Cal Poly students create new ‘guilt-free’ snack from school project
For many people, eating healthier in the new year equates to cutting out desserts and high-sugar foods, a temptation hard to resist after the holidays. To college students and beyond, everyone is always looking for a healthier alternative to their favorite snacks and treats without taking the blow from the “bad stuff.” Two Cal Poly…
Paso Robles school district plans to review transgender student policies
As debate over transgender student participation in sports and access to school facilities continues to play out nationally, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board agreed to formally revisit the topic as an informational item following public comment on Jan. 13. During the meeting, students, parents, and community members spoke about transgender students using…
Sichuan Kitchen ramps up unique dining experiences from its new location in SLO
In the Chinese zodiac, 2025 was the Year of the Snake, a time for shedding old skin and reinventing oneself, according to Garrett and Coco Morris, co-owners of Sichuan Kitchen SLO in San Luis Obispo. Mark your calendarsSichuan Kitchen SLO, located at 2078 Parker St., unit 110, in San Luis Obispo, will host a Lunar…
A $200,000 settlement ends Cambria ex-fire chief lawsuit amid pattern of past firings
The Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) will pay its former fire chief, Justin Vincent, $200,000 to settle a lawsuit over his 2023 firing. “The board approved a settlement agreement to resolve the case without admitting liability,” district legal counsel Tim Carmel said during a Dec. 29 board meeting. “Under the agreement, the district’s insurer, the…
The Clark Center presents the stage production of I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce, on Jan. 24
At a time when freedom of speech feels increasingly imperiled, a show about seminal, iconic, and deeply controversial stand-up comic, social critic, and satirist Lenny Bruce seems timelier than ever. Cue I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce coming to the Clark Center on Saturday, Jan. 24 (7:30 p.m.; mature audiences; $45 to $75…
SLO switches to single vote method after settling voting rights lawsuit
Two years of negotiations with the country’s oldest Latino voter registration nonprofit culminated in an electoral system change for the city of San Luis Obispo. Starting November 2026, all eligible voters in SLO will only cast one vote for City Council every two years. The two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes will win…
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is good but gory
Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) directs this fourth installment of the 28 Days Later franchise, the second film in what’s being billed as the 28 Years Later trilogy. Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Ex Machina, Civil War) returns as screenwriter. Taking up where 28 Years Later (2025) left off, the story follows young Spike (Alfie…
TAAG chair resigns, board removes longtime member after months of conflict
The Templeton Area Advisory Group (TAAG) voted unanimously on Jan. 15 to remove longtime board member and Vice Chair Murray Powell following the resignation of former Chair Jennifer Jones, who cited ongoing misconduct and disorderly meetings. Jones announced her resignation in a Dec. 15 letter to the community, describing what she said were repeated violations…
People We Meet on Vacation presses familiar rom-com buttons
Quite literally pulled from the storyline of one of the greatest rom coms ever made, this very When Harry Met Sally flick presents us with two opposites who end up being magnets. Both Boston College students, both from Nowheresville, Ohio—that seems to be about where their similarities end. PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATIONWhat’s it rated?…
SLO County man sues Grover Beach and Santa Maria for alleged police misconduct
A San Luis Obispo County resident sued the cities of Grover Beach and Santa Maria, alleging that their police departments colluded to protect an officer with a reported history of misconduct. In his April 2025 lawsuit, SLO resident Casey Johnston claimed that Santa Maria police officer Jason Zickuhr “assaulted” him using a firearm after an…
Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is an artistic response to California’s destructive wildfires
Directed by Bay Area queer icons Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, this 2025 documentary is their artistic response to the devastating 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires in Northern California, the latest in a trilogy of queer environmental films after Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story 2014) and Water Makes Us Wet: An Ecosexual Adventure…
Artist Samantha Nye, whose work focuses on older nonbinary women, presents Web of Love at Cuesta College
You know you’re encountering an artist with a vivid sense of humor when she titles her painting series Attractive People, Doing Attractive Things in Attractive Places. Samantha Nye’s paintings celebrate older queer women—usually in their 70s—in provocative scenes. Don’t fear the queerCuesta’s Art Gallery presents Web of Love, a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Samantha…
Sculpture Jam, a public art piece by the late Bruce Johnson, goes on display Jan. 30
The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) continues to collaborate with the city of San Luis Obispo’s Public Art Program to beautify the city. The newest piece, Sculpture Jam by the late sculptor Bruce Johnson, will be installed in the greenspace by the museum (1010 Broad St.) on Friday, Jan. 30, at noon, and the…
Art Center Morro Bay presents For the Birds, a group show in various media
If you’re a birder, Morro Bay is a treasure trove for observation. From loons to grebes to pelicans to cormorants, Morro Bay has them all and dozens more. Art Center Morro Bay celebrates all things winged with For the Birds, a group exhibition in various media that hangs through Monday, Feb. 16. “Visitors will have…
The San Simeon saga continues, and the end is coming one way or another
Our small, disadvantaged community’s reorganization is plodding along through the LAFCO-required, elaborate studies and reviews. Time and money are running out while the community is being kept in the dark. San Simeon CSD was on the verge of collapse in 2025. Thankfully, SLO County stepped in with a CalWARN emergency agreement and provided a part-time…
It’s time to stand up to the bully
Like a big, out-of-control bully, America strides across the world, making enemies wherever it goes, acting as if there will be no consequences. Both our president and our country are behaving like spoiled children, demanding whatever they want and giving nothing in return. Our leaders insult the fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers who fought…
Everyone should be safe from unwarranted immigration enforcement
We commend the SLO County Board of Supervisors for hosting a mandated TRUTH Act public forum as part of the essential need to hold government to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. We look forward to a frank and comprehensive presentation from Sheriff Ian Parkinson. The California Legislature enacted the Transparent Review of Unjust…
San Luis Coastal should sell Morro Elementary to Morro Bay
In recent weeks, San Luis Coastal Unified School District approved more than a $5 million budget cut that will impact staffing, counseling, and programs, such as music, librarians, and athletics. This decision was met with strong opposition from parents, teachers, and students. The district said that its income COVID funding ended and funding from Diablo…
Trump drives Europe away while trying to dominate it
The first few weeks of the New Year have demonstrated that 2026—the “semi-quincentennial” of our nation’s founding—represents what Time columnist Ian Bremmer calls a “turning point in history.” If that sounds ominous, that’s because it is. My gut is feeling the same dismay I felt the year I turned 16, 1968: Our nation was torn…
Millennial dreams
As you head west in Grover Beach, things start to look taller than they were before, a little more building and a little less sky. It feels claustrophobic, but that’s progress, right? Well, for some—of course. “Groovy Grover Beach is going away if this continues,” city resident Kelvin Coveduck said. “We just want responsible building,…
A group of Grover Beach residents worry that tall housing developments on West End will block coastal views
In what city officials and builders consider a nod to a modern future, multi-story residences are set to dot the West End of Grover Beach—but some residents consider the change a disruption of the small beach town’s character. “You might as well go back to Grover City, what it was called in the ’90s, because…
