Cover Story
Living the dream!
Imagine you’re kicking back in a private box seat, sipping some fine California wine and snacking on a wood-fired gourmet pizza, while watching one of your favorite performers wow a 3,000-plus crowd in a brand new outdoor amphitheater settled in an oak-dappled corner of Paso Robles. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Now stop imagining and start…
Shumey found guilty of murder
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct a misspelling of the defendant’s last name. Following more than a week of testimony, a San Luis Obispo man was found guilty on Feb. 5 of murdering his mother with a shotgun. Though the jury rejected a charge of first-degree murder for Christopher Shumey, 36, they…
Molnar quits, Grover council pissed
Giving just three days’ notice, Phyllis Molnar sent her fellow Grover Beach City Council members a letter on Jan. 28 informing them that she had decided to leave the city and her position “with deep regret,” effective Jan. 31. “In the last few months I have had personal changes that have led to my choosing…
What band do you wish you could have seen in concert that no longer tours?
Brandon Collins Catalyst Marketing Group owner “Nirvana. It was kind of a revolution in music and culture. It was a favorite band of mine at the time that I never got to see. Nirvana was a genuine expression of art.” Dayna Hubbell substitute teacher “Smashing Pumpkins. I’m really into early ’90s music. Some of it…
Coming together
One of the things I love about the local music community is that it is a real community. Sure, drama pops up here and there, but when someone’s in need, you can count on the community to come together, and it has, this time for Kambria Wesch-Doherty, a local schoolteacher who’s battling cancer. While giving…
Dun, da-dun-dun!
Is there anything cuter than high school students in suits? OK, maybe kittens or baby owls, but kittens and baby owls can’t participate in mock trials, which are serious business. When I show up at the SLO County Courthouse on Saturday, Jan. 26, and head to courtroom No. 5, the trial of Adrian Vega—accused of…
Seedy business
Diane Ott Whealy began her career with two little seeds—one morning glory and one German pink tomato—handed down to her by her German grandparents. The seeds were, in both senses of the word, heirlooms; not only had they kept their original traits through open pollination—the word’s botanical definition—but they also symbolized to Ott Whealy a…
Good grief!
What I love about Dog Sees God is that not everyone will. Amid the safe, watered-down nostalgia so ubiquitous from Cambria to Oceano emerges a play that would turn all of that nonsense on its head. Rather than provide an escape into the past, Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God pulls Charles Schulz’s icons of…
Seasoned artists
A year ago, when I first heard of a workshop called Seasons of Creativity, I thought: Please tell me that’s a working title. Followed by: That’s a brilliant idea. Seasons of Creativity, co-created by Muara Johnston (former assistant director of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art) and Michael Ackerman (artist/hell-raiser), is a yearlong course…
Bites: V day
You know what makes cupcakes salty? The tears of a single person on Valentine’s Day. Not that I would know what that’s like; my cat has always treated me right on the most romantic day of the year (think shoe hairballs and biting my uncovered toes at midnight). But lest you think this article is…
Groundwork 2011 Grenache Blanc Paso Robles
This lovely Rhone white is value-priced at only $16 retail. Its pretty array of citrus and spice flavors are so nicely balanced it will please those, like me, who prefer a fruit-driven white. The Paso Robles-grown fruit comes from vineyards in Santa Margarita and El Pomar District. Refreshingly delicious on its own, it’s also a…
Bishop’s Peak 2011 Pinot Noir San Luis Obispo
Upfront ripe, dark berries lure you in to sip this delicious red. It’s wonderfully balanced with flavors of black cherries, blackberries, and spices that meld with tangy red fruit, earth, and herb notes. It’s so smooth it will keep you coming back for more. As delicious on its own as it is at the table,…
In good taste
I love finding a great little eatery where you can count on good quality and good taste without busting your entertainment allowance for the entire month. If that’s your situation, well, I’ve found the perfect restaurant for you in San Luis Obispo called Taste, and it lives up to its name. It had only been…
The president needs to hear it from you
President Obama’s presidential legacy will rest on his leadership in solving the climate crisis that is now upon us. Late last year, the president offered to have a conversation with the American people about climate. In his second inaugural, he started one. It’s time to join that conversation. Specifically, it’s time to talk about what…
I have plenty of nuclear questions
I enjoyed reading David Middlecamp’s article in the Tribune on Dec. 29 on the history of Diablo Canyon, and the reprinting of a Tribune piece from March 2, 1968, by Elliot Curry. Of the 202 people interviewed about the proposed nuclear power plant, only 7 percent were opposed to the project. I’m wondering, in light…
Balance trade so we can afford to live
If we wish to address American unemployment and national debt, we need to balance international trade, especially with China. The current deficit in trade with China is almost $300,000,000,000 a year, causing a loss of millions of American jobs. We need to demand that the Chinese buy the same amount of goods and services from…
Caring for cats would reduce animal deaths
The surprisingly large amount of wildlife that is killed by cats has been in the news and local editorial pages of newspapers. One thing to consider is the shamefully high number of homeless cats in America. Up to 70 million cats in this country have no homes and no one to care for them. The…
That ‘Q&A’ was an assault on God-given gun rights
On Jan. 17, I also attended the Democratic Club anti-gun meeting in Atascadero. My true and accurate account of that very unpleasant rant by the rude and arrogant speakers is quite unlike the biased and failed memory of a David Broadwater, who resorted to name calling (“Gun-rights hooligans,” Tribune, Jan. 21), spewing an attack against…
I’m not surprised at the recent shifts
The troubles regarding the Boys and Girls Club and Bright Futures do not surprise me in the least (“Boys and Girls Club loses after-school programs,” Jan. 31). While I would not like to see it go away entirely, there’s definitely room for improvement in the management. My kids were enrolled in the Grover Heights program…
What a thrill!
I just read your piece on attending the inauguration (“He gets us,” Jan. 31) and had to say thank you. I wanted to go and was almost booked but decided to stay home and watch on the tube instead, and wish now I had followed through and risked the chance of blizzard, the cost, and…
How exhilarating!
I enjoyed reading your commentary on the inauguration (“He gets us,” Jan. 31). I visited D.C. two years ago for the first time in my life. I’m 51. I long to return soon for a visit. So much untold history there. When I left to come back to California, I didn’t want to leave. As…
Thank you for the beautiful depiction of the inauguration
Thank you for printing Susan Pyburn’s beautifully eloquent piece on the inauguration of President Obama (“He gets us,” Jan. 31). What a delight to read first hand such a historic event from one of our locals. It made me wish I had the foresight to go myself! — Victoria Grostick – San Luis Obispo
The president-king worship took you to a new low
It has been sad to watch the one time beacon of the Central Coast in alternative newspapers descend into a cesspool of lefty-liberal claptrap. A new low was reached with “He gets us” by Susan Pyburn (Jan. 31). Pyburn’s nauseous, kowtowing rant is an insult to the cognoscenti among your readership. Free people don’t genuflect…
Questions For: Ryan East
NEW TIMES What got you into music in the first place? EAST My older siblings, really. I was always looking up to them and what they were listening to. My parents were no help in that department. My dad only played two bands. NEW TIMES What did your siblings listen to? EAST My oldest…
Fade Out
Something is rotten in the State of Denmark. Oops! Did I say Denmark? I meant San Luis Obispo—the other happiest place on the planet. In the galaxy. In whatever’s bigger than the galaxy. Of course, San Luis Obispo lost some of its happy swagger on Thursday, Jan. 31—around 1:30 p.m. to be exact—when whoever operates…
Clubs: 2/7
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music Fri. from 5:30-8:30 p.m. THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the…
Cougars & Mustangs
The life force of the Earth and all its living creatures becomes vapor, collecting into a mighty cloud both indistinguishable from the truth of our world and yet strikingly unprejudiced to any single droplet of its essence. Rivalries, class differences, opposite opinions—these all clash, and yet the power and might of each just separates us…
It’s the thought that counts, right?
Your partner probably won’t despise you for heading over to a typical jewelry store and dishing out some serious cash on a diamond-studded necklace you hope they’ll like. But if it’s the thought that counts, why are you still picking out a necklace that thousands of other people will be getting for the same darn…
This land is my land
The California Penal Code defines the unauthorized entry onto another’s land as trespass—a crime. However, open and obvious acts of trespass, if sustained for a long enough period of time, can establish property rights to the underlying land. Adverse possession is a weird kink in property law, with origins centuries old. Also centuries old is…
SLOPD alters pursuit policy
San Luis Obispo police officers will no longer pursue fleeing, non-violent suspects in their vehicles, according to a new directive from the chief of police. SLOPD Chief Steve Gesell confirmed to New Times that he recently instructed officers not to chase suspects fleeing in vehicles unless there is a clear and immediate danger to the…
SLO council opts for a special election
San Luis Obispo voters will likely get the chance to choose who will replace outgoing councilman Andrew Carter in a vote-by-mail ballot early this summer. Despite a mixed bag of input from residents, the city council on Feb. 5 unanimously agreed to direct city staffers to get the ball rolling on a special election, which…
Price Canyon decision postponed
With one council member absent and a flood of citizen speakers eating up the clock at the Feb. 5 Pismo Beach City Council meeting, the city punted a decision on the massive Spanish Springs development clear into next month. Several planning documents must be approved before the city can apply for annexation of 961 pristine…
Dispensary bans under review
The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments Feb. 5 in the first in a series of upcoming cases challenging medical marijuana dispensary bans by local governments around the state. Five San Luis Obispo County cities use their zoning code to forbid the establishment of brick-and-mortar dispensaries. On Oct. 9, 2012, Arroyo Grande joined Atascadero in…
No confidence for Paso superintendent
Paso Robles teachers, in a group about 50 strong, took the opportunity before a routine study session on Feb. 5 to announce to the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board their recent vote of no confidence for Superintendent Kathleen McNamara. The vote, issued by the Paso Robles Public Educators union, came after teachers learned…
SLO assault victims describe similar suspect
Three women told San Luis Obispo police officers that a young man in a dark sweatshirt approached them unexpectedly and reached inside their pants during the early-morning hours between Feb. 2 and 3. According to a press release, all three women were standing outside on Foothill Boulevard near Cal Poly. No one was hurt physically,…
Fremont goes dark
The iconic Fremont Theater in downtown San Luis Obispo shut its doors Jan. 31. Conflicting posts to the theater’s Facebook page fueled public confusion, with locals left wondering about the duration of the closure and whether it was the result of lease negotiations between the operator, Newport Beach-based Sanborn Theaters, and the owners, King Ventures…
SLOPD officer arrested by FBI
Federal agents arrested a San Luis Obispo narcotics officer for an alleged bribery scheme, according to a release by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Agents arrested officer Cory Pierce, 39, of Arroyo Grande without incident on the morning of Feb 5. He’s been charged with one count of bribery in a criminal complaint filed in…
