Cover Story
What’s developing in Price Canyon?
Some views you have to see to believe. The high hills above Pismo Beach boast some of the best views in San Luis Obispo County. To the south, beaches stretch out in a sandy crescent toward Santa Barbara. To the north is a vista of green hills that roll into the Edna Valley, interrupted off…
Art After Dark
ARTS Space Obispo: HEARTS Obispo 5 “Recipe for Love” silent auction. Bids close at 8:30! Live music by Jody Mulgrew. 570 Higuera St., suite 165 (SLO Creamery); 544-9251; artsobispo.org. Bambu Batu: A rotating assortment of local artisans with fine handmade jewelry, soaps, hats, bags, scarves, and other crafts. 1023 Broad St.; 788-0806; bambubatu.com. Body Centered…
Legislation aims to keep marijuana patients employed
New legislation introduced to the state Senate would prohibit employers from firing individuals solely on the basis that they use medical marijuana. On Jan. 3, Democratic Sen. Mark Leno—who represents Marin and portions of San Francisco and Sonoma counties in the Senate’s third district—introduced a bill that would prohibit discrimination of medical marijuana patients who…
Flu is on the rise
It’s flu season. The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is reporting an increase in confirmed influenza cases. Two residents have been hospitalized with the flu, according to a news release. Though flu cases are popping up more consistently—there were a few sporadic reports dating back to November of last year—it’s nothing to panic…
Reactor reaction
As Pacific Gas & Electric rolls forward with its re-licensing efforts for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, state regulators may have put a kink in the wheel, at least financially. The California Public Utilities Commission decided that concerns raised by a number of organizations regarding PG&E’s intention to use ratepayer revenues to fund its…
You get a car!
Omigod, omigod. Oh. My. God. It’s Oprah! And Jenny McCarthy. Here. Right here in tiny, sleepy, happy little San Luis Obispo. Someone pinch me. Ouch! Not that hard, you sadist. Are you still excited? I am. Seriously. Others are still titillated over the Oprah nod that has helped make our corner of paradise nationally known…
A dinner to remember
The other night my family was invited to an informal dinner at the home of our friends, Paul and Marion Wolff. We were treated to a delightful array of cuisine, ranging from Marion’s signature quiche, to the sumptuous garbanzo-bean curry of their Bhutanese son-in-law, Karma. At the start of our meal, candles were lit and…
Sidetracked!
I live in “the happiest place in the U.S.” (according to National Geographic) and one of the top 10 “best places to retire” (according to the Wall Street Journal). No confirmation yet on whether those two things are somehow related. I’ll let you know when I retire in exactly 18.5 years. What I do know…
Truth, in the pleasant disguise of illusion
Part of the beauty of The Glass Menagerie is in knowing that the characters appear not as they actually are, but as they seem through the looking glass of Tom Wingfield’s recollection. It’s a glass warped by time, stained by emotions, splattered with opinions, and slightly cracked, perhaps, by childhood traumas. Menagerie, directed by Nehemiah…
Caleb Barefoot gets his feet wet
Words form Caleb Barefoot’s head: “Designer.” “Punk.” “Liar.” “Explorer.” His right nostril is “Rebel.” “Dreamer” shapes his left brow. “I was just using labels that people use for themselves,” the graphic artist said, explaining his typographical self-portrait. “Not just one of those words is going to describe that person. And it’s the good with the…
How often do you use Google?
Ryan Betz supervising administrative assistant “Fifteen times a day, often work related.” Elizabeth Lafica wine industry “I love Google. I Google everything.” Trine Bell photographer “Average seven times. I love it. For recipes, you don’t have to ask Mom. Just Google it, and you know everything you’ll need.” Shelayne Werfel college student “A few times…
Clubs
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Yodelayhee…who?
You might not have guessed it, but I’m a big yodeling fan. Of course, growing up in Wisconsin, I listened to mostly German and Swiss yodeling, usually in a polka context, while eating bratwurst, corn on the cob, and cheese curd; usually at craft fairs in the summer, wearing lederhosen. Misty watercolor memories, people. I…
Qupe 2009 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard Y Block
Love at first sip—that’s how much I liked this delicious white from winemaker Bob Lindquist. A longtime favorite on the Central Coast, his brand is best known for Syrah, but he makes an excellent Chardonnay. His most popular of the three Chardonnays he makes, it’s whole-cluster pressed and barrel-fermented in 25 percent new French oak,…
Edmond August 2009 Inference Paso Robles
Another Paso winemaker once said: “Tasting Viognier is like tasting Carmen Miranda’s headdress,” and this 70 percent Roussanne/30 percent Viognier blend exemplifies that quote. Quite forward in its array of stone fruits, honey, and citrus notes, this full-bodied wine makes you stop and take notice. It’s a great choice for main dish salads with fruit…
Accidental misadventures
A bump in the driveway of his new Portland home would have a pronounced impact on Dustin Garrison’s life. It was the bump that would loosen the quick-release on his bicycle as he came home one night, “driving the front of the bike down onto the fork and twisting the carbolite alloy against the harsh…
Pay-per-performance
Teachers in the Lucia Mar Unified School District could soon be seeing changes in their paychecks. On Jan. 28, members of the district’s teachers association approved a proposal to consider an incentive-based pay system for six of its schools. Launched in 1999, the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) is a school reform program that, among other…
Binding arbitration may go on the ballot
The San Luis Obispo City Council set its budget goals for the next fiscal year at a special Jan. 30 meeting. For the first time, it also voted on a direction for future fiscal cuts. Among the choices advocated by the council was re-visiting a ballot effort to eliminate binding arbitration, which brings in a…
State bar court reprimands union leader
The general manager of the county’s largest union, the San Luis Obispo County Employees Association (SLOCEA), has settled allegations of professional misconduct with the California State Bar and will have to pay the court $3,654, submit to a year of probationary conditions, and attend an ethics class. In September 2010, New Times reported that SLOCEA…
Religious pamphlet causes stir at public school
Lucia Mar Unified School District administrators are trying to figure out how pamphlets for an evangelical club made their way into students’ homework packets at a local elementary school. Beginning Jan. 10, students at Ocean View Elementary brought home homework packets, which include assignments, announcements, and other materials. The packets typically go out each week…
Sheriff’s Department spends $6,283 to upgrade Viper
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors at its Feb. 1 meeting approved $128,129 to supplement the Sheriff’s Department budget. According to a county staff report, the supplement won’t come out of the county general fund—the cash was seized in enforcement efforts by the department, which needed approval from the county before it could…
Wendy Oliver, Bali Isle owner
NEW TIMES When did you start hosting the Bob Marley Tribute? OLIVER We started 11 years ago as a means to pay tribute and celebrate his birthday, which is on Feb. 6. My husband knew Bob Marley personally and wanted to help continue Bob Marley’s teaching, music, and the spirit of Jamaica and Rastafarian culture.…
Wasteland of thatch
You only need to look at our road, where there is no grazing. Livestock to be cleared out of Carrizo Plains? This is not a good solution for the health and sustainability of Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve. The question as I see it is not whether to graze cattle on the reserve, but how to…
More people impact students than just teachers
I am a local, bilingual elementary teacher. My credentials, experience, stress level, work load, accountability, and the responsibility I bear are worth at least $120, 000. I am light-years away from it. But I do not want more money. I earn enough to meet my needs. I want fewer students in the classroom; I want…
Here are three ideas to help SLO’s budget
SLO’s city finances are not sustainable, and the outlook is bleak with reduced services and staff layoffs. If there is a special election in June, this will provide the City Council an excellent opportunity to resolve structural deficiencies. The salaries and benefits of all city employees are more than 80 percent of the city budget,…
Find some middle ground, law enforcement
I am a small-business owner in downtown SLO. Earlier this year, I had a visit from our local fire department, doing their annual safety exams for local businesses. Alas, as it turns out, I was not in compliance with state or local laws. They were thorough and polite and handed me a citation with the…
The new sheriff needs to take the medical marijuana lead
I suppose it was inevitable that outgoing Sheriff Pat “Reefer Madness” Hedges would take one more bite out of the ass of the county taxpayers before he left to spend more time scaring his family. But I was dismayed to hear incoming Sheriff Ian “Rational Approach” Parkinson invoke the Sgt. Shultz defense (“I know nothing!”)…
Broke California is wasting money on busts
It has been 15 years, and law enforcement still thinks the medical marijuana laws are confusing. As long as marijuana is not taxed and regulated like booze and tobacco, this is going to happen. Law enforcement has to do this to prop up their belief in reefer madness. They will always look for a way…
How could you forget rowing?
In her otherwise good article on physical fitness activities (“Step Your Game Up,” Jan. 20), intern Alycia Kiley omits the most beneficial aerobic/strength activity of all—one superior to any of those listed: recreational rowing. That’s sliding seat rowing, as in the Olympics, and it didn’t even make it as an “also consider!” Rowing is one…
Full Moon rising
On a recent spectacular sunny afternoon in Cayucos, I enjoyed a very good meal at the Full Moon Wine Bar & Bistro. I was invited to drop in by the irrepressible Stillman Brown for an afternoon of wine and food tasting. Stillman, winemaker and owner of Red Zeppelin Wine Co., always keeps himself among good…
