Cover Story
Path less traveled: SLO weighs risks and benefits of allowing recreation in its open spaces after dark
It’s 7:30 on a misty April evening in San Luis Obispo, where Madonna Road dead-ends into the Irish Hills Natural Reserve. The sun is beginning to disappear behind the mountainside. SLO resident Christie O’Hara, clad in a spandex jersey, methodically straps on her helmet, adjusts her gloves, and places a big pair of athletic glasses…
The mighty pen!
Social Justice Warriors descended like a thunderbolt on SLO High School special education teacher Michael Stack last week after the devout Christian teacher wrote a negative letter to Expressions, the school’s student-run newspaper, in response to an issue highlighting LGBTQ+ issues. After student, parent, and community outcry, Stack—a probationary teacher who’d already been informed he…
Wine time
Nana knows best: The Riboli family has been making wine for 100 years, and they’ve been grubbing on Italian eats for even longer. Check out the winery’s authentic Old World recipes served up now at the bistro at the San Antonio Winery tasting room in Paso Robles (See what’s on the menu and plan an…
Santa Margarita native Jade Jackson releases her major label debut, ‘Gilded,’ at Boo Boo Records on May 19
Not so long ago, when I wanted to speak to Jade Jackson about her newest recording or her next show, I’d just call her up, but these days the Santa Margarita native has “people,” as in “Have your people call my people and we can coordinate.” Of course, I don’t have “people,” so I called…
Buckshi resigns: County supervisors pick up pieces as top administrator leaves for Walnut Creek
SLO County’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dan Buckshi often plays the role of peacemaker and mediator in Board of Supervisors disputes. When board members refuse to compromise, which is often, Buckshi will make the effort to find a reasonable path forward. “I try to help them along,” a weary Buckshi told New Times back in…
Morro Bay city manager resigns
After applying for employment in two other cities, Morro Bay City Manager David Buckingham announced his resignation May 12, ending his three-year tenure. Buckingham’s resignation will be effective June 26, according to a statement from the city. Until then, Buckingham will be on paid administrative leave in accordance with his employment terms. The resignation comes…
What is your reaction to the SLO High teacher’s anti-gay letter published in the school paper?
Libby York receptionist “I’m a Christian and I don’t believe in saying things like that, especially in a school setting. Kids are so impressionable at this time and they should be able to confide in their teachers, but how can they if something like this is said?” Susannah Bee SLO resident “I think as a…
Lawyer on wheels
The silver chrome shell glints in the sunlight as the aerodynamic shape of this 1978 Airstream overshadows all the other vehicles in the parking lot. Upon entering, the oval skylights and interior design provide an open, relaxing,and casual feel. If it weren’t for the stark blue stenciling of a logo on the exterior of the…
Seeking support: SLO High controversy highlights challenges for LGBT youth
It was just 659 words of white text on a black background. A letter to the editor of Expressions, the student newspaper for SLO High School, published on the paper’s website May 9, and it appeared to tell the school’s LGBT students, and others like them, that they “deserved to die.” The letter was penned…
Grover Beach gives the ‘green light’ to marijuana industry
After nearly a year of work, the city of Grover Beach officially opened the door to the medical marijuana industry. At their May 15 meeting, members of the Grover Beach City Council approved a zoning ordinance and permitting regulations for several types of medical marijuana-related businesses, including nurseries, testing labs, manufacturing facilities, and even brick-and-mortar…
County becomes groundwater agency for Paso and Santa Maria basins
On May 16, the SLO County Board of Supervisors approved resolutions to become Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) for large swaths of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin and fringes of the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The aquifers are just two of six local basins that the county is…
Health care repeal-and-replace could cost SLO County $6 million
As they move toward finalizing a $590 million budget for 2017-18, SLO County officials are unsure exactly how the potential changes to federal heath care laws could impact the county’s finances. According to county staff, the repeal and replacement of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) could jeopardize access to health care for thousands of…
Local foundation buys the Atascadero Printery
After a nail biting online tax auction on May 15, the Atascadero Printery Foundation finally took ownership of the historic building. Foundation President Karen McNamara said she increased the foundation’s bid in the last minutes of the auction to the final bid of $300,100, earning the group the winning bid over an unknown competing group.…
Santa Margarita quarry application re-filed
The Las Pilitas quarry proposal in Santa Margarita is back from the dead. Two years after the SLO County Board of Supervisors shot down the project amid intense community opposition, Las Pilitas LLC and landowner Danny Oster re-filed the application for the 41-acre quarry off Highway 58, which could produce as much as 500,000 tons…
‘Fox’ in the ‘hen house’
There are many things to be against and to be angrily aroused about concerning Donald Trump and his administration. One of the major areas to me and to many others is the weakening of environmental protections, along with weakening protections for workers on the job. Trump has appointed people to Cabinet positions and as heads…
‘RVs for Vets’ up for grabs
Fellow homeless veteran advocates: Hope’s Village needs someone to take over our very successful “RVs for veterans” program. We’ve now passed on 65 RVs to homeless veterans (our latest donor was one of our own county supervisors). This program is very simple. No money exchanges hands, and no liability is incurred. We are just the…
Dunes pollution needs solution
It has been years since it was determined that Nipomo Mesa residents were, and still are, being subjected to a significant health hazard: silica dust from the Oceano Dunes. It also has been years since scientific studies have determined, and have maintained, that closing the off-highway vehicle park is unnecessary to resolve the problem. Yet…
Christianity doesn’t judge
SLO High School teacher Michael Stack’s letter to Expressions commits two common but grave errors in interpreting the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. First, Stack’s reference to The New Living Translation is a bad translation. A faithful translation of Romans 1:26 says, “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to…
In defense of history (and Eva Ulz)
Dana Parker dismissing Eva Ulz’s history lesson and public work as propaganda (“A different internment lesson,” April 27) is a disservice to SLO’s citizenry and history. It makes me question if you, Ms. Parker, left the proverbial armchair to critically engage the History Center’s exhibit, “Tranquility Disrupted: Japanese Exclusion and San Luis Obispo County.” What…
Should we tolerate religious immorality?
Special education teacher Michael Stack resigned from San Luis Obispo High School last week as a result of public outrage against his criticism of the LGBT community in the school newspaper. Whether or not one believes that Mr. Stack was acting under protection of his First Amendment rights in this context, and whether or not those…
Deadly message
I was born and raised in San Luis Obispo. I love many people there and have many happy memories of my times in SLO. I currently live in Michigan with my partner of three years, raising our 6-year-old son while attending Michigan State University to receive my Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Growing up, I attended local…
Bingeable: The Handmaid’s Tale
When? 2017 | What’s it rated? NR | Where’s it available? Streaming on Hulu. Picture this: An ultra conservative group dominates the rights of women and ultimately downgrades females to second class citizens, that is if they aren’t part of the elite social caste of the community—sound familiar? Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale…
It’s all Greek
When in SLO, do as the Greeks do at the SLO Greek Festival June 3 and 4 at Mission Plaza. Enjoy homemade Greek food and pastries, local beer and wine, authentic Greek music, a Greek fashion show, performances by the St. Andrew’s Greek dance groups, and a marketplace with gifts and souvenirs. This event is…
Moon power
Everything feeling just a little off? Blame it on the moon. May 25 is a night of the new moon, or the night where the moon is completely aligned with the sun and invisible from earth. Learn all about it at a new moon Gathering and Workshop at Tamed Wild Apothecary in Arroyo Grande May…
Beauty and the bike
Cap off Bike to Work Day on May 19 by stopping by the Bikes and Beauty Fashion Show at the SLO Guild Hall. The event runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and includes free admission, bike inspired fashions on display (and up for auction), and the first 125 attendees will receive a free commemorative 2017…
Assembly required: Trivets, Steamers, and Spare Forks exhibit on view at Linnaea’s
It’s May 14, Mother’s Day, and after making sure to call my mother I decide to check out the Trivets, Steamers, and Spare Forks exhibit by local artist Janelle Younger, currently on view at Linnaea’s Cafe in San Luis Obispo. In order to avoid the Sunday brunch crowd, I go later in the evening and…
Details in the patterns: Artist Adrienne Allebe crafts ethereal paintings
About five years ago, artist Adrienne Allebe just didn’t know what to draw anymore. After the death of her dad, she simply hit a creative wall. “I had no idea what to make art of,” Allebe said. “I just took a ruler out and started making lines and then started making simple patterns and building…
Full circle: Little Theatre’s production of ‘Our Town’ gets to the meat of life
The niceties of a play—that is a set and props, elaborate costumes, and the creation of a world the audience can seen but remains invisible to—are all stripped aside in favor of the stuff of life that actually matters in the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre’s production of Our Town. On opening night on May…
Join a cult!
Usually, your gut instinct will tell you to run as far away as you possibly from anyone even remotely giving off that Jonestown “cult leader” vibe. However, this is a cult you can (and should) believe in, hook, line, and sinker. That is, of course, the “cult” of probiotic health. Too many “bad” bacteria swimming…
Let them eat cake! (and macarons): Say bonjour to Pardon My French Bakery in Grover Beach
Believe it or not, the perky, rainbow colored macarons so many of us love to Instagram, were not, in fact, born in France. Sacre bleu! I’ll let that sink in for a moment. These iconic meringue based cookies composed of egg white, icing, sugar, almond powder, and coloring actually originated in Italy (in fact, they’ve…
Clubs 5/18/17-5/25/17
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-5000, cliffsresort.com FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN BREWING CO.: Singer/Songwriter Night every Wed. from 8-10pm. 1462 E. Grand Ave., Arroyo Grande, 474-8525, figmtnbrew.com. 5/20: Three 4 All from 8:30pm-11pm; 5/26: The Caverns. HARRY’S NIGHT CLUB AND BEACH BAR: Cypress and Pomeroy, downtown Pismo Beach, 773-1010. Thurs.: Front…
