Cover Story
Humble beginnings: Students at the SLO College of Law push through the school’s first year
Attorney Stephen Wagner carries a stack of papers in one hand as the other wheels a boxy black double-wide briefcase into the room. He approaches the podium, sets the documents down, pushes the case against the wall, and pauses. It’s after dark, and Wagner’s among a small subset of people who work long hours yet…
SLO city reconsiders painting over public art on utility boxes
After weeks of buzz surrounding what’s become an unpopular plan to paint over public art with new public art, the city of San Luis Obispo is going back the drawing board. Started as a pilot program in 2010, the city pays local artists to spruce up metal utility boxes through the downtown core. The project…
Hey Gorgeous! Formal Wear fills need in Grover Beach
Planning your wedding and looking for a local store to pick out bridesmaid dresses? Going to a wedding and need a last-minute tuxedo rental? Hey Gorgeous! Formal Wear, a new boutique shop in Grover Beach, has you covered on both of those fronts—and more. Shop owner and fashion guru Valerie Shumaker told New Times that…
Third pedestrian killed by train in SLO this year
SLO police reported that a 22 year-old-man was killed after being stuck by a train Feb. 16, bringing the total number of such deaths in or around the city to three in the first two months of 2016. According to police, the most recent incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. near the intersection of Foothill…
Coastal Commission ousts executive director
Check out photos of the Feb. 10 California Coastal Commission meeting in Morro Bay. Despite a few hot weeks of intense scrutiny from environmentalists, conservationists, and general lovers of the coast, the California Coastal Commission canned Executive Director Charles Lester. The 7-5 closed session vote capped off an all-day meeting on Feb. 10 in Morro…
Fog and rocks: The Piedras Blancas Light Station turns 141
Check out more photos of the Piedras Blancas Light Station. More than 100 people line up alongside the normally vacant white walls of the old Piedras Blancas Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 13. It’s 9:45 a.m., foggy, windy, and the cracked concrete of the parking lot is full of cars, also in line. Everybody is waiting…
The Paso water district board can’t export our water
The Paso Robles Basin Water District is our best protection against export of water from the basin. The water district is a public agency and is specifically prohibited from exporting water from the basin. This prohibition is Local Agency Formation Commission (LACFO) Condition 6 on page 12 of the district formation ballot package. The county…
Owner of Chalk Mountain Liquor & Deli sues city of Atascadero amid signage battle
It’s a white van decorated with promotional phrases, and it’s parked in a place people don’t want it to sit. “Liquor, Gas, Diesel, Lotto, Deli—one block” reads a billboard affixed to the roof of the vehicle, with an arrow pointing down San Gabriel Road toward El Camino Real in Atascadero. This unorthodox sign serves a…
If you were to go back to school, what would you study and why?
Richard Fishback retired artist “I would study art just to use all their equipment.” Barbara Browne business manager “Interior design because it’s relevant to what I do. People love credentials” Garrett Matueski student “Photography because my passion is my artwork. I’d like to teach people about simplicity using photography.” Peggy Phillips homemaker “Interior design. I’m…
Cougars & Mustangs
Good afternoon, Mustangs! Have any exciting plans for next weekend? If not, you may soon! Rotary International is a worldwide organization devoted to the cause of eradicating polio. Although this goal is nearing completion, great work remains to be done. Rotary District 5240 and the Cal Poly Women’s Basketball Team, also known as the Lady…
Zoned out: Can SLO County come up with a solution that allows Sunny Acres to house more people?
Shadows stretch across Dan DeVaul’s face, shading his eyes from the sun as he gestures to the walls that make up the building under construction to his right. It’s huge, 8,000 square feet sprawled out in the shape of a C on DeVaul’s property—also known as Sunny Acres, a nonprofit sober living facility that supports…
SLO County to consider contract for new veterans services officer
After an exhaustive process of vetting applicants for the top job in San Luis Obispo County’s Veterans Services Department, a candidate now requires final approval from the Board of Supervisors. Assistant County Administrator Guy Savage said that Christopher Lopez was chosen to be the County’s new veterans services officer (VSO). Lopez, an Army veteran, has…
Paso Robles declares a shelter crisis
Paso Robles holds the second highest number of unsheltered residents among cities in SLO County. The January 2015 point-in-time count found that the city contained 235 unsheltered individuals. On Feb. 17, the Paso Robles City Council began addressing that issue by unanimously voting to declare a shelter crisis, which allows the city more flexibility in…
Long-time Grover Beach city manager retires
The Grover Beach City Council’s meeting was unusually crowded Feb. 16, as citizens, city officials, and staff gathered to say goodbye to City Manager Robert “Bob” Perrault. Perrault announced his retirement in early February after serving as city manager for nearly a decade. The meeting began with several emotional speeches from attendees. “I’m deeply touched…
Bingeable: Better Call Saul
When: 2015 | Where: Netflix, on demand Before the first episode even aired, expectations for the first season of Better Call Saul, a spinoff of AMC’s smash-hit Breaking Bad, were staggeringly high. That’s no surprise really: The dark and tragic saga of mild-mannered chemistry teacher-turned murderous drug kingpin Walter White was a television phenomenon, snatching…
Local photographer starts funding campaign for film ‘Where There Once Was Water’
As water levels get lower and lower across California, concern over a lack of water rises higher and higher. The current ongoing drought inspired local photographer Brittany Anzel App to want to create her first documentary film project, Where There Once Was Water, which will discuss the current water crisis and focus on solutions for…
Pismo Beach seeking artists for utility box project
Have you dreamed of having your art displayed out in the open where everyone can see and admire it? Well for 10 lucky artists, that dream could come true very soon. The city of Pismo Beach is seeking artists to paint and beautify 10 of the utility boxes in the downtown area. Payment for the…
‘The Wind Guardian’ imagines a terrorist attack on a Central Coast nuclear power plant
When the Twin Towers went down after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the collective refrain across the country was “never again.” Life is different in a post 9/11 world. Airport security tightened up in a major way, and locations across the country were assessed for how likely they were to be chosen as…
SLOMA sculpture exhibit to honor last of the northern white rhinoceros
They all huddled together, afraid and uncertain of why the men were trying to hurt them. The youngest of the three rhinoceroses cried out, alerting the guards to the imminent danger. The sound of gunshots and screams filled the air. Then silence. The three and last of the northern white rhinoceroses collectively exhaled, but still…
Folk poet John Moreland plays Tap-It Brewery on Feb. 25
John Moreland’s lyrics can only be described as poetry, and he sings them like they’re his last will and testament and you’re standing next to his deathbed. “I swore the days were over, courting empty dreams/ I worshiped at the altar of losing everything/ And the guard I held together is losing all its shape/…
Clubs 2/18/16 – 2/25/16
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…
Spring offerings
For your sipping pleasure: True Myth, the latest project from Niven Family Wine Estates, has released its 2014 Paragon Vineyard Chardonnay from the Niven family’s Edna Valley estate and a 2013 cabernet sauvignon made with grapes from Paso Robles. The wines are an expression of Mother Nature, and perfect for spring soirees (truemythwinery.com) … The…
Linnaea’s Macha Green Tea Latte and Madonna Inn’s Love Struck Martini
Packed with macha green tea powder (which is, in turn, packed with antioxidants and energizing properties) this bright green latte is as powerful as it is cool to look at. I ordered mine with almond milk, in keeping with green tea’s already earthy, nutty flavor, but you can choose any milk your heart desires. For…
Craft distilleries of Paso Robles ignite at inaugural Fire & Ice gathering
For years, Villicana Winery winemaker Alex Villicana saw a portion of his premium Paso Robles red wine swirl down the drain. It was almost unbearable to watch—not unlike the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Winemakers routinely “bleed” a percentage of free-run juice from their red wine grapes prior to processing. That part isn’t unusual. But…
Priorities
Gotta love Cal Poly. Whenever the university wants to do some fancy but superfluous improvement project like its Recreation Center, it asks its students if they’re willing to raise their own fees. “Hey, kids, would you be willing to have your parents pay extra money every quarter so you can have a multi-million-dollar, 165,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art…
Big Grape isn’t in anybody’s wallet
Maria Lorca’s letter “Keep Big Grape out of your wallet,” Feb. 11, has a major error in it that changes the face of the debate over who might dominate downstream Proposition 218 votes in the Paso Robles Basin. Proposition 218 votes are based on the benefit received, not on acreage. For any proposed Proposition 218…
In response to ‘Concerned about SLO’
Three cheers for the officers/rangers working hard to make SLO trails safe! Kevin Matea (who wrote the commentary “Concerned about SLO,” Feb. 11) has it wrong when it comes to officers/rangers enforcing the leash laws. As a daily dog walker on the local trails and beaches, I have seen a lot of misbehaving citizens and…
Pirates Cove is for everyone and needs to be safe
I’ve only lived here on the Central Coast for 20 years. I find that the Coastal Commission and other entities don’t want to fix the bluff trails at Pirates Cove because the people that go there want to be clothing free. So put up signs. Hire guards. Block trails. It is a public beach and…
Coastal Commission is under water
When California coastal commissioners were preparing to fire Executive Director Charles Lester at their Feb. 10 meeting in Morro Bay, they sounded a recurring theme: “We’re not evil.” They insisted they weren’t firing Lester to send a signal of greased rails for future development projects; they had not gotten any phone calls from lobbyists about…
