Cover Story
Paso’s cop headache
After more than a year, the wounds on Rodia Monterrosobragg’s arms haven’t healed. Monterrosobragg, who likes to go by the name Rodi Bragg, still doesn’t quite understand what happened to her on a hot summer afternoon in Paso Robles. Nor does she know what she did that was enough to earn her the scars that…
Where do you do your best thinkin’?
Chris Houser computer programming/property management “In the back yard with a pipe. It’s quiet and relaxing.” Dave Refused-to-Give-his-Last-Name-McGee salesman “In the car driving to work. I get a half hour there and back alone with no distractions.” Robert Page retail “Probably in front of the PS3. It’s calming and relaxing.” Julia the Mysterious student “The…
Correction
Rachel Eckert’s relationship with a gallery was incorrect in the Aug. 11 Strokes and Plugs titled “Paso Renaissance.” Eckert has no association with the Vale Fine Art gallery.
Claassen moves … across the street
Wondering why the onetime site of the Claassen Gallery is now home to a waxing parlor? The art shop/gallery space has moved to a new upstairs location directly across the street: 774 Marsh St., suite D. For owner Jeff Claassen, the move is a positive one. The birth of his son Eliott coincided nicely with…
Best buds forever
I was pedaling home from my typical American day job when the old art sense started tingling. Something was awry. Morro Bay generally sets off my killer trinket-buying instinct and occasionally my finely tuned beach bay-dar, but seldom the art sense. I stashed Black Lightning (my sweet bike) behind a phone booth, ripped off my…
Steinbeck, unfettered
Deborah Tobola’s favorite students are criminals—or were criminals, anyway. A petite white woman with a no-nonsense haircut, Tobola has built a career in the literary and dramatic arts within the gray confines of state prisons. After successful stints at California Correctional Institution, North Kern State Prison, and California Men’s Colony, Tobola founded the Poetic Justice…
Imagine, if you will
In April, theater students Emma Duncan and Corbin Went exchanged the relentless fog of London for the slightly less legendary Cambrian haze. London’s loss is our gain—temporarily, at least—as the pair has committed the summer to spinning ghost stories at the Pewter Plough Playhouse. One ghost story, really, but you’ll need no others after hearing…
Still rocking
By all accounts, Stone Temple Pilots is a ripping good rock act, and its hits such as “Sex Type Thing,” “Plush,” “Wicked Garden,” “Creep,” “Big Empty,” “Vasoline,” “Interstate Love Song,” and others established the band as one of the music industry’s biggest acts. But like so many great rock bands, the foibles of its front…
Estancia 2010 Pinot Gris California
Ever find yourself at the grocery store shopping for dinner and a nice bottle of wine, only to become overwhelmed by the vast selection of varieties and blends? If so, look to the Estancia line of wines, which provide very good quality wines at value prices, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and this tasty Pinot Gris.…
Eberle 2010 Rose
This delicious, pretty pink wine is a great choice for sipping while sitting by the pool or on the front porch during a warm summer evening. I enjoyed the wild strawberry, raspberry, and tangy cherry notes that are nicely offset by zippy citrus and spice notes. It’s way too drinkable on its own, which makes…
Let the good times roll!
Laissez les bon temps rouler! “Let the good times roll!” as they say in New Orleans. And the good times will roll again now that a local favorite, Bon Temps Creole Café, has reopened. It’s been on a seven-month hiatus due to an electrical fire that totaled the dining room; fortunately, the damage was mostly…
A beautiful world
At age 6, Jennifer Martinez began baking cupcakes. Cupcake baking turned into grad school, grad school turned into working with at-risk youth, and now, at age 34, she’s back to the basics. Just a few weeks ago, Martinez combined her love of small goodies, great coffee, and community and opened Bello Mundo café on Monterey…
Change is in the wind
Windmills are typically big. The giant, spinning blades operate like simple levers, and the longer they are, the harder they can push the turbines to convert passing wind into electrical currents. The process is relatively inefficient and unreliable, so builders in the past needed a lot of space to make windmills large enough to crank…
Stood up by the circus
A mile-long circus train was expected to stop at the San Luis Obispo Amtrak station at 2 p.m. on Aug. 15. However, rail traffic delayed the train’s passage through San Luis Obispo until 7 p.m. The train, which was expected to stop and hose down the animals, was behind schedule and didn’t stop, but Adam…
Utopia closes its doors
A bakery that was a favorite of many San Luis Obispo residents has closed. Long known for its Dutch-themed desserts and bread, Utopia European Bakery Café became another victim of the economic downturn. Located at 2900 Broad St., Utopia unexpectedly closed Aug. 12. A sign on the door reads, “To our customers: We have closed…
SLO County ponders the big split
A woman leaned over her chair in the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Chambers and whispered to a reporter, “We don’t want those liberals.” If developments continue the way they’ve been going, she just might get a few liberals in her district—at least, they’ll be liberal in her eyes. On Aug. 16, county…
SLO approves Orcutt special election
The San Luis Obispo City Council approved a special election to see if some outlying residents want to be annexed into the city. This is the second special election called by the City Council this year. The vote was triggered by 22 protests to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), filed by residents who don’t…
The Arnold ‘Greek tragedy’ plays on
Criminal charges of domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon may have been dropped against former Arroyo Grande councilman Ed Arnold, but the victim in his burglary case has filed a civil lawsuit, alleging he caused her physical injury and emotional distress. The victim filed suit Aug. 12 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.…
County inspects a vacant Sunny Acres
Sunny Acres, Dan De Vaul’s ranch and sober living center, was in rare form on the morning of Aug.15: It was nearly empty. Other than a few ranch hands, some media folk, a dozen or so chickens, and a large goose who was in a very bad mood, the place was deserted. Oddly, that’s not…
Happenings in Geekland
Putting the fiber before the horse When we think fiber installation, we think of conduits running under city streets, guys in orange vests stringing cable along utility poles, and … horses? Vermont is in the process of wiring up the entire state for broadband and cellular service. Doing so in the more remote areas…
CLUBS
BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 Each Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music Fri. from 5:30-8:30 p.m. THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: 750 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach and in the Arroyo Grande Village, 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Pismo: Live music Mon.-Wed., 6-9 p.m.: Tennessee Jimmy Harrell, Fri.-Sun., 6-9 p.m.…
Tough crowd
For the third time in four years, a medical marijuana facility has been proposed in San Luis Obispo County. But whether it will make it past the county Planning Commission is anyone’s guess. On May 25, Grover Beach resident Tammy Murray applied with the county’s Department of Planning and Building to open a facility in…
Worst. Bill. Ever.
The Interior Appropriations budget bill (H.R. 2584)—known formally as the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012—will, if ratified, essentially eliminate even the idea of the conservation of our natural resources and the protection of human health from environmental hazards. The bill passed the Appropriations Committee on July 25 and…
Coleman ‘DJ C.FLO’ Howard
NEW TIMES How long have you been a DJ? HOWARD I’ve been doing this for 11 years now. I did my first gig midway through 2000 when I was 15. I started with school dances, and I was pretty much just choosing songs, and then when I was about 16 I started realizing, oh you…
Bring our troops home now
We have been at war in the Middle East for 10 years, longer than World War II, at a cost of billions of dollars and many lives from the United States and other countries. Regardless of the military point of view, we have not weakened terrorism materially. The Middle East governments and many of their…
Congress, your jobs are on the line
Congress and the administration have one more chance to get us out of our financial debacle, debt, and deficit. The incoming bi-partisan committee, charged with selecting where and how to reduce those problems, needs to strike a massive blow to “insure domestic tranquility.” Remember the Constitution also “… secure(s) the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves…
San Luis Obispo
I bet there are a lot of Democrats who wish they would have nominated Hillary. She certainly has more balls than Obama.
Police and fire fighters earn their pay
I think so many people don’t understand the use of binding arbitration. I spent about a year and a half on the San Jose Police Department. I then resigned to take a more stable job, since San Jose, like other cities, can’t manage their finances and was going to start laying off police officers. Police…
Vote no on A and B; vote yes for fairness
The Shredder is dense. It says in olden days “passersby flung rotten food and often excrement in a cruel, filthy display of collective scorn” at firemen in stocks, then suggests nothing like that could ever happen in happytown USA (“Good ol’ fashioned S&M,” Aug. 4). Wrong. That’s a good description of the Princeton/Stanford elitist City…
Visitors love the freedom at Hearst Castle
I am currently employed in the position of Park Aid/Day Security at Hearst Castle, and it has been “interesting” to hear and read the comments regarding the changes that have been recently implemented at this truly amazing location. It seems to me that the focus should be on how these changes affect our visitors and…
One more birthday letter
It’s fitting that New Times came to fruition during a recurring meteor shower, brilliant flashes of light streaking through the dark sky, dependably illuminating the local scene. If ignorance is bondage and truth sets us free, New Times has been—and still is—a liberating influence, shining a light for artists and musicians, activists and politicos, agriculturists…
Support vocational education and shop programs
Thank you for the Aug. 4 article “Real world skills. Got ’em?” Students need to know that there are alternatives to college. Such alternatives are often attacked by college officials who foresee that every high school grad who skips college represents lost income and lost prestige for them. I’m pleased that county high schools are…
Can you find it when you need it?
Concerning the Shredder’s take on common sense (“Common sense,” Aug. 11), I have found, especially as a professional safety engineer, that common sense, when needed to be called upon, is often conspicuously absent. Preparation is key to the use of common sense. — Rick Tibben – Nipomo
Maybe they’ll learn
As of this printing, I’m officially resigning … quote, unquote. Though myself and New Times are contractually prohibited from discussing the details, my attorney advised that I can disclose the following facts. • It is a quote, unquote felony to assault a mailman. • Though my mailman places Pottery Barn catalogs in my mailbox, he…
