Cover Story
Seeing red
Would you like to pay more for less? It’s a sales pitch even the slickest used car salesman couldn’t pull off, but as the bottom drops out from SLO County’s finances, it’s becoming a reality. Consider: County officials expect that next year’s budget will be about $21.5 million in the red. To put it another…
Change, Dr. Baker
In response to Pedro Inzunza Arroyo’s open letter to Warren Baker (“Take action, Dr. Baker,” Nov. 13) I would like to add my two cents. I am an alumna of Cal Poly. I attended for almost three years early in this decade. Having grown up in Los Angeles, one of the first things that struck…
Sterling 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Napa County
This crisp but friendly white is easy-drinking on its own but it’s also a good choice for the dinner table. It offers well-balanced aromas and flavors of pink grapefruit, citrus, and melon. A “splash” of Semillon and Pinot Gris was added for melon and spice notes. It’s a good choice for salads with goat cheese,…
Adelaida 2005 Syrah Glenrose Vineyard Paso Robles
Impressive at the first sip, this wine offers the deep, dark black fruit flavors Rhone lovers crave. Tightly weaved with nuances of herbs, olives, leather, smoke, and the sweetness of toasty oak, this wine holds your attention until the last drop. It’s a wonderful choice for holiday suppers and special celebrations—serve it with goose,…
Support your friends and neighbors
When I walk past SLO County restaurants that once were packed and lively and are now quiet, I empathize with the restaurateurs and their employees. Rapidly rising interest rates and diminishing 401K accounts have everyone worried. It’s a lousy economy we’re not used to dealing with—so naturally we cut spending, particularly when it comes to…
Portable Port
Last May, “sort of” local act (they relocated to the Bay Area a bit ago) Port O’Brien put out All We Could Do Is Sing, and since then they’ve been promoting the bejesus out of it, including a recent month-long tour across Europe where they played 29 shows in 27 days. At Downtown Brew this…
Club Listings
Goin’ South … BILL’S PLACE: 112 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9989. Fri.-Tues.: Karaoke. CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. Live music on Sat. from 1-5pm and Sun. Jazz from 11am-3pm. Mon. and Tues.: Louie Ortega. COSTA DE ORO WINERY: 1331 S. Nicholson Ave. Santa Maria, 922-1468. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO: 2727…
Write a novel in the next ten days.
For all of you writers out there, amateur and professional alike, this is your mission, should you choose to accept it: complete a novel in November. New Times apologizes we didn’t get this information to you sooner, but better late than never, right? Plus, you all endure the 55 Fiction contest every year, so why…
The red-carpet alternative
New Times Who are you, Benford? Benford Standley I was raised in Texas, I’m from the road, I’d guess you’d say since I’ve been in the entertainment/music business since 1967. I produced concerts with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard. I own a home in Paso Robles. I have two children who are…
Happy birthday Edna!
According to Celtic tradition the name Edna signifies fire in Hebrew, rejuvenation, pleasure, and delight and in English the name translates to rich in friendship. For Pattea Torrence, who has devoted the last decade to resurrecting the town of Edna Valley, her two-acre lot encompasses all of those meanings, and more. For her, the past…
Correction:
A letter from faculty and staff members of the Cal Poly Psychology and Child Development Department, regarding the display of racist and homophobic symbols and signage at the Cal Poly Crops House (“So do psychologists,” Nov. 13) should have concluded with the sentence: To help prevent further incidents and mitigate their effects, we also call…
Join our protest
Animal Emancipation will hold our annual Fur Free Friday event to protest the trapping, raising, selling, and wearing of fur animals. This event takes place on Friday, Nov. 28 at noon, in front of Mr. Michael’s Leathers-Furs, 746 Higuera, San Luis Obispo, to protest his continued selling of fur garments. Because fur farmers care only…
Give generously
The Salvation Army offices of San Luis Obispo County want to express our sincere thanks to Barbara and Kevin Kennedy, owners of Kennedy Club Fitness Centers, for their generosity, and Debra Albert for her dedication in setting this annual event in motion each year. Each Kennedy Club Fitness Center is collecting food, and monetary donations…
Three strikes
Anyone who attended the most recent Board of Supervisors meeting concerning the Santa Margarita Ranch shamefully got to see the& “three amigos” of Lenthall, Ovitt, and Achadjian act true to form.& Riding to the rescue of a troubled project, and coming to the aid of the financial interest of their friends who own the ranch,…
Shut down offroading
The Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area needs to be shut down now. It is out of control. The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle (OHV) Recreation& Division of the California Department of Parks and Recreation won’t tell us how bad it really is, since they are the foxes guarding the hen house. What we do know is…
Take a hike
A letter from Lucia Casalinuovo (“Ban offroading,” Nov. 13) complained that Oceano State Park, though an “enchanting and educationally valuable site”, was not fulfilling its potential because of lack of educational opportunities for the public. I am very happy to correct misperceptions in the letter. The Nature Center in the park is open five days…
They should have thought twice
So, 70 percent of black voters voted in favor of Prop. 8. Now the NAACP, as well as other minority organizations, has petitioned the court to overturn Prop.8. Seems they fear that the now emboldened majority can target their minority. They should have thought of that before voting. — Rick Tibben – Nipomo
Does color matter?
This last election was truly historic. This was the first time many people had a chance to vote for or against a president because of the color of his skin. The next four years will also be truly historic because the American people will have a chance to show the world whether this was a…
Intolerant but legal
Regarding the noose and Confederate flag that were displayed outside the Crops House on the Cal Poly campus, I read with interest what some supposedly educated adults had to say about this childish incident. By displaying these distasteful symbols those childish Cal Poly students showed their disrespect for others. But they did not break any…
Jessica Gibbons – Founder, Hungry Student Catering
NEW TIMES: How did you get the idea of starting a business like this? GIBBONS: About a year ago, when working for a marketing firm, I was asked to help with an event. They needed catering, but just the labor and not the food. It was sort of a “light bulb moment”, and I had…
Let nurturing prevail
Political wonks like to talk about transformative elections, ones in which more than the faces change, ones in which the temper of American politics shifts from the dominance of one party or ideology to another. This election may well have been truly transformative. George Lakoff, Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley, has based a model…
Fast facts
The California Coastal Commission invites all K-12 students to participate in the 2009 California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest, with a chance to win a $100 gift certificate for art supplies or books. Entries will be judged in four grade-level categories in both art and poetry, and teachers of winning students will receive $40 gift…
Cal Poly hosts GIS Day 2008
If you’ve punched in directions on your GPS system, accessed Google Earth, or even simply flipped a light switch or turned on a water faucet, you’ve likely been impacted by a GIS. GIS, the acronym for Geographic Information Systems, is a way to translate information usually stored in databases into visual depictions on virtual, digital,…
What would you grab from your house in the event of a fire?
Robert Clark sales representative “Some clothes and my truck, because everything else is insured.” Andy Magnasco turfgrass apecialist “This month’s issue of Playboy.” Jack housecat “Definitely my catnip and, if time provided, my .45 caliber pistol.” Chase Navarro student “I’d definitely grab my dogs, and then all of my personal information.”
Terrorism threat challenged again
Local nuclear power watchdogs Mothers for Peace have joined Public Citizen in an appeal of yet another ruling on the vulnerability of nuclear plants to terrorist attacks. Oral arguments for the latest appeal were made to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 17. Mothers for Peace and Public Citizen argued that a recent…
Recycling prices plummet
The state could be headed for a big-time slump in recycling due to falling commodity prices. Prices for paper, metals, and plastic goods have fallen sharply thanks to the worldwide economic slump. Prices paid to recyclers have fallen 50 percent in a month, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Now the board is…
Santa Margarita Ranch gets board OK
In one of their final decisions on the Board of Supervisors, lame-duck supervisors Jerry Lenthall and Harry Ovitt joined Katcho Achadjian in a vote to approve Santa Margarita Ranch development—a housing project with significant environmental consequences and many opponents. The vote is tentative until Dec. 16 when the board will have to make findings on…
Hearing delayed for medical marijuana grower
The hearing on a request for a new trial for Charles Lynch, the Arroyo Grande man convicted in federal court of growing and distributing marijuana from his medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, has been delayed until Jan. 5. Lynch’s sentencing is still set for Jan. 12. According to a statement by Friends of Charles…
Mitchell Park parking lot delayed, possibly dead
The controversial parking lot proposed for Mitchell Park may have been derailed at the Nov. 18 SLO City Council meeting. The issue, to add a parking lot and net 11 parking spaces for the senior center, became a big issue for some candidates seeking election to the council. Jan Marx, for one, vowed to try…
Nude for now
The fate of SLO County’s best-known clothing-optional beach, Pirate’s Cove, dangles pendulously in the breeze as it gets shifted from a notorious private hotspot to an official public beach. County supervisors gave the final vote to purchase 37 acres of property near Avila and begin converting it for public use. Pirate’s Cove and surrounding areas…
Spared in SLO
A rapid response from firefighters, some of them called back to SLO on their way to fight the Tea Fire in Santa Barbara, prevented any homes or buildings from being damaged in a wind-fueled wildfire Nov. 14 that whipped through the hillside in the neighborhood above Johnson Avenue near the old General Hospital. The fire…
Dignity and determination
Could you sustain yourself on $5.70 worth of food a day? Could you keep your car operating on $4.25 a day to pay for gas, insurance, and maintenance? For homeless people like Jim, a Vietnam combat vet, the $177 he gets every month in food stamps and the $132 he gets in general assistance doesn’t…
Gas chamber
Now that all you Obamaramans have got your President Huxtable, with his lawyer wife, cute children, and colorful sweaters and everything, I suppose you think everything’s going to be just fine for this country. Let me tell you something: That was a television show. Real people aren’t like that. There’s something deeply troubling about Barack…
