Cover Story
A difficult diagnosis: Learn about the Kids’ Cancer Research Foundation, how they started, and what they stand for
For more than a decade, Frank Kalman worked tirelessly to keep his daughter alive. Calli Kalman was diagnosed with neuroblastoma—cancer of the nerves, usually found in children—when she was 12 years old. That original diagnosis came 12 years ago and sparked a protracted battle with the disease that’s included milestones most patients with a similar…
California’s drought intensifies as the governor declares a state of emergency
It’s no secret that a drought has engulfed California. On Jan. 17, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency, which has added to the stir and comes as an order from the top for residents and state agencies to begin acting accordingly. The declaration calls for 20 percent across-the-board water use reductions and…
If you build it: Yogi architect Peter Sterios embraces change
It’s 6:30 a.m. on a recent Thursday in San Luis Obispo, still dark, and Peter Sterios is guiding a group of early-rising yogis through their warm-up sequences. I mean, probably. I assume so, anyway. I’m still outside, breathlessly locking up my bike in front of Sterios’ studio, mBODY Yoga & Massage. I’m not a morning…
Morro Bay’s ruling majority lacks the founding spirit
After attending the recent Morro Bay 50th birthday dinner, I realized just what it is the Mayor Jaime Irons does not “get” about Morro Bay. It’s the spirit of independence and local responsibility. I’ve lived in this area since 1974 and am proud, grateful, and honored to have been associated with families that can boast…
The mind-belly connection: Twin Cal Poly studies aim to change the fitness status quo around pregnancies
Read more about the Healthy Beginnings study (.pdf). Cori Meichtry is a mother of two and a longtime middle school teacher for the Lucia Mar Unified School District. You can imagine that when it comes to managing kids, she’s pretty confident. When Meichtry became pregnant with her third child, her doctor asked her and her…
If you had to invent a new yoga pose, what would you name it?
Dan Hack Biologist “Sleeping Buddha.” Kelcie Moorman Nursing Student “The Starfish.” Kelly Dickersen Student “A Standing Giraffe.” Sean Murphy Graphics and Web Developer “Downward-Facing Dingle-Hopper.”
Actor John Corbett proves he’s more than a pretty face
Man, I sure dug Chris Stevens, the character on Northern Exposure. He was a disc jockey at the local radio station in Cicely, Alaska, but also a conceptual sculptor and the most well read person in town thanks to a stint as an inmate. He’d intersperse his radio show with philosophic musings from the likes…
Send your Valentines to John Waters
Dear John … Has trash cinema auteur John Waters touched you in ways you’ll never forget? Let me rephrase that. Do you love cult filmmaker John Waters? Do you love his movies, like Mondo Trasho, Crybaby, and even the one in which the late drag-queen diva Divine eats dog poop? Especially that one? Do you…
The “makers” trend comes to the Central Coast
It’s Saturday, Jan. 18, and I’m in Santa Maria, walking into a non-descript warehouse space on W. Betteravia Road. The place is abuzz with activity. Some gals are hula hooping outside with lighted hoops. A bunch of kids are painting on T-shirts under a pop-up in the parking lot. Many more people are gathered around…
Cal Poly’s Orchesis Dance Company presents ‘Vitality’
Douglas Nielsen’s Adagio 2014 feels like modern dance’s expression of the human life cycle. The piece opens in stillness. But it’s a charged stillness, the kind one experiences when standing perfectly still before an audience: performing, yet doing nothing. Holding ground against overwhelming quiet. Dancers stand upright, facing the audience. Suddenly, they release a collective…
Clubs 1/23/14
Goin’ South … THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. CUVEE BISTRO AND CHAMPAGNE BAR: 550 1st St., Avila Beach, 595-2245. Live music Thurs. and Sat. 6-9pm. 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…
Peterson resigns from her APCD alternate position
Grover Beach Mayor Debbie Peterson took another step away from the county Air Pollution Control District (APCD) on Jan. 21, as she resigned from her position as an alternate member of the board. City Manager Bob Perrault said that Peterson indicated to the city in mid-January that she was resigning immediately from her position as…
Coastal Commission nominees are finalized
Just before the Jan. 22 nomination deadline, a total of five nominees for an open California Coastal Commission seat were sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for perusal. Pismo Beach City Councilman Erik Howell and Grover Beach Mayor Debbie Peterson were nominated from San Luis Obispo County. Goleta Mayor Michael T. Bennett was the sole Santa…
Something sweet this way comes: Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab celebrates grand opening in SLO
Fictional ice cream scientist, Doc Burnstein, is bringing his lab to Higuera Street with the grand opening of Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab’s San Luis Obispo location on Friday, Jan. 24, and they are giving their first 100 paying customers golden tickets. Doors will open to the public starting at 5 p.m. and will go…
Winemaker Lane Tanner returns to Santa Barbara County to co-partner Lumen
It was quite intriguing to read about a new Santa Maria-based wine company named Lumen before I had an opportunity to taste its new releases of chardonnay and pinot noir. The charming newsletters were informative and appealing, clearly written by an individual who was not only passionate about wine, he had to be a professional…
Lumen 2012 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County and Sinor LaVallee 2012 Pinot Noir SLO County
This week I’ve focused on two excellent Central Coast pinot noirs at value prices, which means they’ll sell out fast. It’s an opportunity to compare SLO and Santa Barbara counties’ outstanding and unique pinot styles. Lumen 2012 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County This pretty pinot noir expressed exactly what I love about Lane Tanner’s…
No pain, all gain: Mission Animal Hospital offers laser therapy to for pets
He lies in his bed in pain, unable to do the things you know he once loved. It’s finally gotten him. The arthritis. It is everywhere from his back to his hips, making him yelp from the constant pain. You want so badly to help him, to ease him of the unbearable agony that you…
Cougars & Mustangs
Greetings, readers! I think that a nice amount of luck is headed in Cal Poly’s direction, or at least its advertising team. According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Horse has nearly arrived. I expect a great amount of embellishment, countless opportunities to claim that this will be Cal Poly’s year! Of course,…
Community Health Center moves from Morro Bay to SLO
At first, news of the impending closure of the county’s only Community Health Center facility, in Morro Bay, sent ripples through the city’s low-income patients who rely on its convenient location. A few of those patients even took their concerns to the City Council, pleading for an effort to keep the center local, worried about…
A former SLO cop claims the city inflated facts to fire him following drug charges
A former San Luis Obispo police officer who pleaded guilty to delivering misbranded drugs into interstate commerce has filed the opening brief in his lawsuit against the city, arguing that city officials were overzealous in terminating him from the department. Daniel McDow, who was detained at the San Ysidro border crossing along with another SLO…
The bye-bye Measure Y plan
San Luis Obispo officials are beginning to prepare for the potential loss of 12 percent of the city’s general fund budget. On Jan. 21, city councilmembers voted unanimously in favor of a staff proposal to prepare three slates of options for a contingency plan in the event that Measure Y—the one-half percent sales tax enacted…
Cal Poly Rugby Club faces investigations following a reported assault
On Jan. 17, one day before a scheduled Cal Poly rugby home game against UC Santa Cruz, New Times received word that the administration had put a hold on the Cal Poly team’s activities. Cal Poly Rugby Head Coach David Burnett referred a request for comment to University Spokesman Matt Lazier, who had this comment…
Pimp my cave
I’m trying to put together a Pinterest board for decorating an oblong, dank space—specifically, a cave—but I realized that I need to find a company that provides Internet access to my new nontraditional digs. Also, anyone know a contractor willing to install a Jacuzzi in a rock wall? And lastly, I’m gonna need an exterminator…
Lost in translation
Otis Page and the Duck Dynasty actor are wrong when they say homosexuality is a sin (“Who’s intolerant now?” Jan. 2). No place in the Bible, and I mean no place, does it say homosexuality is a sin. If your Bible says it is a sin, as does my mother’s, it is seriously mistranslated. Leviticus…
So if we’re all like Hill, all will be well?
I recently read Supervisor Adam Hill’s 333-word letter to the editor (“Who is susceptible to conspiracy-theory thinking?” Jan. 16). It’s astonishing that an elected representative would write such a condescending, demeaning, ill-informed, and extremely biased screed disguised as an indictment on “conspiracy theorists” (read conservatives). The letter was nothing more than an implement with which…
Obstructionism in A-Town
Regarding “Changes abound” in the Jan. 16 issue of New Times: To refute global warming at this point in time is reckless, irresponsible, and bordering on lunacy. So who can really be surprised at the level of steadfast ignorance exhibited by Atascadero City Council members Fonzi and Moreno? The editing of the Draft Cap Action…
The story is in the soil
Water is such a big deal that it is the No. 1 reason for the decline of life on this earth that has been recorded by human beings. The animal and plant kingdoms share a “Goldilocks Principle” of being in a “just right state” (having necessary boundaries and good measures): not too little water, not…
