Cover Story
Little Brother is growing up
On top of a city parking structure in downtown SLO there’s a small radio tower protected by chain-link fence and razor wire. It’s here that the video images from dozens of cameras perched on traffic signals across the city converge. They travel along the bundles of wires snaking down metal pipes, through five stories of…
What makes a good father?
Jesse Harper street musician “What makes a good teacher?” Jeremiah Lee U.C. Berkeley student “Someone who’s willing to listen, not someone who’s distant: someone who can be a friend.” Jewel Benoit retired credential evaluator, C.S.U. Bakersfield “Someone who listens, who’s loving and caring.” Emma Jordan (with father, Jeremiah) “My dad is good; he married Momma.…
The California International Choral Festival … and poetry!
Still the only event of its kind in the United States, this three-day festival and competition, hosted by the Vocal Arts Ensemble of San Luis Obispo, takes place June 26-28. It features international and national choirs vying for awards, prizes, and accolades at the PAC in SLO. Info: CaliforniaChoral.org, 440-6050 or 756-2787. June 26, 8…
The lowdown on the Little Theatre
New Times Tell me about your job as executive director at the SLO Little Theatre and your role in the productions. Kevin Harris Basically, I am responsible for making sure the directors stay on budget and for making sure the productions have a certain artistic consistency. I make sure the theater runs from day to…
Documenting what’s disappearing
Sometimes nothing about art makes sense. Up is down, abstract drips of paint are meant to be thought provoking, and Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso, founder of cubism, is credited with inventing an art form over 50 years ago that involved kitchen linoleum—reduction linoleum block printing. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but growing…
Carved in rubber
Not all letterboxers are alike. Some favor hiding the boxes, generally small plastic food containers with hand-carved stamps ensconced in Ziploc bags, for others to find. Others merely hunt, solving clues, puzzles, and riddles until they find their box, stashed beneath a rock or within a hollow tree trunk. Many do a little bit of…
Healing by cupcakes
A horrific transoceanic airliner crash, almost 50 million Americans with no health insurance, and our state budget in melt-down mode: It’s hardly a pretty world these days, but one new San Luis Obispo entrepreneur has discovered how to make everything better … one cupcake at a time. Meet Amy O’Kane, a thirty-something wife, mom, jam-maker,…
Get in line
Feel like protesting in front of Sam Blakeslee’s office? Take a number. In his new position as Assembly Republican leader, Blakeslee, whether he wants it or not, is becoming a direct link between an outraged public and the Capitol. Picketers marched frequently in front of his office as legislative leaders, often called the “Big Five,”…
Deception or bumble?
The county grand jury stopped just short of alleging misconduct among county planning staff, but the jury’s assessment of what happened at a series of land-use hearings is far from complimentary of the department. A report released June 15 found the omission of key statements from a staff report and presentation to be “at best…
Central Coast marijuana dispenser sentenced to federal prison
A federal judge sidestepped mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines on June 11 to sentence the owner of a now-defunct Morro Bay marijuana dispensary to a year and a day in federal prison, less than the five years called for. Still, his attorneys said they will appeal. Arroyo Grande resident Charles Lynch was convicted last summer on…
Cities suck some life out of mosquito vote
It’s still too early to tell whether SLO County property owners will decide to tax themselves and expand a mosquito control program, but if votes from cities are any indication, things aren’t looking good for a new district. As property owners, local government agencies get a vote, too. Out of the seven incorporated cities in…
Locals get fewer choices for public radio
Man the tote bags! Some North County radio listeners are likely to lose their choice of public radio station signals if San Luis Obispo-based KCBX gets federal approval to purchase the license of the San Ardo-based tower of KUSP FM in Santa Cruz. The stations—KCBX is at 90.1 FM, while KUSP is heard locally at…
Supes take a pay cut
SLO County supervisors on June 16 voted unanimously to cut their salaries and urged other county employees to take similar action to help close a massive budget deficit. In the end, they decided to cut their salaries by $2,000 (about 2.5 percent). It was mostly a gesture of good faith and a subtle nudge to…
The ‘wrong side of the bars;’ Narcotics sting leads to the arrest of 21
Twenty-one people, including a guard and other prison employees, have been arrested in connection with an alleged drug smuggling ring centered at California Men’s Colony. Gunshots from a practice range sounded in the background as several law-enforcement agents from around the county lined up on the lawn in front of the Sheriff’s Department headquarters to…
SLO Chamber looks ahead to 2020
“SLO lacks head-of-household jobs” “Environment threatened by oil drilling off county coast” “Local state parks closing likely” “Local economy takes a dump; unemployment rises” Those sound like today’s headlines, don’t they? But it was actually 1991 when the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce first became alarmed that the unique social, environmental, and economic…
Rep. Capps should support single-payer health care
I was dismayed, to say the least, to learn that Rep. Capps feels it is not the right time for single-payer health care. I believe she was elected to Congress to express the desires of her constituents regardless of whether she thinks it would pass. How is it when many of her constituents are losing…
Proposed state cuts make no sense
I cannot believe the village idiot of Austria has proposed closing so many parks. People who have not seen a list should check out calparks.org/takeaction/may2009_closedparks_leg-match.pdf. Oh, and another thing, how can he cut staffing on 24/7 public services or make them take two days off a month? Does this guy know how much mandatory overtime…
Atascadero is a progressive city
Politics in Atascadero are often portrayed as dysfunctional and backward, while progress in government accessibility, accountability, and responsiveness to emerging energy, economic, and ecological challenges is less known. Atascaderans have reason to be proud of these advances, and elected and appointed city officials deserve credit for moving in the right direction. Atascadero was the first…
Ban natural lamb condoms
It is a travesty that natural lamb condoms are still being sold in SLO County. These dangerous condoms have been banned in Santa Barbara County more than a decade. Sexually transmitted disease is a serious and pervasive public health concern. Natural lamb condoms provide zero protection against STDs. They cost five times more than latex…
Anti-abortion groups should renounce violence
As a professional organization of health-care providers, we are appalled and saddened by the May 31 assassination of Dr. George Tiller, an Ob-Gyn and abortion provider. We send our prayers and condolences to his family and co-workers. We recognize that among our members, as in society at large, there are opponents and supporters of abortion…
Legislature should support the weakest first
We all know the recession has hit California hard and our state budget is reeling. But it will only stunt California’s recovery to drain $24 billion from the state’s economy, as the governor’s latest budget proposes. What’s more, it will be harder for struggling Californians to get back on their feet because the cuts target…
Vote no on vector-control tax
I don’t like the way the Board of Supervisors is trying to slide the new vector-control-district tax past property owners. They want to make a new assessment district where all parcels will be taxed, including county, city, and state parcels; school districts; and property owned by nonprofits (churches, private schools, the Elks, and other such…
Save our beautiful downtown trees
Save Our Downtown is a group of concerned citizens heavily invested in maintaining the viability and esthetic appeal of downtown San Luis Obispo. It has come to our attention that Chamber of Commerce President Dave Garth represented to the Architectural Review Commission last October his and supposedly the SLO Chamber’s desire to remove our downtown…
Rodeo values its animals
Rodeo represents a reasonable and acceptable form of animal use to the tens of thousands of participants and to the millions of people who attend rodeos each year. People are not attracted to rodeo unless they like animals. Healthy and strong animals are essential to a quality performance. Andi Beer (“Rodeos are cruel,”…
Bill Watton
New Times: What is the campus like during the summer? Watton: Summer is pretty quiet for us as far as the numbers of people that we have here. Of course, we in the police department still work all year long but it does give us an opportunity to get things done that we put off…
Watch them watch us
So the city of San Luis Obispo has put up cameras on dozens of stoplights, sending live feeds into a city building for city employees to monitor. But it’s not surveillance. They’re the sort of feeds you can zoom in on to get more detail about the people and cars in the pictures. But it’s…
Bogle 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon California
This is one of my favorite producers for its recession-proof prices. This wine tastes of blackberries, plums, and currents, weaved with a bold thread of herbs and spices. Best at the table, it’s a solid everyday wine for a simple steak dinner, roast pork tenderloin with cherry sauce, or beef burrito with Monterey Jack. It’s…
Wild Horse 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
Well-balanced and interesting, this wine offers good value and good quality. A classic Bordeaux blend, mostly Cabernet with Malbec, Merlot, Petite Verdot, and Cabernet Franc, it’s friendly and easy drinking. It offers a toasty, smoky nose that melds with rich flavors of blackberries, plums, leather and spice. The winery suggests pairing it with rosemary dusted…
A silver legacy
The Central Coast Wine Classic (CCWC) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and though it’s more aged than most SLO County wine festivals, like good wine the classic evolves with each vintage. The silver anniversary of CCWC will provide a four-day extravaganza of educational events. Whether you attend its educational seminars, tastings of exclusive and…
Feel the thunder!
There are monster guitarists and then there’s Dick Dale, the proto-monster, a guy who plays so hard and so loud he had to have extra thick guitar strings manufactured to account for his aggressive style. The “King of the Surf Guitar” single-handedly invented surf music in the ’50s and began a series of standing-room-only weekend…
