Cover Story
Staying afloat: CSU system says merger of troubled Cal Maritime with Cal Poly could benefit both universities
As California State University Maritime has been facing both a financial and enrollment crisis over the past decade, the California State University System (CSU) is hoping Cal Poly SLO can save it. As one of six maritime universities in the country, Cal Maritime prepares students going into fields ranging from fishing and seafood processing to…
Atascadero City Council approves new development in Dove Creek
The Atascadero City Council recently approved a new development in Dove Creek, a project that has been in the works for two decades. The 5-acre site will include residences, a hotel, commercial spaces, and additional parking. The development is anticipated to create a new hang out space on the south side of town and generate…
Oceano expects new sidewalk construction
Oceano’s infrastructure is poised to take a big step into the 21st century with the construction of new sidewalks, gutters, and ADA ramps to help increase public safety throughout the community. During a June 12, board of directors meeting, the Oceano Community Services District’s new general manager, Peter Brown, announced that Oceano was awarded a…
Morro Bay sewage leak closes two beaches
More than 7,000 gallons of sewage leaked into the Morro Bay estuary over the weekend of June 22 at the Inn at Morro Bay. Environmental Health Services said the accidental leak has been fixed and they don’t anticipate any long-term effects. According to Director of Environmental Health Peter Hague, the leak was caused by utility…
SLO school renovation progresses after tree removal appeal win
Two 44-year-old trees found themselves at the center of a debate between the San Luis Coastal Unified School District and San Luis Obispo’s Tree Committee in an effort to balance public access and environmental benefits. The school district’s director of facilities operations and transportation, Chris Bonin, appealed City Arborist Walter Gault’s rejection of the April…
Cal Poly Cat Program calls for summer volunteers
The Cal Poly Cat Program recently requested more community volunteers now that the university’s students—and volunteers—have left for the summer. Shelter Manager Meili Laiho said the program relies heavily on volunteers and with less help, the bandwidth for care has decreased. This caused the shelter to halt its intakes. The program can begin taking in…
Thelma is an action film spoof with a 93-year-old grandma in the lead
THELMA What’s it rated? PG-13What’s it worth, Anna? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Glen? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Downtown Centre in SLO Writer-director Josh Margolin helms this action comedy about 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) who gets scammed by a grifter pretending to be her grandson and sets out on an adventure to get her money…
Quality and life
Your standard of living is defined as the degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person or community. Your quality of life is similar, the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual or group: the things that are needed for a good quality of life. Inflation is a general increase…
The Veil
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024 Where’s it showing? FX on Hulu Imogen is a tough nut to crack, and she has a knack for getting in and out of situations undetected. She’s been sent to a remote camp where Adilah (Yumna Marwan) is being held, but under very dangerous circumstances. After a difficult and…
Stop pouring public money into weapons and war
Cannot our national-level elected officials, Sens. Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla and Congressman Jimmy Panetta, do more to protect our young people from having to work for war and in war corporations? Some young people want to enter the military or to work for war companies, to kill and to risk being killed. But most…
Origin
What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Hulu Writer-director Ava DuVernay (I Will Follow, 13th, When They See Us) helms this biographical drama based on the life of scholar Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) as she writes her nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which was published in 2020 and describes racism…
PG&E’s lax security
Last Saturday, I joined the docent-guided Pecho Coast Hike across Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant land to the Point San Luis lighthouse. About half a mile in, our group encountered two unescorted boys walking on the private road. They were tired and dehydrated, and it was unclear how they got onto plant property. One of…
California Hot Dogs expands with new drive-through destination
California, here we come For more info on California Hot Dogs, call (805) 998-0265 or visit the eatery’s Facebook page. The brand’s new drive-through is located at 1311 Nicholson Ave., Santa Maria. Fans of Avila Beach’s famed food cart, California Hot Dogs, now have a place to get their frankfurter fix without having to step…
Trump isn’t alone in speaking against immigration
Mr. Ashbaugh, I don’t think you have read the book Hamilton (“None dare call it treason,” June 13). President Trump is not the only person in history to speak out against immigration. Alexander Hamilton was upset about the election of Thomas Jefferson. He claimed the election was stolen and non-U.S. citizens in New York had…
‘Hello It’s Me’ singer Todd Rundgren plays the Fremont on June 29
Who knew when Todd Rundgren released his 1973 solo album A Wizard, A True Star—which, by the way, was critically acclaimed but a commercial failure—that it would eventually become a beacon to bedroom musicians everywhere. Now it’s considered a classic and an inspiration for solo artists who want to do it all themselves. As the…
Into the fire?
What do you do if you run a university that few students want to attend? That’s the question haunting the California State University (CSU) system, which oversees 23 campuses, including the wildly popular Cal Poly SLO with its nearly 21,000 students. While tens of thousands apply to Cal Poly every year, California Maritime Academy, located…
SLO Muesum of Art’s Outlandish exhibit highlights water’s importance in BIPOC communities
Making waves April Banks’ exhibition, Outlandish, is on display at the SLO Museum of Art through July 28. The gallery, open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For more information, visit sloma.org. SLOMA is located at 1010 Broad St. in SLO. On a gallery’s walls in downtown San Luis Obispo, the…
Gallery at Marina Square’s July exhibits showcase oil paintings, photography, and jewelry
Works by oil painter Patricia Newton, photographer Gregory Siragusa, and jeweler Carol Roullard will be on display at Gallery at Marina Square in Morro Bay starting on Monday, July 1. A joint reception to celebrate the three artists—whose exhibits will remain up at the gallery through Monday, July 29—will be held on Saturday, July 13,…
County supervisors halt cannabis business tax increase
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors pumped the brakes on the cannabis business tax—scheduled for an automatic increase—after lengthy input from dissatisfied cannabis business owners. “At 6 percent, we were able to hire two more people,” Michael Joseph, a local cannabis business operator, told supervisors at the June 24 meeting. “We have intention…
Higuera Apartments will gain safe drinking water through SLO annexation with the help of the state water board
After suffering from water contamination for nearly seven years, a disadvantaged apartment community in unincorporated San Luis Obispo County could find respite under the city of SLO’s wing. The SLO City Council unanimously voted on June 18 to annex the 3-acre South Higuera Street lot that houses a 24-unit apartment complex connected to a single…
Arroyo Grande allocates $200,000 to 5Cities Homeless Coalition
The 5Cities Homeless Coalition (5CHC) is receiving some much-needed funding after the Arroyo Grande City Council voted to allocate $200,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act funds to the nonprofit. In an April 30 letter from 5CHC’s Executive Director Janna Nichols to Arroyo Grande City Manager Matt Downing, Nichols said the $200,000 would pay for…
