Cover Story
Saving community: The Establishment went up for sale this year, leaving stabbies, super stabbies, and extended community members worried about what it might become
A loose timeline of 1703 Santa Barbara Avenue The house was most likely built in 1886 (city records vary). It was originally called the Call Hotel or possibly the Call Rooming House, named for the owners Silas and Nancy Call. Nancy Call was a notorious woman, who was convicted of owning a brothel in 1895,…
Laetitia Vineyard & Winery’s Bubble Fest is a celebration of its French and Central Coast roots
Sip sip hooray! To purchase tickets to Laetitia’s Bubble Fest, slated for Aug. 20, from 2:30 to 5 p.m., visit laetitiawine.com. Find the winery at 453 Laetitia Vineyard Drive in Arroyo Grande, and on Instagram and Facebook @laetitiawine. The tasting room is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Reservations are recommended. If you’ve…
Thee Sacred Souls bring their ’60s and ’70s soul sounds to SLO Brew Rock
The ’60s and ’70s were the golden era of soul and R&B—Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, Marvin Gaye, Percy Sledge, and many others changed the music scene and left an indelible stamp. Now their torch has been picked up by San Diego soul and R&B act Thee Sacred Souls, who make…
Delusional
What’s it going to take for 5th District SLO County Supervisor Debbie Arnold and her ilk to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election and that SLO County elections are run fairly and accurately? Will anything? Arnold willingly submerges herself in the swampy, gaseous world of unproven conspiracies and misinformation, which was on full display…
My life in Arroyo Grande is already the winning ticket
I recently bought several mega million lotto tickets. I rarely buy them but with the jackpot at $1.2 billion, I was ready to win. I allowed myself to envision my response upon hearing I was the winner. I imagined taking a deep breath, calling my dearest friends for emotional support, and then logically figuring out…
Poor judgement by New Times judges in 55 Fiction
Out of “hundreds of entries” for the 55 Fiction contest, 27 short stories were printed in the New Times on July 28. Five authors had two or more stories printed (one author had three stories printed). Next time, judges, just one win per author please. Spread the accolades around a bit. Lisa Schott San Luis…
Statements made about Diablo Canyon and PG&E are just assumptions
The statement PG&E would abandon, walk away from the responsibility of safely storing the used nuclear fuel at Diablo Canyon Power Plant is absurd (“PG&E plans to leave behind a ‘radioactive mess’ at Diablo Canyon,” Aug. 1, The Tribune). The fuel is delivered, used, and stored in the same assemblies through the entire process. Just…
Reduce energy costs and utility bill fluctuations this summer
We understand no one likes energy bills that are higher than expected. Heat waves are causing customers to crank up their AC, which can lead to higher summer energy bills. PG&E does not add any markup on the energy we buy for our customers’ use. What we pay, you pay. Yet, the market prices for energy…
Please give Oceano a break from off-roaders, campers, and visitors
Long-term and affordable residential rentals are being eradicated from our county, especially from the coastal zone. We must preserve those we still have. Oceano has a few left on Pier Avenue. However, their tenants are being disproportionately impacted by State Parks’ visitors. Tenants must suffer beach visitors in need of parking unlawfully using their private…
Paso school board waits to change language protecting LGBTQ-plus students
“Hit, punched, shoved, kicked.” All were forms of assault that LGBTQ-plus youth reported they’d experienced, according the California Healthy Kids Survey. About 63 percent of gay/lesbian/bisexual students in SLO County reported being bullied and/or harassed in 2021-22. In addition, almost 50 percent said they’d “seriously considered suicide,” Dusty Colyer-Worth told the Paso Robles Joint Unified…
SLO County 4th District recount halfway complete; requesters and supervisor attend election conspiracy event
A citizen-requested hand recount of San Luis Obispo County’s 4th District supervisor race is now four weeks in and about 60 percent complete. So far, it has not changed one vote in the challenged June 7 race between Lynn Compton and Jimmy Paulding. As of Aug. 9, special SLO County recount boards had tallied 12,391…
Paso basin continues decline as officials seek real-time well monitoring
The Paso Robles Groundwater Basin lost another 81,800 acre feet (AF) of water storage this spring compared to last spring—the fourth consecutive recorded decline in aquifer levels since 2020 and a continued sign of drought and overpumping, according to SLO County Groundwater Sustainability Director Blaine Reely. “We’re pumping more groundwater, significantly more groundwater, out of…
Dan DeVaul’s legal team wants judge to toss Sunny Acres labor lawsuit
Sunny Acres sober-living facility founder Dan DeVaul and his attorneys objected to the labor lawsuit filed by three residents and program participants, arguing that the plaintiffs are not traditionally defined employees. Filed on Aug. 9 by Tardiff & Saldo Law Offices, the notice of objection defined the case as “not a typical wage and hour…
Pismo Beach extends moratorium on new short-term rental permits
Pismo Beach’s hold on issuing short-term rental permits to new applicants received a longer shelf life and more scathing criticism from community members. At its Aug. 2 meeting, City Council members unanimously voted to extend the moratorium issued in June by more than 10 months. City staff recommended the move in order to buy more…
Former Cal Poly creative writing professor Al Landwehr pens a new mystery novel
Keep learning Al Landwehr’s novel, What’s Left to Learn, is available through Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, and other online booksellers. Retired 45-year-old English professor Michael Drayton isn’t a detective. He’s just a guy who loves and restores Italian sports cars, so when he hears about an Alfa Romeo abandoned in the nearby woods, he goes in search…
Ironman competition is coming to Morro Bay in 2023
Ironman, the internationally renowned endurance competition, is coming to Morro Bay next year. In June, Morro Bay city and tourism officials finalized a three-year agreement with the Ironman Group to host its 70.3-mile triathlon—the “half Ironman”—in May 2023, 2024, and 2025. Sign-ups for the May 20, 2023, race went live on the Ironman website on…
SLOMA showcases artist Alyssa Monks in upcoming exhibit, Be Perfectly Still
Be Perfectly Still, a showcase of paintings by Alyssa Monks, will debut at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) on Saturday, Aug. 27, and is scheduled to run through Sunday, Nov. 13. Monks is a Brooklyn-based artist known for using semi-transparent filters of glass, vinyl, steam, water, or foliage over shallow spaces in…
DC League of Super-Pets is funny and family friendly
DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS What’s it rated? PG What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Acacia? Full price Where’s it showing? Colony Cinemas, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10 Editor’s note: Glen Starkey stepped aside this week so that 8-year-old Acacia Newman of Cayucos could bring a kid’s perspective to this animated family film…
Coalesce Bookstore hosts signing with Nick Oliveri, author of A Genocide Too Small
On Saturday, Aug. 20, author Nick Oliveri will be signing copies of his book, A Genocide Too Small, at the Coalesce Bookstore in Morro Bay between 1 and 3 p.m. The book is described as a political thriller that follows characters in both the United States and the fictional country of Coligzev. Admission to the…
Bullet Train
What’s it rated? R When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Colony Cinemas, Downtown Centre, Fair Oaks, Park, Stadium 10 David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) directs Zak Olkewicz’s script based on Kôtarô Isaka’s book about a group of assassins aboard a speeding train whose various missions are interconnected. The…
Art workshop in Atascadero challenges students to use their nondominant hand
Glasshead Studio in Atascadero hosts On The Other Hand, a fused glass workshop, on Wednesday, Aug. 31, from 10 a.m. to noon. Students will complete projects with pre-cut glass using their nondominant hand during the class. Admission is $45. Call (805) 464-2633 or visit glassheadstudio.com for more info. The studio is located at 8793 Plata…
Prey
What’s it rated? R When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Hulu Dan Tractenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) directs this prequel to the Predator franchise that began with Predator (1987), followed by three sequels and two films in a crossover mashup, Alien vs. Predator. This film presents Predator’s origin story as it hunts in the Comanche Nation 300…
