Cover Story
What lies beneath
On Feb. 7, 2007, Excelaron, LLC, made one of the craziest bets on the Huasna Valley wagered in nearly 20 years. The company began buying up oil and gas lease rights and shortly thereafter applied in June to drill for oil within a 240-acre region of Howard Mankins’ ranch. Throughout the history of oil prospecting…
What peeves you about other drivers?
Danielle Ferrin retail sales manager “People not using their blinker.” Jorre Walker operations manager “People who drive below the speed limit in the fast lane.” Alix Swanson cook “When people turn without using their blinker.” Chris Sallee bartender “People who leave their blinker on when they have no intention of turning.”
SLO music scene dodges a bullet
Downtown Brew is closing! Music is dead in SLO Town! There is no Santa Claus! OK, rumor mongers, if you haven’t heard, here’s the quick version of what’s really happening with Downtown Brew. It’s just been transferred to a new operator. Calm down! The good news is Todd Newman will continue to be involved…
Calculate your carbon footprint
Ever wonder about your carbon footprint? Virtually every act of consumption, every trip in a car or plane, releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The average American produces an estimated 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide in a single year, but there are many opportunities to decrease that number. The Internet is full of calculators specifically…
Everyone had a gay old time
I’m still waiting for a cogent argument defending Prop. 8, the initiative that changed the California Constitution to limit marriage to a union between a man and a woman. Hmm? Same-sex marriage will lead to bestiality and pedophilia, you say? No, I mean “cogent,” as in not idiotic, sensationalist, and fallacious. Anyone? Bueller? It’s Sunday,…
Into the Woods, and San Diego
Just three weeks off a month-long run of Cabaret, Kelrik Productions is poised to stage its final production on the Central Coast, three performances of Into the Woods July 16-18 at the Spanos Theatre. The fairytale is the fifth show of Kelrik’s 2010 season, titled “Breakaway” after singer Kelly Clarkson’s second album. Last summer, Kelrik…
Shake it up
Nature and theater unite at this summer’s Central Coast Shakespeare Festival (CCSF), staged at the serene River Oaks Amphitheatre outdoors in Paso Robles. Two plays, Freyda Thomas’s The Gamester and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, are running in repertory during the next four weekends. Having alternating plays each week allows the same company of performers to…
Santa Maria, to Monte Carlo, to Indianapolis
It’s a long way but a fast drive from Santa Maria to Monte Carlo, as local motor-racing legend Townsend Bell can attest. Bell moved to San Luis Obispo as a teenager, honed his skills at a go-kart track beside the Santa Maria airport, took his driving prowess to Europe, and there earned the opportunity to…
Bus building blues
Like many homeowners who made bad real-estate choices when times were good, San Luis Obispo Regional Transportation Authority is burdened by a risky deal turned sour. Times are tough for the RTA. Federal and state transportation funding that had been mother’s milk to it and other public bus companies has become scarce. Costs are rising,…
Phony prescription leads to arrests
Two women were arrested after one allegedly forged a prescription slip and another allegedly tried to use it at a local pharmacy to obtain the painkiller Vicodin. Kathy Joy Peters, 39, a current employee with the San Luis Obispo County Mental Health Services Department, is charged with two felonies, including forging a prescription slip and…
The largest county union could get smaller
It was a small victory for members of the San Luis Obispo General Employees’ Association (SLOGEA) when the new union was permitted to take a vote on July 15 and possibly split from the largest public union in the county: San Luis Obispo County Employees’ Association (SLOCEA). A simple majority vote could split the 179…
Budget threatens 11,000 Central Coast jobs
A July 2010 study by UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education estimates 11,000 full-time equivalent positions—mostly in Health and Human Services—will be cut on the Central Coast in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The study defined the Central Coast region as comprised of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and…
Police and fire unions leave city manager’s task force
Union officials have pulled their representatives out of the San Luis Obispo City Manager’s budget task force. Citing the “elitist nature” of the group, SLO Firefighter’s Association President Erik Baskin and Police Association Matt Blackstone have boycotted the meeting. City Manager Katie Lichtig had assembled the task force to meet twice a month to advise…
Proposed quarry upsets Santa Margaritans
Residents of the Santa Margarita area turned out in force at a July 8 meeting to voice their fears about a proposed granite quarry east of town. Around 100 people showed up at a scoping meeting to tell county planners what issues should be covered in the environmental impact report for the proposed Las Pilitas…
Pin down the senate candidates
The League of Women Voters, in collaboration with KCBX radio and New Times, seeks questions from SLO County voters to ask the four candidates in the race for the 15th District Senate seat vacated by Abel Maldonado. Questions are being solicited throughout the district, which extends from Santa Clara County to Santa Barbara County. The…
Learn about cannabis
Richard Donald, who belongs to a local medical cannabis cooperative, is host of the second annual Central Coast Cannabis Symposium, which will take place on Saturday, July 18 at the SLO Veterans’ Hall. It’s an event intended not only to support patients who use the drug legitimately under prevailing California regulations, but also to advocate…
Are we paying for an agency that’s simply trying to stop us from having fun?
I have no problem with a police presence to stop drunk driving that can result from such an out-in-the-sticks event as the Pozo Saloon show (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8), and I am more than happy the police intervened to bring down one drunk dude—I hate it when “that guy” bumps into me on…
County should report raid expenditures
After reading about the Pozo Saloon fiasco (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8) I don’t know whether to laugh or cry: 50 undercover cops—and all they got was a couple of DUIs, a drunk in public, four Vicodins, and a very few minor marijuana possessions! An operation that was such a bust the cops were…
Pozo bust is another lost battle in the war on drugs
As a taxpayer I am outraged at the cost of deploying 50 officers to bust up a peaceful music festival (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8), to arrest a few questionable “drug pushers.” I am dismayed at the lengths the police will go to win a few brownie points. In my estimation those officers are…
Commander John calls the raid a success?
I have two things to say about the raid (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8). First, shame on Pozo Saloon for letting this take place, and at a reggae concert, no less: Are they serious? They’d certainly better worry about the impact on future concerts, because I won’t go to another event there, neither will…
They had it coming
What marketing genius thought up the 420 Festival (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8) and didn’t expect the cops to show up? I can’t wait for the Check Kiting Festival or the Drinking and Driving Festival! Concealed Handgun Palooza, anyone? Sheesh, it’s no wonder they call it dope.
Pozo dragnet was a travesty of justice
I was appalled, again, when I read your article on the fiasco that happened at the Pozo Saloon on April 18 (“What happened in Pozo?” July 8). This was especially difficult for me, because my child was one of the “Pozo 8.” To see my child’s mug shot on the local news, and his name…
Devin Sullivan, Customer Service Manager
NEW TIMES: How did Tennis Warehouse begin? SULLIVAN: Tennis Warehouse was started by Drew Munster in 1992 as a 500-square-foot specialty tennis shop in San Luis Obispo, where we still maintain a storefront. In 1995 our website Tennis-Warehouse.com was launched, and full online ordering started in 1998. Munster naturally thought that the Internet was the…
Verily, to all my fans
Bring me a stein of mead and a wench or gent to feed me mutton! Whoa. Sorry about that outburst. With the Central Coast Renaissance Festival coming to town, I’ve developed what can only be described as a case of Elizabethan Tourrettes. Fie! Actually, a few of you readers believed thy county be a hideous…
Tell legislators not to cut health services
With a $20-billion state budget deficit, Californians face a fundamental choice: We can protect seniors, people with disabilities, and children from another round of devastating cuts to their health and human services—on top of last year’s deep cuts—or we can protect corporations from losing $14 billion in tax breaks the state has provided in recent…
Clubs
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music on the patio at 5:30pm on 7/16: Billy Estrada and Friends. 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 Beach Road, Shell Beach, 773-4300 or TheDolphinBay.com. ELMO’S…
A fine vintage for Costa de Oro
Winemaker Gary Burk recently told me his 2008 vintage wines are the best line-up of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs he’s made since he founded Costa de Oro in 1994. “The 2008 vintage is dynamite, one of the best years, across the board, that we’ve ever made,” Burk said proudly. That’s all it took to capture…
Columbia Estates 2007 Riesling Grand Estates Columbia Valley
It’s not easy to find wines of good value under $15, but this tasty white is an excellent buy at BevMo! for $10.99 because you get a second bottle for only five cents more! A tad sweet, this is best with spicy hot Asian stir-fries like shrimp and broccoli in oyster sauce or pad Thai.…
RN Estate Vineyard 2008 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard
During a recent tasting of Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noirs by ten top Pinot producers, RN’s 2008 was one of my favorites. It’s beautifully balanced, offering an array of bright cherry, blackberry, and plum aromas and flavors. It’s nicely nuanced with notes of spice, French oak, and minerality. This is a wine for special celebrations and…
