Cover Story
If your pet could talk, what would it say?
Mike Abraham student “I have a 12-year-old lab. She would want to ask why I’m not showing her enough attention. Where’s the love?” Nick Greene Hep Kat employee “Why didn’t you take me outside this morning?” Lakin Hamilton Ambiance employee “Feed me.” Anthony Hernandez student “She would say, ‘What’s that smell?’ She is a hound…
I’m dancing the foreclosure shuffle
By mid-morning, I slump onto my desk, which is littered with documents, notes, and phone numbers on sticky tags. The so-called “loan modification” people at one of the major banks have me limp as a rabbit in a wildcat’s mouth, shaking out my strength, savings, time, and resolve, while their foreclosure attorneys declare another victory…
Pass the Kleenex
I wept. My lacrimal glands burst like overripe fruit. Salty, Pabst-flavored tears charged down my face, diverted by wrinkles and absorbed by pizza crumbs clinging to my chin. It was Saturday, around 2:47 a.m., and I couldn’t track the source of my emotional maelstrom to a single event. Outside my window, a plastic bag made…
Wednesday Phillips (aka Sinnamon Splice)
NEW TIMES What is your favorite derby memory? SPLICE When I made the Rough Diamonds (B-Team)! When I saw my name on the player roster for the November game, I was smiling and screaming for hours! That was definitely my best derby moment! NEW TIMES What does it take to be a derby girl?…
Liberals and gangs–am I right?
We are all sick and tired of gangs destroying our country. I say put a bounty on their heads, and let’s get rid of the scum forever. We, the people, are tired of liberals protecting the rats.
We need to keep the trees we have
I would like to add to a recent handout about a Nov. 19 meeting regarding Sweet Springs Nature Preserve: Many of Los Osos’ trees and bushes have died; pine pitch canker, the beetle bore, oak root fungus, scale, and the myoporum thrip have contributed to devastating “circle of life” results. The results of our upcoming…
We smoke lovers get what we want
We are worse than China. And we are hypocrites. Does the Chinese Embassy in Washington monitor the air and accuse Americans of senseless and dangerous pollution? No, it does not. But the American Embassy in China does, and “rebukes” Beijing for particulate pollution that is “beyond index,” i.e. off the charts. Why are we neglecting…
We have to move toward shutting down nuclear
I am not a scientist like Edward L. Quinn, who had his viewpoint printed recently (“Nuclear power continues to be safe and reliable,” The Tribune, Nov. 10), about the safety and reliability of nuclear power generation. He also mentioned the low cost to ratepayers. It does not take a scientist to discover the fact that…
What about the bears?
Just kidding. Everybody knows that nothing is more important than the automobile. To expand on the subject (“Death to roadkill,” Nov. 3), there is never, ever any talk anywhere about possibly curtailing (even in the very distant future) the amount of cars. Things slowing down? Build more roads. So every day a zillion cars go…
Blame birds, not trees
The Audubon Society folks want to remove the towering eucalyptus trees at Sweet Springs. In last week’s opinion section, Jan Surbey of the Morro Coast Audubon Society calls upon us to “put the needs of endangered species (the Morro shoulderband snail) above our personal preferences.” (“Put endangered species above personal preferences,” Nov. 10). If the…
There’s development behind Teixeira
We’d like to dot the “i” and cross the “t” on Colin Rigley’s excellent reportage of Supervisor Paul Teixeira’s efforts to quietly starve the South County Advisory Council out of existence, following the debacle of his public effort to oust the elected council members and replace them with personal cronies (“Cut off,” Nov. 10). While…
Someone making a positive claim bears the burden
I would like to point out to your readers that the argument in Otis Page’s Nov. 10 letter (“The burden of proof is on you, atheists”) is a logical fallacy called Argumentum ad Populum, “If many believe so, it is so.” The cultures of ancient Greece, India, and China all independently developed the belief that…
Prove that there isn’t a teapot circling the moon
I thank Otis Page for a substantive challenge (“The burden of proof is on you, atheists,” Nov. 10) to my commentary about atheism (“Meet your friendly neighborhood atheists,” Oct. 19), and am happy to return the favor. The “witness of millions of people” is not, as Mr. Page asserts, very good evidence for god at…
Kynsi 2008 Pinot Noir Edna Valley Stone Corral
This magical wine is perfect for holiday dinners, and a very good value considering the prices of its peers from Napa or France. Boldly flavorful, yet refined and elegant, this incredible wine offers layers of flavors with black cherries, blackberries, plums, and spice box flavors that marry harmoniously with nuances of earth and leather. A…
Drive-by fooding!
Food on the Central Coast is going where it has rarely gone before: right to your business parking lot. Porter’s “Gourmet on the Go” food truck is ready to serve whenever and wherever hungry people are gathered. Owner Duncan Palmer founded this business in October 2010. He and a friend had been talking about running…
Turkey talk with the Experts
I have never been fond of turkey, and the big bird must surely hold that against me. No matter how many recipes I study or fuss over to produce the perfect holiday turkey, just like my beloved grandma did every single Thanksgiving, I can’t achieve a moist, tender breast. And I do everything right: I…
CLUBS
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music Fri. from 5:30-8:30 p.m. THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. 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…
Making space
Sometimes a baby grand piano is the elephant in the room. A while ago, Los Osos resident Jody Mulgrew decided he was done recording at home, so he sold his baby grand, some of his guitars, and decided to take a breather. That’s when the songs started flowing out of him. Suddenly he started to…
Help a cultural cornerstone
I was decked out in designer threads, fancy new kicks, and about a bucket of hair gel when I danced on over to Steynberg Gallery the other day. You gots to look right for the ladies. Something seemed amiss right off the bat. There was no line at the door and no bouncer, but it…
Who let the (stunt) dogs out?
When you think of a stunt show, you probably think of Evel Knievel or people being shot out of cannons, jumping off of high buildings, and riding a motorcycle off of a ramp trying to make it safely over 20 buses. When Chris Perondi thinks of stunts, he thinks of dogs. Perondi is the director…
To thine own self be true
It’s really bright in here. Where is the anonymizing darkness in whose murky depths I am so accustomed to hiding? The audience is seated, under full, merciless fluorescence, in the rec room of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in San Luis Obispo, where thespian John Pillow is about to take the stage—otherwise known as the area…
Cougars and Mustangs
Having the reputation as the “Happiest Place in America” may somewhat obscure the reality that our nation’s economic outlook is pretty bleak. And while the golden hills surrounding SLO may appear to mirror the riches in which many may bask, the truth is that there are still those among us who can barely provide for…
Sandwich sophistication
After a long and arduous remodeling period, 925 Higuera St. is now home to the modern and health-conscious restaurant Urbane Café. The café, which originated in Ventura, showcases a large hearth oven, from which bread is baked fresh daily in plain sight of customers. Owner Tom Holt said he came up with the idea of…
NTF no more
The San Luis Obispo County Narcotics Task Force as we know it is no more. Despite an effort by the California Department of Justice to salvage as many of its regional anti-drug and gang task forces as possible, the department announced it would officially cut two-thirds of its forces as it faces a funding cut…
In the bag
About a year and a half ago, Dan Bakst and his buddy decided to put together a video on all the ways you can use and re-use plastic bags. Bakst, a college student living in Tampa, Fla., saw it as a way to enhance his YouTube presence and cash in on a $1,500 prize. The…
County mulls a bridge to health care
Federal health-care reform is in the midst of a Supreme Court challenge, the federal budget is set to be chipped at by a congressional supercommittee, the California Legislature continues to face multi-billion-dollar deficits, and San Luis Obispo County has another two years of spending reductions in its future—but local officials think they might be able…
SLO police union hopes to get binding arbitration vote overturned
San Luis Obispo’s largest police union filed a charge against the city, claiming the City Council unfairly upended established bargaining processes when it put binding arbitration to a public vote. The San Luis Obispo Police Officers Association (SLOPOA) states in its claim to the Public Employment Relations Board that SLO City Council members violated “meet…
SLO court cuts civil case reporters
As the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court continues to cut costs without cutting essential services, court administrators announced that they’ll no longer provide court reporters for civil proceedings. The change took effect on Nov. 14. It’s expected to save the court about $78,000 in this fiscal year and $117,000 next year, according to court…
Orcutt voters approve annexation
Voters registered in the Orcutt area outside San Luis Obispo voted themselves into the city, whether they actually live there or not. On Nov. 15, out of 55 voters registered in the neighborhood, 29 voted in favor of annexation; 18 voted against it. The vote was controversial; most of the voters only recently registered in…
SLO City Council spends big on two blocks of downtown
The San Luis Obispo City Council voted to spend $761,500 on “beautifying” two downtown blocks. The city had to strip $96,000 out of other city capital projects to meet the rising costs of its sprucing-up efforts. The lowest contractor’s bid for the project came in $174,900 over budget. The plan calls for sidewalks to be…
