Cover Story
Diary of an arrest: Was an October arrest in Paso Robles an overly aggressive bungle or a messy success?
The first punch appears to connect with Justin Silvernale’s stomach, roughly one minute after the second officer arrives on scene and about four seconds after the other officer’s failed attempt to place Silvernale in handcuffs. Paso Robles Officer Michael Rickerd followed with three quick jabs to Silvernale’s side, before he, Silvernale, and Officer Jeffrey DePetro…
Cambria CSD receives Notice of Violation from water board over Emergency Water Supply project
After roughly 5 1/2 weeks of an emergency water treatment plant operating in Cambria, that town’s Community Services District got its first slap on the wrist in what’s been an uphill battle for the project. The Emergency Water Supply (EWS) project, which went online Jan. 20, treats brackish and treated wastewater and injects it into…
Pismo Beach City Council backtracks on mobile medical marijuana dispensaries
After they were lit up by a vocal group of critics, Pismo Beach City Council members declined to pursue a ban on mobile medical marijuana dispensaries during their March 3 meeting. Following about 45 minutes of discussion, no council member was willing to make a motion to approve the mobile dispensary ban, effectively killing the…
What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen?
Carson Landers student “Twilight–because Twilight.” Nicole Giraldi international shipper “Xtinction: Predator X, because it has Paul Wall in it.” Woody Calderwood UPS “I walked out of the theater during Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle.” Dustin Collins tennis demos “Batman and Robin. Best bad movie ever.”
Landowner wants to move Ontario Ridge trail, again
Rob McCarthy makes no bones about it: He wants to move the popular Ontario Ridge hiking trail off his property, and he considers the trail to be unsafe. Though McCarthy lost a protracted battle with the California Coastal Commission in 2014 over his right to install hiker-deterring fences and signs on the trail between Shell…
Jackie Greene brings his soulful Americana to SLO Brew on March 11
The best way to describe Jackie Greene’s music is Americana, folk-rock, and blues, but there’s no denying his music, lyrics, and voice are dripping with soul. Whether he’s strumming away solo on the acoustic guitar or backed by his band, the man emotes—and he’s versatile as hell, which is why, in addition to enjoying a…
The Central Coast celebrates Women’s History Month with a series of diverse and educational events
March marks the beginning of Women’s History Month. Though it seems inane to just have one month dedicated to women’s history (same goes for Black History Month), the occasion does offer some fantastic opportunities to enlighten and educate. Throughout this month, the SLO County Libraries will be doing just that with a series of events…
The new SLO Skate Park, which opened to the public Feb. 28, is a skater paradise!
View a slideshow of the SLO Skate Park. I can’t wait for Saturday’s grand opening (plus I want to see the park without thousands of skaters all over it), so on Friday, Feb. 27, I head over to Santa Rosa Park where a group of workers is disassembling the chain link fence that has surrounded…
Installation artist Sheila Pepe creates interactive exhibit at Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery
There’s possibly no more comfortable place on the Cal Poly campus right now than the University Art Gallery. Within that white room, you’ll find all the plush features of the coziest pad—a zebra-print rug, fluffy pillows, ample seating, and elaborately crocheted decor. This is a place where you’d want to hang, want to explore, bring…
SLO Film Festival kicks off with a diverse and star-studded lineup
Giant pumpkins, surfing stars, broomstick-based sports, and acclaimed filmmakers. The 21st annual San Luis Obispo International Film Festival offers all of these this year in a program of films and events so varied and dynamic, they would make any cinephile’s heart glow. With nearly 100 films, ranging from short documentaries to feature narratives, this year’s…
Clubs 3/5/15-3/12/15
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. CUVEE BISTRO AND CHAMPAGNE BAR: 550 1st St., Avila Beach, 595-2245. Live music Thurs. and Sat. 6-9pm. 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…
William James Cellars’ 2011 Chardonnay and Claiborne & Churchill’s 2007 Nektar Orange Muscat California Ice Wine
My favorite Girl Scout cookies are an old staple: Thin Mints, chilled in the freezer. Or, at least I thought they were. After trying a few nibbles of citrusy Girl Scout lemonade cookies with a swallow of vibrant 2011 William James chardonnay, I may be changing my tune once and for all. The Santa Maria…
News nibbs
Scout Coffee Co. has begun roasting its own specialty beans! Grab a cup or bag of the darling shop’s new Honey Co. Coffee, which I personally found to be quite mellow and tasty (for all the details, visit scoutcoffeeco.com or stop by their 1130 Garden St. location) … Ever wonder what kind of wine would…
Build your own ‘outdoor kitchen’ complete with earthen oven at the SLO Botanical Garden
Let’s consider two scenarios. In the first, a 10-year-old kid grabs a plastic bag of bright orange, processed “baby carrots” and zonks out in front of the TV. In the second, the same kid grabs a pair of garden gloves and runs outside, where he pulls up a bunch of his own bumpy, all-natural carrots…
Expect the unexpected: Left Field in SLO puts an unusual spin on home goods
Looking for something unusual and quirky with which to fill your home? Left Field, a new home goods store in San Luis Obispo, has the answer. Airy and filled with natural light, the space is jam-packed with a hodgepodge of hanging greenery and a kaleidoscopic array of rugs, pots, and other novelty curio items. The…
Cougars & Mustangs
With regard to such factors as how long you’ve been in the area, how much you pay attention, and whaaever else this generalized introductory sentence carelessly forgot, you have a good chance of knowing about the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. It provided venues for budding filmmakers to screen their work in the hope…
Dune developments: A pair of recent advances may point to a status quo change on the Oceano Dunes
Ever since vehicles started driving on the Oceano Dunes, there have essentially been two camps: those who support the activity and those concerned about its impacts. Neither camp is going away any time soon, but a California Coastal Commission hearing on Feb. 11 and a Feb. 25 judicial ruling indicate—in the eyes of many—that California’s…
San Luis Obispo introduces e-cigarette regulation
Smoke ’em while you got ’em—in public, at least. In a unanimous decision, the San Luis Obispo City Council voted to introduce an ordinance that will treat electronic “e-cigarettes” the same as tobacco products. And in SLO, that treatment translates to a prohibition of e-cigarette vaping at indoor and most outdoor public places. City Council…
Supes to consider a program designed to fast track small-scale solar projects
A program designed to fast-track the approval of small-scale solar projects in the county has passed the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission and is headed for the Board of Supervisors. The Renewable Energy Streamlining Program (RESP) creates a set of requirements that, if met, would allow a renewable energy project to be exempt from…
An impasse continues between teachers and district officials of the Lucia Mar Unified School District
With two groups no closer to breaking a months-long stalemate in contract negotiations, a strike is still very much on the table for teachers of the Lucia Mar Unified School District. “Teachers definitely don’t want to strike, but they’re willing to do it if that’s the only way we can get a good deal,” said…
Humans built Diablo …
Frequent letters in support of nuclear energy in other local papers contain opinions not in the realm of reality. Reducing the source of CO2 emissions by increasing the use of hazardous fissionable nuclides is like crowing about having quit smoking cigarettes by puffing crystal meth. For radiation, health physicists like myself who have done the…
Still breathing
That’s what my Grandma would say when I asked her how she was doing. “Oh, I’m still breathing.” It used to annoy me. I thought it was a cheap ploy to remind me of how old and frail she was so I’d feel guilty and move out, allowing her to live out her final days…
Not cool, council and Firestone
Literally a slap in the face of all the residents of San Luis Obispo. Council persons Ashbaugh, Christianson, and Rivoire delivered yet another insult to their constituents by siding with another out of town profiteer, Andrew Firestone, over the objections of a hundred neighborhood residents and the City Planning Commission, for Firestone’s excessively large hotel…
Support Bob Banner via crowdfunding
Even though I don’t really need to raise money for my various entrepreneurial endeavors, I’m fascinated by crowdfunding and so happy it is working for so many in SLO County (“Brother, can you spare a dime?” Feb. 19). I do wish Glen Starkey had interviewed Bob Banner, who has gone to crowdfunding several times to…
We need to turn public opinion on war around
The drums of war are beating still–more atrocity stories (horrible without a doubt) to shock the people into supporting military action. Only a few TV pundits have dared to make the obvious point that the emergence and growth of Al Qaeda and ISIS, and the horrors they perpetuate, are the logical result of the instability…
Fukushima at 4
On March 11, the fourth anniversary of the tragic nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Californians should pause to consider both their good luck and their potential fate. Luck, that Mother Nature has not yet thrown her full force against the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant; and fate that Diablo Canyon’s days as a power—and revenue—generator…
