Cover Stories
New Times celebrates 30 with a look back at some of the stories that affected our writers’ lives
Not every newspaper—daily, weekly, alternative, or otherwise—functions in quite the same way that New Times does. It’s a 30-year-old paper with a legacy of an awkwardly intimate relationship with the community it serves, which definitely leaves a mark on all who wander through its pages. This mark is especially deep for the journalists who crawled…
What the ‘New’ means in New Times
On Feb. 8, 1995, New Times published a sympathetic cover story profiling four local anti-abortion activists. Exactly one week later, the San Luis Obispo Planned Parenthood clinic was gutted by an arsonist. That cover story, penned by Coleen Bondy, was written under pressure from New Times publisher and editor Steve Moss. Steve often pressed us…
Moss and New Times, bucking the trend
“Tomorrow’s issue of the Bay Guardian will be its last,” the new corporate publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian told me and the other newsroom staff on the morning of Oct. 14, 2014, abruptly ending the 48-year run of a groundbreaking alternative newsweekly. It was the latest bad news for the newspaper industry in…
Getting it right
Sometimes stories I’ve written have haunted me. In 2010, I got a call from Greg Lampert who was the subject of an article I wrote about surfing localism and the violence it can spawn. Mr. Lampert called to tell me I ruined his life. In the story, I explained how Lampert had been arrested for…
Copy, cut, and paste (literally)
It was only his first job, straight out of Cal Poly. He figured he’d stay a year, tops. Instead, several decades later, Alex Zuniga still gets up and does the same things he’s done for the past 30 years: produce and design New Times, San Luis Obispo County’s weekly newspaper—although, now he’s also one of…
Boy, some people just can’t take a joke
First Shredder ever! This ran on April 16, 1992. HEY WHAT’S THAT IN MY PEPSI? Has anyone heard the supposed real story behind that recent piece in the Telegram-Tribune about the deputy SLO County prosecutor recently suspended for allegedly offending one or more female employees at the District Attorney’s office? Apparently the suspended deputy wasn’t…
Chimney Fire scorches 30 homes, grows to 7,300 acres
Lee Johnson, 89, considers himself lucky to be alive. A resident of South Shore Village, a small community on the southwestern shore of Lake Nacimiento, Johnson and a dozen others staying in cabins were trapped by the flames of the burgeoning Chimney Fire on Aug. 14. Evacuation orders were called that afternoon once the fire…
SLO Supervisors extend urgency ordinance protecting native trees
Before the San Luis Obispo County Supervisors considered extending an urgency native tree protection ordinance on Aug. 16, a tense cloud hung above the heads of the ordinance’s supporters as they worried whether the board would furnish the four votes necessary for approval. But the skies cleared as the board gave it their unanimous blessing.…
Phillips 66 seeks six-month delay in rail spur hearing
The oil company proposing one of SLO County’s most controversial projects is asking the SLO County Planning Commission to wait six months before taking up the issue again. After months of lengthy hearings, Phillips 66 requested that a planned comission meeting on its proposed rail spur extension project scheduled for Sept. 22 be pushed back…
Supes to consider urgency ordinance banning new marijuana grows
The land-use rules for growing medical marijuana may significantly change in San Luis Obispo County on Aug. 23, when the Board of Supervisors will consider an urgency ordinance banning both cultivation in areas zoned residential suburban and new cultivation sites in unincorporated areas countywide. The idea was pitched on July 26, when the board discussed…
Get off the couch!
Grab a date: Wine Country Theatre will bring live acting, laughter, and local Paso Robles wine to the Park Ballroom in Paso Robles with a local production of Fiddler on the Roof this Aug. 19, 20, 21, 27, and 28 (tickets and info at winecountrytheatre.com) … Have you procured your tickets for Morro Bay’s creamy,…
Kristen Black releases her eclectic new album on Aug. 20 at Tap It Brewing Co.
On her sophomore solo release, Can’t Bring Me Down, Kristen Black proves she’s a musical chameleon, playing everything from hooky pop on lead track “The One” to Tedeschi Trucks Band-style funk-blues on “Fortunate One.” “On With the Show” is a beautiful narrative ballad about Black’s twin boys as they come of age: “Eighteen years goes…
Bingeable: Stranger Things
When? 2016 | Where? Streaming on Netflix. Government conspiracies, parallel universes, bloodthirsty monsters, and a badass girl with psychokinetic powers—does television get any better than this? I don’t think so, which is why I couldn’t stop watching Netflix’s Stranger Things from the moment a bald girl in a hospital gown named “11” (Millie Bobby Brown)—an…
Studios on the Park presents The Military Experience in Art: Protecting Freedom
In an era where some say a certain presidential candidate could easily start the next world war, it’s good to take a moment of reflection and look back in time in the hope that we can avoid the sins of the past. Studios on the Park in Paso Robles presents the exhibit, The Military Experience…
GALA Center seeks art submissions for election-themed exhibit
To say that this election season is going off the rails is quite the understatement. It’s a time when up is down and close friends and family quickly become deleted on Facebook for some deep seated ugliness that only the craziness of the 2016 presidential election could bring out. So yeah, a little peace and…
Miracle!
Hey Congress, in case you want to know how that whole government thing is supposed to work, look no further than the SLO County Board of Supervisors, which proved on Tuesday, Aug.16, that miracles do happen. Before I start, I have to say, I’m so sick of writing about this, but perhaps after this vote,…
Tests for your pets: Mission Animal Hospital offers free check-ups for elderly dogs and cats
Medical costs are high, and tend to get higher as one gets older. This is true for both humans and their furry friends, but luckily for the latter, Mission Animal Hospital is working on a solution. From Aug. 22 to 26, Mission is offering appointments for dogs and cats older than 10 years of age,…
Cougars & Mustangs
Perhaps I’m just an old Izzet Mage at heart, but I believe “experiment,” when used within reason, is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It’s far too easy to trap the world as we know and experience it within a box, closeting ourselves and our hopes of learning anything new. As…
Colorblind: Are SLO County’s charter schools diverse enough?
Editor’s Note: This story is a follow up to “Parent trap,” a story about SLO County charter schools that ran Aug. 11, 2016. California has long been known as a melting pot, full of an eclectic mix of ethnicities, cultures, and people from different backgrounds. Therefore, the state’s public schools should reflect that diversity. But…
Local construction company bets on Carpenter in SLO supes race
Last week, leaked emails between SLO County 3rd District Supervisor Adam Hill and employees of some of the county’s most prominent businesses appeared to contain Hill chiding some of those businesses for not donating to his re-election campaign, while praising others who had. While the emails raised eyebrows in the community, Hill isn’t the only…
Dinosaur Caves Park in Shell Beach is a gorgeous day trip
View a slideshow of Glen Starkey’s trip to Dino Caves. Coastal fog enshrouds Shell Beach as my wife and I—filled with chorizo and eggs from Zorro’s Café and Cantina, naturally—make our way to Dinosaur Caves Park. It’s around 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, and kids are playing on the playground as their parents watch.…
A different picture
In Tom Reynar’s commentary, which he also sent to me personally, “The liberal narrative,” he states, “The real problem facing our nation … .” Our nation does not have just one “real problem.” It has many problems. For example: poverty, racism, stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, etc. I write just one monthly commentary for New Times;…
What was the toughest fire you worked this summer and why?
Mike Ippoliti Los Angeles County “The Sand Fire [LA County]. That thing just blew up right onto us.” Craig Vanderzwaag Santa Barbara County “The Sherpa Fire [Santa Barbara County]. The wind and fire came down the hills, and we fought it going up. The fuel is old and drought-stricken. That’s the common story around the…
Granada’s Grapefruit Jalapeno soda and Zocker Winery’s Gruner Veltliner
My favorite SLO farmers’ market is intimate, cozy, and near my house: the Madonna Plaza market on Saturday mornings. However, there’s still no beating a hectic march down Higuera Street with the masses on Thursday night. Sometimes you just want to be part of humanity, in all of its craziness. Next Thursday, meander your way…
Happiness is the whole hog: Granada Bistro is roasting a pig a week for an epic farmers’ market feast
At roughly 200 pounds, the spotted Berkshire hog is rotund, marbled, and ready for harvest. His card, so to speak, is up. One day he’s snorting around the trough on a Fresno farm, and the next, he’s packed onto a refrigerated truck bound for San Luis Obispo. Executive Chef Justin Casey of Granada Hotel and…
Cracked earth: Arroyo Grande artist Trent Burkett brings minimalist exhibit to SLOMA
An energetic toddler shrieks, “Mommy, they’re monsters!” immediately after he walks through the door. His dad gently corrects him. “No, they’re sculptures.” To be fair, there’s a certain menacing factor in Arroyo Grande artist Trent Burkett’s abstract, minimalist wood sculptures that stand taller than I do. The sculptures are currently on display as part of…
What have you done to protect our oaks?
At long last, someone has supplied us with a thorough, well thought-out scenario that it will take many, many years to correct the thoughtless actions of others due to greed and disregard for our beautiful county! Thanks to Bill Waycott and Neil Havlik for supplying the people of this community in plain English with easy-to-understand…
Don’t editorialize by omission
Editor’s Note: The following letter has not been edited—at all. I find it incredible that a publication feels they can manipulate the substance of a Letter to the Editor. The media is suppose to provide the public with the truth and the truth here is that the opinion submitted by a member of your readership…
Code Pink supports our veterans
As one of the co-founders of SLO Code Pink, I hope to educate Phyllis Stout on her dim knowledge of our organization and more importantly, her egregious untruths about 35th District Assembly candidate Dawn Ortiz Legg. Yes, SLO Code Pink did protest the illegal occupation of Iraq, a stance most thoughtful people have now come…
Code Pink is not a hate group
I was saddened to read the letter Phyllis Stout wrote about Dawn Ortiz Legg (Aug. 11, “Code Pink is an embarrassment”). I have known Dawn for many years, and she is a compassionate, empathetic, experienced, and concerned member of our community. She has co-led and volunteered with I Care International for many years, a nonprofit…
The liberal narrative
The real problem facing our nation is putting incomplete police videos in the hands of people like Zaf Iqbal, and letting them judge incidents for which they are unqualified to judge. And then giving them a forum to speak about it like New Times did on Aug. 4 (“Violent cycle”). We haven’t even heard from…
Clubs 8/18/16 – 8/25/16
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…
