Cover Story
My turn? SLO County pushes forward with a COVID-19 vaccine lottery system and a pilot program for inoculating farmworkers
As SLO County hits its COVID-19 vaccine stride by replacing a first-come, first-serve system with a lottery designed to make things more equitable for those eligible to receive vaccines and a multilingual pilot program to vaccinate and educate underserved essential farmworkers, California introduces a more centralized vaccine distribution system. MyTurn, a state web portal for…
SLO County tenants and landlords can now apply for rent relief under state program
Landlords and low-income tenants with unpaid back rent due to COVID-19 impacts can now apply for rental assistance under a new state program that launched March 16. The California COVID-19 Rent Relief program will leverage $2 billion in federal stimulus funds to assist eligible landlords and tenants statewide. To qualify, tenants must be able to…
Coast Unified is last in county to approve a campus reopening plan
Coast Unified School District staff, parents, and students spoke for and against a return to in-person instruction during the March 11 board meeting, and the district ultimately decided to reopen its doors for the last two months of the school year. Coast Unified was the last district in SLO County to have the discussion. The…
San Luis Obispo County, city say no extra safety restrictions planned for St. Patrick’s Day
Cases of COVID-19 continue to decline and, without any curfews or special holiday restrictions planned at the county or city level, local bars and restaurants are gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day. But the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is urging community members to keep celebrations brief, outside, small, and among only those…
Santa Barbara County moves closer to state’s red tier reopening rules
The one year mark of COVID-19’s arrival in Santa Barbara County is fast approaching, with the county’s first recorded case on March 15, 2020. “We have seen peaks and valleys, with two significant surge periods,” Public Health Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso said at the March 9 Board of Supervisors meeting. The first surge occurred in…
Monster Hunter
What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2020 Where’s it showing? Redbox Writer-director Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Alien vs. Predator, Death Race) helms this video game adaptation about Capt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her U.N. Security soldiers who are transported to a new world where they fight for survival against giant monsters with special powers.…
More COVID-19 relief coming to Arroyo Grande businesses
Arroyo Grande is funneling tens of thousands of dollars into new and existing programs aimed at offering support to those most impacted by COVID-19, including another round of grants for struggling local businesses. At a meeting on March 9, Arroyo Grande City Council unanimously voted to direct $120,000 toward the city’s Business Assistance Grant Program,…
Affordable access to the dunes
On March 18, the California Coastal Commission will consider State Parks’ plan for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). The plan includes maintenance improvements but also new development at the Oso Flaco Nature Reserve, including 320 campsites, 270 parking places, convenience facilities, residences for staff, and a new off-highway vehicle trail to the…
Peaks for PEAK fundraiser: Hike you would take anyway can fund extracurricular scholarships for kids
As Lindsey Haring signed her kids up for the SLO Youth Baseball league this February, all she could think about was how desperately they needed to get outside and see their friends. After nearly a year of being holed up at home together amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Haring’s children—second and fourth graders at C. L.…
Harassment of elected officials must stop
What we allow is what will continue. Are we willing to put an end to escalating harassment and intimidation of our elected officials, or will we sit on the sidelines? Political violence is not a new phenomenon. Those seeking to serve in public office have always faced hostility. Now, as a record number of women…
About ‘Wake up Atascadero’
About community choice energy aggregators: They are nothing more than a middleman for your electric power. The costs can increase and already have in some locations. Unless there are transmission lines connected to distribution lines connected directly to your house, you receive the same combination of energy sources as I do in SLO County, which…
Pismo Chamber of Commerce to protest proposed vehicle ban at Oceano Dunes
The Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce is making its stance on a proposal to ban off-roading at the Oceano Dunes perfectly clear: The move, it says, would hurt local businesses. On March 14, the Pismo Beach Chamber plans to host a protest of the California Coastal Commission’s recommendation to eliminate off-roading at the Oceano Dunes…
SLO to debate future of night hiking program
The San Luis Obispo City Council will discuss on March 16 whether or not to allow future night hiking on Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve—a question that’s divided locals and comes as the city wraps up a pilot program that permitted some seasonal trail use after dark. Since 2018, during winters, locals could claim up…
Some Cambria teachers want vaccine before schools reopen
San Luis Obispo County moved back into the red tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy on March 3, opening the door for in-person instruction to resume. With that decision left up to local school districts, some teachers are pushing for vaccines first, school openings second. Coast Unified School District, with campuses in…
Virtually tour Richard Fusillo’s photo exhibition of Black Lives Matter protests on the SLO Museum of Art website
We All Bleed Photographs by Richard Fusillo, as well as local activists’ voice recordings and a collage of protest signs, are currently on display at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art in the We All Bleed exhibit, which can be toured virtually on sloma.org. The exhibition will be up through Sunday, May 2, and…
Orthodoxy and vanity
A new book by astronomer Avi Loeb considering the mysterious object from interstellar space that passed through the solar system in 2017, Extraterrestrial, may not have conclusively solved the many questions about this event, but the reaction of some of the scientific community to Dr. Loeb’s theories have revealed a lot about ourselves. The object,…
Yeehaw! Cowboy up!
Some people really take their off-roading seriously. I’ve been on one of those three-wheeled ATVs down at the Oceano Dunes once. It was fun for about 30 minutes, but I haven’t felt the need to do it again. However, I guess for some people the smell of gasoline, sand in their eyes and noses, and…
Cambria Center for the Arts holds photography competition
On Saturday, March 20, the Cambria Center for the Arts will accept entries into a special, one-day photography contest. This competition will only accept photographs taken on its start day (each entry must include an invisible timestamp in the metadata) and must be submitted no later than Thursday, March 25. Themed as “A Day in…
Sensorio announces plans to reopen in April with a new installation, Light Towers
Sensorio, an immersive art destination in Paso Robles, has announced plans to reopen to the public on Thursday, April 15, with a newly added light installation, Light Towers, from London-based artist Bruce Munro. In addition to its current 15-acre outdoor exhibition, Field of Light, guests can look forward to a new viewing area made specifically…
Dulcie Taylor releases more from the vault with the EP Rediscovered
Dulcie Taylor was just 10 when her mother gave her a guitar for Christmas, leading to a lifelong journey of singing and songwriting. The award-winning performer has been a MesaBluemoon Records recording artist since 2002 with the release of Diamond & Glass, which quickly became a favorite of Triple A radio. Her follow up, Mirrors…
Bumble B Soda Company in Morro Bay wants you to indulge in a whimsical treat and leave with a smile
Cup of nostalgia Find Bumble B Soda Company and The Dough Connection on Instagram @bumblebsoda and @thedoughconnection805 to sift through new creations and specials. The shop at 859 Main St. in Morro Bay is open from noon to 8 p.m. Fridays through Wednesdays and closed on Thursdays. Star-shaped sprinkles float on the freshly whipped waves…
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things transforms Groundhog Day into a YA romance
THE MAP OF TINY PERFECT THINGS What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Ian Samuels (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) directs this young adult fantasy romance written by Lev Grossman and based on his short story of the same name. Mark…
SLO city fines another fitness business as Kennedy gym loses appeal
Despite improved COVID-19 conditions and a recent move into the red tier, the city of San Luis Obispo and local businesses continue to grapple with the fallout of the city’s enforcement of state pandemic rules—where $26,000 in citations have been levied against six companies. The most heavily cited of the six, Kennedy Club Fitness, lost…
Irresistible
What’s it rated? R When? 2020 Where’s it showing? HBO Max Written and directed by John Stewart, Irresistible is a political comedy that pits Democratic strategist Gary Zimmer (Steve Carrell) against his Republican counterpart, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), in a small, conservative Midwestern town. After a video of retired veteran Jack Hastings at a town…
Good trouble
On Feb. 23, a portion of an email I wrote to then San Luis Obispo Police Department Chief Deanna Cantrell was quoted in The Tribune. This was part of a story regarding the community’s reaction to the arrest of Tianna Arata and Elias Bautista following a protest on July 21, 2020. While the quote is…
