Cover Story
Pop-up paradise: Relationships between breweries and food vendors were invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic
In January 2020, Brendan Gough opened the doors to his brewery and tasting room, Liquid Gravity, on Clarion Court in a small industrial neighborhood in San Luis Obispo. The veteran brewer, who worked for Central Coast Brewing and Firestone Walker Brewing Company, wanted a creative outlet to explore different hop varieties, malts, and ingredients, as…
Santa Maria repeals H-2A housing ordinance to avoid federal fine, litigation
The Santa Maria City Council reluctantly voted to repeal its employee housing ordinance on June 15 after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said it may be discriminatory and that the city could incur a $400,000 fine if the council did not repeal it. Director of Community Development Chuen Ng said at the…
Santa Maria high school student elected as state FFA’s president
Despite the challenges of distance learning, especially for a hands-on program like agriculture, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s agriculture students won awards and recognition in state-level career development events, and Pioneer Valley High School students excelled at the California State FFA Leadership Conference. “This whole year has been such a great challenge, having…
Thanks for your service, Tommy Gong
The League of Women Voters wishes to thank SLO County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong for his many years of service to the voters of San Luis Obispo County. We will miss him. He and his staff have done an exemplary job securing and processing our votes, particularly during the demanding 2020 elections. Last year’s elections were…
EMP threat is real
Bree Turner’s rebuttal (“Calm down,” May 27) to my May 20 column “Testing Biden” displays the hubris of engineers who build nuclear plants in a tsunami inundation zone while assuring the public that there’s “nothing to worry about here.” My column was based upon the very real damage that occurred in Hawaii after a high-altitude…
Fragile democracy
My early political conversations existed mostly on the other side of the aisle from where I stand today. I was surrounded by a conservative Christian community, which couldn’t for a moment entertain a woman’s right to choose or embrace the reality of a woman marrying a woman or put health care for all above profit…
Say something
I’m not 100 percent sure why neither 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton nor 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold chose to speak out against one of their people asking whether SLO County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong was a member of the Chinese Communist Party. And that is literally the absolute least they could do in the situation…
Mare of Easttown is a thorny mystery and gripping character study
MARE OF EASTTOWN What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2021 Where’s it showing? HBO Max What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Craig Zobel directs this story by Brad Ingelsby about Marianne “Mare” Sheehan (Kate Winslet), a detective sergeant in Easttown, a suburb of Philadelphia. The former high-school basketball star and…
Boutique family winery MEA Wine opens its first tasting room in Atascadero
Open for tasting MEA Wine recently opened its first tasting room at 4405 Traffic Way in Atascadero. It is open Thursday through Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. each day. Make a reservation at meawine.com or by calling (805) 703-1655. When Atascadero resident John Merrick first planted a small vineyard on his west Paso Robles ranch…
Playing With Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story
What’s it rated? Not rated When? Saturday, June 12, doors at 7 p.m.; program at 8:15 p.m. Where’s it showing? There Does Not Exist Brewery in SLO; tickets at slomotionfilm.com Writer-director Sally Aitken (Warrior Empire: The Mughals of India, Getting Frank Gehry) directs this 2021 National Geographic film about pioneering scuba diver Valerie Taylor, who…
As the pandemic winds down, Central Coast cities consider the future of pandemic-era outdoor dining
Even with its renowned creekside dining space, Novo Lounge and Restaurant struggled to make up for around 20 tables that were lost to indoor dining and capacity restrictions launched at the height of the pandemic. Fewer tables meant fewer customers, and that quickly led to a lot less revenue. So when the city of San…
The New Mutants
What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2020 Where’s it showing? HBO Max Co-writer/director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) helms this confused sci-fi, fantasy, horror, romance, drama, and unintentional comedy about five young mutants forced to live together in a secret facility overseen by the Nurse Ratchet-like Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga), whose job is to…
Moonshiner Collective releases We’ll Dance Once Again with a June 15 concert at The Siren
There’s a moment in the new Moonshiner Collective song “Easy” when a piano, mandolin, and harmonica are dancing around each other as frontman Dan Curcio sings, “When we meet, it’s like we never left, easy as the years have past.” It’s a song about old friends, the kind who—even after a long time apart—fall right…
Arroyo Grande opts out of Central Coast Blue, barring new agreement
The city of Arroyo Grande will “not pay another penny” toward the Central Coast Blue water project until its demands for a shared operating agreement with Pismo Beach and Grover Beach are met. That’s what Arroyo Grande City Council members unanimously told their city manager on June 8—rejecting a May 24 letter from Pismo and…
Food & Drink 2021
This year’s annual Food and Drink issue comes out just as restaurants and bars can serve more customers with fewer restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we go out, and those shifts may stick around into the future. Staff Writer Karen Garcia writes about how breweries partnered with food vendors to stay open during…
Supervisors approve formation of second advisory council in Oceano
The small community of Oceano is now home to two community advisory councils, an unusual situation that some claim is an attempt to overthrow the area’s original and left-leaning council. At a meeting on June 8, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted to recognize the Vitality Advisory Council of Oceano, a newly…
Elisa Ortega Montilla explores gender, consumerism, and intersectionality in Objectifying at SLOMA
Interpret yourself The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art is now open for in-person exhibits. You can view Objectifying through June 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Thursday through Monday at 1010 Broad St. in San Luis Obispo. To see more of Elisa Ortega Montilla’s art, visit elisa-ortega-montilla.com. Plywood grains curve, bending into…
Community raises funds for Gala after sign vandalism
At the onset of Pride month, Gala Pride and Diversity Center’s office sign was stolen and discriminatory documents were left on its front door. Someone ripped down Gala’s sign between May 30 and June 2, and the papers were discovered on June 5. In response to both actions, community and partnering organizations showed their support…
Central Coast Film Society announces winners of ‘Never Stop Creating’ student competition
The winners of the Central Coast Film Society’s inaugural “Never Stop Creating” competition, which was open to high school students across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Monterey counties, were announced at the end of May. Morro Bay High School student Ella Stoneman won Best in Show for her film, Life is Beautiful, and…
SLO County clerk’s departure raises concerns about replacement
San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong’s resignation announcement on June 4 drew public outcry and concern about the fate of the county’s nonpartisan election office. Gong, the elected clerk-recorder since 2015, is leaving for a deputy clerk position in Contra Costa County. His last day in SLO County will be July 2. His exit…
Black Rabbit Studio in SLO hosts upcoming in-person workshop, Paint Your Pet
On Saturday, June 19, Black Rabbit Studio in San Luis Obispo will host an acrylic painting workshop, Paint Your Pet, led by artist and art instructor Jamie Dietze, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants of this in-person event will complete their own portrait of a favorite animal or pet. Admission to the class is…
Arroyo Grande to help fund study of Oceano Dunes
Arroyo Grande plans to contribute a small amount of funding to another effort to assess the economic impacts of off-roading in the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). On June 7, Arroyo Grande City Council voted 4-1 to allocate $5,000 worth of unexpended consultant services funds to the Oceano Dunes Economic Impact Assessment, a…
Sixmilebridge celebrates its first anniversary with a powerhouse tasting event hosted by two of Paso’s finest winemakers
Bordeaux bound Sixmilebridge has wine tasting appointments daily from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 5120 Peachy Canyon Road in Paso Robles. Visit sixmilebridge.com to book. The dramatic terrain of westside Paso Robles will be the setting for an epic wine battle on June 12 pitting Old World varietals against New World, male winemaker vs.…
Morro Bay rejects second appeal of proposed rehab facility
During a June 8 Morro Bay City Council meeting, Mayor John Headding said that an appeal of the project that proposes to convert a motel into drug and alcohol rehabilitation housing is complex. He acknowledged the community’s concerns but said it’s not the City Council’s job to legally determine “what’s appropriate or inappropriate” if a…
All SLO County’s library branches will reopen on June 22
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit San Luis Obispo County last March, local resident Erica Thatcher suddenly had a new job. She went from being the engagement and marketing coordinator for the SLO County Library to delivering groceries to homebound seniors. Thatcher joined dozens of library workers who got reassigned to the SLO County emergency pandemic…
Elections aren’t unhackable
I have had a hard time comprehending that there is something wrong with wanting, even demanding, that elections be transparent and open for examination. We as taxpayers purchased the equipment, we pay for the office space, we pay the people who work in those spaces. As taxpayers, we certainly should have access to every aspect…
