Cover Story
Read ’em and weep: Take a look at the stories that made news this past year
Yep. Another year is over! And it’s time to reflect on the big world of little SLO County and those newsy things that took up a lot of New Times space. There was a lot of fighting this year: arguments over development, Board of Supervisors’ chairs, medical marijuana dispensing, policing, Phillips 66, and diversity issues…
What is your new year’s resolution for 2016?
Linda George retail “To play more.” Joe Van engineer “To listen to fewer disturbing radio programs.” Lily Pham server “To not stress out about finances.” Lisa Walton psychologist “To meditate more.”
Cause of fire at The Sub still undetermined
Blacklight poster collectors, lava lamp aficionados, and tie-dye loving fashionistas will have to shop somewhere else while investigators continue to figure out just what started a fire that gutted The Sub Dec. 26. SLO firefighters we called out to the fire at the novelty shop in the 200 block of Higuera Street shortly before 11…
Temper tantrum city
There are so many big babies that threw fits into the little pot of haughty naughty tantrums this year. It makes me unbelievably lucky. All those stupid things people do and say: I get to make fun of them! It’s a tough life out here on the fringes of society, looking in, people watching, laughing…
Sounds for 2016: Ring in the New Year with your kind of music
Tomorrow is Friday, Jan. 1. Wow: 2016. But tonight, Thursday, Dec. 31, is your last chance for kicks in 2015. Kicks, people! How you get those is totally up to you; you can pick anything you want—any kind of music, any kind of food, any kind of booze. The night is yours. All of it. …
Do Good Grants offers funding to beneficent ventures in SLO County
Do you have a charitable idea that you’d love to kick-start but aren’t able to, because, well, starting anything is so damn expensive? Umm, 2016 could be the year to give it a shot. That’s because Terry Parry, an Arroyo Grande resident, recently launched a project, Do Good Grants, that offers seed funding to anyone…
Cougars & Mustangs
Happy 2016, dearest readers! The column spends most of its time going on about two main campuses. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo. However, each college has its offshoots that are no less important. For example, Cuesta College’s North County campus does very good work. But today, I’m pleased to…
Cities in SLO County to consider medical marijuana cultivation ordinances
Now batting in the local push to pass city ordinances for medical marijuana cultivation in the first few weeks of January: Grover Beach, Paso Robles, and Pismo Beach. On deck: Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, and Morro Bay. Local cities are among a statewide wave of municipalities scrambling to pass bans or regulations on medical marijuana cultivation…
Source of toxic chemicals in SLO wells under investigation
Officials are still working to figure out just how a toxic industrial solvent contaminated five SLO wells in late December. The chemical, known as trichloroethene or trichloroethylene (TCE), is a probable carcinogen and was discovered in amounts above Federal Environmental Protection Agency standards in the area of Buckley Road, bounded by Davenport Creek Road, Evans…
Tastes of love: A culmination of nibbles, noshes, and knowledge from an overstuffed 2015
How many bites in 12 months? How many chews in 52 weeks? How many individual flavors come together to culminate in The Best Thing You Ate All Year? Over 2015, I savored at least 1,095 meals (not including snacks), reviewed more than 100 drinks, and interviewed more than 80 chefs, winemakers, restaurateurs, and farmers. I’ve…
All acrylic, all the time: Artist Erin Curtis shows at Poly
Sometimes it’s best just to go all in. Pick a thing and stick with it. If that sounds like your style, check out Cal Poly’s Department of Art and Design exhibit titled 100% Acrylic, featuring the work of painter and installation artist Erin Curtis. The exhibit will open Jan. 14 in the University Art Gallery…
New Year’s Eve at the PAC features SLO Symphony
Looking to add a little extra something something to your New Year’s Eve festivities? Leave the downtown drunken shenanigans to the college crowd and head on over to the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center for a night of some fine classical music. On his way from the Pittsburgh Symphony to the Syracuse Opera, conductor Lawrence…
Reflections on ice: Taking a lap around the rink as 2015 grinds to a halt
Every year when I wake up on the day after Christmas, I kind of expect the tall decorated pine trees, the flashing lights, and even the so-called controversial red Starbucks cups to have vanished into the night along with old Saint Nick. And every year I’m always surprised that these Christmas creatures are still lurking…
Art for all: Gay and Lesbian Alliance Center’s new exhibit displays artists from all walks of life
It’s easy to get stuck on the things that make us different rather than the qualities that connect us. For Ethel Landers, volunteer art gallery coordinator at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Center Gallery in San Luis Obispo, art is something that is all-inclusive. “My goal has always been to showcase art from the LGBT…
The weight of things unsaid: Catherine Ryan Hyde, Cambria’s best-selling author, opens up about her new book
In the age of too much information, everyone who wasn’t there thinks they know what really happened. Emboldened by the anonymity of the Internet, we dole out judgment. Inspired by this phenomenon, best-selling author Catherine Ryan Hyde, 60, of Cambria wrote Ask Him Why, which came out last month. One of her 30 books, Pay…
Clubs 12/31/15 – 1/7/16
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-5000, cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Rd. in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on…
Bello Mundo’s Colombia Roast and Tolosa Winery and Vineyards’ 2014 Viognier
When I first heard about Bello Mundo’s “no laptop” area, I was a little annoyed. It seemed pompous to tell your patrons what technology they could or couldn’t use while sipping the coffee they had paid for with their hard-earned money. But then I finally checked out the coffee house’s expanded digs, and I have…
What diet?
Taste of the South: The Hatch in Paso Robles is heating up this winter! Thursday through Saturday from 10 p.m. to midnight, get your hands on late-night munchies like bourbon and greens, housemade maple leaf duck sausage, rooster wings tossed in fermented hot sauce, and old-school meatloaf with a twist. Oh, and cocktail hour bites…
