Cover Story
Guilty on all charges
Los Angeles—Charles Lynch, in his recent federal trial for selling what he wasn’t allowed to call medical marijuana, had set out to do the unlikely. Selling marijuana is illegal under federal law, and yet he didn’t dispute, on the stand of a federal court, that he’d sold marijuana. Selling marijuana to people under age 21…
First Demi Moore, now SLO
A Los Osos man who sued actress Demi Moore for alleged sexual harassment has filed restraining orders against a San Luis Obispo County law enforcement officer and a county civil court judge. His name is Lawrence Bass, and to say that his career has been unusual would be an understatement. In addition to managing the…
Eat your veggies
Who needs Rachel Ray to teach us how to cook via the tube when we have Ashleigh Hutchison offering live cooking classes in San Luis Obispo? In fact, you get to work beside her and help cook the dishes the entire class will enjoy. Or you can just sit and watch, if that’s what you…
Open your ears; open your mind
Instead of listening to the roar of car engines driving in circles, the bleachers of the Santa Maria Speedway (which is actually in Nipomo, about 20 minutes south of SLO) will be filled with the sweet sounds of socially conscious hip-hop by the likes of Rakim Allah, Immortal Technique, Crown City Rockers, Da Circle, Diabolic,…
A cross-cultural instrument
New Times How did you start playing the flute? Lance Canales This may sound weird, but when I was a young kid I heard the sound of the flute in my head. I figured out what it was and talked to some of my elders and they encouraged me to play—and I have been playing…
Artifacts
Get your marshmallows ready For fifteen years, Kirk Henning has told his lively and unique, “Stories ‘Round the Fire,” a series of storytelling performances featuring Henning along with guest storytellers and musicians. The popular performances are fun for the entire family and include stories and songs from around the world told around a campfire, followed…
The stuff of dreams
Lee Lawson’s acrylic paintings hail from a separate place, or perhaps a separate plane, as though Lawson discovered an enchanted well, drank deeply of its contents and found herself in a dreamland where female agency, nature, and symbolism intertwine. She counts among her admirers Clarissa Pinkola Est»s, who penned the holy book of women’s self-empowerment,…
Bonjour?
When Tricia Reichert returned to her Arroyo Grande home after a summer sojourn in France, the painter-sculptor felt compelled to document her impressions of the country. From her immaculate studio—a room full of orderly books and busts—she explains that the entire purpose of her trip to France was to paint. With a fellow artist, Reichert’s…
What do you think about switching to a four-day workweek in order to reduce energy consumption?
Derek Sisting student “I would love to help save the environment while being able to party more on the weekends.” Dan Hemenway machine inserter “I think it’s a great idea. A three-day weekend every week sounds wonderful, but it may cause trouble for businesses who pay overtime.” Jonathon Larson janitor and maintenance mechanic “It sounds like…
Fast facts:
Chino’s Rock & Tacos, at 892 Marsh Street in SLO, will be donating all of its proceeds from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, to the family of John Francis Murphy, a Cal Poly junior who was seriously injured in an automobile accident, and remains in critical condition. John is a Greek…
Poolside with a SLO Olympian
Secrets to success were shared as the U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team held its last practice in Westlake Village before flying to Beijing. The team, which includes San Luis Obispo’s Jeff Powers, had been practicing in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks for months, gearing up for the games. The team’s coach, Terry Schroeder, owns…
Clarification:
The jazz concert series at the Hamlet Restaurant in Cambria (re: “Jazz echoes through the Cambria pines,” July 31, 2008) takes place almost every Sunday at 4 p.m.
Local workers and nonprofits feel the budget crisis
Many local state employees and nonprofits that depend on state funding are facing uncertainty and anxiety as lawmakers in Sacramento fail to adopt a state budget, which, as of press time, was more than five weeks late. The impasse prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign an executive order laying off approximately 22,000 state workers, and…
Opposition groups say Proposition 2 is something to cluck about
Come November, farm animals will be front and center on the ballot. Proposition 2, also known as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, would outlaw veal cages, pig gestation crates, and battery cages used to hold egg-laying hens throughout California. If passed, all farms would have to be cage-free by 2015, and violators would…
Sand and gravel miners want to leapfrog directly to Board of Supervisors
A group of sand and gravel miners is trying to skip the County Planning Commission entirely and take their project straight to the current incarnation of the Board of Supervisors. And the county’s two lame-duck supervisors want to give them a chance. Five separate sand and gravel mining applications are being proposed in the North…
Concerns sharpen over Huasna Valley drilling proposal
An oil exploration company’s plans to tap abandoned oil fields in Huasna Valley may not go as smoothly as once expected. Government officials are showing signs of skepticism, and the public outcry is escalating. “People are finally getting informed on the issues,” said Ron Skinner, coordinator the Huasna Valley Association, which opposes the project in…
Don’t penalize state employees
The legislators’ gridlock has created a complete mess. Hospitals nursing homes, and community health clinics are no longer being paid. Schools are trying to plan a new school year without knowing how many staff they will be able to keep. This is irresponsible. It has to stop. State workers making $6.55 per hour are not…
Support universal health coverage
Can you still afford your medical insurance? Many of us have had to increase our deductibles to $5,000 or more, just to keep up with rising premium costs. Are you in good health, and taking a chance by not having insurance? One accident could wipe out all your savings. Medical costs are the leading reason…
End the excesses
There was a time when the Republican Party believed in realistic goals and personal responsibility. Under the failed policies of the Bush Administration, this is no longer the case. They embrace the word “conservative” while ignoring the root of that word: “conserve.” The last eight years have been all about excess; excess military spending, excess…
Those were the days
Some politicians are now calling for change—this might even sound good to young people who have no memory of the past. I remember when gas cost 25 cents a gallon. My first house cost $29,000 and a loaf of bread cost 20 cents. I even remember when jobs were easy to get because things were…
Move forward
Senator John McCain [R-Arizona] is calling for an energy policy right out of an industry textbook from the 1970s: more offshore oil drilling and more nuclear power. Offshore oil drilling, while posing a clear threat to our beaches and coastlines, wouldn’t produce any oil for 20 years, would be the proverbial drop-in-the-bucket, given rising world…
Get the facts
Seriously, people let’s be frank. You send a reporter out to cover a story, where the most advanced known and proven water technology available in the world is turning raw sewage into purified water in a town where 5,000 homeowners are under “cease and desist” orders from one of the most powerful agencies in the…
SLO has more than its share
I have noticed several letters recently from Betty Woody of Avila Beach (New Times, July 31, 2008) and her constant criticism of the city of SLO in regard to Sunny Acres. It appears Ms. Woody is not aware that the city of SLO has two successful homeless programs, while her own community of Avila Beach…
Listen to Mario Savio
Your topics on “Street Talk,” in general, have not given this reader much in which to be interested. However, as a retired chemistry professor and exclusively interested in pure basic “science,” the question, “What is the most technological advance of the last 50 years?” (New Times, July 31, 2008), did give me pause to read…
Declare campaign contributors
On Aug. 12, the Atascadero City Council will consider requiring greater transparency and accountability from its members regarding campaign contributions, by posting them on the Internet and declaring them when contributors’ items are on the council agenda. Currently, contribution forms are accessible only at City Hall. Exploiting a loophole in state law (which excludes city…
What’s the rush?
If you haven’t heard by now, an Australian backed company proposes to drill for oil in the Huasna Valley in Arroyo Grande, which is creating a stir among the locals and some other people. There’s a group of volunteers, the Huasna Valley Association, who are forthrightly and diplomatically addressing the many issues raised by the…
Don’t mess with Uncle Sam
This week’s cover story on the trial and trials of medical marijuana dispenser Charles Lynch offers a lesson I’ve been trying for years to find an excuse to offer: Boys and girls, if federal prosecutors ever get you in their sights, for anything at all, perform the following actions: 1. Cop a plea, to anything,…
Peter Jurgens – Owner of British Sports Cars
NEW TIMES: How and when did you get into the British car business? JURGENS: I’ve been involved with automobiles and mechanical stuff my whole life. I came to the Unites States in 1980 and heard San Luis Obispo was a nice place to be. I opened a sunroof business for domestic cars, but everyone found…
