Cover Story
The business of art
A good board member is hard to find, especially for a nonprofit arts organization. A good board member understands how boards operate and the importance of boundaries between staff and board. Members are ambassadors to the community, eager to tell an organization’s story. And they help raise funds so the organization can continue providing the…
What’s your greatest volunteer experience?
Patrick Trout jeweler “That would have to be the Special Olympics; everyone’s a winner.” Grady Bell construction equipment operator “I volunteered for Pacific Wildlife Care for four months before working full-time. They take in mammals, reptiles, and birds.” Titus Shelton youth basketball coach “At an overnight homeless shelter. I got a chance to encourage the…
From tragedy, inspiration
When Mohandas Gandhi said, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people,” he could have used Jack’s Helping Hand as an example of how hearts and souls committed to giving can advance a community. “We have helped medically fragile children, and children with special needs here on the Central…
Why volunteers choose the Y
The YMCA, which was originally chartered as Young Men’s Christian Association, includes 124 national federations with a total of more than 45 million members worldwide. No religious affiliation of any sort is required to join the YMCA, which is open to both genders. The lively county local branch on quiet Southwood Drive in San Luis…
Patient files claim for confiscated pot
Was it sheer contempt of the law or a bureaucratic bumble? Whatever happened, the county could be on the hook for nearly $40,000 to replace Kimberley Marshall’s pot. The 46-year old Los Osos resident filed a claim for damages against Sheriff Patrick Hedges and the county alleging the sheriff’s department unlawfully seized, and then had…
Councilman accused of domestic violence skips meeting
He didn’t show: Ed Arnold, the Arroyo Grande city councilman accused of burglary, domestic violence, and assault with a deadly weapon, missed the first city council meeting since his arrest on Dec 15. Steven Adams, the city manager, said Arnold told him he would duck the meeting to avoid the press. Television cameras, broadcast reporters,…
Editor’s note:
Journalist Anne McMahon, who had been a New Times reporter and prominent political activist, succumbed to cancer on Dec. 19. Services will take place Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. at the Asistencia of the Santa Margarita Ranch, followed by a nontraditional Irish wake at the Santa Margarita Community Center. In lieu of flowers, donations can…
Arnie pushes PXP
Based on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget, if you’re against new offshore oil, you’re probably against state parks, too. Schwarzenegger, a staunch proponent of Plains Exploration and Production Company’s (PXP) offshore oil proposal, tied millions in state parks funds to the project. The governor’s 2010-11 proposed budget would cut $140 million of general fund money…
Hazing case moves ahead
San Luis Obispo judge Hugh Mullin on Jan. 11 rejected defense motions to dismiss prosecution of two men accused of hazing in the alcohol-related death of a Cal Poly undergraduate, clearing the way for a trial later this year. Haithem Ibrahim and Zacary Ellis are facing felony hazing charges in connection with the death of…
Others join the club
The call against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) plant license renewal process has grown almost 10 times louder. Nine state and national organizations, including the Nuclear Information Resource Service and Greenpeace National, have joined the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility (ANR) in lambasting a proposed revision to the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement opponents argue “glosses…
Meals on Wheels wants you
Many patients after release from hospitals have difficulty cooking. Since 1973, San Luis Obispo Meals on Wheels has delivered nutritionally balanced meals to homebound infirmed and senior residents. Approaching four decades of nourishing the community, the nonprofit, volunteer-run organization is in financial straits and desperately needs funding and more volunteers. “We serve people with long-term…
Ante up to reduce class crowding
There is again a political outcry to make teachers responsible, but how can teachers be held accountable when parents, taxpayers, and administrators aren’t? My family lived in a middle-class, white neighborhood in Sacramento County when I volunteered to help in a third-grade classroom. There were 32 children in the class, a third of which were…
Thanks from the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army placed donation kettles in front of Vons and Ralphs in Los Osos during the 2009 Christmas season, attended by 196 two-hour shifts. A 99-year-old, great-great grandfather rang the bell for four of those shifts. Nearly $12,000 was collected at those locations in total. The organization thanks everyone in the community who made the…
Demand insurance decency
We clearly need health care reform, but certain politicians obviously have vested interests in preventing it. Our mortality rate for curable diseases is that of a Third World country. Our choices are so limited by our insurance providers that obtaining proper diagnoses can be nearly impossible. I have personal experience with this very issue: A…
Stay in the closet
We are once again faced with much drama, passion, money, and lawyers as California fights in court the proposition that re-established the normal, historical, cultural understanding of marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Even President Obama expressed that understanding during his campaign Like many heterosexuals, I have homosexual friends whom I admire…
Complain about the weather
As a long time viewer of KSBY, I’m sad to see what they have done to the station and the community. They imported a second-rate weather guy from the Midwest who gives reports that insult our intelligence. We Californians do know that weather systems come only from the west; no explanation is needed. Where he…
Stop doctors’ greed
The problem with health care in America is doctors are charging astronomical, unjustified, uncontrolled greedy prices. The answer to our health care problem in America is doctors should repent their godless greed and there should be government-controlled price fixing. If we do not control their godless greed, doctors who have bankrupted us individually will soon…
County chose the wrong sewer
The San Luis Obispo County supervisors and Public Works Department think they’ve talked enough about the Los Osos sewer. The problem is they’ve only talked about the wrong type of system, one that is unaffordable for most people in Los Osos, one that would not save our precious groundwater. The planned system will take too…
Freeze, or spare the air?
M. Power Giacoletti (“Smoking mad,” Jan. 7) complains “…many county residents were engaged in nefarious acts of thievery… They were (stealing) sucking the air from the very mouths of babes with their archaic, pointless, polluting fireplaces.” Giacoletti may decry smoke from the chimneys, but he overlooks the fact that many people in the county are…
True Bohemians disdain folly
Glen Starkey had fun at a “beer-fueled underground bike racing” event held on an undisclosed muddy ridgeline overlooking San Luis Obispo (“If you’re bored, you’re boring,” Dec 31, 2009). I appreciate Glen’s weekly spiel on the local music/art scene, but I disagree that what he describes as a “thrill-a-minute, live-on-the-razor’s-edge, laugh-in-the-face-of-death, crazy-ass world” is art.…
Blame the Republicans
Regarding Robert McDonald’s article about the demise of California (“The California exodus,” Jan. 7) and really the entire U.S. (and world), let no one forget that this economic meltdown was the Republican’s big plan from start to finish. Who is it who’s railed all these years about their hatred of “big government” (translated: The United…
The community responded with kindness
To everyone who reached out to my sister and her family after reading about the break-in that resulted in my nephew’s piggy bank being stolen (“How could this happen?” Dec. 31, 2009), I send a warm thank you from my heart and the hearts of all our family, to yours.
Remembering Dr. King
Editor’s note: The organization Sharing The Dream and Laguna Middle School in San Luis Obispo sponsored an essay and art contest among students with the theme, “I believe the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday is important and meaningful to all Americans and should be celebrated in our county because …” The three essays and…
Talking to myself
I snagged Congresswoman Lois Capps after her economic press conference thingy about a week ago. Or at least I’d like to think I did. And here’s how our conversation went, or I would’ve liked it to have gone. “Excuse me, Congresswoman Capps.” You have to be polite or her press secretary Emily Kryder will make…
Ellen Perryess, Volunteer
NEW TIMES: Do you need of volunteers? PERRYESS: We’re always short handed—to walk dogs, keep cats company, and help socialize animals. NEW TIMES: How often do you rescue animals? PERRYESS: We’re obligated to take in all stray animals, though you can drop off unwanted animals for a small free. NEW TIMES: Why do…
Or, the Parish Boy’s Progress
Pioneer Players will be staging a production based on Charles Dickens’ beloved Oliver Twist at the Templeton Performing Arts Center. The tale of an orphaned waif, condemned to labor, abuse, and corruption is set to music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. Featuring the famous phrase, “Please sir, I want some more,” Oliver Twist was Dickens’…
Better late than never?
It’s my fault. I take full responsibility. My plan was to get to Lena Rushing’s 6-8 p.m. art opening by 6:30, but it’s 7:40 on Friday, Jan. 7 when we finally roll through the door. I could blame my new friend Emily Sullivan, a pretty—albeit misguided—22-year-old I met on New Year’s Eve, who foolishly gave…
Poetry flasher!
When’s the last time you laughed aloud while reading a poem? When’s the last time a poem made you gasp? I did both while reading Cal Poly English professor Kevin Clark’s new book Self-Portrait with Expletives, which chronicles his coming of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, moving right through to today. Clark has taught…
Of rags and em dashes
Being a geek of any sort comes with a set of responsibilities: wear a cloak, be capable of rattling off magic spells by heart, stand in line at 2 a.m. in order to be the first to see a new movie. And type geeks are no exception to the rule. They’re irritated by the presence…
Gloria Ferrer Brut Sonoma Non-vintage
This delicious bubbly offers aromas and flavors of pear, citrus, and minerals with subtle notes of spice. It was featured on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list this year and it’s quite a deal for a sparkling wine that earned 90 points from their critics. Perfect alone and ideal with brunch or chilled shellfish, it’s available…
Bogle 2007 Petite Sirah California
Long known for its delicious Petite Sirahs, you can’t go wrong with this brand when you’re looking for value-priced big reds. A producer of this variety for 31 years, Bogle considers it their “heritage” wine. It’s dark and offers jammy flavors with notes of blackberries, currants, leather, and spice, with nuances of toasty oak. Medium…
Food, art, music: Americana style
I’ve always been the type of food lover who craves a certain dish at each of my favorite restaurants. And I am irresistibly drawn back to those places to have them several times. Among my latest faves: the succulent two-day pork at Izakaya RAKU, the addictive Kurobuta pork and noodles at Mee Heng Low, and…
Clubs
Goin’ South … CAFÉ ANDREINI: 131 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 481-6117. Thurs.: Live music at 6pm. CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, Shell Beach, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. Mon. and Tues.: Louie Ortega. Fri: Live music. COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Dr., Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music Night every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO:…
Oops! My bad!
I apparently can’t read a calendar. Last week I wrote about two Downtown Brew events and managed to get the dates wrong on both. Clearly I don’t have superpowers, especially ones bestowed upon me by a radioactive, mutant, genetically modified super spider, unlike, say, Reeve Carney. Read on. On Saturday, Jan. 16, Carney returns to…
