Cover Story
The curatorial coffee shop: Meet SLO’s dominant art venue—the benefits, obstacles, and everything in between
See the art yourself Download an Art After Dark map at artsobispo.org/programs/art-after-dark/. Art After Dark in downtown SLO occurs on the first Friday of every month. A man freestyles on the piano in one corner of Linnaea’s Cafe, complemented by the indie pop music playing over the speakers. A group of teens in another corner…
Author Jim Worthen hosts lecture at SLO History Center
The History Center Museum of San Luis Obispo County presents The Culture of Celebrity in California Politics, a free lecture with biographer Jim Worthen, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 5:30 p.m. The event is the second in a series of quarterly lectures, the Carnegie Lectures, hosted by the museum. Worthen is the author of three…
Cost of new animal shelter soars to $20 million
It took some eleventh-hour negotiating from San Luis Obispo County to convince the cities of Paso Robles and Atascadero to rejoin its $13.2 million regional animal shelter project in 2018. Sticker-shocked, the cities nearly went their separate ways for animal services—before SLO County promised a $1 million discount on the project and a more prominent…
John Craigie and Shook Twins come to the CPAC at Cuesta College on Nov. 23
John Craigie has been compared to everyone from John Prine to Bob Dylan. He embodies the classic singer-songwriter ethos—a desire to connect to his listeners and dissolve the wall between performer and audience. If you happened to catch him last summer at the Live Oak Music Festival at El Chorro Regional Park, you know just…
Pismo Beach moves to make room for more affordable housing
Pismo Beach is working to get itself off the state’s “naughty list” for failing to provide adequate housing for residents at all income levels, and that effort will likely include bringing a number of new affordable housing units to the city. At a meeting on Nov. 19, the Pismo Beach City Council unanimously voted to…
No snobs allowed: The Garagiste Wine Festival gives sippers the chance to take in fine, small-batch wines without the pomp
Garagiste is turning 10 The Garagiste Wine Festival is a nonprofit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Approaching almost a decade, the small winery festival has become a launching pad for wineries and winemakers. The festival donates proceeds from all the festivals and silent…
Los Osos residents’ ‘mystery’ water bills exceed $1,000
In September 2018, Los Osos resident Lars Lindgren paid an inexplicably high water bill. Afterward, he made sure to do everything in his power to ensure it didn’t happen again. He locked his spigots; he consulted with his landscaper and plumber; he bought a new hot water heater. That’s why, a year later, Lindgren was…
Eat and learn
Make a real homemade gingerbread house during Christiana’s Kitchen’s Gingerbread House Creation Class at Peacock Cellars on Nov. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. The class includes homemade gingerbread, decoration ingredients, instructions from Christiana and two glasses of Peacock Wine (1543 Los Berros Road in Arroyo Grande; reserve tickets at (805) 473-9463 or info@peacockcellars: $85,…
Newsom’s new oil policies won’t affect Price Canyon production, yet
Although the state’s temporary moratorium on new permits for oil wells that use high-pressure extraction methods doesn’t directly impact the Arroyo Grande Oil Field, it sets the stage for a future that could. There are essentially three parts to an announcement made by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration through the Department of Conservation on Nov. 19.…
Thanksgiving nibbles
Watch a Thanksgiving Mystery Box Culinary Throwdown when Krush 92.5’s Team Cork Dorks takes on KVEC 920 AMs’ Team First Look with Andy Morris and Scott Taylor on Nov. 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Idler’s Home, 122 Cross St., SLO. The teams have to create three traditional Thanksgiving side dishes! The free, kid-friendly…
Atascadero Colony Museum temporarily closes amid vandalism
A string of vandalism and loitering has forced the Atascadero Colony Museum to shut its doors for the time being. “There’s a concern. We’re concerned for our visitors and our members,” said Jim Wilkins, president of the Atascadero Historical Society. Wilkins said the museum has always had an issue with transients loitering on the property,…
Thanks for your service
When Harold R. Lowe, now 100 years of age, and Henry Barba, now 106, went off to fight in the second World War, thoughts of someday being honored for their service never entered their minds. The Santa Margarita Senior Center had a full house on Nov. 12, when a crowd gathered to honor Lowe and…
New digs
Ernest Hemingway Vineyards is holding a Grand Opening Celebration at its new winery and tasting room in Paso Robles on Nov. 23 from 1 to 5 p.m. Enjoy Ernest Hemingway’s wines paired with fantastic food, music by Jimmy Rougiere (from Bali), and a visit from Zoo to You (1340 Penman Springs Road; tickets are $7.50-$45…
Bingeable: Nathan For You
When? 2013-2017 What’s it rated? TV-14 Where? Amazon Prime, Comedy Central, Hulu Halfway through the first episode of Nathan For You, my girlfriend stood up and walked away, pissed off at what we were watching. The show is clearly not for everybody, and there were times I felt guilty about how much enjoyment I found…
Stop blaming the victims
It is always a travesty to read vitriolic filth in the local paper. “Enabling a crisis” (Nov. 14) by Mr. Maccarone is just another display of a unfortunate American slogan: “Blame the victim.” This man has the gall to label the poorest in our society as “parasites.” These are our fellow human beings, and they…
Deno 2017 Arneis
The Deno label caught my eye at the Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles in early November. A bright splatter of red on white summoned my friend and I from between all of the colorful booths. Owner and Templeton local Dennis Sharpe, a very warm gentleman who recently retired to focus on his wine and who…
Film Listings, 11/21/19 – 11/28/19
All theater listings are as of Friday, Nov. 22. A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD What’s it rated? PG Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Galaxy, Park, Stadium 10 New Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) directs this biopic drama that’s based on the real-life friendship between beloved children’s…
Help provide stability over the holidays
Thanksgiving is all about coming together as a family and enjoying and treasuring each other’s company. Please think for a moment about what that means if you’re a child placed in foster care, living apart from your family, friends, and unsure of what the future holds. Holidays can be a challenging time for foster youth…
SLO County awarded for its new youth camp probation program
The California State Association of Counties recognized Coast Valley Academy, a camp program run by the SLO County Probation Department, with a Challenge Award earlier this month. The department received the award to highlight the regional approach that it took by creating a local facility where moderate to high risk teens in danger of re-offending…
Please define your terms
Can the Democratic-Socialists, old-fashioned Socialists, Progressive Democrats, Progressives, DNC, and Communists please provide me with their definition of “income inequality”? If someone has the U.S. government’s definition of “income inequality,” I would like to see that too. Oh, you mean these words are just “talking points”? The utopia of having “income equality” for the roughly…
Locals brace for Proposition 12, a controversial farm animal welfare law set to take effect in 2020
As of now, egg-laying hens, breeding pigs, and calves raised for veal in California are only required to have enough space to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. That could all change in less than two months. A voter-approved law that would set more stringent space minimums for some…
Facebook, we don’t want your influence anymore
I want to make a suggestion to Facebook: Have an opt-out button, for anything political. You and your employees could easily add an opt-out button for anything political—any mention of the Democratic, Republican parties, or mention of high-ranking politician be marked as political. You in your own words said you could not guarantee truthful statements…
Ford v Ferrari is an engaging story of determination
FORD V FERRARI What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Bay, Downtown Centre, Fair Oaks, Galaxy, Park, Stadium 10 James Mangold (Logan, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line) directs this biopic about car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and race car driver Ken…
Harsh realities
When recognizing a problem, and proposing a solution to it, the liberal tends to focus on the human needs represented by the problem, while the conservative tends to focus on the pragmatic concerns in implementing a solution. The operation of these contrasting perspectives is on display in a sad drama currently being played out locally.…
Sound off
New Times readers took to Facebook to share their thoughts on our Nov. 14 news story, “Arroyo Grande City Council to consider 60 percent pay increase.”
Two documents can unlock the building moratorium in Los Osos, and they’re nearing completion
If all goes as planned, by this time next year, new development will be allowed in Los Osos for the first time since 1988. San Luis Obispo County is reaching the finish line on two key documents—a community plan and a habitat conservation plan—that if approved by state and federal agencies would unlock the building…
Adam Wolpert’s SLOMA exhibit captures the iconic California oak with exceptional detail
On display Great Oaks, an exhibit with paintings by Adam Wolpert, will show at the SLO Museum of Art through Dec. 29. For more information, visit sloma.org. The paintings in Adam Wolpert’s San Luis Obispo Museum of Art exhibit have all the facets of good portraiture. Highly detailed and perfectly angled, they capture the spirit…
Local artist Drew Davis thinks outside the box—and his most recent series shows it
On display Drew Davis’ work will be on display at Park Street Gallery in Paso Robles through Nov. 30. For more information, visit parkstreetgallery.com. Drew Davis, a longtime local who grew up in Nipomo and is now based in SLO, started painting and selling his artwork in the community when he was still a teenager.…
So freakin’ cute!
You know what’s cute? Well, other than my big, shiny derrière and the clickity-clack of my little keys. The new name of the state agency in charge of regulating mineral extraction. It used to be the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources—DOGGR for short—which is also cute, but a little too accurate, since the…
Hendrika de Vries discusses Nazi-occupied Amsterdam memoir at SLO Library
Central Coast-based author Hendrika de Vries will discuss her book, When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew: A Memoir, at the San Luis Obispo Library on Saturday, Nov. 23, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. During the discussion, de Vries will recount her childhood growing up in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam and how…
State Parks held to more stringent dust mitigation efforts at Oceano Dunes
The San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District is cracking down on California State Parks, and about 48 acres of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area are expected to be closed to vehicles by 2020. At a lengthy hearing on Nov. 18, the Air Pollution Control District (APCD) hearing board voted 4-1 to…
AHS presents The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon
The Atascadero High School Theatre Arts Department presents its production of Don Zolidis’ The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon on Friday, Nov. 22, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. Director Shawna Volpa helms this seasonal parody, which combines six different stories that each spoof the plot of…
Grand View owners missed fumigation deadline
Some Grand View Apartments tenants are less than a week away from their eviction dates, but property owners still haven’t followed through with the city’s fumigation requirements. During the Nov. 19 Paso Robles City Council meeting, Mayor Steve Martin extended his sympathies for the tenants facing this issue. “I would like to express on my…
