Cover Story
Real world skills. Got ’em?
More than anything, schools are really good at teaching kids how to go to school. Students learn all sorts of other good stuff along the way, but it’s mostly sitting still and taking notes. For 12 years. Then they’re adults, with full blown legal responsibilities and not much in the way of marketable job skills.…
CLUBS
Goin’ South … AVILA BAY CLUB: Friday Night Happy Hour Summer Concert Series from 6 to 8 p.m. 8/5: Swingin’ Doors, western sounds. 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…
Talk about an exercise in futility!
I can’t believe you are publicizing this guy (“Trials and tribulations,” July 28). First, it wasn’t Jeff Lind’s case. Why butt in where you don’t belong? Why is your “relative” not saying anything? There isn’t a mention anywhere in the article of his name or any comments, other than Lind believed “Ortega was out of…
With Democrats like these …
This is a sad, sad day for America. The massive spending cuts of this debt-ceiling deal will mean thousands of jobs lost, not gained. Consumer spending will continue to decline, trashing the economy. The poor, elderly, and disabled will sink further into poverty, losing what little health care they have with the inevitable cuts to…
Bring back the two-way interaction, Atascadero
From now on, when Atascaderans give public comments during Community Forum at City Council meetings, they can no longer receive the customary responses from council and staff members allowed by California’s open meeting law. Previously, under the Brown Act, in response to questions and matters raised regarding non-agenda issues, the public could expect those assembled…
Why are SLO council members afraid of arbitrator scrutiny?
Christine Mulholland’s commentary supporting Measures A and B, siding with her fellow Republicrat, accentuates their elitist views (“Repeal binding arbitration in San Luis Obispo,” July 28). Her assertion that the POA and firefighters consider themselves above other “toothless” city employee bargaining units is absurd. If she wants “fairness and equity,” then give binding arbitration to…
I hope the council knows about all this stuff
After reading your article on the Homeless Project (“One story at a time: The Homeless Project,” July 28), I’m not sure if I should be encouraged to see change or simply skeptical. Is anyone aware what has and is going on in SLO County to support low-income people and prevent them from slipping into the…
New Times is admirable, but people should give to existing programs
I read your article this morning (“One story at a time: The Homeless Project,” July 28) and as a certified and experienced Alcohol and Drug Counselor who has extensive experience working with the homeless, I have grave concerns about your project. I believe you are inviting the innocent and potentially naive people in the community…
Estancia 2009 Chardonnay Pinnacles Ranches
This Monterey County-grown wine is a refreshing and value-priced white. It’s a very good choice for summertime barbecues. It drinks quite well on its own with its friendly flavors of nectarine, tangy apple, and melon, highlighted with light lemony notes. And it will pair with a wide variety of foods like fried chicken, pasta salads,…
Laetitia 2008 Brut de Blancs
A blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc grown in Laetitia’s estate vineyards, this elegant wine is the perfect aperitif for a dinner party, Sunday brunch, or any other special celebration. Traditional in style, this dry sparkling wine offers aromas and flavors of tangy green apple, minerals, and citrus, highlighted with floral notes. It’s a great…
Wish you could be a food critic?
I’m usually more than happy to help out when local charities ask me to judge a cook-off. I’ve enjoyed the opportunities to taste some incredibly good dishes local chefs and/or winemakers prepared, hoping to beat their competitors—and who wouldn’t? But there are times when judging a competition sucks. I’ll never forget the chili cook-off where…
Good ol’ fashioned S&M
There’s not much of a public face for the alternative lifestyles in San Luis Obispo. Actually there’s not much of a public face for any lifestyles in San Luis Obispo, outside of the steadily gentrifying smiles you see on the locals watching corporate America slowly roll along in all its homogenous glory. I have to…
Greg Bettencourt
NEW TIMES What is CCCMB? BETTENCOURT It’s a trail maintenance, design, and construction club. Most people that are involved are mountain bikers, but we also work with both hikers and equestrians. We understand that the more we invest in trails, the more they will provide for us as far as biking and hiking. There is…
Be present
I doubt anyone would choose “She regretted not spending more time on Facebook” as an epitaph, or would want their obituary to say they cherished the time spent on their cell phone with family and friends. So why do so many of us, particularly those younger than 40 years old, devote so much time to…
A search for the best!
Songwriters, musicians, performers, and bands, it’s once again your time to shine. The third annual New Times Music Awards is now accepting entries in five musical genre categories, a songwriting competition, and an album of the year competition. The genre winners must be available to perform during the Thursday, Oct. 13, live judging competition. Here’s…
In stitches
Peg Grady’s odd series—“Daily Discards”—fits right into the eclectic mélange of Deer Run Art & Artifacts, a Cambria gallery whose motto is “Objects of Interest from the 20th and 21st Centuries.” The little shop is teeming with curios, antiques, vintage items, jewelry, and unusual art. For instance, a four-foot-tall ceramic statue of Chairman Mao…
Art After Dark
Josephine Crawford Studio 5-6 p.m. pre-party salon. Maps and previews of Art After Dark (close at 6). 873 Church St. (Railroad district); 543-2237. Art Central John Barnard’s “Painting Never Grows Old.”1329 Monterey St.; 788-0887; artcentralslo.wordpress.com. ARTS Space Obispo Sean Beauchamp’s “Letters to the Universe,” a show of signs. 570 Higuera St., suite 165 (SLO Creamery);…
Life is a cabaret
Jacque Carnahan seems the definition of uninhibited. The woman who began her performing career at the age of 5 recalls spotting the Academy of Dance in downtown SLO with her mother, running up the stairs, and spending two minutes observing the dancers before jumping in and joining them. Carnahan also doesn’t think twice about serenading…
An exercise in bad taste
Filmmaker John Waters has forged a career as a purveyor of “good bad taste.” Waters, who established himself as an icon of low- and no-budget cinema with early strokes of brilliance like Mondo Trasho (1969) and the raunchy Pink Flamingos (1972), is perhaps most widely known to mainstream audiences as the writer/director of the accidentally…
Cougars & Mustangs
With soccer fever spreading across the nation, San Luis Obispans finally have someone with local ties to cheer on abroad. Just remember to leave those obnoxious World Cup horns for the overseas audience. They’re called vuvuzelas, and I don’t want to hear them anywhere near me. Former Cal Poly men’s soccer midfielder Anton Peterlin resumed…
Coffee to cry about
A double shot of espresso shouldn’t taste like it was roasted in an automotive engine. Call me picky, but darn it, coffee without cream or sugar should still taste like candy. Luckily, there are others in SLO who dream of the same thing. Jen and Brandon Manuele, owners of Sally Loo’s Wholesome Café, have made…
Living in their own world
Like most 5-year-old children, he loves to run around, yell, and make mischief. When he’s around his family, he’s likely to jump into one of his parent’s laps and dissolve into giggles. Paul seems like he could be a poster child for healthy kids. But if you spend a little more time with Paul, you…
Cambria desal faces hurdles
Reinvigorate” was the word of the day at the July 28 Cambria Community Services District Board of Directors meeting. It was used repeatedly by directors, staff, and the lobbyist hired to secure federal money for an “alternate water source” in the coastal North County community. One word that was tip-toed around, however—at least by those…
County and city come together
San Luis Obispo County and Atascadero are officially joining hands to welcome the Eagle Ranch mixed-use project. On Aug. 2, SLO County supervisors unanimously approved a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the county and Atascadero so the two entities can work together on the Eagle Ranch project, a mixed-use development of 6,545 acres on rural…
Pismo Beach is ready to expand
On Aug. 2, the Pismo Beach City Council voted to approve two housing projects, expanding the Pismo borders into the vacant hills and valleys behind the seaside city. The council approved both the Los Robles Del Mar development (a 312-unit housing project slated to be annexed into the city) and a separate 23-home Price Canyon…
STDs are on the rise in SLO County
Better keep a lid on it. Rates of sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in San Luis Obispo County. According to the SLO County Health Agency, there was a 14 percent increase in Chlamydia cases in the last year (371 in 2009 and 422 in 2010) and 178 percent increase in gonorrhea (from nine…
De Vaul gets grounded
After nearly two years of prosecution, two appeals, and national news coverage of code violations at the Sunny Acres ranch and sober living facility, owner Dan De Vaul has been sentenced to stay at the Sunny Acres ranch and sober living facility. Rather than serve the remainder of a 90-day jail sentence after he was…
Jeff Lind says court has no jurisdiction, files counterclaim
A San Luis Obispo marketing executive has filed a counter claim against the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in response to a criminal case against him. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office is alleging he threatened a police officer. Jeff Lind, 55, of Orcutt, the general manager of a San Luis Obispo-based advertising agency,…
How should we treat visiting extraterrestrials?
David Mergle lighting technician “We should treat them with kindness, because that’s what Jesus would do.” George Gorrindo recent college graduate “With respect. We should try to learn what we can from them.” Chris Cook contractor “We should treat them as innocent until proven guilty. If they got here, they’re probably more advanced, so we…
