Cover Story
By a thread
On March 8, Wes Davis walked up to the lectern in the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors chambers. Almost as soon as he spoke—this big guy with long hair and a goatee, dressed all in denim—his voice cracked and was soaked in tears. Baring his emotions in front of a roomful of mostly…
CLUBS
Goin’ South … COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Drive, Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. ELMO’S NIPOMO SALOON: 131 South Thompson Road, Nipomo, 929-5362. Karaoke on Thurs. and Fri. at 8pm. F.MCLINTOCKS SALOON: 750 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach, 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music every Fri.-Sat., 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell, Doc Stoltey. HARRY’S NIGHT…
The sky is falling
Did you know there’s a nuclear power plant right here, in little ’ol SLO County? Hot damn. Someone should jump on that story. With all that horror taking place in Japan, I’m getting kind of scared. Could it happen here? Do you think? Oh no. I see these Japanese families, tears in their eyes, hauling…
Join me in supporting Carrizo solar
• Believe in global climate change and know we need to vastly increase our portfolio of clean energy sources. • Have opposed the use of nuclear energy and want a clean source of energy. • Know that rooftop solar is not enough. • Can’t have solar on your own home for whatever reason and want…
What would have made your middle school experience better?
Leah Minnala server “If I didn’t get held back.” Zebulun Petrowski entrepreneurial comedian “I would be less of a rascal; we did some pretty bad pranks, like taking every chair and desk and stacking them in the middle of the room. The teacher was so sad.” Maggie Waikel waitress “A pool at school because P.E.…
‘The More You Know’ (the more critics love you)
Teen Monologues is not a required course. Nor is it a news flash, a speech, or a television commercial. So when I tell you that you have to see Teen Monologues—which could technically be labeled with one of America’s most feared phrases, the “Public Service Announcement”—I mean it not in a totalitarian do-this-or-die way, but…
I seem to be the only one with an answer to oil prices
I find it insulting how Middle America, who least can afford it, is being tortured by greedy U.S. oil companies, aloof politicians, and ignorant primitive Middle East conglomerate assemblies of tyrant-orientated tribes over the cost of oil. The answer is elementary, yet it appears I am the only one who understands and comprehends the solution…
Remove nuclear subsidies
As I watch the Fukushima crisis unfolding in Japan, and even as some brave Japanese workers are volunteering to shorten their lives to avoid an even larger catastrophe, I cannot believe that the United States is insisting that it “can’t happen here.” I can’t believe that we are not making the decision to turn from…
Don’t hatchet PBS
As a weather observer from the city of Morro Bay, on the central California coast, I am very concerned during this spring of 2011 about the Republicans’ choice to cut PBS funding and programming. When I was younger, as a teenager and young adult, I would wake up just before 7:15 a.m. before going to…
Oh, and another thing
While I agree with your column about the cross burning in Arroyo Grande (“Is your refrigerator running?” March 24), I have to point out an error: Mayor Tony Ferrara would probably be irritated were he to be hit with a gaff, it is his gaffe you write about (and it is your gaffe for using…
Be consistent with maturity references
I’d like to point out an error in Mr. McDonald’s story on the cross burning in the March 24 news section (“A cross burns in Arroyo Grande): In the third paragraph, he calls the 19-year-old victim, whom he called a woman in the first paragraph, a girl. — Bruce Eddy – Paso Robles — Bruce…
You made me sick
I was horrified to read the article “Au revoir, squirrel! City workers blow up intrusive rodents!” (March 24). As an animal lover, I was sickened and disappointed at the callousness and juvenile jokes made about harming and killing innocent animals whose territory we are infringing upon. It turned my stomach to see a grown man…
Roarke among us
Brilliant job on your recent cover article, ”Improvisational architecture” (March 24). It really was such a treat to be able to get inside the mind of one of SLO’s most prominent and upcoming architects. For those of us who lack that sort of right-brain thinking, the way Mr. Garcia is able to find the parallel…
I’m calling it ‘tsunami No. 2’
The architect’s perspective cover story in the March 24 New Times (“Improvisational architecture”) was a tsunami all right—a tsunami of word vomit about nothing without a single fact checked or verified. Sweet “perspective”—the only perspective shared was how to obliterate facts on local material sourcing, what makes a project sustainable (besides just saying it’s highly…
Help the EPA do its job
To waste, to destroy, our natural resources … will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them.” So said Pres. Theodore Roosevelt in his seventh message to Congress on Dec. 3, 1907. Propelled by funds doled out by billionaire owners of…
Nobilo 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
I love New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, particularly this bargain-priced version from a producer who’s consistently good. It’s like a lemon drop in its lovely array of zippy citrus flavors, nicely offset by nuances of sweet Meyer lemon, herbs, and floral notes. It’s a delicious aperitif, but it’s best at the table paired with shellfish in…
Margerum 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Sybarite
A favorite of wine connoisseurs, this elegant white offers aromas and flavors of fresh grapefruit and Pippin apple, layered with notes of minerals, melon, and lime. Its lingering flavors make it irresistible on its own, but it’s also great with dishes like wild mushroom and goat cheese bruschetta, pizza with shrimp and feta cheese, pad…
Embracing the food chain
Walking up to Panera Bakery and Café on a Wednesday at 2 p.m. and finding the place packed, both inside and outside, was rather shocking—it had barely been open one week. It was only a couple of weeks earlier when I first noticed the sign on the building alongside Madonna Road announcing Panera’s imminent opening.…
Legendary
Maybe a decade or so ago, I saw CPR, a group fronted by David Crosby that also featured his son Jeff Pevar. It was singularly amazing, with incredible vocal harmonies. Four years ago, I sadly missed Crosby, Stills, and Nash when they played Avila Beach, but word on the beach is they were amazing. Now,…
Ryan Miller
NEW TIMES Our sister paper, the Santa Maria Sun, just underwent a redesign, right? MILLER Yes, and it’s actually just the Sun now. We changed the name because we cover more than the city of Santa Maria. Our southernmost focus is on the Santa Ynez Valley, and our upper border includes Nipomo in San Luis…
I won’t meet a tall dark stranger …
When it comes to things like astrology and palm healing, I’m admittedly a skeptic. So when local astrologer and Reiki healer Curtis Williams wrote New Times to see if we’d be interested in publishing an article or two about the practices, I suggested that instead of him writing the article, he do my chart and…
Artifacts
Art After Dark Anam-Cre’ Pottery Studio Student and instructor pottery sale. 570 Higuera St., suite 140; 544-1850; anamcre.com. Art Central “Artistic Impressions,” by Deborah Hobbs. 1329 Monterey St; 788-0887. ARTS Space Obispo M’Lou Mayo’s “A Material World,” 570 Higuera St., suite 165 (SLO Creamery); 544-9251; artsobispo.org. Bali Isle Recycled art, fibers, and fashion. 672 Higuera…
Ghetto farming for beginners
As BART trundles by, Novella Carpenter milks her Ethiopian dairy goats. She feeds the chickens, ducks, and geese, their squawks mingling with the not-too-distant sirens of the inner city. She harvests honey from the beehive on her deck, the idyllic I-80 snaking across the horizon. The kitchen where she prepares her home-raised meals boasts an…
Cleaning with the stars
When it comes to automotive detailing, the industry standard five-star rating scale just doesn’t have enough stars to describe the kind of quality craftsmanship and attention 7-Star Detail provides. “We’re are obsessed with the perfect shine and won’t compromise for anything less. We are committed in making your car look better than the day you…
Cougars and Mustangs
This is the first installment of Cougars and Mustangs—a collection of uber-important happenings at San Luis Obispo’s college campuses. We at New Times are well aware that many college kids are out of town on spring break, and are more interested in finding the next Beirut tournament than reading about upcoming school-related accomplishments and events.…
Space Center relaunches
Though the California Space Authority recently broke off plans with the Air Force for a California Space Center, the nonprofit group may have already found love on the rebound in Lompoc. And both sides are hoping it’s a marriage made in heaven. Designed as a “bigger and better” version of Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Center,…
Show me the money
What do you call it when thousands of dollars go missing from the coffers of a local government? Embezzlement? A crime? Simply a case of sloppy bookkeeping? Magic? In the case of Oceano, a small, unincorporated town south of Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande, it’s a question that will likely never be answered. In what…
Lake Nacimiento is full of water … and sewage?
San Luis Obispo officials shut down water flowing into the city’s drinking water system after a sewage line that runs through Lake Nacimiento broke. SLO drinking water is now coming from the city’s other water sources. This comes at a unique time for the lake: It’s completely filled for the first time since 1983. The…
Another local bank’s got problems
Coast National Bank, a San Luis Obispo bank with four branches and a loan office, is in a bit of a pickle. Federal bank regulators want the institution to “improve its asset quality and create specific plans for the maintenance of adequate capital.” In other words, it needs to get its hands on some more…
SmartMeter opt-out plan is here
Pacific Gas & Electric customers concerned about the safety of the utility’s SmartMeters will be able to essentially turn off their new meter’s wireless component—but doing so will come at a price. Meeting a March 24 deadline set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), PG&E filed its application to modify its controversial SmartMeter program,…
Open and shut–and open again
Responding to business owners who’ve lost thousands of dollars in just a few weeks, the San Luis Port Harbor District Board of Directors unanimously re-opened the Harford Pier in Avila Beach to passenger traffic. On March 4, with little to no business input, the board voted 3-2 to shut out passenger vehicles from the pier,…
Two Oceano leaders suddenly resign
Just when it seemed Oceano politics couldn’t get any weirder, two of the district’s directors suddenly resigned on March 28, apparently because of differences with the district’s general manager. Both Board President Jim Hill and Director Carole Henson cited deteriorating relations with the General Manger Raffaele F. Montemurro in their resignation letters as the reason…
