Cover Story
We’re number … whatever: The best and worst of SLO County, as determined by people who don’t actually live here
Since 2011, when Oprah decreed it, the city of San Luis Obispo has been the reigning happiest town in America. In fact, SLO County frequently tops lists of best weather, best places to drink wine, best places to commute, best places to vacation, and best places to live. Locals know this already, that’s why they’re…
Portuguese street artist GonçaloMAR tags Paso Robles
Riding my bike down Madonna Road toward my house on Oceanaire Court, I always look forward to seeing a familiar face. Not a real face, but a face nonetheless. It’s the black and white mug of a mime, deftly spray-painted on a portion of the concrete wall dividing street from river. This image has become…
What top 10 list do you think SLO would top?
Amanda Collison employee at Best Kept Secret Best place for a scenic walk or hike. Maddie Chane server at Hula Hut Top 10 places for local beers. Like Firestone! Alyssa Larson employee at Ancient Peaks Winery Best region for wine. Joshua Compton diver The place for the largest amount of retarded liberals.
Live Oak Music Festival 2015 was filthy fun over Father’s Day weekend
I’m reminded of the shower scene in Psycho when the dark blood swirls down the drain as Marion Crane breathes her last. Except it’s not blood; it’s Live Oak dirt, and I’m covered in it. It’s in my lungs, nose, hair, the very pores of my skin, and there it goes down the drain. This…
Wilshire Health and Community Services and Festival Mozaic screen ‘Alive Inside’
From Joan Jett’s rebellious sneer to George Jones’ iconic wail, music has influenced my life in more ways than I can count. As a banjo frailer and guitar shredder myself, I am stoked to give a shout-out to Alive Inside, a documentary that explores music’s capacity to reawaken our hearts and stir our souls. Two…
Santa Margarita’s Art Before Dark happening June 27
It must be summer. How do I know? Well, Santa Margarita’s free annual Art Before Dark bash is coming up June 27. From 6 to 9 p.m., join painters, potters, glass artists, sculptors, stitchers, musicians, and other makers for a blocks-long tour of communitywide creativity. Stop by The Rainbow Hut Studios, The Porch Cafe, Something…
Art for your (online) cart: Click your way to local masterpieces at the ARTshop
If ever there were a person with enough gumption to create the Central Coast’s very own version of Etsy, it would be local busybody Robin Smith. Imagine a boutique where you could find handcrafted works of art from San Luis Obispo County that would be open 24/7—and you never even had to leave the couch.…
Seven Sisters Fest happens July 10 to 12 at El Chorro Regional Park
It’s officially summer, which means music festival season is in full swing. I’m still buzzing from last weekend’s Live Oak Music Festival, but it’s already time to plan for the third annual Seven Sisters Fest starting Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12, at El Chorro Park off Highway 1 across from Cuesta College. In…
Clubs 6/25/15 – 7/2/15
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. 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 Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on alternating…
Cougars & Mustangs
I’d like to begin our session today by correcting an error I made not once but twice in a row over the last two weeks: Cal Poly is not, in fact, a University of California (UC), but instead a California State University (CSU). Given I’ve been writing these little pieces for about three years I…
The heroin factor: Unavailability of prescription painkillers is leading to a rise in use
On June 4, a 27-year-old Lompoc man was found dead inside his home; that same day, a 32-year-old man was found dead inside a Solvang hotel room; and three days later, a 31-year-old Solvang woman was found dead in her home. Following investigations into all three deaths, officials from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office…
DUI ‘challenge’ not quota, SLO police say
Earlier this year, some SLO police officers were rewarded with a pizza party for making DUI arrests on one night in February. Some community members called it an illegal quota, but police called it a “challenge.” Interdepartmental emails revealed that the party was a reward for a “verbal challenge” issued by a SLO police sergeant…
Sheriff’s Office urges vigilance after Avila trail attack
The SLO County Sheriff’s Office is telling people to hike area trails with safety in mind after a report of an attempted kidnapping on a trail in Avila Beach. The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. on the Avila Ridge Trail. According to the Sheriff’s Office officials, a woman was walking on the trail when she…
Santa Margarita-area fire now only smoldering
A fire that began 10 miles east of Santa Margarita on June 20, and quickly spread to 1,800 acres along the Parkhill Road area, was all but extinguished by firefighters as of June 24. The fire started at 2:31 p.m. on June 20 after an unknown vehicle’s exhaust system released a piece of carbon onto…
Elderly man killed by alleged drunk driver
An 89-year-old man struck by an allegedly drunk driver in downtown SLO on June 20 succumbed to his injuries on June 22. SLO police announced June 24 that Alvino Figueroa was removed from life support at Sierra Vista Hospital. Figueroa was walking in the 600 block of Higuera Street June 19 when he was hit…
Avila pier closed indefinitely
Sorry kids, fishermen, whale gawkers, and Avila Beach aficionados—the Avila Beach pier will be closed for the summer. Following concerns about the pier’s highly questionable structural integrity, Port San Luis Harbor District General Manager Steve McGrath made an executive decision to close the pier on June 19. That decision was followed by a June 23…
MindBody stock drops after public offering
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of successful wellness- and fitness-based tech companies like Fitbit, SLO-based MindBody Inc. filed to become a publicly traded company in May. But despite selling more than 7 million shares and raising $101 million before going public on the Nasdaq exchange June 19, the stock’s initial public offering (IPO) price…
Chuck Liddell KO’s escrow company in lawsuit
One of Kelly Gearhart’s most famous victims will recover nearly all of the $2 million he lost to the disgraced Atascadero developer’s Ponzi scheme. But the money won’t come from Gearhart. After a trial that lasted nearly six weeks, a SLO County jury awarded a little more than $1.9 million to former mixed martial arts…
Halting the summer slide: SLO County Library offers education and entertainment with the Summer Reading Program
A library might not sound like an ideal place to spend the hottest time of the year, but for decades the Summer Reading Program has made the San Luis Obispo County Library come alive. “We want to keep kids reading during the summer so their brains remain active and thinking about amazing things,” said Margaret…
Summer means concerts and good grub at Vina Robles
I remember the first time I saw my favorite radio personality in the flesh. It’s always a shock, isn’t it? Garrison Keillor had just taken the stage at the Hollywood Bowl. His long running NPR show, A Prairie Home Companion, has always been recorded before a live audience. For the first time in my life,…
Flavor fest
Get yer tix! More than 40 craft breweries, cider makers, and wineries will come together with groovy music (Mother Hips, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, Todo Mundo, Stone Foxes and more) for the Seven Sisters Craft Beer & Music Fest this July 10 through 12. Sip local brews from Tent City Beer Company, SLO Brewing…
Beda’s Stiegl Radler and Figueroa Mountain Lizard’s Mouth IPA
Beda’s Biergarten has become my new happy place (the currywurst and pork schnitzel will make you dance on your barstool). And, like any respectable German beer joint worth its salt, you can count on incredible, authentic brews imported straight from the fatherland. After a heaping bite of sauerkraut, nothing is more satisfying than a citrusy…
Cruz missile fizzle
God, I love America! Where else could a Latino who was born in Canada to a Cuban father who fought alongside Fidel Castro grow up to be an anti-immigration, anti-Communist, science-denying, flag-draped “Christian” American presidential candidate and same-sex marriage opponent? Nowhere, baby! ’Merica! Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has certainly been an incredible gift to late night…
Balconies collapsing and government regulations
After the recent tragedy in Berkeley, Calif., and other similar instances around the country, it is long past time to either ban or pass sensible balcony control legislation. Six young people died tragically in the Berkeley balcony collapse. According to our glorious president, similar tragedies do not occur so frequently in other advanced countries because…
Nuclear energy is the future
Railing against Phillips 66’s rail spur suggests abundant energy from other sources; this is not the case. Terrible as fossil fuel is, modern society has no choice, at this time, but to continue its use. Those believing wind energy and solar are substitutes for fossil fuel live in denial because of the intermittent nature of…
Raising SLO’s water rates was the wrong move
On June 16 the SLO City Council voted to increase the water bills of you and me. The rationale was that since SLO residents are doing so well at water conservation, we must now be penalized and charged more because the water department must have enough money coming in to cover expenses. So unlike in…
Save water, go vegetarian
Editor’s note: Included in this commentary are numbers associated with agricultural water use. That information was sourced from a variety of sources: Worldwatch Institute, The New York Times, the Grace Communications Institute, the Water Foundation Network, National Geographic, Mother Jones, the Pacific Institute, and medium.com. We know that we have a mega drought in California.…
