Cover Story
Autumn Arts Annual 2020
New Times’ annual Autumn Arts issue brings you arts, music, and craft events from across the Central Coast. With the pandemic still on like Donkey Kong, this year’s fall festivities are mostly virtual. Calendar Editor Caleb Wiseblood compiled all the creativity San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties can muster, just so you can…
Dozens of Cal Poly students are currently under quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure
Despite concerns surrounding mass outbreaks at universities across the country, Cal Poly opened its campus to thousands of student residents and limited in-person classes for the fall semester, which started on Sept. 14. Things appear to be off to a decent start, but cases are trickling in and quarantines are in place on campus. “The…
Allan Hancock breaks ground on new Fine Arts Complex
After decades of conceptual work, Allan Hancock College broke ground on a new Fine Arts Complex Sept. 30 that will bring the institution’s various arts programs together under one roof. Over the years, the college’s arts department consistently voiced the need for a unified arts building, but funding always posed a challenge to making the…
Census Bureau closes Central Coast office despite order to extend to Oct. 31
Time is running out to complete the 2020 Census. How much time? That’s still up in the air. As a national legal fight rages over how much longer the once-a-decade survey must remain open, on Sept. 25, the U.S. Census Bureau closed up shop at its Central Coast regional office in Ventura, SLO County Administrative…
Family Service Agency to provide health support for Santa Barbara County farmworkers
As the name suggests, the state’s Housing for the Harvest program funds temporary housing for farmworkers who have been exposed to or tested positive with COVID-19. But the program also gives counties the opportunity to partner with local administrators to provide support such as wellness checks for vulnerable farmworkers. On Sept. 22, the Santa Barbara…
Morro Bay extends utility discount program through next June
At a special Sept. 22 meeting, the Morro Bay City Council approved extending its City Utility Discount Program to June 2021 and to increase the discount for qualifying residents on their monthly water/sewer bills from 10 percent to 25 percent. The extension was a necessary action to aid Morro Bay community members in need who…
State bans sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in stores
“Adopt don’t shop” is becoming more than just a catchy slogan coined by animal rights activists. It’s slowly becoming state law. Just a day before “Puppy Mill Awareness Day” on Sept. 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill effectively banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in California pet stores. Under the new…
Solvang begins creating design guidelines for continued Copenhagen Street closure
Solvang’s Branding and Design Committee prioritized outdoor items to fine-tune as it establishes a design guideline for businesses utilizing Copenhagen Street to serve their customers. At the committee’s first official board meeting and community workshop on Sept. 23, the committee created a list of items that businesses have been using to build a space for…
SLOCOG to host virtual meeting on commuter rail transit study
There hasn’t been a study on the feasibility and necessity of commuter rail services on the Central Coast in 28 years. But now the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) and the Coast Rail Coordinating Council (CRCC) are teaming up to do just that and more. In March, SLOCOG and CRCC started work on…
Santa Maria seeks input on Active Transportation Plan, applies for state funding
After nearly two years of public outreach, identifying best practices, and drafting, the city of Santa Maria is in the final stages of its Active Transportation Plan update. The guide will direct the city in its efforts to make Santa Maria a more accessible place for bikers, pedestrians, those with disabilities, and other car-free commuters.…
Coastal Elites
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2020 Where’s it showing? HBO Jay Roach (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Meet the Fockers, Bombshell) directs this HBO TV comedy special written by Paul Rudnick (Sister Act, In & Out) about five characters—Miriam Nessler (Bette Midler), Sharynn Tarrows (Kaitlyn Dever), Mark Hesterman (Dan Levy), Clarissa Montgomery (Sarah Paulson),…
Birchwood Beer Garden gives Nipomo residents a family-friendly spot to eat, drink, and be merry at a distance
Create community Check out Birchwood Beer Garden on Facebook @BIRCHWOODGARDENSNIPOMO to learn more about food truck nights—days, times, and truck flavors. If you’re looking for a safe place to trick-or-treat this Halloween, Birchwood is hosting a garden trick-or-treat for the kiddos on Oct 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. It’s hard to tell whether smoke…
SLO County signals to feds its interest in owning Salinas Dam
San Luis Obispo County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are accelerating long-simmering talks to transfer ownership of the Salinas Dam into local hands—but many questions remain. The World War II-era dam that forms Santa Margarita Lake serves as a drinking water source for the city of SLO. But it only delivers at half…
Log in to Zoom and check out PCPA’s virtual, contemporary play reading series, InterPlay
Showtime Visit pcpa.org/InterPlay to find out more about PCPA’s InterPlay series. Admission to join each reading over Zoom is $5. The Thanksgiving Play will be livestreamed on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1:30 p.m. The Interplay series runs through Saturday, Oct. 24. Originating in 2002, InterPlay—the Pacific Conservatory Theatre’s…
Morro Bay is close to first draft of its short-term vacation rental ordinance
The city of Morro Bay has been working on its short-term vacation rental ordinance for four years. Recently, a committee met 12 times to come to a consensus on an ordinance that would satisfy the entire community—renters and neighbors alike. At a Sept. 22 City Council hearing on the draft ordinance, public commenters voiced their…
Petitioners duel over possible reopening of Oceano Dunes
It’s been six months since vehicles were allowed in the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA), and some community members want it to stay that way—at least until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. Hundreds have signed a petition aimed at keeping the Oceano Dunes closed to vehicles for the duration of the pandemic…
The Rib Line to open food truck and bar on Pismo Pier
The city of Pismo Beach opened its long-awaited pier plaza early this month, and along with new benches, bathrooms, a playground, and slides running from the plaza to the sand, the city installed three vintage Airstream trailers on the pier. One will soon be home to the Rib Line’s newest location, Sunsets at the Pier,…
Gallery at Marina Square presents new fiber art exhibition, Stitched Together
Stitched Together, a new trio exhibit showcasing works by fiber artists Debbie Gedayloo, Gay McNeal, and Kathi Battles, opens on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Gallery at Marina Square in Morro Bay. The show is described as an eclectic combination of colors, textures, weaves of cloth, and other materials. Themes in the featured artworks range from…
Vote for no growth
After a period of over six years, the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) submitted its supposedly completed application for a regular coastal development permit (CDP) to the SLO County Planning and Building Department in July 2020. The initial application for a regular CDP was submitted in June 2014. Prior to that, the county issued an…
With an economy in recession, SLO County creates economic czar position
Between 2016 and the start of 2020, San Luis Obispo County added about 12,000 jobs to its local economy. It took just four months of the coronavirus to wipe out all of those gains and more. SLO County lost a total of 23,000 local jobs between February and June, according to BW Research data, and…
We need a steady hand
Jan Marx is the clear choice for San Luis Obispo City Council. Her deep understanding and extensive knowledge of local government are needed now more than ever as our city faces the COVID-19 financial crunch. She has built a valuable network that connects her to our community and key organizations. She has credibility across the…
San Simeon’s post office relocates and opens to the public Sept. 28
San Simeon residents will no longer have to commute 9 miles to Cambria to purchase stamps or send packages as their newly relocated post office is slated to open to the public Sept. 28. On Aug. 5, the U.S. Postal Service held a public meeting to discuss the possible relocation of the San Simeon Main…
The dunes should open
How many miles of California coast are open to the public? Answer: All of it! Some Californians choose to recreate in vehicles. Some choose to enjoy it in other ways. In all fairness, one group should not be able to deny another group their enjoyment. It belongs to all Californians. Because someone with their own…
Paso Robles’ Estrella Warbirds Museum hosts annual Fall Swap Meet
This year’s annual Estrella Warbirds Museum Fall Swap Meet takes place on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. A collection of vintage cars, military vehicles, and tractors will be on display and available for sale along with a variety of automobile, motorcycle, airplane, and boat parts and maintenance equipment. The event will…
Correction
The headline of Jan Marx’s letter published Sept. 17 included a typo. It should have read, “Suffragists fought for all women.” New Times regrets the error.
Longtime community members seek to unseat the incumbent in Atascadero’s race for mayor
Atascadero residents will have an opportunity to choose from three candidates—newcomers Josh Donovan and Jerry Tanimoto and incumbent Heather Moreno—for mayor on the Nov. 3 ballot. Seasoned candidate Moreno is seeking reelection as she reminds residents that she’s a calming, thoughtful, and methodical influence on the City Council who has been helpful in bringing together…
Political pragmatism
No matter how wedded we may be to our ideology, there are times when it should yield to pragmatic concerns. My own instincts run towards the libertarian point of view. Any new law intended to protect me from myself “for my own good” or bestowing unrequested public benefits on me, and then using them as…
It’s not too late to sign up for the Central Coast Writers Conference
The Central Coast Writers Conference may be starting Sept. 24, but the annual event’s executive director, Teri Bayus, wants everyone to know that it’s not too late to get in on the fun. That’s because this year’s conference, normally held at Cuesta College, is going 100 percent virtual. “Because people don’t have to make a…
Schools across the Central Coast are working to keep homeless students engaged in virtual learning
Work from home, shelter at home, home schooling—it all means something different for those who don’t have homes to stay in. In the six months since COVID-19 became a real concern on the Central Coast, a lot has changed at the Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Maria. In normal times, the nonprofit only opens its…
B & The Hive presents their new EP Heart Beat, out Sept. 25
The core of B & The Hive—the popular, hard-touring (Well, formerly! Thanks for nothing, COVID-19), ethereal pop and alt-rock act—is vocalist Brianna Lee and multi-instrumentalist Josh Barrett, who’ve been writing songs together for almost a decade. Their sound has evolved over the years, but the continuing thread has been feel-good music from the soul. This…
Sweaty SLO politics
Do you smell that? You don’t even have to breathe in very deeply to catch the unpleasant odor at this time of year. It’s the stench of San Luis Obispo’s petty politics. I know, there’s sort of a lingering whiff of it circulating through town during all times of the year, but the stink develops…
I’m Thinking of Ending Things finds Charlie Kaufman again exploring the male psyche
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Netflix Writer-director Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Anomolisa) helms this surreal tale that on the surface is about a young woman (Jessie Buckley) going to…
My Octopus Teacher
What’s it rated? Not rated When? 2020 Where’s it showing? Netflix Co-writers and directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed helm this documentary about Craig Foster, a filmmaker who forms an unusual relationship with an octopus living in a South African kelp bed. Foster grew up on that very coast of South Africa, and he returns…
