Cover Story
Less is more
Each year, New Times and our sister newspaper Santa Maria Sun join in staging the celebration of brevity that is 55 Fiction. The papers’ founder, Steve Moss, invented the pointedly devilish contest years ago, inviting writers from around the Central Coast—and world!—to pen tidy little tales that wrap up in less than 56 words. Four…
County evicts homeless
Sunny Acres owner Dan DeVaul recently told New Times that his sober living facility “is fighting for its life.” A recent injunctive order from the San Luis Obispo Superior Court could, in fact, put the contentious property on its deathbed and roughly two dozen people may once again be left with no shelter. Judge Charles…
What is your favorite memory of your father?
Dave McDonald retired corrections officer “Having Thanksgiving dinner together every year.” Karen Dillis home educator “Sailing in Maryland.” Kelsey Tyler nanny “Going on a bike ride together in Mammoth and returning to find a bear in our friend’s car.” Taylor Biehn self-employed “We used to build rockets together and shoot them off in the park.”
Flying solo
If it seems as though Siko has disappeared from the local scene, that’s because the band has. “After touring the country for two months with Siko in the summer of 2008, I came back to California and began working toward my MFA in Creative Writing (poetry) from San Diego State University, which meant Siko would…
Rockin’ the Café
We missed getting this important line up into the Clubs Section, so here’s the skinny on Otter Rock Café, located at 885 Embarcadero in Morro Bay (Info: 772-1420.) Tues.-Wed: Karaoke at 8pm. Thurs.: Open jam at 7:30pm. 7/2: Mighty Croon Dogs, 8pm, 7/3-7/4: Versatones, 8pm and 7:30pm, 7/5: Spike – solo guitar. Check out some…
Clark Center’s 2010-2011 Season
Tickets for the Clark Center’s 2010-2011 season go on sale to Association members on July 1. For information about joining the Association visit clarkcenter.org or call 489-4196. Tickets will be available to the general public on Aug. 1. The season begins on Sept. 12 with a performance by country music singer Darryl Worley. Season highlights…
Attack of the boob police!
I guess I should have known I was in for it when Jay Dismas wrote, “I got a real kick out of the first two paragraphs of Glen Starkey’s article about Candye Kane. Are you prepared for the onslaught of the pious folk in town?” I wrote back, “Ha! I dare to dream, but sadly,…
Doggie treat
I have to admit I was a little skeptical about whether or not Sylvia would be any good. The Drama Desk Award-winning play puts an unusual twist on the ever-popular plot device of a love triangle between a man and the two women competing for his heart; this time, one of the women is a…
Realign your compass
Cal Poly History professor and author George Cotkin is familiar with Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote to the effect that the danger of looking into an abyss is that it looks back. But that hasn’t stopped him from researching and writing a book—Morality’s Muddy Waters: Ethical Quandaries in Modern America—that dances within inches of the great and…
Kittens clog county shelter
They found her near the Paso Robles Airport, unfettered and alone. Collected with others of her kind, she’s lived in a small cage in the corner of a bare concrete room at the county animal shelter for weeks. She barely raised her head when a New Times reporter tried to rouse her interest on a…
County renews public defender contracts worth $4.5 million annually
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors awarded four local law firms contracts to provide public defender services. The firm of Maguire and Ashbaugh received a four-year contract and will be paid $3,286,838 for the first year. J. Barry Schiavo will receive $595,920 a year to handle cases in which the primary public defender…
No more Noori
The controversial dean of Cal Poly’s engineering college has officially stepped down from his post, according to a press release from the university. Rumors of Mohammad Noori’s ouster had circulated for weeks leading up to the June 24 announcement. Noori sent an e-mail to staff on June 15 in which he remained ambiguous about upcoming…
Attorney general takes over Bolts case
Undersheriff Steve Bolts’ court date was postponed after a request from the California Attorney General. Bolts, who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Atascadero on June 5, was scheduled to be arraigned on June 30 for two misdemeanor charges of DUI and driving while having a blood alcohol content of .08…
Bookout is 0 for 2
Bill Bookout, owner of the former Oceano Nursery, recently lost his lawsuit on appeal against a half-dozen government agencies over annual flooding on Highway 1 in Oceano. Bookout, it seems, lost because he didn’t sue early enough. The California 2nd District Court of Appeals on June 28 upheld an earlier SLO County Superior Court decision…
Prado Road initiative makes SLO city November ballet
An initiative to stop the extension of a road that could be a major traffic artery for the city will go before San Luis Obispo city voters. The initiative’s supporters gathered 3,200 signatures for a ballot measure that could stop the city’s plan to extend Prado Road through a portion of the South Hills open…
Governor blocks former Manson follower’s release
Five months after being recommended for release by a parole board, Bruce Davis is once again a lifer without a release date. Davis, 67, was a minor player in Charles Manson’s “family” in the late ’60s and was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 1972. He’s spent the last 30 years at California…
‘Machine Gun’ Krinsky gets prison time
An Arroyo Grande man convicted in June of weapons-related charges has been sentenced to four years in state prison. Howard Krinsky, 62, had contended throughout his two-week trial that he was a collector of rare and historic guns, but prosecutors alleged he provided illegal weapons to a close friend—Alan Garrison, who is currently serving a…
Closed to the public
The city manager of San Luis Obispo has assembled a group of employee representatives and “stakeholders” to advise her in planning for the next city budget. Though the group advising the recently hired city manager, Katie Lichtig, has been portrayed as representing a wide cross-section of city stakeholders, it is comprised mostly of business leaders…
Hobbyists protest bee ban
Bees go where they will, unconstrained by such imaginary boundaries as roads or county lines. Beekeepers, however, face bans that prevent them from keeping hives on unincorporated land in San Luis Obispo County. But, like the industrious insects, they’re hoping strength in numbers and creating enough buzz will reverse a county code that prevents them…
Networking for gardeners
If you are a gardener but have no yard or a landowner with unused land, Garden Matchmaking could be the perfect resource. The nonprofit service links gardeners with landowners to help grow their own food. Greg Ellis, who runs the program, came up with the idea for Garden Matchmaking when he was shopping at a…
Clubs
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music on the patio at 5:30pm. CAFÉ ANDREINI: 131 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 481-6117. Thurs.: Live music at 6pm. COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Dr., Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music Night every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO: 2727 Shell…
A cozy bistro invites romance
While I dined at Granada Bistro, the sight of a cute young woman adorned with artistic tattoos who sipped from a little blue bottle of Pommery Champagne through a straw, elicited a smile. She was a reminder of the engaging students who inspired my visit to this fabulous little European-style wine bar. Last May, I…
Rodney Strong 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Charlotte’s Home
I’ve always enjoyed the wines from this reliable producer in Sonoma County. But with this vintage, I was bowled over by this delightful white. It’s highly aromatic with bright, irresistible flavors of melon, pink grapefruit, and kiwi, weaved with a thread of minerality. Grown in vineyards in Alexander and Russian River valleys, this wine drinks…
Margerum 2009 Grenache Rosé Santa Ynez Valley
I love this elegant Rosé, a saignée of Grenache, by the renowned founder of the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, Doug Margerum. Delicious and refreshing, with none of the unbearable sweetness of cheap Rosé, this one’s for impressing your friends. Upfront flavors of strawberries, cherries, cranberries, and nuances of spice, with beautiful balance, this will…
Shevon Sullivan Owner of Anam Cre’ Pottery Studio
NEW TIMES: What inspired you to create a pottery studio? SULLIVAN: In my 30s, I took some pottery classes as well as becoming an art instructor for an independent charter school. After a few years of instructing, I realized that no one had an art studio at the time, and that’s when I decided to…
Paso Robles city council is indecisive
We the people of Paso Robles are missing chances for joint workshops between the city council and the planning commission on a Saturday, when people could participate in a town-hall forum about one of the most important Specific Plans in years. Fact: The city council debated for 30 minutes whether to start the meeting at…
Comments were indecent
Glen Starkey’s opening comments about Candye Kane (“I want Candye,” June 24) were entirely inappropriate, hurtful, and reflect the residue of a swaggering, macho culture. Starkey picked the wrong person to indulge in such vulgar dissection of a female into body parts. Freedom of speech may allow such derogatory, indecent language, but if New Times…
Grow up
In response to Glen Starkey’s write up about Candye Kane (“I want Candye,” June 24): Glen, what are you, 15? Put your adolescent tongue back in your head and grow up! What an insult to all women, but especially to female musicians, who have it hard enough in the business. Did you just pull out…
Spin masters are hiding the truth
So I see this front-page headline, “New Times investigates the economics of illegal immigration,” (June 24) and on your sister publication’s cover the same week, “Dollars and deportations.” Hmmm, I thought, very interesting; maybe someone is going to shed some light on the situation, especially here in Santa Maria. Well, upon reading both articles, one…
Prado Road initiative would improve traffic circulation
The story about the SLO city Prado Road initiative (“Not in my sports field,” June 17) lacked accurate information. It stated Prado Road would extend “through a portion of the South Hills Open Space and alongside the Damon-Garcia Sports Fields.” Actually, the proposed four-lane, truck-route highway and a major new bridge would be within the boundaries of Damon-Garcia…
Initiative would alter only a small part of planned route
In your Editor’s Note (June 17) you said the initiative proposed for the November ballot to prevent Prado Road from being extended adjacent to the Damon-Garcia sports fields in San Luis Obispo might scuttle the city’s Prado Road Plan altogether and housing development along with it. Sounds dramatic! In reality, only the eastern fifth of…
Lives in the balance
It makes me sad and upset to see Dan De Vaul being punished for trying to do some good in this world (“The Sunny Acres coup,” June 24). New Times reported Judge Charles Crandall is siding with the county because officials are saying most buildings on the ranch are unsafe for human occupancy. I would…
Taking the next step for California
What if California could raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to preserve vital state services without any tax increases? And what if at the same time, we could, without any new expense, help protect our endangered wilderness areas while making it harder for our kids to get drugs? That is precisely what…
The best that didn’t make it
There are a few things we here at New Times have come to expect from the yearly 55 Fiction contest: • The world is teeming with unrequited love, bashful loving gazes from across the classroom, pissed-off lovers who stab each other while cooking dinner, or the cotton-candy archetypal tales of we-met-in-high-school-and-now-we’re-getting-married-and-everything’s-magical. • The state of…
