Cover Story
At a distance: This school year will be like none other due to COVID-19
This year’s Education Today issue feels more weighty than those of the past. Although some local school districts toyed with the idea of resuming some degree of educational normalcy this fall, the COVID-19 pandemic had different plans. In fact, the governor issued an executive order in July requiring schools in counties on the state’s COVID-19…
Santa Maria’s CDBG funds increase with COVID-19 allocation
A few days after an Aug. 3 Block Grants Advisory Committee public workshop—where attendees discussed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) priorities for the 2021-22 Action Plan—Santa Maria announced that the city received nearly $1 million in extra CDBG funds for the current 2019-20 cycle. The added funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…
New bike lane coming to downtown SLO
San Luis Obispo is removing a car lane from Higuera Street and replacing it with a striped bike lane next week—part of an ongoing city effort to reimagine downtown in the face of COVID-19. On Aug. 18, the city will start work on restriping the furthest right lane of Higuera Street—a one-way road with three…
Workforce Development Board hosts webinar to help locals get back to work
In April, Workforce Development Board of Santa Barbara County Business Services Strategist Alma Janabajab told New Times about the board’s efforts to go virtual. Now, the Santa Barbara County-run entity is taking those services one step further with its Workforce Programs Launch Event. The free Zoom event on Aug. 13 is open to anyone interested…
Special districts see support in Congress for future COVID-19 relief
In July community services districts throughout California, including those in San Luis Obispo County, submitted letters of support for federal legislation that would make them eligible for future relief funds. At the end of July U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan Special Districts Provide Essential Services…
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office locates unlicensed grow in Tepusquet
On July 29 detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Cannabis Compliance Team executed a search warrant in the Tepusquet area on a cannabis growing operation. According to a press release, the team, with the assistance of Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens and Campaign Against Marijuana Planting agents, conducted the search in an…
The Postcard Killings
What’s it rated? Not rated When? 2020 Where’s it showing? Hulu Danis Tanovic (No Man’s Land, Death in Sarajevo) directs this crime thriller based on the book by Liza Marklund and James Patterson about NYC police detective Jacob Kanon (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) whose daughter and her new husband are murdered while on their honeymoon in…
Tread
What’s it rated? Not rated When? 2020 Where’s it showing? Netflix On June 4, 2002, personally aggrieved master welder Marvin Heemeyer unleashed his fury on the town of Granby, Colorado, when he drove his heavily fortified 63-ton bulldozer through town, systematically destroying the businesses and government buildings of those he believed had wronged him. The…
In solidarity
I know you have asked the public to be patient, but because I was there I would hate to let another day go by before asking that you do not formally bring charges against local Black Lives Matter leader Ms. Tianna Arata. I know you were personally very angry about the protesters’ decision to stop…
Education Today 2020
This year’s Education Today issue feels more weighty than those of the past. Although some local school districts toyed with the idea of resuming some degree of educational normalcy this fall, the COVID-19 pandemic had different plans. In fact, the governor issued an executive order in July requiring schools in counties on the state’s COVID-19…
Leadership matters. Especially now.
After the video of Sheriff Ian Parkinson at the Tea Party talk surfaced, of course there would have to be backlash. Speaking to an echo chamber of people who wanted to hear exactly what he said comes off so flatly. When asked to publicly clarify his position following the Black Lives Matter rally response to…
Voting as good trouble
Can you believe we’re still struggling for the single most fundamental right of a democracy? The right to vote. U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia)literally had his skull cracked for marching in support of voting rights. In a posthumous op-ed published in The New York Times, he admonished us to carry on his work through the…
Elementary exception: Local districts seek waivers to reopen elementary schools, but teachers are apprehensive
Just when local school districts had finalized plans to start the 2020-21 school year with distance-only learning, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department outlined a new waiver process on July 29 that would allow elementary schools to open. Multiple SLO County school districts—including Paso Robles Joint Unified School District—are interested in applying for…
Know your audience
How does that whole “separation of church and state” thing go again? I understand that the government can’t tell you who, what, or how to worship, but doesn’t it cut both ways? Aren’t government officials forbidden from selectively enforcing laws based on their personal religious beliefs? Aren’t they bound by the U.S. Constitution? “By the…
SLO makes the top 10 as restaurant closures become an unsavory trend
Survey says Visit the recent Yelp: Local Economic Impact Report at yelpeconomicaverage.com/yelp-coronavirus-economic-impact-report.html for more details on the current state of the restaurant business. I found it skimming through the news. I’m not sure if you saw it, but it was laced in with the rest of the muck and coronavirus stats: The city of San…
The Creston Line frontman Jon Bartel releases new EP, Hell
Jon Bartel has a lot on his mind these days, maybe too much. Frontman for local country act The Creston Line and member of now defunct rock act American Dirt, the singer-songwriter’s most recent endeavor is Hell, a four-song EP dripping with angst, ennui, and melancholia. With a title like Hell, what were you expecting,…
Rules of the game: Delays in fall sports could make it harder for high school athletes hoping to play in college
Kelli Cole considers her son to be one of the lucky ones. An incoming senior at San Luis Obispo High School, her son, Thomas Cole, stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 275 pounds. His is the ideal body type for someone who loves basketball and football and aspires to go pro, and his strength, height, and dedication…
Local Smart & Final sued for alleged discrimination over a face mask
A local San Luis Obispo County resident is alleging that a Smart & Final in Arroyo Grande discriminated against her and her medical condition when the assistant manager wouldn’t let her complete her purchase without wearing a mask. A complaint filed on July 29 against Smart & Final Stores LLC and Assistant Manager Marti Buentiempo…
Navigating distance: Local school districts work to continue educating their students safely
Since March, San Luis Obispo County school districts have been challenged to continue educating while keeping their students, staff, and community safe during the ever-changing nature of the global pandemic. The largest hurdle for school administrators was understanding the guidance coming out of the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, the California Department of…
Unsolicited seed shipments from China hit the Central Coast
Within the last few years, Santa Maria resident Mike Brown has ordered hundreds of items from Wish, an e-commerce platform where Brown said you can order pretty much anything at lower than market rates, so long as you’re willing to wait longer than usual for shipping. Brown’s past orders through Wish have all come without…
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Edna Valley cannabis project meets neighborhood opposition
A proposed cannabis greenhouse grow in Edna Valley is drawing criticism from its neighbors ahead of its Aug. 7 hearing at the SLO County Planning Department, with community members raising objections about its proximity to Los Ranchos Elementary School. “We have a 10-year-old son attending the school,” nearby resident Amy Garrett said in an email…
Local family raises awareness and funds for ALS research in honor of their loved one
On Feb. 22 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), Larry Fernandez and his daughters, Andrea and Natalie Fernandez, left a bucket of colorful roses at the bottom of the Bishop Peak Trail. They were there for the sixth annual Martha-Olson Fernandez Foundation (MOFF) Hike and Brunch. Attendees grabbed a rose and hiked to a bench with a…
Templeton amends budget to keep parks and rec services afloat
In a short-term fix to maintain recreation services, the Templeton Community Services District board recently voted to move money from other funds into its Parks and Recreation Department budget. The department took a financial hit as programs and services were shuttered due to COVID-19. The lack of revenue coming in from youth sports and rental…
To benefit Navajo COVID-19 relief, SLOMotion hosts an online mini film fest on Aug. 6
How we treat each other and our world can be one way we define “being human.” This Thursday, Aug. 6, local film event company SLOMotion offers up five short films during an online mini film fest appropriately called “being human,” which will showcase “films highlighting incredible ways that we as humans can treat each other…
Groups announce partnership to grow commercial space at Vandenberg
Local political and economic leaders want to see Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc become a national hub for the fledging commercial space industry. On Aug. 5, a coalition of agencies and industry groups—including REACH Central Coast, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the U.S. Space Force, Cal Poly, and Deloitte Touche…
SLOMA presents new retrospective exhibit, Terminally Optimistic: The Prints of Rachael Winn Yon
The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) debuted its latest virtual exhibition, Terminally Optimistic: The Prints of Rachael Winn Yon, on July 24, online. It’s viewable for free at sloma.org. Hosted in partnership with the Central Coast Printmakers, the exhibit features 16 diverse prints by Yon, a local artist who passed away in December…
State bans home use of products containing carbaryl
Products containing an ingredient commonly found in household pesticides that are used to control insects in lawns and gardens are no longer available for residential use or for sale in California retail stores. In a recently adopted rule that took effect on Aug. 1, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) banned the sale and…
Central Coast Voices podcast discusses how COVID-19 has affected local arts, music communities
On a recent episode of Central Coast Voices, host Fred Munroe spoke to Neal Breton, board president of the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council; Steve Lerian, director of Cal Poly Arts; and Todd Newman, owner of Good Medicine Presents, to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the local arts and music industry. Listen…
Nipomo-based artist group announces new virtual show and sale for September
Between Sept. 5 and Sept. 7, the community will be able to view and shop from a new virtual art show and sale at nipomoartists.com. This collaborative website was formed by a group of Central Coast artists hoping to exhibit and possibly sell their works online in the midst of gallery cancellations during the course…
Defending Jacob effectively keeps its audience mystified
DEFENDING JACOB What’s it rated? TV-MA What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Apple TV Created by writer Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard, The Wolverine, The Art of Racing in the Rain) based on William Landay’s 2012 novel of the same name, the story revolves…
