Measures, incumbents, and a newcomer take leads in Grover Beach
Early tallies of San Luis Obispo County’s votes put Grover Beach candidates Kassi Dee, Jules Tuggle, and Shilo Terek in the lead for the mayor’s seat and City Council positions, respectively. As of Nov. 4, the SLO County Elections Office had counted 2,620 ballots so far. Grover Beach has a little more than 8,000 registered…
Newcomers lead two Paso Robles City Council races
Paso Robles could see two new faces in city leadership as political newcomers held narrow leads in the mayoral and 2nd District City Council races following the Nov. 3 election. Preliminary vote counts released on Nov. 4 showed Faith Frankel ahead of Bill Britton in the race to replace outgoing Mayor John Hamon, while Michael…
Democratic Party-backed candidates are ahead in Lucia Mar elections
A blue wave hovers over the heated Lucia Mar Unified School District elections, according to initial votes counts in San Luis Obispo County races. Board candidates Colleen Martin, Donna Kandel, David Warren, and Anna Cordero—all endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Party—held leads in their respective trustee areas. Of the 6,800 registered voters…
Avila, Funk lead Atascadero City Council race in early returns
Mike Avila and incumbent Susan Funk led a four-way race for two seats on the Atascadero City Council, according to preliminary results released Nov. 4. Avila, a local business owner and San Luis Obispo County planning commissioner, led with 33.2 percent of the votes, followed closely by Funk with 32.2 percent. Emily Baranek trailed in…
Medi-Cal changes are coming. Will our neighbors be ready?
Recently, I visited my 94-year-old next-door neighbor and spoke with her caregiver, Maria. Maria had recently undergone the amputation of two toes because of a diabetes-related infection. She was receiving medical care, and when I asked whether she was enrolled in Medi-Cal, she said yes. When I asked whether she knew about the upcoming changes…
Let’s keep saving our coast
“The coast is never saved. It’s always being saved.” —Peter Douglas, former Coastal Commission executive director The evening of Oct. 14, on a dark, bumpy bus ride from Santa Barbara to Sacramento, college students from Allan Hancock College, Cuesta, and Cal Poly were nervous. They were about to give their first public testimony. Riding with…
Still counting
With pink nails, pink hair extensions, and a pink shirt, Grover Beach Mayor Kassi Dee was glowing on Nov. 3, during the election night watch party at her spot on Grand Avenue—Nan’s Books and Crystals. She was leading in the race against her challenger, David Swift, that night. And her fellow party people were also…
Cal Poly opens $3 million AI Factory for student and faculty research
Cal Poly students and faculty now have the computing power to build artificial intelligence models of their own. The university’s new AI Factory, located underneath Building 14, began operating in June of this year and was formally unveiled Oct. 22. Funded through the Noyce School of Applied Computing, the $3 million facility intends to expand…
A group of Baywood Park residents want a two-story project reconsidered
Change is on the horizon for the Baywood Park community near Los Osos, much to the dismay of a throng of longtime residents. But they aren’t willing to give in just yet. Many locals believe a proposed two-story mixed use structure clashes with the surrounding old-school buildings in downtown Baywood and takes away from the…
Atascadero sticker company Disco Paper Party is ready to deck out your business
Atascadero resident Brandy Miller may be far from her hometown in the Midwest, but she’s not so removed from 1980s childhood fascination. “We would go to these Bible bookstores, and they would have all these stickers on rolls, just like, a whole wall of rolls of stickers,” she said. “You could just take them off…
KCBX presents Central Coast Sessions at The Rock SLO Nov. 7
I don’t know about you, but I tune in to KCBX a lot. Considering how many good stations we have in the country, that’s saying something. I find Neal Losey’s Morning Cup and Janelle Younger’s Broken Spoke Folk Show indispensable, and I also love the shows KCBX brings in from NPR, like Fresh Air with…
Former SLO wild child Sully Freed returns home with an art show at Linnaea’s
Sully Freed is a total animal. Full disclosure: I’ve known her and her family for decades, and she’s always scared me a little. She’s … unique. She spent some of her formative years in SLO, but these days, she lives in Portugal. However, she’s returning to SLO this month to visit her parents, who still…
Join SLO’s Poetry Walk guided tour on Nov. 15
Ten poets, 10 short-form poems spray-painted onto neighborhood sidewalks by local stencil artist Jasone Towne, and an opportunity to walk through the downtown you love and hear work devoted to “Place and Belonging.” Welcome to San Luis Obispo’s inaugural Poetry Walk program. “Developed in partnership with SLO County Arts and the 2025-26 SLO County poet…
Swan Lake play Clark Center Nov. 10; PAC in SLO Nov. 11
Artistic Space Productions presents Swan Lake: Symphony of Lights at Arroyo Grande’s Clark Center on Tuesday, Nov. 10 (7 p.m.; $64.50 to $74.50 general, students $58.60 to $ 67.60, and children under 12 $58.60 to $67.60 at clarkcenter.com), and at the Performing Arts Center in SLO on Wednesday, Nov. 11 (doors at 6, show at…
Wicker is a grown-up fable that charms
Set in a timeless yet antiquated village like those in countless fairy tales, Wicker is a comically dark adult fable that follows an ostracized Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who commissions the local Basketmaker (Peter Dinklage) to weave a husband for her. When her new, enchanted husband (Alexander Skarsgard)—made completely of wicker—comes to life, his infectious charm…
Lanterns ignites hope in DC’s genre-defying future
If I had to sum up the core demographic that HBO’s genre-bending Lanterns appeals to, it’s for the kid in all of us crime-drama-loving millennials who grew up watching Justice League on the Cartoon Network in the early 2000s. That was my introduction to John Marshall Stewart, one of a handful of fictional earthlings who…
The Invite is a hilarious and heartfelt romp
Olivia Wilde turns her director’s eye from the expansive world of her 2022 psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling to the cozy San Francisco apartment of musician Joe (Seth Rogen) and his stay-at-home wife, Angela (played by Wilde), in The Invite. The couple’s marriage is obviously in trouble, with their day punctuated by barbs and snaps…
Find your new fusion favorites at Infused Thai Kitchen
A yellow curry fried chicken sando isn’t common on the menu at most Thai restaurants, but it’s one of the most popular choices at Morro Bay’s Infused Thai Kitchen. Thai curry seasons hunks of Korean-style fried chicken, sitting with coleslaw in between thick slices of white bread. Hot french fries line up on the side.…
