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Be part of the family
What’s fun about playing in the SLO Symphony is that so many of us know people in the audience. You can feel the magic that happens, and it’s even more special because you know people in the audience,” said violinist Pam Dassenko, co-concertmaster of the orchestra that’s celebrating its 50th season. Like many of the…
Two are dead after Christmas Day killings in Santa Margarita
Two women were shot to death in Santa Margarita on Christmas night. San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies arrested Andrew Wesley Downs, a 20-year-old Atascadero man, in connection with the killings. According to the Sheriff’s Department, Downs is suspected of shooting and killing Kathy Yeager, a 61-year-old woman who was visiting relatives for Christmas. When…
I will live in the past, present, and future
I was visited by three ghosts last night. I’m mostly pretty sure they were ghosts. They sure looked like ghosts. Then again, suck down enough Nyquil and anything starts to look like an apparition; once I mistook a neighborhood poodle—Snowball—for a Buddhist Zen master. Boy was my face red when I tried to perm all…
What television program is hurting America?
Whitney Lenet student “16 and Pregnant. It seems like it encourages underage pregnancy and rewards it with fame.” Casey Rickwalt woodcarver “Spongebob pretty much ruined my dad. It hypnotizes people into thinking they actually live in a pineapple under the sea.” Carol Walker retired “All of Fox News. They’re so negative. They don’t talk about…
Kim Murphy-Rodrigues, Robert Hall Winery marketing director
NEW TIMES: How is the staff at Robert Hall going to ring in the New Year? MURPHY-RODRIGUES: We’re going to celebrate it with a wonderful New Year’s party for all of our friends! Our theme for the night will be Golden Glamour of Hollywood, so our staff and who happens to attend the event that…
Dismantle the power plant
The Morro Bay Power Plant, which affects much of San Luis Obispo County, and the Coastal Alliance on Plant Expansion (CAPE), which fought Duke Energy’s plans to build a new plant that could have destroyed Morro Bay, are observing special birthdays this year. The plant—with its three 450-foot-tall smokestacks looming over the north shore of…
Many are paying attention to PG&E’s stupid Smart Meters
More can be said at yourownhealthandfitness.org than I can here. Click on WATCH NOW under Smart Meters on the lower right of front page. There are also some YouTube links of people resisting and shutting down PG&E offices.
What’s happened to the Theatre?
To say I was appalled and offended by the recent New Times articles “Have you No Shame” (Dec. 9) and “Artsy smut for your butt” (Dec. 16) is an understatement. As a frequent performer and former board member, board president, and financial supporter of the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre, I am deeply saddened and…
Get me off this crazy ship
If the Los Osos sewer project was a cruise ship, the engines would be out, the passengers would all have the flu, a 50-foot wave would be off the port bow, and Capt. Gibson would be at the helm singing blah-blah-blah. Heck of a job, Brucie. The boys down at county government see the project…
A breath of plein air
Mimi Hafft has been painting for more than 20 years and has become so fed up with traditional art galleries, she decided to open her own. “It’s going to be the people’s gallery,” Hafft said. “I’m not going to be jurying anything. Just bring your best work, and we’ll see what we can do with…
Correction
In the Dec. 23 Art Bash column, one of the bands was incorrectly identified, as was the name of one of their songs. The band’s name is niggadumptrukkk and the song title is “Sweet Snatchatory.” ∆
Former Poly president dies
Robert E. Kennedy, president of Cal Poly from 1967 to 1979, died Christmas Day. He was 95. Kennedy was the university’s seventh president and presided during some of the most difficult and interesting times in the school’s history. His tenure began just as campus uprisings against the Vietnam War were becoming the norm. During his…
Oceano water rates are set for a hike
Oceano residents could soon be paying nearly double the rate they currently shell out for sewer and water. With no rate increase since 1997, the Oceano Community Services District is asking residents to increase their bi-monthly billing rates to make up for financial shortfalls, according to district General Manager Raffaele Montemurro. The district sent a…
State dunes study held up by appeal
The long, multi-party process for developing a dust control strategy for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreational Area has hit another snag. On Dec. 3, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department approved a minor-use permit for State Parks’ two-year plan to install five 30-foot air monitoring towers, which would be used to measure wind…
Things get unusual at Diablo
It wasn’t business as usual at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant this Christmas. A high gust of wind prompted Pacific Gas & Electric plant operators to declare an “unusual event” to government officials, as required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But PG&E officials say there was nothing to worry about, and the declaration was…
O’Malley is Atascadero’s new mayor
Tom O’Malley was appointed mayor of Atascadero on Dec. 28. Though perhaps not the most shocking political news—O’Malley had been mayor pro tem—it does mark a political milestone of sorts. Since the town’s citizens voted in November to elect its mayor beginning in 2012, O’Malley will likely be the last mayor to be appointed from…
It’s an emergency!
San Luis Obispo County supervisors unanimously ratified a decision declaring a local emergency after winter storms thrashed the county. County emergency officials received 150 calls and sent 61 field crews to monitor recent storm-related problems, the most concerning of which were potential breaches of the Arroyo Grande Creek levee. At the height of the storms,…
New Morro Bay sewer is all backed up
On Dec. 20, the Morro Bay Planning Commission unanimously denied the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Morro Bay/Cayucos Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project, stalling an estimated $27.5 million project and perhaps sending the whole effort back to the drawing board. After hours of public testimony and commissioner deliberations, the four-member commission went against staff…
Domaine Ste. Michelle NV Brut
For those of you who strictly want inexpensive wines, you can’t go wrong with this Washington State producer; it’s consistently good. A light and delicate bubbly, it’s dry and offers simple notes of apples and pears with hints of toast. It’s refreshing and light, so you can enjoy it alone or with food. It would…
Costa de Oro 2008 Pinot Noir Gold Coast Vineyard
This delicious Pinot Noir is a great choice for sharing with friends over the last days of the holiday season. Rich with fruit and very well balanced for drinking now, this Pinot offers flavors of blackberries, plums, black cherries, and earth. It’s nicely balanced by zingy raspberry with floral and spice notes. It’s quite delicious…
Got bubbles?
I never tasted real Champagne until I was hired by Wine Spectator’s tasting coordinator in 1989. Suddenly, I was tasting the stars, as the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon is often quoted as saying, from the finest Champagne houses in France. I tasted vintage Champagnes bearing prestigious names like Krug, Dom Ruinart Rosé, Dom Perignon, and…
Clubs
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Art After Dark
Sample from a smorgasbord of local art during ARTS Obispo’s monthly art walk in downtown SLO on Jan. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. • Apothecary Tattoo: 2976 South Higuera St. 786-4622—Showcasing an eclectic collection of local artists in various media: photography, paint, ink, and skin. Info: apothecaryofarttattoo.com. • ARTS Space Obispo: 570 Higuera St.,…
Groovin’ to the oldies
Despite the free sweaters and plentiful eggnog, the holidays can be stressful. There are presents to buy, cards to send, and boxes of tangled lights to sift through, set up, and tear down. Then the in-laws visit, and you have to show them the town and buy lunch and listen to their banal stories about…
