Cover Story
Learning from history: As monkeypox arrives in SLO County, the Public Health Department partners with Gala to get the word out to the LGBTQ-plus community about prevention and treatment
Serrin Ruggles, the director of operations at San Luis Obispo’s Gala Pride and Diversity Center, remembers being gripped by fear when news of monkeypox first broke across the nation a month ago. “I just had this terrible sinking feeling in my chest,” said Ruggles, who uses nonbinary pronouns. “I’ve read a lot on the AIDS…
SLO County Sheriff’s Office expands jail competency program
A new San Luis Obispo County jail program that helps restore mentally ill inmates to competency for their trials is about to get more beds. The California Department of State Hospitals is providing $4.7 million to the Sheriff’s Office over the next three years to add three additional beds to the jail’s current five-bed program.…
Paso Robles residents divided on allowing recreational cannabis dispensaries
“Weed and wine, doesn’t that sound good together?” One Paso Robles resident asked that question at an Aug. 18 community forum where residents discussed the implications of allowing recreational cannabis dispensaries to operate within the city. Some residents vehemently opposed the idea, citing the effects of cannabis on youth and increasing crime rates. Others, like…
SLO-based piano donation program raises money for the arts
Walk through the double doors of the Morro Road Education Center and the first thing you’ll see is classroom 108B, a larger room that houses four pianos in varying stages of disassembly. Piano technician Rhonda Carmen sat beside a white piano on a recent weekday, with an orange microfiber cloth in one hand and cleaning…
Taft St. Coffee gets community pushback for links to alleged sexual abuser
Social media got heated over the weekend of Aug. 19 when San Luis Obispo County residents heard about what’s happening with Kin Coffee shop’s second location. Julian Contreras—who, with his friend Nate Abate, faced sexual assault allegations from more than 40 women this April—formerly owned Kin Coffee in Downtown SLO. According to county business records,…
Pono Pacific Kitchen is Grover Beach’s answer to elevated Hawaiian cuisine
Reserve the Rim Coast into Pono Pacific Kitchen on 228 W. Grand Ave. in Grover Beach starting at 4 p.m. or call (805) 202-8115 between noon and 6 p.m. to make a reservation. Check out the menu at ponopacifickitchen.com. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook @ponopacifickitchen. Hawaii-happy partners Preston Tripp and Ashlee Alewine felt compelled…
Hacks
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2021-present Where’s it showing? HBO Max Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are comedy gold in this HBO series that follows the aging career of stand-up comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) and her new writer Ava (Einbender) as they try to reinvigorate Deborah’s career after she loses her Las Vegas residency. Whip…
The Place on PCH in Oceano is a studio where artists can explore creativity and themselves
Explore more Find The Place on PCH at 1699 Front St. in Oceano. It’s open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-ish to 3 p.m.-ish. Virtually visit by going to theplaceonpch.org, @theplaceonpch on Instagram, or The Place on PCH on Facebook. A pandemic gorilla slathered in red hunches over next to the stairs that lead down…
Keep Breathing
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Netflix Attorney Liv has to get home come hell or high water. When she convinces two guys to let her hop on their private flight, she has no idea what she is in for. The men aren’t who they say they are, and when the plane…
Upcoming exhibit showcases Oceano dune vistas by SLO photographer Bob Canepa
The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang presents Dunes: Visions of Sand, Light, and Shadow, a new photography exhibition, which is scheduled to debut on Saturday, Sept. 10, and remain on display at the venue through the end of March 2023. The solo exhibit will showcase photos taken at the Oceano dunes by…
Creative Me Time hosts class on driftwood scenes in Morro Bay
Sea Glass and Driftwood Scenes, a Creative Me workshop with art instructor Joan Martin Fee, will be held at Art Center Morro Bay on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to noon. Attendees will create their own driftwood scenes using local sea glass and driftwood. Admission to the class is $40. Call (805) 286-5993 or…
Opinions about Diablo Canyon aren’t necessarily proof!
If Diablo Canyon closes in 2024 and 2025 there will be intensely increasing roving power outages. The need for more fossil fuels will greatly increase the emissions we are striving to reduce. Our electrical grid can’t yet sustain 100 percent clean, emission free power 100 percent of the time without steady 24/7 power from Diablo…
Moonshiner Collective plays The Siren El Chorro on Aug. 26
At the end of July, I was lucky enough to attend a Moonshiner Collective outdoor show at Tolosa Winery, and it was one of those magic Central Coast nights where we were treated to a glorious sunset as multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Dan Curcio led his band—drummer/percussionist Ryan House and eight-string guitarist Gary Wooten—through their paces. Curcio…
Close Diablo Canyon and its unreliable nucelar reactors
Given that one or both of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s reactors have been down more than 40 percent of the year for at least the previous three years (for problems and/or planned downtimes), PG&E claims that “the two units produce a total of 18,000 gigawatt-hours of clean and reliable electricity annually” are at best…
SLO’s City Council candidates need to debate policies and ideas
When I ran for SLO City Council in 2020, I was puzzled that there was no event where candidates could address each other’s ideas—also known as “a debate.” Maybe this goes against our county civility code, which mandates “listening to understand, not listening to find fault.” It certainly goes against the city’s instructions for its…
A privacy amendment?
Roe v. Wade is dead. Now what? The impact in California and the other blue states is negligible, and abortion will continue to be available in those states. But more potentially impactful is the court’s finding that the “right to privacy” that the Roe court “discovered” in the Constitution does not actually exist. This has…
Truth and consequences to closing down Diablo Canyon
“Close Diablo Canyon Power Plant on schedule” (Aug. 18) is an opinion piece, and everyone has a right to an opinion. But when one expresses one’s opinion publicly, one must assume responsibility for the consequences of that opinion. For example, following are some consequences of the author’s opinion that Diablo Canyon should be closed. First…
The taxman cometh
According to WalletHub’s survey that asked Americans what they’d rather do than pay taxes, a few top choices were to change a stranger’s baby’s diaper, fold 100 fitted sheets, clean public toilets, break their own arm, kill a stranger without getting caught, and explain sex to their children. Sheesh! Some people really hate paying taxes.…
Beast is action-packed B-movie shlock
BEAST What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Stream it What’s it worth, Glen? Stream it Where’s it showing? Colony Cinemas, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10, Sunset Drive-In Baltasar Kormákur (Adrift, Everest, 2 Guns, Contraband) directs this adventure about a father, Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba), and his daughters Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Meredith…
SLO County’s proposed Paso basin ordinance draws backlash from agriculture
Paso Robles agricultural stakeholders have been concerned for nearly two years about a revised set of county rules for the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin coming down the pike. At first, concerns centered on a proposed five-fold increase in the amount of water each basin landowner could pump from their properties without restriction, and how that…
Paso school board passes symbolic resolution about gender specific titles
Scattered applause and booing marked the end of a divisive 5 1/2-hour long Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board meeting. The majority of that Aug. 23 meeting was spent discussing a resolution stating that the district would not support any “mandate which replaces traditional gender-specific names such as mother and father, Mr. and Mrs.,…
SLO County Parks secures easements for Ontario Ridge trail
For years, the Central Coast public has enjoyed access to the Ontario Ridge trail, a hike that begins in Shell Beach along the spine of a steep hillside and leads to sweeping views of the coast. And yet, despite its popularity, the Ontario Ridge isn’t technically a trail. It’s unauthorized and encroaches on private property.…
Grover Beach resident and officials argue bed tax in appeal hearing
What is the definition of a hotel? The question plagued the Grover Beach City Council, members of city staff, and one frustrated resident who refused to pay transient occupancy taxes (TOT) for two years running. The group engaged in a two-hour-long heated back-and-forth at the Aug. 22 hearing where short-term rental (STR) operator Allen Thompson…
