Cover Story
Our local looking-glass
The results are in: A new public opinion poll offers a mirror of our minds, throwing back some images that make us reflect on our community and our future. Nearly 2000 San Luis Obispo County residents took part in an extensive survey of attitudes about our quality of life here, our housing and transportation choices,…
Fast facts
Trilogy Central Coast is giving away a brand new Toyota Prius at the close of escrow for each new home purchased until June 15. To learn more about the promotion, check out Trilogy’s free Eco Expo from 11a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 31. The event is one of eight Eco Expos that Trilogy by…
Oil exploration in Huasna Valley; will there be blood?
Huasna Valley lies east of Arroyo Grande, a half-hour down winding, oak-canopied Huasna Road, which is the only paved way in or out. The area has long been known to have oil, but for decades deposits have not been extracted. Now that may change. With the price of petroleum skyrocketing, dormant oil fields all over…
Jack Creek 2006 Pinot Noir Kruse Vineyard
I loved this luscious Pinot on two different occasions when vintners Doug and Sabrina Kruse were pouring it. It offers a delicious array of ripe blackberries and black cherry balanced by bright notes of raspberry and cranberry, highlighted with minerals and spice. Beautifully balanced, it’s a great choice for grilled red meats, roast rack of…
Want cheese with that wine?
“I’m a cheese person first, followed by a wine person,” said cheese expert Laura Werlin, upon greeting a small crowd of enthusiastic and hungry guests attending her seminar with Treana Wines at the Paso Robles Inn Restaurant. Author of the James Beard award-winning, “The All American Cheese and Wine Book,” Werlin’s guide/cookbook profiles 50 cheesemakers…
Do you think Hillary Clinton should drop out of the nomination race?
Rajiv Patnaik engineer/social worker “I think she should keep on going. Things could change in the end. She’s a good politician and I think she’d do a good job.” Colin Blalock janitor “I’m not sure, I don’t really follow politics or the nomination game… it’s just become a slap fest between the candidates.” Ursula Gildersleeve…
Drunken monkey style bluegrass fu!
With a name like Whiskey Chimp, you know you’re going to get taken on some weird genre-bending romp that defies bluegrass conventions. Calling themselves an “insurgent string band,” Whiskey Chimp is touring in support of their sophomore release, Ventura. An insurgent is a rebel who revolts against civil authority or an established government, and while…
New Times voter guide
The office: Board of Supervisors, 1st District The race: Incumbent Harry Ovitt and Paso Robles Mayor Frank Mecham are both Republicans, both fiscally conservative, and both running to represent a large district that includes Paso Robles, Templeton, San Miguel, and Shandon. The rub: If Mecham wins, expect his voting pattern to differ little from Ovitt’s,…
Plant art
In conjunction with Atascadero’s first ever Art Tour, The Red Tree Gallery in Atascadero will host its grand opening celebration on May 30 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The contemporary art gallery features work from local artist Ronald Ray Rogers, in addition to artwork from other local artists as well as artists from all over…
Got flow?
What child doesn’t want to run away and join the circus? How many adults secretly harbor that same desire to sever all ties with reality and enter a realm of imagination and creative expression? Fortunately, if a stint with the circus is in your future, a Greyhound ticket to a more urban, arts-forward destination like…
Scott O’Keefe – owner, operator, chief janitor of SLO eGo
New Times: What do you sell? O’Keefe: Electric scooters are our biggest sellers. Scooters, cars, trucks, and electric bikes. We sold two trucks yesterday, including our demo. New Times: How’s business these days? O’Keefe: Picked up really good. Thank you Exxon, thank you Shell! New Times: So gas prices have had an impact? O’Keefe: People…
Pay attention and don’t jump at any deals
As an investor with Hurst Financial, I want to plead with all who are still in denial about what’s taking place here: You need to start paying attention. Smooth talk coming from the people in control of your funds is not the only side of the story, it’s what they want you to hear and…
We’re not ‘spinning’ the Mitchell Park issue
What is going on with the City Council? The council’s 3 to 2 vote on May 6 in favor of building a parking lot in Mitchell Park for the seniors who frequent the senior center was shocking. The council voted as it did despite the recommendations of three advisory commissions and a 5-to-1 ratio of…
Let me tell you a little more about missing Dunes info
I need to clarify several points in New Times’ version of what happened in January of last year when several crucial clauses pertaining to a potential $5 million sale of county land in the Oceano Dunes somehow went AWOL from a county planning staff report (“Dune protection goes missing,” May 22). The Planning Commission staff…
Use agricultural land to actually grow food
Kudos to Lisen Bonnier for making reference to the What If? scenario (“Don’t let them take one more acre,” May 22). What if energy prices are not simply Big Oil now replacing Big Finance at the corporate greed-trough and Peak Oil really is reality? This is the theory—once fringe, now increasingly mainstream (think climate change)—that…
Demand the switch to mass transportation
George Dailey proclaims the solution to oil troubles (“The easiest solution to oil troubles? Electricity,” May 22). The operative sentence in his proclamation is “Altering how we choose to power autos will only bring about the big change in oil consumption. The easiest solution is to power cars with electricity generated by batteries.” Even though…
Losing the car show was a bad move, Paso Robles
Friday night, May 23, I went to the Paso Robles Inn at about 5 p.m., parked in front, walked up to the bar, and not only found an empty table on the balcony, but there were only about 12 people inside the place I could barely “squeeze” into in past years! Saturday we went to…
The State Supreme Court’s ruling should stand
I’m heterosexual, happily married, and I have loved ones and friends who are gay. I’ve heard all your arguments against gay marriage, and I understand it’s extremely difficult for some of you to change the way you think for a variety of reasons. But regardless of your reasons, we continue to treat gays as second-class…
Marriage isn’t a pick-and-choose institution
In her May 22 commentary (“Protect a just decision”), Lorelei Monet states that right-wing extremists are behind the move to prohibit same-sex marriage. Extremists are involved in every issue, but I think Lorelei will find that there are many citizens like myself who do not frame same-sex marriage as primarily a religious concern. The inversion…
New Times, why are you pushing deadly drugs?
Your May 22 issue has a full-page ad pushing cigarettes. This drug kills 460,000 Americans each year. The cigarette corporations are pushing this terrible drug in Third World countries to get addicts that then buy their product for life. Why is New Times a “drug pusher?”
Support the fight
On June 3 and 4, SLO County residents may notice an odd though not unknown scene on our roadways—3,000 cyclists and crew pedaling through the wind and fatigue. Hopefully, most will look long enough to realize that this is not just some mega-bike club or century ride. This year, the 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle is expected raise…
Party! Party! Party!
Well let’s just all stop pretending that the SLO Board of Supervisors races—the election’s Tuesday June 3—is a nonpartisan affair. We’ll make a day of the official change, call it Parti Gras, and get the SLO Police to shut us down. I mean, if Bo Derek hasn’t already said it, I will: Supervisor Jerry Lenthall…
