Cover Story
Cutting-edge currency: A few Central Coast businesses are offering customers the chance to pay with the crypto currency Bitcoin, an entirely digital form of money
Every day, all over the world, people engage in transactions, large and small. Whether they’re buying a sandwich or a house, most of these transactions involve money. Essentially a bartering tool, money allows populations to easily engage in exchanges of goods and services with official and recognizable paper or coins. Business conducted across countries’ borders…
Residents file lawsuit against Cal Poly dorm
The Alliance of SLO Neighborhoods, a collection of residents who live in the Grand-Slack intersection area near Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, has filed a lawsuit to block a planned dorm project. On June 20, the members of the Alliance filed a complaint with the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court against the California…
The proposed residential project on Cerrito Peak in Morro Bay will need an Environmental Impact Report, based on a judicial decision
Update: New Times has been informed that the applicant mentioned in this story, Dan Reddell, died on June 3. Senior Staff Writer Colin Rigley contacted Reddell via email, as previously instructed based on his condition, and was unaware of his death until after the publishing of this story. We apologize for any confusion this may…
What’s on your summer reading list?
Brandi Cummings land use technician “Nation by Terry Pratchett.” Pamela Ritchason herb specialist “Health books.” Jeff Crow specialist at Apple “Game of Thrones.” Ara Aghajanian salesman “Historical novels.”
A musical memorial for Al ‘Shival’ Redwine happens June 21 at Sea Pines
Al “Shival” Redwine was one of the most effusive human beings I’ve ever met. Every time I saw him he was smiling, happy, and upbeat. I’m sure he had his down times, but I never saw them. He was also an amazing musician who could play rootsy reggae and Santana-like rock with equal expertise. On…
The Ubu’s Other Shoe staged reading series presents ‘August: Osage County’ at SLO Little Theatre
Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning family dramedy, August: Osage County, is making its Ubu’s Other Shoe debut at the SLO Little Theatre. Originally premiering at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, the play went on to successful Broadway and international runs, followed by a 2013 film version. Anet Carlin of the late, lamented Brickyard Theatre…
The 26th Annual Live Oak Music Festival was BIG fun!
Watch an impromptu performance by Brynn Albanese and Duane Inglish at the Live Oak Music Festival. It’s Thursday, June 12, and I’m pissed off! My wife and I had planned to be on the road to the Live Oak Music Festival by 11 a.m., and it’s now 3:30 p.m. and we’re in stop-and-go traffic on…
Jack Artusio returns to the Steyberg Gallery with a new solo show, Meditations from Tishlini
After many years of representational painting inspired by the Old Masters, San Luis Obispo artist Jack Artusio took a decade-plus hiatus from showing his work. When he returned to the gallery world last year, what he brought with him was anything but figurative. Now, his abstract paintings grace the walls of the Steynberg once again…
Clubs 6/19/14
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…
Molly Pitcher’s Extra Special Bitter and Bristols Cider House’s Calico Jack
Atown and proud: Molly Pitcher’s Extra Special Bitter Named for the courageous women said to have fought the Battle of Monmouth during the Revolutionary War, Atascadero’s Molly Pitcher Brew pub is all wood, metal, American flags, and small-batch craft beer. There’s no pretense here—just live, twang-tinged folk bands, a blue-collar vibe, and tap after tap…
Fresh fare
Santa Margarita will host its first-ever Art Before Dark from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, featuring live music, art, nibbles, and wine (stop by Studio Uproar for Ancient Peaks pours). Download a map at santamargaritabeautiful.org/art … San Miguel’s Villa San-Juliette Vineyard & Winery has unfurled a seasonal menu created by Chef Charlie…
Shroomin’ with Edna Valley’s friendly neighborhood mycophile
At the tender age of 12, Jiri Pravec fled the communist-repressed Czech Republic to find a new life in the United States. Still, the boy never forgot his homeland, or the fungi he left behind. Now 46, the local mushroom purveyor continues to dream of caps and stems: His heart aches for the glorious, wild,…
SLO County libraries offer free vacation
This summer, kids can get a free trip to London! Or New York! Or Tokyo, a deserted island, the past, the future, a pirate ship, space, the middle of the Earth, Middle Earth, the fairy realm, or pretty much anywhere else they can imagine. Yep, that’s right. San Luis Obispo County libraries are giving away…
Cougars & Mustangs
The change of pace summer sometimes provides can be refreshing. It can also be infuriating and downright dangerous. Sometimes when stepping onto the grounds, since school is the priority, everything else can seem to stop existing until one gets home. Granted, the more stress and responsibility appears, the less this is actually the case, but…
Why you should care about net neutrality and the implications beyond Netflix
The name alone, “net neutrality”—combining a word that literally means no strong stance either way with a word nobody uses anymore—seems designed to deter anyone from caring. Television host John Oliver put it this way: “The only two words that promise more boredom in the English language are ‘featuring Sting.’ And hearing people talk about…
Proposition 16 part deux: Local energy advocates keep a close eye on a bill that may drastically change community choice aggregation
A bill steadily trudging its way through Sacramento has caused quite a scare among grassroots energy advocates across California. Assembly Bill 2145, dubbed “Electricity: community choice aggregation,” was introduced in February by State Assemblymember Steven Bradford, a Democrat representing part of Los Angeles in the 62nd District. The bill—which would change how local energy providers…
Clarification
While the building featured in the June 12 article “Closed for business” was unoccupied at the time of a New Times visit, the building’s owner wanted to emphasize that it currently has a tenant and isn’t sealed off.
Pismo Preserve gets another big boost
For the second time in a month, enthusiastic citizens in green shirts packed a local government meeting and, for the second time, they went home happy. After receiving $1.1 million from the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on May 20, the Pismo Preserve project locked up $900,000 from the city of Pismo Beach…
Supervisors throw a wrench in the proposed Paso water district by insisting on one landowner, one vote
Paso Robles just got a lot more complicated. In what may become a landmark decision, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors made a move that could significantly changed the proposed Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Water District’s formation process. At their June 17 meeting, county supervisors reviewed state Senate amendments to AB 2453, a…
Grover Beach’s lodge project is finally moving forward
First envisioned in 1982 and plagued by disputes and revisions ever since, the proposed Grover Beach Lodge and Conference Center has finally completed its planning process. The final hurdle facing the project was a substantial issue determination appeal hearing before the California Coastal Commission at that body’s June 11 meeting in Huntington Beach. The coastal…
Morro Bay calls the election for City Council and declares John Headding the winner
Morro Bay businessman and president elect of the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce John Headding has officially won a seat on the City Council. On June 17, city officials announced that they wouldn’t count blank ballots as part of the total ballots cast, giving Headding the lead with 50.7 percent of the vote. Days before…
Department of Justice investigates Capps’ office
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the circumstances and aftermath of a fatal hit-and-run accident that happened last year. In the early morning of Dec. 6, Raymond Morua, who at the time worked as a field representative for Congresswoman Lois Capps, was driving under the influence of alcohol when he struck and…
For porn!
If you’re looking for a witty, relevant assessment of the dangers of allowing corporate monopolies to overthrow net neutrality, put down this newspaper and go watch John Oliver’s Comcast takedown on YouTube. Honestly, I’m not even sure why you bothered picking up a newspaper in the first place. Print is so last century, or so…
Gun responsibility requires work from both sides
Thank you for your coverage of the May 23 Isla Vista massacre (“UCSB responds to the deaths of six students,” May 29). Liberals want to take away the means without addressing underlying causes. Conservatives want to address underlying causes without affecting the means. In truth, we need to do both. The late Martin Luther King…
The price of being a 16-year-old girl
In response to the articles from June 5—“San Luis Obispo prostitution sting nets nine arrests” and “Paso Robles High School teacher arrested on suspicion of sex with minor”—I remember what it was like being a 16-year-old girl at Paso Robles High School, and my list of worries thankfully didn’t include being sexually exploited by a…
Yosemite Sam deniers and tyranny criers
Some helpful information on the Second Amendment for Ron Holt (“I am not Yosemite Sam,” June 12) and his fellow gun admirers and regulation scorners: 1. English lesson. The amendment opens with a clause, which states the purpose and application of the amendment: to allow for properly regulated militias among the several states. Everything in the…
The Tortoise and the Hare?
In response to the June 5 New Times article “Now what?” how can Supervisor Caren Ray refer to herself as a Tortoise? In the June primary, there were 119 supervisor positions up for re-election in 58 California counties. The results showed that out of 119 incumbents, 63.9 percent were re-elected; 24.4 percent retired; 6.7 percent…
It can happen here–and does
That’s pretty appalling stuff happening in Nigeria, girls being abducted and sold into marriage or slavery. And Nigeria is just the latest atrocity to be reported. It seems to be a perilous time for girls all over the globe. But as horrible as those barbarities are, they’re happening halfway around the world. Thank goodness nothing…
