Cover Story
Clothing controversy: Local LuLaRoe ‘consultants’ tell a positive story about selling for the multi-level marketing company
Reach out If you are a current or former LuLaRoe consultant interested in sharing your experience with New Times, email Staff Writer Malea Martin at mmartin@newtimesslo.com. When Genevieve Balicki first moved to San Luis Obispo, she was a stay-at-home mom caring for her two young kids while her husband worked full time. “We’d been here…
Fairport Convention founder and singer-songwriter Richard Thompson plays a solo acoustic show at the Fremont Theater on Feb. 27
Richard Thompson is a songwriter’s songwriter. With a career spanning 5 1/2 decades, it’s nigh impossible to pick his best songs. The founder of Fairport Convention, Thompson went on to a solo career before forming a duo with his then wife Linda Thompson. Their 1982 album Shoot Out the Lights is surely their masterpiece, yielding…
IWMA to double its garbage hauler fee
San Luis Obispo County’s regional waste agency is poised to more than double the fee it charges local garbage haulers—a move its leaders say is necessary to meet California’s new organic waste requirements, but one that will likely drive up local garbage bills. The increase, tentatively approved by the Integrated Waste Management Authority’s (IWMA) board…
Court order temporarily restrains dunes dust control measures
In a long-running legal conflict spanning years, off-road vehicle advocates secured a small victory against the state regarding dust mitigation at the Oceano Dunes. On Feb. 17, the San Luis Obispo Superior Court filed a temporary restraining order in favor of Friends of Oceano Dunes against the California Coastal Commission and the California Department of…
San Luis Obispo will soon have a food joint dedicated to quesadillas
Say cheese! Get a taste of Quesadilla Gorilla’s fare at SLO’s Thursday night farmers’ market before the chain restaurant opens its new location in The Creamery in SLO, 570 S. Higuera, suite 101. Learn more at quesadillagorilla.com, or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/QuesadillaGorilla. It should be no surprise what type of fare Quesadilla Gorilla…
Noises coming from proposed energy facility site frustrate neighbors
Just off Highway 1, halfway between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, Linda Mahnken lives on Canet Road. Nestled near the base of Hollister Peak, Mahnken raises farm animals on her property. “We had lambs on Jan. 5 and I had to spend the night out in the barn [with them], and it’s usually nice…
Traditional Persian carpet design meets contemporary art in ‘Collision,’ Azerbaijani artist Faig Ahmed’s show at SLOMA
See the work Faig Ahmed: Collision is internationally recognized Azerbaijani contemporary artist Faig Ahmed’s retrospective of work spanning from 2016 through 2021. The exhibition, which is installed at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art through May 15, marks the first time the artist’s works have been presented on the Central Coast. The exhibition is…
California ‘whale tail’ grants benefit local projects
Ever wonder what the California “whale tail” license plate is all about? Drivers who pay a little extra for the ocean-themed plate are contributing to a statewide fund that the California Coastal Commission uses each year to pay for grassroots projects that protect or educate about the coast. On Feb. 9, in a record-breaking year…
SLO Jewish Festival of Learning features panel with author, podcaster Mark Oppenheimer
Author, journalist, and podcaster Mark Oppenheimer will discuss his book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, as part of the San Luis Obispo Jewish Festival of Learning. Oppenheimer is the three-day event’s keynote speaker, and will present his talk on the first evening of the festival, Thursday,…
Octagon Barn Center hosts one-woman show, Escaping Eden
Performances of Escaping Eden, an original one-woman show written and performed by Erma Stauffer, will be held at the Octagon Barn Center in San Luis Obispo on Sunday, March 6, and Sunday, March, 13. Both performances start at 4 p.m. and are expected to end by 5:15 p.m. Escaping Eden is described as a witty,…
Can we keep it?
Much has been written here about political concepts of conservatism and liberalism without defining these terms in everyday language. Perhaps this is because these words have changed meaning rapidly in modern society. Most of us have heard the lament: “I was a blue-collar liberal growing up—and I haven’t changed—so why do I now find myself…
A big impact
Thank you for the Feb. 3 article on the Clean Air Room pilot program (“Low income South County households could get free air purifiers”). Concerned Citizens for Clean Air has been advocating for the Air Pollution Control District (APCD) to address the unhealthy levels of particulate matter coming from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation…
No pot of gold
Why is it so important to save Diablo Canyon Power Plant from closing, from losing vital energy to sustain a reliable electrical grid and avoid power shortages? As I have written many times before, there is no perfect source or solution to fill the needs for electric power. Every single one has environmental and or…
The rest of the story
Believers in solar power, like the author of “Big energy fights solar” (Feb. 10), seem to consistently overlook an important detail: The sun only shines part of the time. According to California Energy Commission data, for 2019 and 2020, the total contribution of all renewables (mostly solar) to the total power demand was stalled at…
The county needs to join 3CE
The majority of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors should not be looking for ways to keep Diablo Canyon Power Plant operating beyond the decommissioning dates that are set in the joint proposal of 2016. PG&E has stated that challenging policies and market conditions led to its decision to close the plant in…
Conservative capers
Emotions are apparently a big no-no in Paso Robles. At least at the school district level, where Paso Robles Joint Union School District board trustee/President Chris “Stone Cold” Arend has made it very clear that being emotional is passé. Decisions on the school board have to be “ice cold and without emotion,” Arend said in…
SLO city still negotiating election models after Voting Rights Act notice
More than two years after being told its election model violates the California Voting Rights Act, the city of San Luis Obispo continues to push back against the allegation—which has caused dozens of cities across the state, including three in SLO County, to adopt by-district election models for their city councils in recent years. In…
The Fallout is a sobering look at school gun violence
THE FALLOUT What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? HBO Max In her feature-length debut, writer-director Megan Park helms an award-winning drama about Vada Cavell (Jenna Ortega), a high school student who’s struggling emotionally after a high school tragedy. The film won both…
A narrative-based survey of SLO County’s homeless residents calls on the public to listen to the individual needs of the unsheltered
While San Luis Obispo County waits to conduct its delayed Point-In-Time (PIT) Count of sheltered and unsheltered residents experiencing homelessness, a local volunteer conducted his own survey to identify the needs of the unhoused. But unlike the PIT count, Michael Arcuri’s data highlights the individual voices of SLO County’s homeless population. A volunteer at Transitions-Mental…
I Want You Back
What’s it rated? R When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Breakups suck, and watching the person you thought you were perfectly happy with move on sucks even more. This funny, lighthearted rom-com brings together funny people Charlie Day as Peter and Jenny Slate as Emma—two people who hatch a mutual plan to win back…
Arroyo Grande to decide on four district maps
Arroyo Grande selected four finalist maps out of 159 contenders, one of which will become the blueprint for fresh district lines in April. The Feb. 22 City Council meeting marked the first of three deliberations to select and revise maps submitted by the public and the consulting National Demographics Corporation (NDC). Council members chose maps…
Reacher
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Lee Child has penned 26 novels about Jack Reacher, a former military officer who travels the U.S. seeking out and correcting injustice, so there’s a lot of material to mine for this new TV series starring Alan Ritchson as the towering, unstoppable Reacher. In…
In defiance of state law, Paso students no longer have to wear masks
On the evening of Feb. 22, Paso Robles school board members, district staff, parents, and students crowded into the district’s board room for a meeting that would quickly turn contentious. “We have a couple of topics this evening that might get a little bit emotional,” Board President Chris Arend said as he started the meeting.…
