Cover Story
Kicking it.
On my third night without a cigarette, I’d had about enough. My mind was churning, I was grinding my teeth to nubs, I tossed back and forth cursing myself for taking up a habit so hard to kick. It was the third sleepless night in a row as I teetered on delirium. The physical effects…
We came, we saw, we conquered!
It’s still Friday, Jan. 7, (see “Better late than never?” Jan. 14) and my friends and I are just leaving Lena Rushing’s art opening at Linnaea’s Café. We’re drawn across the street to Downtown Brew by the siren call of rock’n’roll! Okay, not really. Actually, the Brew’s Chicken Alfredo Pizza and Chicken Quesadilla are calling…
A star rises in Atascadero
I first read about Fig Good Food on Facebook, and many people were excited about this impressive new restaurant in Atascadero. I looked them up on Yelp and found such great quotes as this: “We have waited a very long time for a restaurant like this to open in Atascadero.” That certainly revved up my…
What word or phrase do you overuse?
Ren Grossman drug and rehab counselor “I don’t know.” Abgail Geisel student/customer service associate “Right.” Shelley Bauer middle-school teacher “That’s legit, and what ev.” Mike Demelo dairy builder “Dude.”
Misused words
Community organizations have displayed a sad tendency to misuse a fairly common word in the English language: donation. For example, someone is showing a film, and in lieu of listing a ticket price, states a $5 donation at the door is expected. Is the donation a requirement to get in the door? If so, it’s…
The art thingamajig
On the heels of the city of San Luis Obispo’s October decision to allow the Art Center to push forward with plans to construct a new three-story, 26,000-square-foot structure, the Art Center has announced plans to change its name. To what, nobody yet knows. But the new name will likely incorporate the word “museum” in…
Caca water
There was the slightest scent of manure on a picturesque day near well 10A in the Chorro Valley. The soil at a small city-owned plot of land was spongy from recent rain percolating into one of Morro Bay’s few local sources of water in the Ashurst well field—not that it mattered. All of the city’s…
Steps to new knees
It’s official: I’m now a bionic woman, having had surgery to replace both knees; one in August and the other in November 2009. Setting the stage with a single leap I was once quite athletic and loved skating at the local roller rink, whizzing around on four-wheeled boots. But just after my 21st birthday, everything…
Stay strong, live long
Stay active, seniors. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), regular exercise helps prevent or delay cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, Type 2 diabetes, and dementia. It can extend longevity, ease arthritis, and prevent insomnia, anxiety, and depression. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) recommends four types…
Obesity taskforce targets children
A study by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) released in July 2009 found obesity costs California $41 billion annually. The expense caused by obesity in San Luis Obispo County, with roughly 250,000 residents, is $454 million each year. Obesity, which is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30, causes…
How dry we’re not
Like Los Angeles in the classic movie Chinatown, there will soon be far more water piped into the City of San Luis Obispo at ratepayer expense than residents and businesses could ever need, even if builders were to expand the city to the limit of the city charter. Though city officials say the glut will…
Correction
The poetry recital by Cal Poly English professor Kevin Clark (“Poetry flasher!” Jan. 14) is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. in Phillips Hall at the Performing Arts Center on campus.
City council approves 9-11 memorial
The San Luis Obispo City Council approved more than $120,000 in art projects at its Jan. 19 meeting, including $70,000 for a memorial to the dead of Sept. 11, 2001. The 9-11 memorial was spurred by the request last November of Frank Callahan, San Luis Obispo fire department chief, for a piece of steel from…
Downtown Association dumps farmers’ reps
The Downtown Association is trying to remove the San Luis Obispo County Farmers’ Market Association from the Thursday night farmers’ market. The Downtown Association is exercising its contractual right to run all aspects of the Thursday night farmers market, starting Jan. 28. Though the Downtown Association controls the weekly event, the Farmers’ Market Association has…
ECOSLO exec charged with embezzlement
A prominent local environmental activist has been charged with misappropriating funds from the San Luis Obispo chapter of Mothers for Peace. According to the complaint filed by the district attorney’s office Nov. 3, Morgan Rafferty, current executive director of the local nonprofit ECOSLO, is charged with one count of grand theft embezzlement, a felony. Prosecutors…
Brace yourself
When public safety budgets take an early hit you know it’s going to be a bad year. “This is the first time in recent history we’ve had to make reductions to public safety due to mid-year state reductions,” County Principal Administrative Analyst Dan Buckshi said. On Jan. 19, SLO County supervisors approved an early round…
Surfer wars
A surfer accused of jabbing his board into the face of another was cleared of a felony charge after Judge Michael Duffy decided there wasn’t enough evidence to go to trial. Kenny Nakazawa, a tanned 24-year-old, clenched his jaw while he sat stone faced and silent during his Jan. 19 hearing. Four witnesses gave their…
Dance to help a teen recover
Picture a restaurant,” said the speech therapist, “OK, go.” High-school senior Ivy Alvarado quickly enumerated, “register, table, chairs—Tabasco Sauce.” After a short pause, the therapist smiled and said, “you’re pushing it,” as Ivy’s mother, Melinda acknowledged with a laugh; “at least she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.” Last summer, Ivy was a healthy teenager…
Collaborate to weather the recession
More than 31 million Americans have been idled by this grave recession. Though the number is shockingly high, anyone out of work can easily feel alone despite so many millions of fellow jobless Americans who also can’t sleep worrying about bills, who also spend dreary days surfing job listings, who also scrimp to stay fed.…
Bad data underlie global warming claim
Global warming is currently one of the most contentious issues. Everyone recognizes there have been changes in global climate. The big question is whether the changes have been caused exclusively or to a large degree by man. Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth documents his belief that humans are the cause of this warming and…
Barbara McCaleb
NEW TIMES: How long has the SLO Chess Club been around, and how did it get started? MCCALEB: On and off over the years, there have been different SLO Chess Clubs, but when I retired from Cal Poly in 1991, my pastor gave me permission to form one at the Church Of The Nazarene around…
It’s all relative
The other day, maybe it was the other week, there was a drug bust in front of a Subway in SLO. I know, I know, big surprise. Getting baked goes hand in hand with jonesing to eat fresh. But this alleged dealer has a 9 to 5 at Caltrans—or used to have one—which is right…
The siren song of the road
I share a small one-bedroom apartment with my girlfriend in Cayucos but feel aligned with homeless people. From my volunteer work with the unfortunate who have no place to call home, I’ve learned there are some who chose the life they lead. Rejecting what is defined as ‘living’ within our current system, they have nipped…
Gay marriage should not be legal
Same-sex marriage may not be a pressing issue for the majority of citizens, although it is vitally important to those who are intimately concerned with the issue. Most embrace the freedoms granted to all Americans by the Bill of Rights. All individuals have the right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness even when that pursuit…
Gay marriage won’t doom humanity
Regarding “Stay in the closet” (Jan.14): David Baskett can state his opinion, that’s his prerogative, and I’m sure there are many who agree with him, as well as many others who think differently. Baskett wrote, “it is a death sentence if society abandons normal relations between men and women.” If I understand his apocalyptic theory,…
Gravity’s rainbow
The Los Osos Waste Water Project went before the California Coastal Commission on Jan. 14 to finalize permitting. The hearing, which included a large number of local appellants including the Sierra Club, ended with a denial of a coastal development permit by the commission, based on finding substantial issues with the project. The commission ordered a…
Some welcome
On Jan. 8 my wife and I and another couple were returning to California from a vacation in Baja, Mexico. We had reached the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspection booth in my pickup and had given our passports to the inspector. All of a sudden the entire busiest border crossing in the world…
Don’t throw money down the drain
Los Osos green sewer supporters caught the attention of the Coastal Commission and got a de novo hearing for at least four substantial issues. It’s rare that a project has so many appellants (27) but it clearly shows that this three-year, $7-million-plus gravity sewer design project is flawed throughout. Supervisor Bruce Gibson exaggerated the pollution…
Build something
John Maynard Keynes said, once we reach an age of abundance, perhaps we will recognize the vices we called virtues—such as getting and spending money—as the vices they are and get on instead with worthwhile human pursuits. While working in a think tank in Heidelberg, Germany, during the 1970s, I was impressed by their realization…
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:…
Midnight Cellars 2007 Pinot Noir Aquarius Paso Robles
This ripe, rich Pinot Noir has aromas of prunes and sweet black cherry. Flavors are well-balanced on the palate: The plummy notes are highlighted with dark chocolate and spice, making it an easy-drinking wine on its own. It’s also a good choice for grilled pork or lamb chops with herbs, roast beef, or pasta with…
Twilight fever!
Edward Cullen! If your heart just melted, check the pocket of your Hello Kitty backpack—there’s probably a junior high school ID in there, and when you signed it, you probably made a little heart symbol instead of dotting an “i.” Well guess what? Edward Cullen, or rather the actor Robert Pattinson who plays him, is…
