Cover Story
The ultimate calendar!
It’s time to buy a new wall calendar for yourself or a friend. Don’t go with the cliché flowers, the been-there-done-that sunsets, the feisty kittens dangling from tree branches with “Hang in There” printed underneath! McCarthy’s Irish Pub wants you to put a little edge into your monthly image. For the first time ever, the…
Which author represents your generation?
Jade Jackson waitress “Stephenie Meyer. Everybody’s obsessed with Twilight!” Steven Powers watchmaker “John Steinbeck. He represents everything romantic about California ” Lorraine Ridley business owner “Dan Brown. He writes about the clues we’re all looking for in life. He writes mystery; we’re all looking for mystery.” Ateve Aiena programmer “Steve Wozniak. He wrote all the…
Words I wrote
Ten years. Damn. It went by fast. At 1,000 words a pop, that’s something like 520,000 words. Here are some of the choiciest I gleaned from the 21st century’s trip toward puberty. November 2008: Barack Obama gets elected My e-mail box got so crammed up on Election Day I had to pour Maalox up…
Artifacts
There’s no official Art After Dark in January, but there’s art nonetheless. Anam-Cre’ Pottery Studio: 570 Higuera #140 (SLO Creamery) 544-1850 apRoberts Arts: 570 Higuera #152 (SLO Creamery) 234-5061—Jimmy apRoberts and Brian Christopher work in a collaborative nature. Ongoing collaborations include Exquisite Corpse, Bike Paintings series, and Breadcrumbs. ARTS Space Obispo: 570 Higuera #165 (SLO…
If you’re bored, you’re boring!
It’s mid afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 13, and I’m sitting outside at McCarthy’s, working my way through a shot and a beer—scandalous, I know, but I’m on staycation and tomorrow’s Monday to you but just another day in paradise to me. In walks my friend Tim, who with pint in hand tells me about an…
Start 2010 off right!
Tony Balbinot is a rail-thin specter, and when he picks up one of his guitars, he turns into the hardest workin’ man in show business. Endorsed by Gretsch Guitars, Tony’s also got a warm spot for vintage equipment, which fits in just fine with his retro sound, everything from roots rock to rockabilly, surf rock,…
Cats survive Christmas
A large group of black-and-white cats picked up Dec. 17 from a home in Atascadero survived Christmas weekend. The 26 cats, mostly sick and seemingly wild when touched, calmed down enough to be available for adoption by the public. New Times reported in its Dec. 24 issue that local animal lovers worried the cats might…
Good thing Santa didn’t go through airport security this year
The hustle and bustle of holiday travel came to a standstill on Dec. 23 after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials at the Santa Maria Public Airport reported a “suspicious item” in a suitcase to local law enforcement agencies, according to a press release from the city of Santa Maria. Members of the Santa Maria Police…
Sewer appeal faces denial
People hoping to modify the Los Osos Wastewater Project are running out of options. Staff members of the California Coastal Commission recommended there’s no “substantial issue,” suggesting appeals filed by about 30 individuals and groups be denied. On Jan. 14, 2010, in Huntington Beach, the Coastal Commission will begin the first step in a two-step…
Can’t we all just get along?
In yet another public display of violence, two men were injured in downtown San Luis Obispo after allegedly being beaten with a metal pipe. SLO police officers arrested Robert Lee Price, 45, a reported transient, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Police responded to the 700 block of Marsh Street around 9 p.m.…
I scream, you scream
If you recently passed by Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande, you might wonder why protesters were handing out flyers depicting a sniveling cartoon rat gnawing on a shredded American flag. Or you might wonder what the labor dispute is about. On Dec. 28, you would have been more confused when new protesters…
Republicans are spendthrifts, too
In his letter “Socialists should take a powder,” (Dec. 17), J.E. Curtis accuses another writer of “hurling insults” against John Boehner, and then derides the “socialist” agenda of President Obama and the Democratic Party. Curtis claims the Obama administration has taken away Americans’ civil rights and liberties “in record numbers.” Just what liberties has Curtis…
Thanks to a generous donor
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County would like to thank our anonymous bike donor. For the past several years, a generous man has dropped two bikes at our door along with helmets and locks, to be distributed to deserving youth. Big Brother Kent nominated 11-year-old Little Brother Brandon, who coincidentally received a…
Insist on a public option
The opportunity to create a better, more affordable health care system is a dream come true for many Americans. However, I am dismayed by the travesty the Senate has created. Letting politicians trade items on the bill like cards has resulted in the largest potential windfall for insurance companies ever. A strong public option, or…
Insurance companies should not be the beneficiaries
If in the end we find out the health bill the Democrats are trying to pass requires all Americans to buy insurance from private companies run by fat-cat CEOs, the party can expect to face the voters’ wrath. From what I know, the legislation was written by the insurers for the insurers. We deserve better.…
Everyone deserves Medicare
My family prefers a single-payer option for health coverage: Make it Medicare for everyone. Medicare works very well. Without competition, health-care costs from private insurers will continue to escalate. We do not want restrictions on women’s health care. Tax the wealthier citizens. If this cannot be included in the legislation, just scrap the bill and…
Save the dunes
Leaving New York in my adult life has brought me great appreciation for the Earth’s natural resources, and the distressing realization of their rapid disappearance. Along interstates across the United States, strip malls and tract homes have paved over fertile farmland and wilderness, displacing or killing plants and animals. It is a tragedy to see…
Check her parachute
I don’t know why Hodin (Dec. 24) and the few taxpayers who scrutinize the SLO city government are concerned about the additional $30,000 the new city administrator, Katie Lichtig, will be paid annually. That amount will be dwarfed by the unpublicized severance package that was included in her contract. When she realizes SLO town is…
Consider what’s at stake
I want to add my two cents about the re-licensing of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. I know I have to keep it brief, so here goes: There have been 200 near misses to meltdowns at U.S. nuclear electricity generating plants since the Chernobyl disaster (see greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/an-american-chernobyl-nuclear). Two major recent studies indicate a relationship…
Fault should be considered
PG&E should not be allowed to apply for a 20-year license renewal until state-of-the art seismic studies for the newly discovered earthquake fault offshore from the Diablo Canyon plant and its high-level waste site are completed. This is the position of the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the California legislature. This…
Christie provided balance
County Supervisor Jim Patterson’s decision to ax Sarah Christie is yet another example of how politicians and sausages are made. When professional liars scrape the moral and monetary floor of special interest lips and A-holes, they diminish the voices of a substantial number of citizens. Packing the unmentionables in verbal tripe they shove their sausage…
Christie is a drama queen
A fault line divides SLO County’s center-left progressives. It separates melodramatic idealists from practical realists; it separates former SLO County Planning Commissioner Sarah Christie from County Supervisor Jim Patterson. This division sometimes generates tart disagreements, like Christie’s claimed “betrayal” by Patterson. When President Obama’s green-jobs advisor Van Jones recently resigned, no great ripple of controversy…
How could this happen?
December, like no other month, is a time of joy and celebration for our family. Our birthdays in December include Dad’s, my daughter’s, my brother-in-law’s, and the “almost Christmas baby” mine. Those many anniversaries along with Christmas itself, which is for us the crown of all holidays, make us a busy, especially joyous bunch during…
KCBX FM Public Radio, 90.1 MHz
NEW TIMES: What holiday programs will you broadcast? RATHBUN: We plan on broadcasting “A Paul Winter Solstice Concert” at midnight New Years Day. NEW TIMES: What are the most popular shows you regularly broadcast? RATHBUN: Democracy Now!, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition are some of our most popular shows. We receive great feedback…
Clubs
Goin’ South … CAFÉ ANDREINI: 131 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 481-6117. Thurs.: Live music at 6pm. CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, Shell Beach, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. Mon. and Tues.: Louie Ortega. Fri: Live music. COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Dr., Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music Night every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO:…
Salisbury Vineyards 2007 Syrah Avila Vineyard
This impressive “Syrah Noir in Cool Climate” offers a deeply-colored red that’s fragrant with black cherries, briary blackberries, and rich plums, highlighted with subtle spice and oak notes. We enjoyed it with a salad of chicken, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, and baby lettuces in a Dijon vinaigrette. It would also pair marvelously with lamb chops,…
Ancient Peaks 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Paso Robles
This delicious, nicely balanced white, grown on 38-year-old vines at San Juan Vineyard, Paso Robles, was recently released. Stainless-steel fermentation retained its lovely aromas and flavors of sweet pear, melon, grapefruit, and an impressive minerality. It’s quite tasty on its own and well-suited to such dishes as goat cheese and fruit salad with a rice…
Pay less, get more!
January has never been a good month for white-tablecloth restaurants, anywhere. Here on the Central Coast, however, it’s a great time of year for foodies and wine connoisseurs. It’s “The 3rd Annual SLO County Restaurant Month,” a special time when our finest restaurants offer three-course meals at value-prices. Created by the SLO County Visitors &…
