Cover Story
Thirsty for more: The Nipomo Community Services District pushes ahead with its water pipeline project
The current construction site for the Nipomo Supplemental Water Project makes anyone who walks its grounds thirsty. Perched atop the bluffs overlooking the Santa Maria River Levee, the bustling spot looks like a beach without its ocean. Every piece of equipment—from a simple hand wrench to the elephantine drilling rig—is covered in a layer of…
How do you feel about more stores opening their doors on Thanksgiving night?
Leanna Bravo Student “I’m against that. I think people should be with their families.” Julia Coats Sales Associate “I’m probably going to work Black Friday. I don’t mind, but I feel bad for people who can’t go home.” Hawkings Sellier Tutor “I think it’s terrible. It really sucks for the employees.” Colton Privett Student “I…
Catch local crooner Jody Mulgrew before he moves to Nashville
Say it ain’t so, Jo! But it is so. Local crooner extraordinaire, genius songwriter, and wicked-hip fashionista Jody Mulgrew has jumped ship for Nashville! What the hell! One minute I’m taking him for granted, assuming he’ll always be knocking around the Central Coast, the next minute—poof!—I hear he’s moved to Tennessee! So I call him.…
SLO Little Theatre stages ‘Miracle on 34th Street’
It must say something about the American psyche that the movies we treasure as holiday favorites have such dark themes. Take It’s a Wonderful Life, for example. A man is driven to suicide by his financial and family circumstances, and believes the world would be a better place without him in it. Just before he…
‘Potted Potter’ at the PAC
It is 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17. As I walk into the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, I wish I had packed my vast array of Potter-related-costumes into my suitcase, but alas—Virgin Atlantic only allows 23 kilos* of luggage and thus I must merely come as a tepid Muggle. Sob. We sit down…
Author Wendelin Van Draanen nears the end of her Sammy Keyes series
There’s a moment in Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City when the title character—a junior high schooler with a tendency to get herself into trouble—is flying out of her hometown for the first time in her life. She’s conned her way onto the plane because she’s convinced she needs to get to Las…
Al Schnupp’s ‘CrossRoads’ is a heady homage to theater
CrossRoads is, by its very definition, all over the place. An original play written, directed, and designed by Cal Poly Professor of Theatre Al Schnupp, CrossRoads is ostensibly the story of a nomadic, time-traveling outcast family. But it’s also the story of theater itself, from Sophocles to Shakespeare, and from the Commedia dell’Arte to Brecht,…
Clubs 11/21/13
Goin’ South … THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. CUVEE BISTRO AND CHAMPAGNE BAR: 550 1st St., Avila Beach, 595-2245. Live music Thurs. and Sat. 6-9pm. 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…
In sushi news …
The smell of teriyaki fills the air as an eel avocado roll is set down. Did someone’s stomach audibly grumble across the table? Patience is a virtue though, and this eel avocado roll must wait a moment while the customary sake bomb is taken. Sake bombs, and deliciously affordable sushi, can still be found downtown,…
Tablas Creek 2011 Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles and Pipestone 2012 Viognier Paso Robles
Tablas Creek 2011 Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles With the variety of savory and sweet foods found on most Thanksgiving tables, you need a wine that’s versatile. That’s why I recommend opening this food friendly Rhone blend of syrah, grenache noir, mourvedre, and counoise, that’s affordable for most budgets. The Patelin, French for “country neighborhood,”…
A bountiful Thanksgiving: Central Coast vintners share their Thanksgiving plans
This year my husband Dan and I will enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal in a fine restaurant. I haven’t chosen exactly which one yet, but doubt it will be difficult to get reservations. Most people prefer sharing this bountiful meal at home with family and friends. In all honesty, I hate the laborious preparations necessary…
Freedom bread
All right kids, it’s been a slow news week, or maybe it was a busy news week, I’m not sure since I ate what I thought was a blue skittle I found on the bathroom floor at Marston’s and everything’s been Godzilla-sized Peeps battling to alternately destroy and save Kansas City from one another. The…
Even kids know better
In grade school, our children are taught to read, study and discuss the subject matter before taking the test. Those who don’t usually fail. Congresswoman Pelosi and the Democrats follow the policy of passing bills before they read, study, and discuss the subject matter. This leads to the question: Are the Democrats and Pelosi smarter…
Fascism fears aren’t so far-fetched
The so-called “Tea Party” is more than just a run-of-the-mill ultra-right-wing movement. The kinds of wealthy right-wing interests that created it, mobilized it, and fanned its flames of hatred, paranoia, bizarre conspiracy theories, big lie smear tactics, and demagoguery are eerily similar to those who did the same in Europe back in the 1920s, ’30s,…
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
Even the delusional no- and low-information voters for Barack Obama—and let’s not exclude all Democrats—can laugh at their standard bearer’s look alike performance of a Three Stooges comedy routine. What’s more hilarious than the actual rollout of Obamacare are the by-design comedic expressions of eye-poking, head-bonking, ear-twisting slapstick extraordinaire Mr. Obama presents himself as. Yes,…
There’s something about ‘Mary’
What a spectacular night! I was lucky enough to be able to attend the gala opening night of PCPA’s 50th anniversary season. It was the night we got to see the Marian Theatre’s completed renovation and, most importantly, Mary Poppins, the best show I’ve seen at PCPA in the 20 years I have lived in…
Please pray where appropriate
The Bible has some rules that are difficult to comply with in today’s society, such as the one in Deuteronomy 22:13-21 that says a father must stone to death his daughter who is not a virgin when she marries (A rebellious son gets the same treatment). However, what the Bible says about prayer is very…
Don’t bless us in public
I am not a Christian. My “god’ is Mother Nature. I am intimidated, offended, disenfranchised by Christian blessings. Our country was founded on freedom from religion. I suggest no blessings before meetings (“Pay to pray?” Nov. 7). Honoring Mother Nature would be acceptable to me. — Bill Denneen – Nipomo
This isn’t a happy look ahead
Kathy Johnston does it again! Great article on the foreclosure debacle in our county, our country (“How foreclosures have changed us,” Nov. 14). Sad truths that do not bode well for the majority of SLO County citizens. — Richard Sobey Sudden – Paso Robles
Aim for inclusion
As a fellow Christian minister, and former chaplain at UCLA, I am saddened and shocked by the prayers given by Rev. Dr. Paul Jones at the Pismo Beach City Council meetings (“Pay to pray?” Nov. 7). Rev. Dr. Jones should be free to use any language or prayers that he and his congregation agree to…
Remember patience and humility
Recently there has been a spate of news reports concerning the relationship of religion in the public square. New Times, in its Nov. 7 issue, published a report that Pismo Beach was being sued for violating the California Constitution’s “no preference and establishment” clause regarding religion (“Religious watchdog sues Pismo Beach”). Recently on Fox News,…
The triple threat: A new athletic shop opens in downtown SLO
Small businesses in SLO have it tough. Having to compete with corporations and online vendors can make it difficult for a small town shop owner to keep up. But according to SLO Bike and Run owner Debbie Gower, her business has something that puts the “unity” back in community. As the only full service biking…
Cougars & Mustangs: Give Whovians a housecall
Ah, just four little weeks left of class. Isn’t it lovely? The holidays are nearly upon us, here to put an end to all of this nasty student suffering. Well, press the pause button on it for about a month. Well, alleviate it slightly. We can hope. Do you remember the last thing that made…
Vested rights: SLO County officials sort out which pipeline projects will be exempt from the Paso Basin pumping moratorium
After a long summer of dealing with a hot topic, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is now tasked with hashing out a key piece of a moratorium banning new water use over the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. Supervisors passed the two-year urgency ordinance as a sort of timeout on new water use…
A developing story: Pismo Beach’s development conflict shifts from Price Canyon to downtown
It’s halftime in Pismo Beach. In one locker room, developers are icing their injuries, wondering what went wrong, and trying to draw up a better game plan for the second half. In the other locker room, opponents of mega-development are happy to be ahead for once, but scared to lose their lead, and searching for…
Pismo agrees to sell half its surplus state water for $284K
Taking advantage of their diverse water portfolio and substantial stored water resources, Pismo Beach City Council members unanimously agreed to sell 1,122 acre-feet of the town’s surplus stored state water to San Luis Obispo County for $283,866—or $253 per acre-foot—during their Nov. 19 meeting. The city has rights to draw annual allocations from Lopez Lake,…
SLO council approves a slightly altered mobile vendor ordinance
Mobile vendors will have new limits on their hours of operation on public streets in San Luis Obispo city’s residential areas, but other than that, few new rules will apply to any business that operates out of a truck. That’s according to a new ordinance narrowly approved by the City Council on Nov. 19 to…
Feds again pursue a five-year sentence for Charlie Lynch
More than six years after he was arrested and saw his Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers dispensary shut down in a joint SLO County Sheriff’s Department-U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency operation, Charlie Lynch is facing a renewed effort by federal prosecutors to put him behind bars. Once again, prosecutors are seeking a minimum five-year prison term. Lynch…
SLO Downtown Association selects Tartaglia as exec
Dominic Tartaglia, a San Luis Obispo-based real estate agent, will take the helm of the SLO Downtown Association when current Executive Director Deb Cash retires in late December, the organization announced on Nov. 19. “Deb has done a great job here. She’s built a real legacy and is leaving the association in great condition,” Tartaglia…
A.G. therapist charged in bizarre bank robbery
Arthur Watkins, 55, is a licensed marriage and family therapist, former president of the Arroyo Grande Rotary Club, a father of two young children, and, as of Nov. 16, an alleged bank robber. Police allege that Watkins, wearing a ski mask and brandishing a .45-caliber Glock handgun, robbed the Wells Fargo Bank on East Main…
Take it inside: SLO Wine plant is given 30 days to cease outdoor operations affecting its neighbors
Residents of the Villa Fontana condo complex on Fontana Avenue and Loma Bonita Drive near downtown San Luis Obispo have scored a victory in their year-long battle to rid their neighborhood of stale wine and sulfur fumes which some say are making them sick. For two years, The Workshop—formerly known as SLO Wine Studio—has operated…
SLO County’s district attorney won’t run for re-election in June
He’s been the top lawman in San Luis Obispo County for more than 15 years, but in January 2015, the meticulous and often soft-spoken Gerry Shea will no longer be district attorney for the County of San Luis Obispo. On Nov. 18, Shea—the county’s longest-serving district attorney in more than 50 years—announced that he won’t…
