Cover Story
The muck and the mire: The down and dirty back-and-forth over mismanagement allegations against the South SLO County Sanitation District
A sanitation story: photos of the man, the company, and the wastewater treatment system he helped build. A crowd large enough to look out of place at a local government meeting packed the Arroyo Grande City Hall on Feb. 3. They were South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District ratepayers, and many of them weren’t…
Blast from the Past: To Kill a Mockingbird
There I was, thinking I was being original, when almost every media outlet in America was doing the same thing: watching/writing/re-running a review of the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird in honor of the author’s recent death on Feb. 19. While the likes of The Village Voice and The…
Life is beautiful, until it’s not: SLO Little Theatre’s production of ‘Cabaret’ keeps audiences captivated
Smiling, beautiful girls (and boys) who are scantily clad blow you kisses before the big opening number kicks off. Everyone here is laughing and happy, but only until the curtain closes. Welcome to the Kit Kat Club, a popular Cabaret house among a certain set of gentlemen in 1930s Berlin, Germany, and the main setting…
Scrutiny continues for Coastal Commission after board fired its top staffer
In the wake of the high profile, contentious firing of California Coastal Commission Executive Director Charles Lester on Feb. 10, lawyers, journalists, and environmentalists continue their post-mortem to try and shed light on what motivated the decision. But for now the specific reasons behind the commission’s 7-5 vote to dismiss Lester remain a mystery—commissioners discussed…
Should people be able to do whatever they want on their vacation rental property? Why?
Kanan Logan bookseller “Yes, as long as they’re following county ordinances.” Jenn Healey business manager “Yes, a person’s property is theirs to do with what they choose within the laws and with consideration of their neighbors.” Judy Gray retired “Yes, so long as it doesn’t violate any local laws or ordinances.” Macie Wilson specialist at…
Baileyana Tierraslo 2014 Pinot Noir and Wasted Youth’s 2012 Toasted
Sometimes I like to don a cowboy hat and order a glass of pinot noir at a restaurant using the pronunciation “peanut nee-or.” Why? It’s fun; it makes my friends laugh. Wine should be fun. With flavors of ripe cherry, bright raspberry, and rich spice, this true Edna Valley “peanut” was born to be the…
Taco crazy
There’s a new tortilla in town! Orale Taqueria has opened shop in Paso Robles and is now serving up vibrant street tacos topped with cilantro, freshly made salsas of all ilk, and authentic entrees like chile verde and parrillada as well as crave-worthy items like shrimp sautéed in butter and sweet hot sauce! Check ’em…
Wine, weed, and wilderness: Darren Delmore’s boozy memoir is full of juicy details
You have to really hit rock bottom before you can climb your way out of the darkness. Darren Delmore’s “rock bottom” is not hard to pinpoint. It’s all there in black and white. It was in the early 2000s. He had just gotten sacked from his low-paying job as a cellar hand at Bonny Doon…
The SLO Box Art program is accepting applicants
Throughout San Luis Obispo, brightly decorated utility boxes can be found, bringing a bit of cheer and creativity to an otherwise mundane object. Well the city is ready for those boxes to literally get freshened up. Want your art to be seen by every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Sally? Currently, there are 32 utility boxes…
Artists sought for CowParade installation happening in SLO
Have you ever thought, “A rectangular canvas is just too limiting for my art”? Never fear, a new three-dimensional muse is on the way. A stampeding herd of cows is en route to San Luis Obispo. The CowParade is one of the largest public art exhibits in the world. More than 75 cities and 200…
Unbroken: Best-selling author Jeannette Walls talks hardships, education, and self-esteem at the PAC-SLO
Seeing a homeless person while driving through any city across the country is less than remarkable. Driving through your city on the way to a party and realizing the homeless woman rooting through the dumpster is your mother is a different story. New York Times Best-Selling Author Jeannette Walls (best known for her eye-opening memoir…
Trash to high class: Cayucos Sea Glass Festival celebrates six years
In any given beach town, you’re bound to spot a few beachcombers mining the sand for abalone, sand dollars, jade, seashells, arrowheads, or frosty little gems called sea glass. What is sea glass? Remember that hot day last summer when you drank some ice cold Coronas on the beach and forgot to take your glass…
Former SLO Towner turned national sensation M. Ward plays Fremont Theater on March 1
Along time ago in SLO Town there was a trio called Rodriguez, and one member of that trio was named Matt Ward, an introverted guitar whiz with a style all his own. After college, that guitar whiz, like so many of his local musical brethren, pulled up stakes and headed north to Portland, which he…
Clubs 2/25/16 – 3/3/16
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…
The Mortgage House gives back to SLO
San Luis Obispo manages to maintain its small town feel even as it expands. Residents are active in city matters, people know each other, and it’s a close-knit community. The Mortgage House in San Luis Obispo has been a part of that community for 20 years, offering mortgage loans and banking services. “We’re the longest…
Cougars & Mustangs
Ah, what a day and age to be alive. In one state, legislation is being passed that would encourage the public shaming of transgender individuals—all individuals, really—by forcing privates be checked by an attendant before an individual can enter a bathroom. In the race for the presidency, at least one candidate is hell bent on…
Hooking up: SLO County and Department of Agriculture offer sewer subsidies to Los Osos property owners
Construction on the Los Osos Wastewater Treatment Plant is finally complete, and the spankin’ new sewer is set to go online in March. But residents of Los Osos have some work to do and costs to bear as the county launches into its year-long, three-phase plan to transition the community from polluting septic tanks, to…
SLO County unveils a draft ordinance to regulate inland vacation rentals which may close an events loophole
If you’ve paid any attention to wedding photos on social media or in advertisements recently, you’ve probably noticed a lot of barns. Oak trees, pale brown grass, and rustic barns are so hot right now for storybook weddings, with rolling vineyards or the ocean’s edge lurking somewhere in the background. The trend is pulling wedding…
SLO Community College District offers wage raise but cuts open positions
Faculty unions at both of SLO’s public higher education institutions are in the midst of fierce negotiations for better salaries. While Cal Poly’s union is stuck in a tense gridlock with the state for a 5 percent raise that could culminate in a strike in April, salary negotiations at Cuesta College are moving forward with…
Train station expansion ‘on track’ in Grover Beach
Long awaited plans to expand the train station on West Grand Avenue in Grover Beach continue to move forward, according to city officials. After clearing out a homeless camp and derelict rail cars near the station, the city is slightly closer to breaking ground on the expansion, which will cost an estimated $2 million. “I…
SLO residents ‘happy and healthy’ amid rise in violent crime
While a recent study named the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande area one of top 10 “happiest, healthiest” communities in the U.S., those same areas have experienced a growing violent crime rate. The area was ranked 10th in “community wellness” on a recently released Gallup Healthways Wellbeing Index. “High well-being communities have citizens who are…
First world problems
Is it tennis? Badminton? Pingpong? Or is it gentrification and colonialism all rolled into one? And where will the unicycling juggler go? That’s the dilemma at Morro Bay’s Del Mar Park, where pickleballers have rolled over past users of the park and convinced the city to transform the park’s roller rink—once home to roller derbyists,…
Michael Moore’s latest film is pro-feminist
The reviewers in the Feb. 18 issue of New Times discussed how Michael Moore’s new movie, Where to Invade Next, provides a sharp contrast between liberal and conservative political views of how other countries have adapted what were basic American precepts of equality and civility. One aspect of the review, however, was missing. Where to…
Cal Poly’s not interested in senior citizens
I was interested to see the Street Talk responses to the question in the Feb. 18 New Times: “If you were to go back to school, what would you study and why?” But it brought to mind a warning that I’d like to offer other seniors (older folk). When I moved to the beautiful Central…
Here’s why we are voting ‘yes’ on the water district
My husband and I have attended meetings and reviewed information on both sides of the issue. What convinced us to vote “yes” was when we listened to the committed and intelligent resident candidates who addressed our concerns about having a water district board for the Paso Robles Water Basin. Some of these volunteer candidates have…
An option to house the homeless
As I was driving past Cuesta College on my way to Foothill Boulevard, I couldn’t help but see all the run-down barracks or whatever those buildings are along the side of the highway and thinking that maybe it could create a project to provide not only a place for the homeless but jobs, too, as…
A ‘hybrid’ water basin board isn’t real democracy
Fifty years ago, as a civil rights activist, fellow activists and I marched in the face of brutal resistance to establish voting rights for disenfranchised blacks in the South. “One Man One Vote” is the standard of democracy. It remains the standard. There is no such thing as “hybrid” democracy. The democratic process requires all…
A voice for all and no one can control the Paso basin board
The “hybrid” board of the proposed AB 2453 Water District gives voters in the Paso Robles Basin a unique opportunity to achieve the essence of democracy—that governance closest to the people is the best. Land use in our basin is diverse and unique as small residential properties are interspersed with rangeland and agriculture. Few basins…
We need a dog owners association in SLO
Kevin Matea (who wrote the commentary “Concerned about SLO,” Feb. 11), I feel your pain! And that’s only part of the story. I’ve had two encounters with the new park rangers—the first gal had to run after me I was so far away from anyone, and the second one slid up on myself an a…
Develop differently
I found the article written by Chris McGuinness (“Unbroken ground,” Sept. 3, 2015) about the Los Robles Del Mar (LRDM) housing development project in Pismo Beach to be quite informative and entertaining. I have watched with great interest as this project has lurched from one setback to another, and, after 28 years, has never come…
