Cover Story
Interpreting the signs
Hours after our so-called “perfect baby girl” was born, not only was she put to the test, but so was our idea of perfection. My husband and I were moments from dressing Sienna Dorothy in a pink velour onesie, tucking her in an infant car seat for the first time, and gingerly driving her home,…
Trial begins for All That Glitters employee
Twelve jurors will decide if a prominent local jeweler knowingly attempted to resell stolen merchandise and hide it from investigating officers. William McBurney, 56, an employee of the San Luis Obispo-based business All That Glitters, is facing felony charges including receiving stolen property, delaying a police officer, and conducting a second-hand business without a license.…
Bitter crescendo for SLO piano teacher
The San Luis Obispo City Council revoked a local piano teacher’s business permit following neighbor complaints about the home business. After hearing comments from the embattled instructor, her “tortured” neighbor, and other neighbors on both sides of the issue, the council unanimously voted to deny Debra Marcus’ appeal. “I’m torn by this decision,” Mayor Jan…
What’s the most annoying feature or status update on Facebook?
Peter Ayer graphic designer “Over abundance of check-ins.” Lisa McGlothlin student “All those ‘Like my status’ posts!” Nancy McGlothlin nurse “All of the games!” Dave Bourbon hair dresser “All the pictures of food people are eating.”
Curtis Syrah 2007 Ambassador’s Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley
This classic Syrah keeps improving with every bottle I try (I bought half a case when it was released last spring). Frankly, it’s amazing there is still some available. It offers delicious black and red fruits, which are ripe but not overly so. It still exhibits fresh fruit flavors of black cherries, blackberries, and plums…
Edna Valley Vineyard 2010 Sauvignon Blanc SLO County
This friendly quaffer offers lovely grapefruit and lime aromas and flavors that are nicely offset by notes of sweet melon and herbs. I’ve enjoyed it both on its own and at the table. Pair it with salads with goat cheese, green chile-sauced Mexican dishes, or spicy Asian stir-fries featuring seafood or poultry. It’s an excellent…
Never give up
You’ve got to respect a band that sees what it wants and then makes it happen through sheer will power and hard work. Better yet, you’ve got to respect a band that never gives up and for whom failure is not an option. Fish Out of Water is definitely that kind of band, who, through…
SLO’s seedy underbelly exposed!
Hayley Thomas is a ridiculously adorable 24-year-old with flaming orange hair and lipstick so red it seems to continually blow kisses from her face. She’s wearing a form-fitting leopard-print dress and a cute-as-heck cropped jacket, with some sweet little black and white shoes. In short, she’s tragically hip, making her the perfect person to reveal…
It’s happening at the Clark Center
The Clark Center is starting 2012 off strong, bringing in a diverse selection of performers from all around the world to Arroyo Grande. Check out these sweet events: On Friday, Jan. 20, at 8 p.m., catch the charismatic, talented, pretty-faced jazz crooner Michael Kaeshammer. Drawing equally from a long list of blues, jazz, and pop…
Raunchy puppets? Check.
Using puppet shows to impart life lessons—sharing feels good, lying is wrong, and the world is pretty much exploding with opportunity—has long been an effective tool for teaching children. But what happens when those children grow up, move out of the house, earn a B.A. in English, move into a deteriorating apartment in a sketchy…
The original awesome
You may never have heard the name Geoff McFetridge, and the artist, animator, and graphic designer may be perfectly content to keep it that way. But his work has likely impacted you. You may even be wearing it. The artist’s clean, rounded lines and clever, deceptively simple graphics have appeared on Patagonia clothing, Nike shoes,…
Cougars & Mustangs
Let’s face it, my fellow Americans: We are leading the universe in our ability to consume. While we may bemoan about not having enough, the fact is that, as a society, we are heads and shoulders above our peers in our limitless urge for more. Thus far, our means of production—through questionable and perhaps absurd…
Nurse of all trades
Almost everyone knows how important teachers are to education, but there are plenty of other people working to make sure our children develop into well-informed citizens. There are parents and other family members, child-care providers, tutors, and community volunteers. And there are countless other individuals supporting children from behind the scenes at local schools—iuch as…
Google two of these and call me in the morning
Woody Allen is perhaps the most well known hypochondriac. According to Don Hilty, professor and vice chair of faculty development in the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Allen’s iconic bumbling caricature “feels like he’s ill and he’s worried about being ill, but technically he’s not.” And Allen’s neurotic character had the luxury…
Trade pounds for green
Obesity comes from convenience. The quickest bite to be had during a busy day is fast food, a literal term applied to big portions that are poor in quality but easy on the bank account. Five bucks will fill you easy. Every item is conveniently wrapped, like a Christmas present, and each can be…
Correction
The Jan. 12 article, “There’s a wrinkle in the bag ordinance debate,” misstated the number of IWMA board members—there are 13 members.
Clarification
Writers of the Future Award winners are generally the only such writers referred to as “winners” of the award. Mark Arnold, mentioned in “A dimension of sound and—soon—sight” (Jan. 12) received an honorable mention for his story, “If Wishes Were Horses.”
Longtime harbor commissioner dies
Henry Jackson “Jack” Scarbrough, a commissioner with the Port San Luis Harbor District for nearly 15 years, died Jan. 11. He was 84. Scarbrough had a varied career; his past job titles included truck driver, miner, milkman, theater manager, SLO County Sheriff’s deputy, and Grover City police chief (before it was Grover Beach) for five…
Big name signs on to represent A4NR
The Alliance for Nuclear responsibility announced Jan. 17 that John Geesman, a major player in California energy policy, has signed on to represent the nuclear ratepayer advocacy group as it takes Pacific Gas & Electric to task before state regulators. Geesman, better known in the Bay Area, is perhaps best known locally as the former…
County denies Sunny Acres fee waiver
Sunny Acres owner Dan De Vaul was denied a request to avoid permit fees for repair work on structures at his ranch and sober living facility west of San Luis Obispo. De Vaul, through the Sunny Acres nonprofit corporation, applied for a waiver of fees to “correct unpermitted work” on three structures, according to a…
County supervisors postpone truancy rules
Alarmed by an outpouring of angry parents, San Luis Obispo County supervisors decided to delay a final decision on new rules that would allow local law enforcement agents to crack down on truant school children. County supervisors had almost no qualms with the ordinance when it came to them for a first reading on Dec.…
Trial date set for former Paso cop
Former Paso Robles police officer Jeffry Bromby was given a trial date; he’ll defend himself against charges that he misused police computer equipment while working as an officer with the Paso Robles Police Department. On May 13, 2011, Bromby was charged with four misdemeanor counts of “unauthorized access of DMV information” and “unauthorized access of…
Join the Hive
Getting a haircut can be therapeutic—a beginning or an end of something, a change sometimes greatly needed—but choosing the right salon in which to invest your experience can be as trying as figuring out into which school you should enroll your child. Hive Natural Beauty Collective creates the ultimate atmosphere of comfort, starting at the…
D.A. dismisses Doobie Dozen defendants–for now
When 12 local medical marijuana providers were arrested in late December 2010, the then-head of the now-defunct SLO County Narcotics Task Force predicted that the “concrete proof” collected against them would lead to 12 full convictions. But on Jan. 17, 2012—after more than a year of courtroom hearings and exhausting hours spent arguing over motions…
It’s the environment, stupid
Green will be the new economy. But as long as the petrochemical industry owns our government, environmentally friendly jobs will have the back burner. Drill, baby, drill continues to be the mindset of politicians beholden to Big Oil. We need jobs, but not at the expense of planetary destruction. Creating thousands of relatively short-term jobs…
A static system never existed
While the Audubon’s purported goal of restoring native plants in East Sweet Springs seems a noble one, it is not ecologically sound. Environmental scientists have in recent decades rejected the concepts of retroactive “conservation” and “preservation.” While these terms are still used by the general public, as goals these concepts have become obsolete as scientists…
The world is still here, Al
The nasty plastic bags gotta go. They’re ruining the environment. We need to go to paper bags, or those large, plastic, permanent grocery bags! I agree—but wait. If we use paper bags, we’ll deforest the forest. Remember, that’s why we went to plastic bags. And eventually those big, permanent bags are going to be thrown…
Thoughts on the bag ban
Well done! It is such a clear and simple idea. And so necessary. Yet it will be fought by those where the system is intrinsic. The change is inevitable. How can we speed it up? If we are able to force all to bear the costs, then no one could complain, theoretically. Trying to brainstorm…
Now, how about that Styrofoam?
Yay! Something is finally being done about the plastic bag situation! Once this is resolved, can we try to do something about the fast food industry and those plastic drink cups (and Styrofoam cups/plates)?
Concerned about Five Cities over-development?
On Jan. 19, there will be an important meeting of the Local Agency Formation Commission to decide if Pismo may take county land as to expand the city limits. The purpose of this expansion is to develop more homes and a school. According to the last census, the population of Pismo has decreased; there is…
Pismo doesn’t need more houses
Save Pismo from unnecessary housing tracts, declining home values, water shortages, and loss of open space. On Jan. 19, LAFCO will vote on whether to approve the annexation of the Los Robles del Mar (LRDM) project (312 units) at the corner of Oak Park Boulevard and Old Oak Park. Pismo does not need more homes.…
Distinguish among classes of guns
Thank you for Shelly Cone’s article, “Have a blast” (Dec. 15). While I’m not opposed to self-defense, I also urge caution. Greater availability of small arms also means more guns for criminals, as well as the law-abiding. And the legal gun market feeds the black market. More criminals come armed and always have the advantage…
Thanks for the laugh
Chuck, you make me chuckle (“We can no longer support the freebies,” Jan. 5), but let’s get real. Yeah, it’s another sad day in America when the federal government is spending our hard-earned money on “illegals” … like the $3T on our Wall Street, white-collar, corporate criminal syndicate, international investment bank, financial fraud empire, and,…
Sail away, sail away, sail away
Most people don’t know it, but I’ve got a penchant for sea shanties—those ringing, rollicking chants that rise above mighty gales and sprays, sung by fearsome sailors who tamed and mapped the world’s waterways. I double majored in sea shanties and origami, but as much as I love the heft and folds of rice paper,…
Questions for…Meg Nilson, who quit smoking nine days ago
NEW TIMES Describe your agony in one sentence. NILSON I feel like I lost my best friend. NEW TIMES How long were you a smoker? NILSON Twelve years. I’m not young anymore, so it’s not cute or funny to smoke. NEW TIMES Which methods have you used to try and quit? NILSON I’ve done everything…
Online porn is risky
Several years ago, researchers Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor published a highly disturbing article in Pediatrics magazine about youth exposure to online pornography that highlighted its effects on youth ages 10 to 17. Very few kids or young teens find their way into my office, but I’m beginning to see more and more young adults who…
Clubs
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…
Sunny side up
After seven years of ownership, CJ’s proprietors Kathy and Glenn Essen decided it was time for a facelift. The building, while charmingly old school, needed to be brought into the 21st century. “We had a lot of work to do in terms of updating the building,” Glenn explained. But what sets this remodel apart is…
The new kid
Over the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed three delightful meals at Lido in Dolphin Bay Resort in Shell Beach, each of which showcased the talent and passion of chef Brian Collins. Collins took over the executive chef position when chef Evan Treadwell left last summer. I first met him when he was sous chef to…
