Cover Story
Health and Wellness 2025: We talk lactation consultants, float pods, and ketamine-assisted therapy
For this year’s issue of Health and Wellness, our writers dive into what’s out there to help folks relax a little and set the stage for healing and growth. Mothers know best SLO County doulas highlight the supportive power of lactation education BY BULBUL RAJAGOPAL Oh, buoy! Central Coast Floats offers flotation therapy to naturally…
Family Counseling and Trauma Healing Center combines Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing to speed up recovery
Learn more To read more about eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, visit the EMDR international association’s website at emdria.org. For more information on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, head to ketamineresearchfoundation.org. Psychology Today’s website offers search function for local therapists—including EMDR and ketamine-assisted therapies—at psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/ca. Some patients experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or other mental health…
Live EDM duo Elysian Moon plays a multi-artist event at SLO’s Kreuzberg on Feb. 21
Are you ready to enter the “Age of Love” That’s the name of the EDM and house music event coming to SLO’s Kreuzberg California next Friday, Feb. 21. The lineup includes Afro house act Jungle Haüs, euphoric house artist Stompy, and live violin and piano EDM producers Elysian Moon—aka Tyson Leonard (violin) and Grace Jiia…
A new pet salon moves to SLO
A new grooming place opened in San Luis Obispo, and its owner, Hannah Martin, wants to get dogs looking snazzy. Pristine Paws SLO opened its doors in December 2024. Martin provides dogs with grooming services but also focuses on giving educational advice to pet parents on how to care for pups between washes. “In this…
Humans and the environment are guinea pigs as the state pursues its renewable energy goals
State Sen. John Laird, in his “Energy questions” opinion in the Feb. 6 issue, tried to “mansplain” the energy conundrum we are facing. In a gross oversimplification, he implied that because of climate change, we must choose a volatile energy storage solution and risk another catastrophic battery energy storage system (BESS) event similar to the…
Trump’s chumps
Democrats appear to be utterly oblivious to the fact that they are being played for chumps by the Trump/Musk tag team. Like a couple of frightful lucha libre wrestlers, the team has waded into the federal bureaucracy to grapple with voracious swamp creatures desperately guarding their feeding trough. The Democrats, seemingly unaware about just how…
Intolerance
Hey, SLO Town, y’all ready for another “road diet”? That’s the euphemistic term the city uses to swallow up a traffic lane and create a protected bicycle corridor, this one proposed for South Higuera. The project will cost $10.3 million, but the city has $9.1 million grants. Taxpayers like you only have to pony up…
SLOPD and Cal Poly are cracking down over St. Patrick’s Day weekend
Following a disastrous St. Patrick’s Day weekend last year that resulted in at least 156 citations and 12 arrests, San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly are adding stronger restrictions to help deter weekend partying and destruction. Cal Poy representatives attended the Feb. 4 SLO City Council meeting to talk about new initiatives the university will…
California sees smallest crop of wine grapes in 20 years
In 2024, California grew the lightest crop of wine grapes in two decades, down nearly 1 million tons from 2023. Director of Grape Brokerage for Turrentine Brokerage Audra Cooper said the industry hadn’t seen numbers this low since 2004. “The fact that the 2024 California wine grape crop was 2.844 million tons is nothing short…
SLO is putting part of Higuera on a ‘road diet’ to improve safety
San Luis Obispo city officials are determined to slim down a portion of the Higuera Street corridor in a bid to boost public safety. “On this street, Higuera, we’ve had five fatal collisions since 2019 and four involving victims who were walking or bicycling,” SLO Active Transport Manager Adam Fukushima told the City Council at…
Nonprofit City Farm SLO grows produce through regenerative farming, teaching kids the importance of hard work
Plant the seed Want to tour the farm? City Farm SLO has volunteer opportunities available every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 1221 Calle Joaquin. Visit its website for more information: cityfarmslo.org/get-involved-1. Standing atop the damp soil of City Farm San Luis Obispo in the rain as birds chirp and Tucker the sheep eyes the fresh…
County appeals court’s decision to release more water from Lopez Dam
San Luis Obispo County pushed back on a judge’s decision requiring Lopez Dam to release more water into Arroyo Grande Creek for steelhead trout and other threatened species. “We think that the court ordered water releases will not only significantly impact the South County’s water supply, which includes our ability to combat fire, but will…
Pioneering architect Lawrence Scarpa’s artwork is at SLO’s MYLR Bookstore and Gallery
See the work Los Angeles architect and fine artist Lawrence Scarpa is displaying a collection of small watercolor landscapes through Friday, Feb. 28, in MYLR Bookstore and Gallery, located at 1238 Monterey St., inside AGD Architecture + Design. For more info, visit mylrgallery.com or by calling (805) 439-1611, Ext. 111. Tucked back into a corner…
SLO County doulas address the importance of lactation education after pregnancy
In the bustle of running two coffee shops for eight years and becoming a mom, Central Coast Lactation founder Aryel Sawdey found one adage to be untrue. “When I had my kids, I realized, oh, there’s not really this village that everybody talks about or these women that are relatable to me,” Sawdey said. “I…
Sibling artists Zoya Lopata Dixon and Sam Lopata temporarily display abstract art in Atascadero
Sibling visual artists Zoya Lopata Dixon and Sam Lopata have placed two of their large-scale abstract pieces in the empty storefront at 6090 El Camino Real, suite A, in downtown Atascadero. ENTROPY and CONSTANTS each measure 36-by-72 inches. The goal of this program is to brighten up vacant commercial spaces, and artists will rotate in…
Atascadero approves $37 million for new public safety facilities
Atascadero Public Safety facilities are set to receive a makeover after the City Council approved a $37 million project to build a new fire station and renovate existing fire and police stations. At its meeting on Feb. 12, City Clerk Lara Christensen told the City Council that this project had been a long time coming…
Native American painter Esteban Cabeza de Baca will give an artist talk Feb. 22 in the SLO Museum of Art
To celebrate the opening of his new exhibition, Memories of the Future, at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA), Native American painter Esteban Cabeza de Baca will talk about his work on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10:30 a.m. in the museum. The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP…
Love Hurts is violent, romantic, silly, implausible fun
LOVE HURTS What’s it rated? RWhat’s it worth, Anna? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Glen? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10 In his directorial debut, former stuntman Jonathan Eusebio directs this action comedy about mild-mannered real estate agent Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan), whose past as a ruthless assassin comes back to…
Central Coast Floats in SLO offers floatation services to alleviate anxiety and depression
Float on For more information about Central Coast Floats in San Luis Obispo, visit centralcoastfloats.com. Central Coast Floats is located at 4472 Broad St. Living Well Gallery and Spa in Atascadero also offers flotation therapy, located at 9005 Lake View Drive. Learn more at livingwellgalleryandspa.com. Entering a white pod, I stepped into a foot of…
Animated charmer The Wild Robot explores duty and cooperation
What’s it rated? PG When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Peacock Based on a sci-fi trilogy of illustrated youth novels, The Wild Robot tells the story of Roz (Lupita Nyung’o), a service robot shipwrecked on an island. After encountering local hostile wildlife, Roz accidentally smashes a bird’s nest, but one small egg remains intact, which Roz…
Spy spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery screens Feb. 17 at The Bay Theatre
What’s it rated? PG-13 When? Monday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m.; $15 at my805tix.com) Where’s it showing? The Bay Theatre Get ready for a shagadelic good time when the Bay Theatre screens one of the greatest spy spoofs and James Bond satires of all time, the Mike Myers-penned brilliantly funny Jay…
