Cover Story
Waste not: Rates for waste collection are increasing by more than 20 percent across South County
Close to a year after the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors exited the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA), South County finally has definitive rates that reflect how much more expensive organic waste diversion is about to get. After much back-and-forth with the waste hauling service South County Sanitation Services, trash bills for Pismo…
The Cat Returns
What’s it rated? G When? 2002 Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre of SLO (Sunday, June 26, at 3 p.m.), Regal Edwards Santa Maria & RPX (Sunday, June 26, at 3 and 7 p.m.), HBO Max I think most fans of The Princess Bride will immediately recognize Cary Elwes’ distinct voice at the start of The…
Vote protectors: SLO County League of Women Voters celebrates 60 years
As the San Luis Obispo County League of Women Voters celebrates 60 years, its membership numbers have more than doubled in the recent past. “We were fighting to keep 100, you know, get 100 and get them to keep renewing their membership. Now we’ve got 300, and it’s grown significantly in the last couple of…
Region Wine Bar is San Luis Obispo’s latest wine tasting experience that pours vino with a twist
Choose your own Region Wine Bar invites locals to a self-guided tasting experience of wine from more than 25 local wineries. Region is located at 979 Morro St., SLO, next to Hotel SLO. It’s open Monday through Wednesday noon to 8 p.m., Thursday through Saturday noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9…
Nigerian Afrobeat superstar Femi Kuti & The Positive Force play June 29 at SLO Brew Rock
Afrobeat, jazz, and funk artist Femi Kuti plays SLO Brew Rock this week, bringing with him an amazing international résumé. The saxophonist, singer, trumpet player, and keyboardist is the son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and the grandson of women’s rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Born in London but raised in Lagos, Nigeria, young Femi began…
Focus on humans
The development of cities in the United States has been for the most part in the hands of engineers, city planners, and architects. Their overriding priorities have been efficiency, speed, risk avoidance, and minimal cost. European urban theory seems often to derive from social objectives, whereas American practice often grows from assumed economic opportunities or…
Renewable is doable
Nuclear power advocate Ellie Ripley doubts that California’s energy grid has ever managed to meet 100 percent of demand with renewable energy. (“A hundred percent renewable energy for how long?” June 16). It happened on May 2, 2022. After I cited that fact in my June 2 Rhetoric & Reason column (“Diablo’s long goodbye”), I…
Hanging chads redux?
The good news is the vote count continues in the SLO County election. The bad news is the vote count continues in the SLO County election. I guess it’s one of those “best of times; worst of times” deals. As of June 17, the percentage of registered voters who bothered to vote was up to…
Obi-Wan Kenobi
What’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2022 Where’s it showing? Disney Plus After The Mandalorian bowled over viewers, Disney seems to have found comfortable success with a set formula: last-of-his-kind aging warrior is forced to journey with a precocious child and learns lessons along the way. This trope is at the center of limited series Obi-Wan…
Local author Lida Sideris releases fifth mystery novel, Gambling with Murder
Reading rooms Lida Sideris’ books are available locally at the Book Loft, located at 1680 Mission Drive, Solvang, and Barnes and Noble, located at 894 Marsh St., building G, San Luis Obispo. Visit lidasideris.com to find out more about the local author. While working full time as a lawyer, Lida Sideris relied on nights, weekends,…
Local artists retell Cambria’s origin story with Cambria: The Musical!
The Cambria Center for the Arts Theatre’s (CCAT) production of Cambria: The Musical! will debut on Friday, June 24, and will run through Sunday, July 10. According to CCAT, the show is based on the true story of how Cambria came to be and follows George Lull, one of the town’s founders. Director Jill Turnbow…
The Great American Melodrama presents a Western spoof, Butch Cassidy and the Sunburnt Kid
Thursday, June 23, marks the premiere of the Great American Melodrama’s latest production, Butch Cassidy and the Sunburnt Kid, which is described in press materials as “a gut-busting parody filled with cowboys, jokes, and yokel locals.” Performances of the show are scheduled to run at the Oceano venue through Saturday, Aug. 6. The parody’s plot…
Lightyear isn’t just a toy anymore
LIGHTYEAR What’s it rated? PG What’s it worth, Bulbul? Full price What’s it worth, Caleb? Full price Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre of SLO, Galaxy, Park, Regal Arroyo Grande Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans), a tenacious space ranger, teams up with a ragtag team of rookies to defeat a vicious army of robots, led…
Paso groundwater basin gets revised sustainability plan
With $3.5 million in hand, the city of Paso Robles is moving forward with a water recycling project included in the as-yet unapproved plan to bring the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin into sustainability. “We’re still moving forward with implementation of the plan,” city Public Works Director Christopher Alakel told the Paso City Council on June…
Feds float nuclear aid criteria changes to accommodate Diablo Canyon
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a last-minute amendment to its guidelines for the $6 billion aid package that’s aimed at saving struggling nuclear power plants—a change that specifically favors Diablo Canyon Power Plant. In turn, for the first time, PG&E openly expressed interest in applying for a portion of the aid and…
SLO purchases 36 vehicle barriers to protect downtown events
San Luis Obispo’s downtown farmers’ market and other big city events are about to get a lot more secure. At its June 21 meeting, the SLO City Council signed off on the purchase of three dozen anti-vehicle barriers, which will be rolled out every Thursday night to block the entryways to the popular downtown farmers’…
Pismo Beach imposes moratorium on short-term rentals
The Pismo Beach City Council is cracking down on complacency from some short-term rental (STR) permit holders. The city is currently home to 28 STRs but continues to rack up complaints from residents alleging neighborhood nuisances and noncompliance. At its June 21 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved an interim urgency ordinance to impose a…
County aims to reduce homelessness by 50 percent in five years
San Luis Obispo County is trying to stem the ever-growing homelessness problem with a recently released plan. On June 21, officials unveiled the SLO Countywide Plan to Address Homelessness. The five-year plan aims to cut homelessness in half by 2027, and it comes four years after the the plan to “end homelessness” expired. “I’m aware…
