Cover Story
Compost catalyst: SLO County residents now have to comply with new state rules designed to divert more green waste from landfills
Half of the waste that Californians dump into their landfills is compostable. “Most people think that organics will just compost in the landfill. But what happens is that turns into methane gas, a climate pollutant,” said Mladen Bandov with the SLO County Public Works Department. That gas, according to CalRecycle is “a climate super pollutant…
The Unforgivable
What’s it rated? R When? 2021 Where’s it showing? Netflix Nora Fingscheidt directs this grim, slow burning thriller about Ruth Slater (a stone-faced Sandra Bullock), who after almost two decades of incarceration for killing a cop is paroled into a society that can’t forgive her past. At every turn, when others learn of her conviction,…
Total garbage
If you’re city dwellers like the fancy big city folks of SLO Town, prepare yourselves for another trash rate increase. This one isn’t another example of lobbying to raise rates to cover inflation, no. This one’s courtesy of the SLO County Board of Supervisors, who, after splitting with the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA) last…
Lawsuit filed to overturn SLO County’s redistricting map
A coalition of local residents and activists filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 challenging the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors’ adoption of a redistricting map last month that dramatically redrew its five supervisorial districts. Calling the new map an attempt to “entrench Republican control of the Board of Supervisors” for the next decade,…
Cunningham out of the running, opening door for others
The new boundary lines for Central Coast state Assembly districts are opening the doors for some candidates, and closing chapters for others. What was once Assembly District 35 will be torn between two new districts in the next election cycle. The new 30th District includes SLO County up to Santa Cruz County—along the Big Sur…
Arroyo Grande proposes water bill hike to offset costs
For the first time in more than a decade, Arroyo Grande residents could have lighter wallets due to increased water bills. On Jan. 11, the Arroyo Grande City Council unanimously approved a price hike to help boost water and wastewater revenues to alleviate the continual cost of providing these services to residents. The city set…
Georgia Brown Elementary to stay open
Georgia Brown Elementary School’s future is now narrowed to two potential scenarios, both of which allow the Paso Robles school to remain open. But whether its dual-immersion program will remain at Georgia Brown is uncertain. On Jan. 11, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board directed district staff to narrow the options to either…
Nipomo residents cite owner irresponsibility as root of lost pet cases
Several Nipomo residents have lost pets in the last couple of years with some caught in dangerous road accidents. But while some blame a low law enforcement presence, many community members think the problem is closer to home. “[I] feel like way more pets are killed on residential streets than highway. Very small police presence…
San Luis Obispo native is rising star at Willow Creek Distillery in Paso Robles
Give it a shot Willow Creek Distillery’s tasting room shares space with Opolo Vineyards at 7110 Vineyard Drive in Paso Robles. Guests can discover their own spirits of choice at the distillery daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit willowcreekdistillery.com. Follow the company on Facebook and Instagram @willowcreekdistillery. When thoughts of…
SLO International Film Fest postpones events until April 26 through May 1
Experience Why Be Good? On Thursday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m., Cal Poly Arts will present a special screening of the 1929 silent film Why Be Good? at the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center, with a period-authentic live score played by renowned silent film accompanist Christian Elliott. Tickets are $26.50 to $32 at calpolyarts.org.…
SLOMA uses $10,000 grant to fund new mural by Erin LeAnn Mitchell
The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) received a $10,000 grant in support of its 2022 mural project. A total of 168 projects across the country were selected to receive the Challenge America grant, offered by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) program. Ann Eilers, NEA Acting chair, said in press materials that…
Estrella Warbirds Museum hosts guest speaker Bart Topham at upcoming dinner event
Bart Topham, president and director of the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, will be the guest speaker at the Estrella Warbirds Museum’s next monthly dinner event, on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. Reservations for the dinner are required in advance, no later than Monday, Jan. 31. Topham’s talk will include a discussion of the…
Jamestown Revival brings its irresistible folk rock sounds to the Fremont Theater on Jan. 23
If I could only pick one, my show of the week would be Jamestown Revival with Mipso and Robert Ellis at the Fremont on Sunday, Jan. 23 (doors at 6 p.m.; 18-and-older; $22 plus fees general admission at seetickets.us; $28 day of show; $30 at the door). Jamestown Revival frontmen Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance…
Good riddance
I respect John Donegan’s acuity with the English language. In fact, he sometimes expresses himself with such dexterity that one can almost lose track of the fact that the substance of his postulate is, essentially, claptrap. Exhibit A (ahem, because he’s an attorney) is his recent New Times column, “Humor and the left” (Jan. 13).…
New Life K9s connects the PTSD-prone with service dogs through an army of support
Combat veteran David Petersen’s time in San Luis Obispo County was bookended by two life-changing events. He arrived in May 2020 after receiving in-patient treatment for suicide, and left for Oroville in Butte County last month to be a high school football and wrestling coach, this time with a service dog named Cole in tow.…
Act now to save wolves
The recent news that 20 wolves from Yellowstone National Park were killed by hunters and trappers is heartbreaking evidence of the need for the Biden Department of the Interior to finally act and protect these wolves, as senators, congresspeople, scientists, a former director of the USFWS, tribal leaders, and activists have been imploring them to…
The Tragedy of Macbeth may be a well-worn tale, but Joel Coen’s visually dazzling adaptation breathes new life into it
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Palm Theatre and Apple TV Plus Writer-director Joel Coen (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) helms this film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play about a Scottish lord (Denzel Washington)…
Parcel tax, redux
In March 2020, Oceano voters rejected measure A-20, which would have imposed a flat parcel tax of $180 to fund fire and emergency services provided by the Five Cities Fire Authority. Now the Oceano Community Services District is planning to put exactly the same measure on the June 2022 ballot. A-20’s failure was supposed to…
Station Eleven
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2021 Where’s it showing? HBO Max Based on Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel, Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic tale that weaves through time—both at the beginning of the pandemic that wipes out most of the world and then to 20 years later. At the center of this tale is…
MLK Scholarship BBQ canceled but donations still critical
Here comes Super Bowl Sunday, and for many on the Central Coast, that means it’s time for the Martin Luther King Jr. Chicken Barbecue. Usually, but nothing is “usual” anymore. A local tradition for many years, the annual barbecue raises money for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. High School Memorial Scholarship Fund. Since 1968,…
