Cover Story
She wears many helmets: Central Coast Roller Derby members are parents, professionals, athletes, mentors, idols, and volunteers
If you want to play roller derby, you have to know how to fall. Fortunately, Dottie May Doomsday is happy to teach you—assuming you’re a 12- to 17-year-old girl or boy equipped with knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, a helmet, and mouth guard. “It’ll be a one-knee fall,” she instructs the dozen adolescents gathered…
Meaningful mentoring: Local nonprofits find success with volunteer mentors, but seek more help
Monique Cox remembers exactly how she felt when her mentor, Doris Diel, first came into her life. Cox’s mother had left, and her father had passed away. She was placed in the foster-care system at age 12 and shuttled between different homes. Then, during her sophomore year in high school, Cox met Diel through a…
Moonshiner Collective plays SLO Brew on Jan. 10
After spending 23 years observing the local music scene, I can say in all honesty that things wax and wane. Sometimes there are scant local bands worth seeing, and other times there’s a glut of creative excellence. This Friday, Jan. 10, will provide evidence that the local music scene is in the middle of an…
Cal Poly’s free movie screening, and Festival Mozaic’s call for artists
Into The Hornet’s Nest On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Cal Poly will host a free screening of the as-yet-unreleased documentary film The Hornet’s Nest. Filmmakers Mike and Carlos Boettcher, a father-and-son team, embedded with the U.S. Forces in Afghanistan to make the film, which tells the soldiers’ stories of survival as well as their own. Mike…
Beer, brats, and a loss by the Packers …
It’s Saturday, Jan. 4, and I’m walking into Smart & Final to pick up the ingredients for Swedish meatballs, American style. After a couple hours in the Crock-Pot, I’m bringing them to McCarthy’s Irish Pub for a potluck during the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers wildcard playoff, and what football fan doesn’t like…
The SLO Jewish Film Festival is back at the Palm
What is a Jewish film? If it’s simply a film about the Jewish experience, then anyone, regardless of religion or ethnicity, can make one. If it’s a film by a Jewish director, then Ghostbusters, Fargo, and 2001: A Space Odyssey all fit the bill. Jewishness is such an integral part of American entertainments—from music to…
Clubs 1/9/14
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…
The Shredder you deserve
I’ve always thought of blue as the color that best expresses depression, but my mood these days would most aptly be called brown. Before you let fly with the poop jokes—and shame on you, when I’m discussing an important issue like the possible, most likely, almost definite destruction of Earth—take a peek outside your window.…
Don’t force your navels on children
Allow me, please, to speak out regarding the Jan. 2 letters “Thanks for the freedom of cheeks,” “Happy Newd Year,” and “Billie Holiday, where are you?” by three not-so-bright adults. Such speculators forget that a majority of us do not like nudity in public, and that Pirate’s Cove is not privately owned by nudists. Every…
Tick tock
Ms. Weltner, please pass on my many thanks for a well written “critique” by Lily Meryash (“Take it outside, kids!” Jan. 2). As a humanistic-existential psychotherapist, it brought me a great deal of joy to read those words so richly descriptive and reflective of the clock and our “meaningless” lives. I was surprised to see…
No promises to live in the past, present, and future
Otis Page attempts to justify his anti-gay beliefs as being based on scripture (“Who’s intolerant now?” Jan. 2). Of course, innumerable crazies throughout history would say the same, from the Crusades to the Inquisition to the 9/11 hijackers. The preacher/slave trader Cotton Mather was not engaged in a filthy, murderous racket, to hear him tell…
Gum is gross, but it’s art
I congratulate you for publishing the five essays about public art written by Cal Poly students (“Take it outside, kids!” Jan. 2). They show original thought, polish, and are the result of what appears to be excellent teaching. I don’t personally appreciate all of our public art in SLO, but am happy it is proliferating.…
Magnifique critiques
I feel compelled to postpone the mundane tasks of putting some order into my hectic, post-holiday existence and shout “Bravo!” to the five very thoughtful and insightful critiques/essays contributed by the Cal Poly students of Professor Helms’ aesthetics class, which, in itself, is a task to be applauded (“Take it outside, kids!” Jan. 2)! Being…
I support beautification
I am not surprised to hear that the people who drive on our beach and dunes are opposed to the beautification of Grand Avenue and its convention center. The off-roaders wish to keep Oceano Beach/Dunes and vicinity wild and dirty so they can keep driving all over them unchecked. I support the beautification of Grand…
Bring down walls
Leave it to The Simpsons to name a key social problem. I remember an episode where the date for the end of the world is announced. In response, the different religious groups of Springfield hit the streets shouting and waving posters holding competing slogans: “Jesus is the Way,” “Allah is God,” and “Jews are the…
Ethiopia SK8
In 2011, Cambrian Sean Stromsoe was invited to Ethiopia with three days’ notice. He served as part of a film crew with a NGO (non-governmental organization) that was tackling elephantiasis. While abroad Stromsoe met Abeneezer “A.B.” Temesgen, an Ethiopian teen who exhibited some pretty dope skate skills. The two hit it off and soon A.B.…
Cougars & Mustangs
We’re nearing the end of the first week or so of Spring Quarter, Mustangs! How did it go? Cuesta students don’t return until Jan. 21, but usually there’s something to attempt to balance that all out, like a different break being shorter or starting earlier or the likes. For those who are new to college,…
Our handy volunteer flow chart offers you a quick guide to donating your time in SLO County
Giving of your time for the benefit of others—be it for kids, our little furry friends, or for the health of the environment we all get to enjoy—is an experience as rewarding as it is laudable. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities on the Central Coast from a wealth of invaluable organizations that could use…
SLO to revamp appeals process
Much to the annoyance of plenty of San Luis Obispo residents, city leaders have encouraged code enforcers to be more proactive. That has led to an increase in administrative citations. Now, however, the city has to figure out how to deal with all these extra citations that residents actually fight. Since the City Council implemented…
Man arrested in Atascadero veterans memorial incident
After a video camera caught a Chevy truck rolling into Atascadero’s Faces of Freedom Veterans Memorial on New Year’s Day—causing about $15,000 in damage to marble benches and light fixtures—police quickly launched a search for the culprit. The original announcement provided a detailed description of the vehicle, later refined to describe a 1988-1997 maroon Chevrolet…
Topaz Solar Farm goes online
The Topaz Solar Farm on the Carrizo Plain harnessed its first wave of electricity and sent it into the grid in mid-December. It’s one of two solar plants sitting at the far southeastern corner of San Luis Obispo County. The plant hit a 300-megawatt milestone, making it the biggest utility-scale photovoltaic solar facility providing energy…
Grover deals with the aftermath of a special meeting
After a contentious Dec. 30 special meeting ended with a lot of hurt feelings and little resolution, Grover Beach is now facing two separate problems regarding its long awaited Lodge and Conference Center project. According to City Manager Bob Perrault, the City Council will reconsider its approval of the lodge permit during its Jan. 21…
Jockeying for a Coastal Commission seat heats up
As the nomination deadline for an open seat on the highly influential California Coastal Commission approaches, San Luis Obispo County politicos are engaged in a chaotic game of musical chairs. The seat in question—the commission’s South Central Coast representative, encompassing SLO County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County—has been held by Ventura City Councilman Brian…
A suspected serial prowler freaks out a SLO neighborhood
A number of San Luis Obispo residents have recently had experiences they won’t soon forget, and the city police department is advising neighbors to look out for each other and be aware of their surroundings as officers try to determine the person or persons responsible for a number of beyond-freaky incidents involving suspected prowling. Since…
Ex-SLOPD detective’s informants take on the city
Days before the San Luis Obispo City Council’s Jan. 7 meeting, the city posted two closed session items on the agenda that outed two of the police department’s confidential informants. No reportable action was taken at the meeting, but the items were to discuss two claims against the city that allege Kip Holland and girlfriend…
SLO County’s long-serving clerk plans to retire
Each election season, at least two things have been a constant in San Luis Obispo County: Politicians shamelessly pander to the public, and there are plenty of long workdays and nights for the county clerk and her staff. But there won’t be too many more of those seasons for Julie Rodewald, who’s served as the…
Challenge accepted
Some people are just born with a pan in their hand and a spatula in their belt. Unfortunately, not all of us are blessed with the gift, or desire, to prepare a mouth-watering meal. The ability to create a five-star meal with grace and effortless perfection is highly sought after by most of us lazy…
Summerwood 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles and Bogle 2011 Essential Red California
Summerwood 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles This pretty red, 100 percent cabernet sauvignon, offers bright notes of red and black cherries, blackberries, plums, cassis, and spice. Nuances of leather, bitter dark chocolate, and oak aging make it layered and complex. This is a perfect steakhouse wine that’s sure to complement any grilled steak.…
It’s that bargain time of year again: The county’s best restaurants provide fine dining at value prices during SLO Restaurant Month
I love Restaurant Month in SLO County because it offers locals an outstanding dining experience. Not only do residents on a tight budget get to eat in restaurants they couldn’t normally afford, they get an extraordinary meal featuring three special courses for only $30 per person. As for those participating restaurants that normally aren’t all…
