Cover Story
Wide-open spaces
Nobody can call Atascadero a slum. Atascadero offers quality housing, ample services, and a relatively high standard of living. No gangs terrorize its streets, and no festering industrial hazards threaten the health of its residents. Yes, Atascadero is a pretty typical American town. Atascadero also suffers from commercial sprawl, traffic problems, and disjunctive urban planning.…
Jamie Bell: SLO Blues Baseball Club
NEW TIMES When do the Blues kick off their season? BELL The season opener is going to be May 24 at home against the Cal Poly club team. The first pitch is at 6 p.m. NEW TIMES How are the players preparing for the season? BELL A lot of the players won’t get here…
From trash to treasure!
Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits began in 1995, in a trash-strewn fast-food parking lot in Pinole, CA.” So begins the bio of guitarist Dan Abbott and singer Corbett Redford, who “rose from humble circumstances as a satiric folk rock band that played for friends to their current majestic heights with hilarious and sometimes…
What are the qualities of your ideal downtown?
Zac Maurais self employed; Favor app “More apartments.” Darci Hafley SLO County Behavioral Health employee “Walkability; lots of trees; local, local, local business; and good vegan food.” Steven Foster cable guy “A weekly community gathering, which already exists here.” Anna Consani Cal Poly student “A place that has both shops, restaurants, and people of all…
Nature’s sprinkles
Do you ever just take a minute to pause and appreciate how gut-punchingly gorgeous the Central Coast is come springtime? A reference to the old adage about stopping to smell the roses never seemed as appropriate as it was on the sunny Sunday, March 24, when my family pulled into a school parking lot for…
Ah, the emerald isle!
Espressivo! Chamber Theater—a traveling, singing theater company based on the Central Coast—returns with Irish Tales & Tunes, a dramatic reading of two Irish folktales, replete with giants, fairies, and corpses. The show, which mixes storytelling with song, kicked off with a gala opening on St. Patrick’s Day. Ever since its founding by theater veterans D.A.…
He’s 50 and feelin’ fine!
At 50, most people have settled into a routine of work and family. They can see the horizon in the distance and expect few surprises between 50 and retirement. Well, that ain’t Pismo Spanky. The local music icon is instantly recognizable to local music fans. He’s been playing around here for decades, mostly with Grateful…
Fear and loathing at SXSW
Towering five feet over Sixth Street in Austin is a live video feed of the Grumpy Cat. It looks like that scene in Blade Runner where the Japanese woman eating a strawberry is projected on the side of a skyscraper, except this image fills me with a sense of existential terror so stark I can…
Clubs: 3/28
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music Fri. from 5:30-8:30 p.m. 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…
Peep me
If you thought Easter was confusing as a Catholic/Christian kid, imagine being an atheist kid trying to digest all of the facets of the spring holiday. I mean, holy hell, not only did I have no idea why a giant, house-broken rabbit would be leaving me chocolate and toys on some random day in April,…
Kaena 2011 Grenache Rose Santa Ynez Valley
This delicious cranberry-hued wine has tasty ripe flavors of black cherry, strawberries, and citrus with a notable thread of raspberry liqueur. It’s a pretty, dry pink, which wineries often tag as a front porch wine. It’s made by winemaker Mikael Sigouin, who makes Beckmen wines, which are renowned for great rosés. This is Sigouin’s label—great…
Amazon Marketplace offers fine wines
Any time I’m shopping online, I’m searching for value pricing, and that always leads to the world’s largest virtual retailer: Amazon. It immediately pops into mind for comparing prices on electronics or beauty products, but for buying wine? Frankly I never gave it a thought. That should hardly be surprising since San Luis Obispoans live…
Partisan change in the White House doesn’t look likely
Mr. Otis Page in the March 21 New Times does an accurate job in listing six major issues that contributed to the success of President Obama in the last election (“The Republican chair was and is wrong”). But he failed to give credit to the most obvious reason: the fact that Barack Obama received 62…
Some thoughts on immigration
A ranch foreman we know got permanent residency through amnesty. That was the only way. He was not a college student, had no rare occupational skill, and did not have relatives here. No immigration is allowed for any other categories. He proved he had worked here five years and never been arrested. He waited the…
This sequester concerns me
I am really concerned about the impacts of our own government’s cuts known as sequesters, when it comes to the Republicans and the Democrats. First of all, the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, had close to a 150-closure list of staff at local airports and control towers. Take, for example, in Ohio County of West Virginia…
What a ridiculous deal!
I was perplexed that the unspecified county source estimated the annual accrual of property tax based on estimations “if every Eagle Ranch home sold for the current county median price.” How could any public employee worth his salary evoke such an idiotic statement? Eagle Ranch homes (except the low-income residences) will probably sell for an…
Spatafore has my vote
The San Luis Obispo City Council unanimously approved a motion on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, to hold a special election in order to fill the seat vacated by Andrew Carter. Although a special election is more expensive than if the council selected the candidate of their choice, I believe this is one of the many…
Background checks would certainly help
While I realize it’s against convention to engage in a tit-for-tat argument in New Times’ letters page, I am compelled to respond to Joe Erikat’s comment (“Why can’t you comprehend this about guns?” March 21) on my recent opinion piece on guns (“It might be time to say ‘Enough,’” March 14). The argument that “gun…
Residential zoning gives way to Wal-Mart
Patrick Klemz’ article (“Cleanup on Del Rio Road,” March 21) quotes project neighbor Randy Lawrence as knowing Wal-Mart’s Del Rio parcel was zoned commercial. The fact is that not all of the 26.2 acres Wal-Mart purchased was zoned commercial. A large portion of the acreage was zoned residential, primarily multi-family. This information is important because…
Death and taxes
We’re all proud Americans come Fourth of July. Who wouldn’t be proud with a Roman Candle strapped to your back, double-fisting ketchup-slathered weenies? But come April 15 we’re all a little muted in our patriotism. This great country of ours is bleeding us dry, and who needs paved roads anyway? The goods news is—if you’re…
Wrestling matters
On Feb. 13, 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended to remove wrestling as one of its 25 “core sports” from the 2020 games and beyond. This shocked the wrestling community and sports enthusiasts worldwide because wrestling is one of the original sports in the Olympics and participated in worldwide. In 2012, more than 70…
Cougars & Mustangs
I haven’t had a spring break in eight years. I say this not to garner sympathy—although I certainly wouldn’t say no to an all-expense paid trip to, well, anywhere. I say this so that those of you who still have the delirious experiences of breaks—spring, summer, winter, Arbor Day, etc.—will commit to experiencing them to…
Dried up?
In mid 2010, Laurie Gage, a doctor of veterinary medicine and inspector for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, made a site visit to the Morro Bay Aquarium in response to public complaints about the conditions in which animals are held. Later that month, she issued her report with the following conclusion: “This…
Fun stuff
Who knows what real bears are filled with? Honey? Berries? Salmon caught mid-leap from some brisk Alaskan river? Teddy bears are even harder to figure out; there could be anything in there, and it’s virtually impossible to find out what it is—unless you make the bear yourself. Sandy Regoli’s new business, dubbed “bears by the…
Catholic guilt
It is unfortunate that he has been guilty of improper actions on two or three occasions … but how many priests are there completely blameless over a period of 10 years?” The above words were penned in 1980 by Juan Arzube, a now-deceased bishop in the Catholic Church’s Los Angeles Archdiocese, which governs parishes in…
Public prohibited from seismic meeting
When Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane was asked by U.S. Congresswoman Lois Capps about the agency’s understanding of the seismic hazards surrounding the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, the chair pointed out there is a super-special, multi-party committee currently assessing the issue. “We’re observing this process and are looking to see what the outcome is,”…
Nipomo developers’ thirsts quenched for now
Developers in Nipomo once again have access to water for new projects thanks to a recent ordinance by the Nipomo Community Services District. During its March 13 meeting, the district board unanimously voted to immediately suspend a previous ordinance that had halted the processing of new water-service applications. The new ordinance—along with the date of…
SCOTUS hears Proposition 8 arguments
The U.S. Supreme Court listened to oral arguments March 26 in the case challenging the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage passed by California voters in 2008. Gay rights groups—backed by the Obama administration—assert that Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the bench’s expected swing voter…
A-Town waterlogged
An Atascadero water main burst the morning of March 24, and the stream of pressurized water ate its way through a natural gas line maintained by Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas). Water flooded the system and caused a gas outage for 733 downtown customers that remained mostly unresolved as of press time. “I have a…
Defendants in Myers trial guilty on all counts
After just 2 1/2 hours of deliberation, jurors in the Dystiny Myers murder trial returned guilty verdicts for both defendants before an emotional audience. Frank Jacob York, 21, and his mother, Rhonda Maye Wisto, 49, both of Nipomo, were convicted of charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, as well as criminal enhancements…
SLO stabbing defendant takes deal
After changing attorneys, a 22-year-old Vallejo man has decided not to take the criminal allegations against him to trial. On March 22, Austin Sarna accepted a plea agreement from Deputy District Attorney Lee Cunningham, copping to an assault with deadly force charge. The conviction—though a felony—won’t count as a “strike” on Sarna’s record, and he…
Another site excluded for proposed homeless center
Another site for a controversial homeless services center on the south side of town has been checked off the possibilities list due to the need to expand San Luis Obispo’s water reclamation facility. In a Feb. 13 memorandum, city utilities director Carrie Mattingly explained that the site—adjacent to the current Prado Day Center—would be needed…
