Cover Story
Who can turn it around?
It’s high noon and the winds of change are blowing though the unincorporated streets of San Luis Obispo county: A new sheriff is coming. Six candidates with extensive law-enforcement experience are vying to replace Sheriff Pat Hedges, who is leaving office. The six men—a retired police chief, a police captain, a retired California Highway Patrol…
Has the gulf disaster changed your view of offshore oil drilling?
Chrissy Geihs farm cashier “I’ve opposed offshore drilling from the start. It’s unsafe; a bad idea.” Lena Anderson retired French teacher “I’ve always questioned it but now I’m extremely leery and I don’t want any drilling in California.” Tracy Colvin bank IT manager “No, my opinion is the same: We should find another source of…
Silent, but funny!
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and Cal Poly Arts have collaborated to present The Silent Kings of Comedy on May 23 at 3 p.m at SLO’s very own PAC. The event pairs live music—including the Forbes Pipe Organ—with a trio of short comedies starring silent comedy legends Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold…
So. Damn. Fabulous.
It’s Friday, May 14, the day of Central Coast Fashion Week’s second fashion show in a series of six. I’m chilling at home when I get a call from New Times’ receptionist Tanya Gallardo. What do Brazilians call a bikini wax? I’ll tell you one thing, they don’t call it a Brazilian! Last week I…
Usher Tales
They’re the people who spend their weekends passing out programs and decoding seating charts, ambassadors of multimillion-dollar performance venues. They are the first line of defense, parting theatergoers from six packs and purse dogs. While on duty, they wear red, black, or green vests, according to venue, and a strict uniform consisting of black pants…
Viva la cause!
I’m pretty sure you won’t hear the Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” this Saturday, May 22 during a fundraiser for the Nino de Rivera family—it’d be in bad taste—but that didn’t stop me from leading with it! You see, the Nino de Riveras lost their home a couple months ago when a small appliance…
Classrooms in the clouds
While education in SLO County flinches under each swing of the budgetary ax, a Santa Margarita college student is focusing on building schools for children in a much poorer country. With the support of friends and family, 22-year-old Danny Chaffin has formed a nonprofit organization, raised funds, and helped inspire an entire village to hand-build…
Catching air
It’s a beautiful, clear May morning, and I’m soaring thousands of feet over the Pacific Ocean. I’m at the controls of a lightweight four-seater Cessna 172, along with my flight instructor for the day, Jon Stamets. Below, I see the white-capped breakers off Avila Beach and the coastline stretching for miles in either direction. Headset…
Battered bridge smoothed
The Los Osos Valley Road overpass, stretching over Highway 101, had long been riddled with cracks and potholes, one of which was a few feet wide and spanned the length of a truck. “It’s been rough like that for years,” said cab driver Phil Sutter, who navigated the bumps daily and expressed dismay that the…
O’Malley’s out
Roger Briggs, executive officer of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, scanned the crowd at the board’s May 13 meeting. “Tom, if you’re here, this would be the appropriate time,” Briggs said eliciting a few muddled chuckles from the audience. The day was scheduled to recognize former board member Tom O’Malley’s year of…
Aid to poor cut
Some programs survived the chopping block, but the governor’s revised budget would still cut vital services to roughly 6,000 low-income county residents. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his revised 2010-11 state budget May 14, completely cutting various services for the poor, children, and the elderly in the face of the upcoming year’s $19 billion budget shortfall.…
Fee initiative fizzles
If you’re sick and tired of the San Luis Obispo City Council balancing it’s hemorrhaging budget on the backs of residents in the form of new fees, you’re not alone. If you think someone should do something to stop arbitrary fee increases, you’ll have to wait. After collecting roughly 2,500 signatures, the User and Regulatory…
SLO City warns Downtown Association
The San Luis Obispo City Council threatened the Downtown Association at its May 18 meeting: If the Downtown Association doesn’t conclude a deal with the Farmers’ Market Association, the council might not renew their contract. The two associations have been sparring for more than three and a half months over who should run the farmers’…
Taking steps
Confronting a disease your peers know nothing about is a lonely experience; trying to raise public awareness about the condition can be even more challenging. But instead of suffering in silence, 21-year-old Devin Stewart is fighting for a cause greater than herself: cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Stewart was diagnosed in September with…
Richard Howell, General Manager, San Luis Obispo Regional Airport
NEW TIMES: What’s the history of the airport? HOWELL: The airport has been here since the 1940s. It has grown quite a bit over the years, and our most recent expansion took place in 2007. We’ve increased the area to allow larger aircraft to land. NEW TIMES: What’s the most popular destination of departing passengers?…
Scrutinize Mills Act tax breaks
The grand old houses on the 1300 block of San Luis Obispo’s Mill Street look great. In fact, they’ve looked great for as long as I can remember, which is 40 years. I must be oblivious to subtle signs of blight, however, because abruptly, starting in 2005, the city decided it needed to “preserve” these…
It’s budget time
Last year was tough, and this year isn’t looking any better. In fact, it’s looking kinda worse. So it’s with a bit of reluctance—but also a great deal of pride—that I introduce my 2010-11 budget. I’ve had to make some hard choices, but I truly believe in the end this budget addresses the structural deficits…
No more circuses
A cartoon on the opinion page of a recent edition of The Tribune said it all about the state of the news media these days: Against a backdrop of wars, fires, violence, meteor attacks, and all sorts of other disasters, the newscaster says, “But first the latest on Tiger.” The media focus so much attention…
Paul Teixeira’s not the one
I attended Paul Teixeira’s Town Hall Meeting at Nipomo High School, making me one of the total of 17 (including Teixeira and his handler) in attendance. Teixeira showed his lack of knowledge of county government many times in his responses. I heard him state he thinks department heads of county government should have term limits,…
Update the photo
It is unfortunate that Joe Cortez is attempting to mislead voters with his campaign signs and literature by using outdated photographs of himself in uniform as the Chief of Police for the City of Pismo Beach. Cortez retired from law enforcement in 2008; nonetheless he is using old photos of himself in a Pismo Beach…
Parkinson’s the one
As one of many physicians in our community supporting Captain Ian Parkinson for sheriff, I believe the choice for sheriff is clear. He offers a beacon of hope to a department that is in dire need of strong and selfless leadership. Unlike some other candidates, he is not coming out of retirement to seek office.…
Fairy wings and some prayers
The 2010 Elections Special Assignment Wish Fairy has a special prayer for each candidate for sheriff: •that Lenthall learn how to whiten his smile, own up about why he’s never married and why in more than 25 years as a cop he never made it past sergeant? •that if Parkinson is elected, he find time…
Unite to save beaches
O, Come All Ye Faithful and righteous citizens of San Luis Obispo, you who are so upset by the smoke on side walks, the feeding of ducks, and past-bedtime partying: I beg you to rise and stand against the most repulsive polluter of them all, the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreational Area (ODSVRA). Residents in…
Yates and Grantham are not the ones
I have lived in Morro Bay for 52 years and attended many city council meetings. Bill Yates was the worst mayor we ever had. He supported projects that degraded our quality of life and he was very rude to people to the point that it was unpleasant to attend a council meeting. His priorities…
Ochylski’s the one
I am sick and tired of partisan politics. I want results and no more excuses. I want someone who is sincere, experienced, and committed to the entire community instead of to some backroom alliance or personal agenda. No more disregard to the taxpayers, the many businesses and hardworking people who sincerely serve this county. No…
Support Cal Poly radio
In these times of corporate consolidation and narrow homogenization of media content, where can we find truly local independent voices and non-standardized musical offerings? As one of the few truly local stations, KCPR, Cal Poly’s student- and volunteer-run station, has been bringing local voices to Central Coast airways for the last 42 years. Where else…
Vote NO on Proposition 16
Proposition 16 is total rubbish, a disgrace to the democratic process. PG&E is sponsoring the proposition to prevent municipalities from getting into the energy business to compete with the company. It would require a two-thirds vote by municipal residents to approve funding for local public power projects, which we all know would be the kiss…
Clubs
Goin’ South … CAFÉ ANDREINI: 131 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 481-6117. Thurs.: Live music at 6pm. COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF: 750 Five Cities Dr., Pismo Beach, 773-6420. Music Night every Sat., 6:30-8:30pm. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO: 2727 Shell Beach Road, Shell Beach, 773-4300 or TheDolphinBay.com. ELMO’S NIPOMO SALOON: 131 South Thompson Road, Nipomo, 929-5362. Karaoke…
Bogle 2008 Pinot Noir California
This tasty Pinot serves as a prime example that wineries can make an inexpensive Pinot Noir that doesn’t taste like bargain wine. This easy drinking wine offers big ripe aromas and flavors of black cherry and blackberry nicely balanced with notes of spice, herbs, and vanilla. It was aged in a combination of French and…
Taste a unique blend
Would you like to taste the Central Coast’s finest white- and red-wine blends side-by-side to discover which you like best? Do you wish you could attend epicurean meals and tastings of rare wines, while rubbing elbows with world-famous winemakers and chefs? You’ll have such opportunities and more at the upcoming Central Coast Wine Classic (CCWC),…
