Cover Story
Putting the pieces together
The recent SLO County economic forecast had some penetrating observations about the area’s overall quality of life (a “luxury good” in the report’s dry economic terminology). # The authors, for example, pondered over the lack of a political voice for poor people in the county, and they noted how SLO County, like California as a…
What are you surfing in?
Last week, the local surf was huge and the amount of rain that fell was small. Still, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department issued a beach water quality warning, advising the public to avoid ocean contact activities. According to officials, when a rainstorm hits the Central Coast, local rivers, creeks, and storm water…
What do empty shops on Marsh mean?
# Just how much difference does one street make? In downtown San Luis Obispo, the answer may be a whole lot. With a spate of recent business closures, Marsh Street, just one block over from Higuera–artery of trees and lights and Farmers’ Market–doesn’t appear to be sharing the success of its busier brother. “Certainly those…
Green hip- hop politico to appear at SLO Senior Center
Locals may not have heard of Green Party presidential candidate Jared Ball, or his campaign manager Head Roc–known as “the Mayor of D.C. hip hop”–but their ideas about social equality and reform have been told before through the voices of Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Panther Fred Hampton. Ball seeks to be a new…
An American Dark Age
The march of individual freedom that is U.S. history has, during the last seven years under the Bush administration, detoured into an American Dark Age. It is hard to believe that we now debate medieval torture methods–the very practices that our ancestors fled Europe to avoid–as if they are common household activities. Our Founding Fathers…
Homeless for the holidays
# “Homelessness can afflict anyone,” read the hand-lettered cardboard sign Michael Ian used to hold as he stood at the edge of a San Luis Obispo supermarket parking lot. He should know. A former Marine and homeowner with a master’s degree from M.I.T. and a successful computer consulting business, he ended up homeless and penniless…
Apple cakes and hot treats
# When aspiring chef Lauren Rigby walked into the Apple Farm in SLO to submit her favorite apple cake in the restaurant’s inaugural apple contest, she saw her competition and began to fret. “I said to my boyfriend, ‘Look at all of these pies and cakes so many grandmothers have baked. How am I going…
Dancing with the devil
Ed. note: New Times’ tried-and-true musicologist, Glen Starkey, is already on his way to Christmas Island, so tried-and-true musicologist Kathy Johnston stepped in to fill this space with notes on upcoming sounds. Enjoy! Putting a punk perspective on good old-fashioned Americana music, The Devil Makes Three has earned itself a fan base that’s # as…
Fight cancer locally
Several financial donations and lots of community support have led to plans for a new cancer center in southern San Luis Obispo County. On Dec. 11, the Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Foundation announced that it will soon begin construction on the Coastal Cancer Care and Diagnostic Center. The facility will help cancer patients seek treatment…
Animal magnetism
A year ago, Seth and Tara Daugherty’s Los Osos home went up in flames. Trapped inside the burning house were priceless family photos, special keepsakes, and–worst of all–their 13-week-old Rottweiler puppy, Samson. # “We based our lives around our dog,” Tara said. “Samson was an extension of our family. He’s the reason we did this.”…
Fast facts
Attention beer and beef lovers: Tanner Jack’s restaurant has installed a new micro brew system to help customers wash down the famous barbecue. The Arroyo Grande-based business recently began fermenting its first barrel of micro brew and will be granted a full liquor license shortly. In addition to the quality brews and cocktails, Tanner Jack’s…
Merry Christmas, Dan De Vaul!
In the latest kerfuffle between rancher Dan De Vaul and county bureaucrats, SLO County code enforcers have begun fining De Vaul $500 per day for selling Christmas trees to benefit Sunny Acres, the not-for-profit clean-and-sober living facility he founded on his 72-acre ranch. County officials say that he doesn’t have the proper permits because the…
SLO detox project moves a step closer to reality
# A groundbreaking ceremony for Project Amend’s live-in drug and alcohol detox facility is set for Dec. 13, marking an important milestone in the long process of obtaining a state license for a residential rehab center in the city of San Luis Obispo. Project Amend already runs its house off of Broad Street as an…
Land, ho!
If I’m not here next week, it probably means I got the job. The Downtown Association, whose leaders I gather were delighted with our recent cover story on them, recently put up an ad for a new Downtown Brown–that furry, kid-hugging mascot who works the Thursday Farmers’ Market. Here are the requirements: “Must have spirit…
A recollection of fragmented landscapes
December is a muted time on the art scene. Art After Dark is just # that–dark–and most open houses and parties focus not on an art opening, but shopping, wine, and merriment. Shoppers won’t notice the holiday lull at the famed Steynberg Gallery, though. Always exhibiting the best and brightest artists in the county (Mark…
Group would challenge Paso Robles water rate hike
Opponents of hefty water rate increases in Paso Robles are preparing for “a showdown in court” if the City Council goes forward with the planned charges for the Nacimiento Water Project, according to John Borst, a spokesperson for Concerned Citizens for Paso Robles. An attorney hired by the group, Cynthia Hawley, wrote a letter to…
Letters
Do what you’re told Andrea Rooks (“All I want for Christmas is a Target store,” Dec. 6): Stop acting like 50,000 shoppers are more important than 100 downtown merchants, and start protesting “big box” stores, like you were told to. Joe Erikat San Luis Obispo Not all of us want to be…
Demand returns local journalist to the air
After a short break, local radio is once again local. Sort of. On Dec. 12, El Dorado Broadcasters LLC announced that longtime-Central Coast journalist King Harris would return to doing the news on weekday mornings on KVEC 920 AM. The move comes after Los Angeles-based El Dorado Broadcasters, just hours after taking control of the…
