certainly covered the sense I had of SLO County asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to retreat from…
Most SLO businesses lost at least half their revenue, didn’t get federal loans
A San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce survey of more than 200 local businesses found that a majority have experienced at least a 50 percent decline in revenue since the onset of COVID-19, and most have not had any success receiving loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The survey, which ran online from…
It’s time to phase in a reopening
I want to thank Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo), along with supervisors and mayors of SLO County, who signed his letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom advocating for a loosening of shelter-at-home restrictions in our county. Given the paucity of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, coupled with our high health care capacity, Mr. Cunningham’s request for…
What’s up with the pier embargo?
I drove the PCH way up north on Friday, April 24, so I could enjoy my favorite Central Coast pastime: taking a walk on the San Simeon pier. The park was open, the picnic areas were open, the beaches were open, and there was even a uniformed park employee in the kiosk at the front…
Oil has nothing to do with COVID-19
SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon doesn’t like oil, especially fracking. This is obvious. But her letter mixing COVID-19 and oil is confusing. Let’s apply a little common sense. First, fracking has made the United States energy independent. This means we no longer have to rely on thug regimes for petroleum. It also means we pay less…
Planet of the Humans shows the green energy movement’s failure
PLANET OF THE HUMANS What’s it rated? Not ratedWhere’s it showing? YouTube Writer-director Jeff Gibbs helms this new documentary endorsed by leftist polemicist Michael Moore, who wrote that it’s “a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day—that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet Earth…
San Simeon receives Brown Act violation notice
While conducting its first Zoom meeting, the San Simeon Community Services District (CSD) says it accidentally posted the wrong login information. However, the SLO County District Attorney’s Office found that it failed to hold an “open and public” meeting, violating the Brown Act. On March 20, the district held a special meeting with one agenda…
Bosch
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2014-Present Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime I’m late to the Bosch party, a TV show based on an ongoing series of novels by Michael Connelly. It’s got six seasons under its belt with a seventh ready to start, and so far I’ve only made it through the first. Gotta say…
Voter suppression goes viral
Among all the “did-he-just-say-that?” moments triggered by the words that come out of the mouth of our commander in chief, Donald Trump’s March 30 chat with Fox & Friends stands out. Trump was voicing alarm over Democrats’ proposal to include funding in the coronavirus stimulus package to help states adapt their election systems to the…
Light of My Life
What’s it rated? R When? 2019 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu Writer-director-star Casey Affleck (I’m Still Here) helms this survival story about a father and child trying to make their way after a pandemic has wiped out half the Earth’s human population 10 years earlier. The loose framework of civilization that…
Recreation employees particularly hard hit by COVID-19
Millions of Americans have lost wages or were laid off entirely within the last month due to coronavirus-related closures, and within SLO County’s cities, recreation employees are among the hardest hit. Since the state implemented a shelter-at-home order in mid-March, parks and trails throughout the county have closed or are open only for restricted uses.…
Learn to paint for fun on Skye Pratt’s YouTube channel
When’s the last time you picked up a paint brush and made some art? Childhood? Many of us think that artists have some special talent that we didn’t get, but painting teacher Skye Pratt is positive there’s an artist inside you that simply needs a little coaxing to come out. Pratt, a Central Coast native…
Williams & Nuttycombe drop a terrific new album
What happens when you take a really good songwriter and lyricist and team him with an amazing multi-instrumentalist and arranger, and let them do their thing unencumbered by a major record label, expectations, or a need to made loads of money? You get Photo Op, the new 11-track CD by former Café Musique band members…
Professional animator to judge SLOMA’s inaugural Digital Shorts Film Festival
The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) recently announced that professional animator Michelle Robinson will be the juror of its inaugural Digital Shorts Film Festival, a one-night event scheduled to take place on Sept. 26, from 6 to 9 p.m. The festival is hosted in conjunction with the museum’s upcoming digital art exhibition, A…
Hotel occupancy sinks during COVID-19
While large beach crowds over a hot weekend of April 24 raised questions among locals about whether tourism is making a comeback during COVID-19, officials say that hotel occupancy rates in general remain extremely low throughout San Luis Obispo County. Hotel occupancy has averaged around 15 percent for the past several weeks, when it would…
Downtown SLO seeks artists for May Flower Initiative
In collaboration with ARTS Obispo and the SLO Cultural Arts Committee, Downtown SLO is partnering local artists with business owners through a new public art project, the May Flower Initiative. Painters and other artists are encouraged to join the project and help paint the windows of downtown businesses with a floral theme, using temporary paint.…
The transition to distance learning brings different challenges for parents and teachers of children with special needs
When SLO County’s schools first announced plans to close in mid-March, it was a Friday, and within the window of a weekend, administrators, teachers, and parents like Sara McGrath were forced to adapt to an entirely new model of education. Teachers transformed their classrooms to virtual forums, administrators worked to identify families in need of…
Willful or stupid?
We’ve all done it. Sent the wrong Zoom link to the crew. Had a technical glitch in our video-streaming giddyup because a password didn’t work. Heard Grandpa Joe’s voice come out of a black hole because he’s incapable of figuring out how to turn his computer’s camera on. Watched Brenda stuck with her mouth open…
As COVID-19 cripples the economy, SLO County works to meet an unprecedented surge in food need
When the San Luis Obispo County Food Bank makes its regular monthly trip to distribute free groceries at Baywood Elementary School in Los Osos, about 30 families typically show up to take food home. For its April 14 distribution, the first at the school site since the coronavirus shutdown, the Food Bank planned for a…
