Sad endings only!
Get your minds out of the gutter, Morro Bay. Why do you assume happy endings are endemic to the massage therapy industry? Have there been complaints? Arrests? Any evidence that illicit activity is afoot? Last November, New Times reported on Morro Bay’s proposed ordinance to regulate the city’s 16 massage therapy businesses. “This ordinance is…
Cal Poly roommates bring their dirty soda business to the SLO Farmers’ Market
Sometimes all it takes to turn a bad day into a good one is the perfect beverage. The idea cemented in Madison Andrade’s mind when she worked as a Dutch Bros barista in high school. Today, she’s still mixing flavors and syrups as a small business owner in college, handing out drinks that have the…
Morro Bay moves to regulate massage establishments as therapists push for professional recognition
Soft lighting, intention, and a focus on health define the work at Morro Bay Massage Therapy. Inside the studio, an anatomical muscle chart takes up a wall, and conversations revolve around mobility, injury, and recovery. For Helena Quintanar, the owner and massage practitioner, massage therapy is about care. “This is health work,” she said. “People…
Nashville singer-songwriter Priscilla Block plays the Fremont Theater on Jan. 22
Priscilla Block won me over with “Couldn’t Care Less” off her second full-length album, Things You Didn’t See. She’s so vulnerable on the track, and it turns out to be the perfect response to the judgmental haters out there. “I posted a picture, and it got a bunch of likes/ That ‘she should lose weight’…
San Simeon CSD approves steep water and sewer rate increases
San Simeon residents and businesses will face sharp increases in water and wastewater bills after the San Simeon Community Services District (SSCSD) approved a new rate ordinance on Jan. 7, a decision the district said is necessary to keep the system operating while it undergoes a potential dissolution. Under the ordinance, water rates will rise…
The SLO Film Center and Ox + Anchor have teamed up to present Indies + Eats
Now in its fourth year, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival’s (SLOIFF) popular Indies + Eats series is back with new food-related independent films screened at the Palm Theatre paired with three-course prix fixe menus curated by Executive Chef Ryan Fancher at Hotel SLO’s Ox + Anchor. Feast for the eyes, ears, and palate!Indies…
Los Osos CSD approves special election for tax to purchase Sunnyside School
Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) and a local citizens group hope that a tax measure on the June primary election ballot could become the building block that transforms Sunnyside School into Sunnyside Park. San Luis Coastal Unified School District closed Sunnyside School in 2001 because of funding reductions. Despite restored funding, major enrollment losses…
Cal Poly Arts presents Dog Man: The Musical at the PAC in SLO on Jan. 17
Who is Dog Man? From the mind of author Dav Pilkey, Dog Man is the result of a life-saving surgery after Greg the police dog and his cop companion were injured on the job. Pilkey has released more than a dozen Dog Man books available online from The Scholastic Store, but his characters also form…
Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach ask to restore Diablo Canyon unitary tax
San Luis Obispo County’s cities are voicing support to keep the lights on at Diablo Canyon Power Plant for another 20 years, but that backing comes with calls to restore unitary tax at pre-decommissioning levels. By Jan. 13, the Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach city councils decided to join the county in a request to…
James and the Giant Peach returns to the Cuesta CPAC Jan. 16
James Henry Trotter has it rough. His parents are dead, and he lives with his awful aunts Sponge and Spiker—two of the meanest people on earth. But then something wonderful happens. A peach on a tree in his garden begins to grow, and grow, and grow, and inside are seven unusual insects ready to take…
San Miguel CSD to appoint new member after the death of vice president
The San Miguel Community Services District is preparing to appoint a new board member following the death of Vice President John Green in late November, creating a vacancy on the five-member board. Green served on the board from December 2024 until his passing. Under the district’s annual reorganization process, the board selected its officers for…
Is This Thing On? explores a dissolving marriage
Director Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, Maestro) helms this dramedy he co-wrote with leading man Will Arnett and Mark Chappell about Alex (Arnett), who turns to stand-up comedy as a way to cope with his dissolving marriage to Tess (Laura Dern). The story is loosely inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop.…
Run Away follows a father’s desperate search for his runaway daughter
When Simon Greene (James Nesbitt) gets a tip that his estranged daughter, Paige (Ellie de Lange), is busking at a local park, he rushes over to find the young, troubled girl. When Paige met her boyfriend, Aaron Corval (Thomas Flynn), she adopted his bad habits, one of which was drug addiction. A confrontation with Aaron…
The Who’s classic rock opera, Tommy, screens at Bay Theatre on Jan. 19
Director Ken Russell (The Devils, Altered States, The Rainbow) co-wrote with Pete Townshend and The Who this epic 1975 rock opera about a psychosomatically “deaf, dumb, and blind boy” (Roger Daltry) who becomes a master pinball player and later head of a cult. The film also stars Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jack…
RAD Juice is SLO’s family-run cold-pressed powerhouse
If you’ve wandered through a local farmers market in San Luis Obispo, chances are you’ve spotted a little booth with vibrant bottles of juice that almost glow. That’s RAD Juice, the 3-year-old organic cold-pressed juice company that has quickly become a local favorite. Behind those colorful bottles is a serious passion for wellness. Founder Jason…
Lucia Mar school district faces lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse, assault, and negligence
San Luis Obispo County’s largest school district faces three lawsuits filed within the last six months alleging child sexual abuse, assault, and negligence at the hands of its employees. A Mesa Middle School student, a Grover Beach Elementary School student, their guardians, and two former students at Dana Elementary School filed separate complaints against the…
Wake up, America!
I was born in France during WWII. I was just a few months old when my father was sent to a labor camp in Poland and my mother became a refugee in the Norman countryside. My father came back when the war was over, emaciated but alive. When the truck that brought him and other men…
Your therapist is not your friend
Many people now turn to therapy not only for treatment, but for guidance, reassurance, and belonging. Therapy has become a massive industry. Some people truly need professional care. But many others are using therapists to replace relationships that once existed elsewhere. This concept is outlined in detail in Freya India’s Jan. 8 blog post, “Therapists are…
Talk to your elected officials about ICE
The time has come for all of us to take a step back and look at what is happening here in our country. Innocent people are being killed, people with no criminal history or background. They are being rounded up like cattle and sent to holding facilities without an arrest warrant or due process for…
Shame on the district attorney
I served as a combat marine in Vietnam, took an oath to the Constitution, and never shot an unarmed solider or civilian or wore a mask in combat! SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow, remember thou should not kill, and love your neighbor regardless of skin color, or religious beliefs? I live as a veteran…
Cannabis is California’s dead golden goose
Imagine an environment so toxic to business that even drug dealers can’t make money? Then consider California, a place where the ending of the old Aesop’s fable, “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs,” is a lived experience. California voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, making state and local governments giddy at the prospect of…
