Cover Story
The magical mystery tour
There are strange and beautiful things happening around us, if you know where to look. Los Osos sculptor Bradley Sunnarborg built a bio-chamber that, through the use of photosynthesis, sustained a canary in an airtight environment for one month, and he called it art. Computer technician Steven Boothe, with help from his wife and daughters,…
Task force concludes no oil aboard Montebello
After 11 days of testing, the multi-agency task force assembled to assess the threat the sunken S.S. Montebello has concluded that there are no visible signs of oil in her hull. “Our number one objective for this mission was to determine what threat, if any, the Montebello poses to the waters and shorelines of California,”…
Young lion
There’s no shortage of great live jazz in SLO County. Between the SLO Jazz Federation’s shows, Charlie Shoemake’s Famous Jazz Artist Series at the Hamlet, the great jazz programs at both Cuesta College and Cal Poly, and the dozens of deeply talented local performers appearing at the many venues that promote this most American of…
Last year’s models make way …
That’s what I have as I look through photos from last year’s New Times Music Awards. We admittedly overreached a tad in 2010, putting on shows at six locations over four days, but this year we’re returning to the more compact, one-day-only show that served us well in the first year. On Thursday, Oct. 13,…
Women Behind the Walls, revived
Deborah Tobola, artistic director of the Poetic Justice Project—a theater company comprised of formerly incarcerated actors—has a lot in common with playwright Claire Braz-Valentine. Both taught creative writing to inmates, using their stories to craft works of original theater. And, likely because of this common source of inspiration, both have heavily addressed themes of crime,…
Coloring in the lines
It’s no wonder children love to draw. Every combination of shapes must seem so new and wonderful to those with minds like fresh, innocent little canvases. But somewhere along the line, something changes. Life gets a lot more difficult. Questions harden into statements. Ethereal ideas give way to rigid facts. And children—many of them, anyway—stop…
Two wheels rock, two wheels roll
There seems to be a pile of bodies and wheels in the middle of the stage. To the right is a frantically gyrating woman in a wheelchair. To the left are two dancers tangling like moths mating in flight. But someone says stop, and the pile disintegrates into people—some on foot, some in wheelchairs, all…
¡Familia, comida, servicio!
In 1976, NASA released its first space shuttle, Steve Jobs founded the Apple Computer Company, the United States celebrated its bicentennial, and a family-owned Mexican restaurant fired up its grills and opened its doors to the Central Coast. Old Juan’s Cantina, now 35 years later, is still open, and business is better than ever. John…
Estancia 2010 Pinot Noir Pinnacles Ranches
I know it’s rather early for this vintage of Pinot Noir to be released, and I recently recommended the 2009. Since you may find two vintages on the shelf at Trader Joe’s, I bought the 2010 to make sure I liked it, too. It’s decidedly less fruit-forward than the 2009, with plum and briary wild…
Epiphany 2010 Grenache Blanc Camp Four Vineyard
Here’s a great choice for a Chardonnay lover looking to expand his or her palate with new varieties. This pretty, dry white wine offers lush, rich flavors of white peach, nectarines, apricots, and spice, nicely nuanced by a thread of flowery honey and bright citrus notes to keep it beautifully balanced. It’s a lovely choice…
Santa Maria Valley’s outstanding wines
Ironic, isn’t it, that we locals tend to forget about the bounty of great wineries in our own backyard? Lately the media spotlight has remained focused on blossoming Central Coast wine regions like the Santa Rita Hills and Paso Robles, which makes everyone want to visit the new kids on the block. Yet the excellent…
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…
LARISSA ORMONDE
NEW TIMES When did you discover your passion for diving? ORMONDE I started diving when I was 13, and I’ve been diving for 11 years. My stepdad was an instructor for the Army, so he taught me diving in Morro Bay. NEW TIMES What are some cool places you have dived? ORMONDE Guadalupe Island…
Eliminate birthdates on job applications
Job discrimination against senior citizens is a real problem in California It should be illegal for employers to require a birth date on the job application forms that are most common. What reason is there for such a request other than judging based on age? It is easy to look at the birth date and…
With plans like these…
Democrats claim that the Republicans have no “plan.” Nonsense! They have a plan: Make permanent the tax cuts for the wealthiest, so they can build their factories in China; ship American jobs overseas (Whitman and Fiorini); move their business and their money (on paper) to Dubai and the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes (Halliburton);…
Legalize it!
I grow and use marijuana for my glaucoma. I have never sold or bought it. It is a plant that has been grown and used since civilization started. The time has come to legalize and tax it to the max rather than fill our jails and waste police time trying to control it. Legalizing marijuana…
Your silence speaks volumes
If an average person sold automatic weapons to known drug cartels, notorious gang members, and assassins, federal law enforcements officials would be all over them with possible criminal charges, incarceration, and accomplice charges in the resulting crimes. Yet when that person is the attorney general of the United States, the media and our local Congresswoman…
A beach/dunes closure would be a good thing
I agree with South County residents about the Oceano Dunes/Beach driving activities. I did not mind the cars 25 years ago when I moved here. There were not many. Now their number is overwhelming; I resent not being able to spend safe time with the children on a beach a few blocks away from home.…
Consider habitat diversity
I attended the Audubon event and read the article in the SLO County Journal by Holly Sletteland, and it was not until I received a flier that I became aware of the plan to incrementally remove 120 eucalyptus trees to plant native habitat, increasing small-bird diversity (“Review the eucalyptus-replacement facts,” Oct. 6). I felt these…
Let’s preserve nature!
This is a reply to the “Review the eucalyptus-replacement facts” letter that appeared in the Oct. 6 New Times. Even though Audubon owns the land, they have to go through the permitting process, which is governed by regulations such as the Estero Area Plan. The project number, DRC2011-00013, was included on the fliers so that…
No more bailouts
The letter “Occupy San Luis Obispo!” (Oct. 6) suggests, “We can not afford to let corporations run the country any longer.” I agree! The conservatives have been telling us for a long time that it is illegal and unconstitutional for the government to pick winners and losers using bailouts and loan guarantees or let the…
What is your drink of choice?
Casey McCarthy student “Lemonade. Because it’s made with lemons.” Kristin Brideford Department of Education supervisor “Whatever the barista is pouring at Blackhorse—as long as it is decaf, double tall, and extra hot and foamy. ” Nicole David student “Apple juice. The last couple years, I have begun to love it. It’s better than orange juice.…
Madden’s latest foray
I have a bad feeling about this. “Hey Jeremy, where’s the wave off button?” Silence. The ball starts its descent while a defender the size of a small moon is hurtling toward my kick returner. “Jeremy? Wave off??” Ball and defender are going to arrive about a heartbeat apart. I start mashing buttons frantically.* “Dude?”…
Lawyers exemplify public service
As president of the San Luis Obispo County Bar Association and a lawyer in local practice since 1976, I am proud of my colleagues in our area who exemplify not only client service but service to our whole community and the larger society beyond. Many of the attorneys in our county contribute long hours as…
My two cents
Dear Shredder, This guy at my work is a real snot-nosed narc. He keeps calling attention to the fact that Atascadero city employees are violating their own rules about vacation time for employees. How do I go about shutting him up? I’ve tried expressing my annoyance at City Council meetings but he just keeps bringing…
Perfect pitch
Born with absolute pitch, the inherent ability to recognize musical notes, Bonnie teVelde has always been musically inclined. She would reach up on her tip-toes to play the piano in her childhood home. Her musical chronology began there, followed by a rude and demanding piano teacher, a life-altering accident that left her in physical rehabilitation…
Cougars and Mustangs
Yeah, you can play. You can play better than anybody. When you lay your fingers on the strings of that guitar, you move people to tears. So what are you going to do with that talent? And you over there, with the voice? Same question. Cuesta college is offering a class, “Musicians as Entrepreneurs, The…
Take a load off
The explanation was simple. In some ways, it was even more simple than the question: Why were some Atascadero employees allowed to hoard enormous amounts of vacation time, far more than city rules allow? “We have not in 20 years enforced that section of the code,” City Manager Wade McKinney said at the Sept. 27…
The little anomaly that could
David Martines still isn’t sure what he found on Mars last May. It caught his attention because it was white and angular, a contrast to the rest of the planet’s dusty, rust-colored surface. A San Luis Obispo native who works in real estate, Martines often used Google Earth for work, but one evening, he wandered…
Correction
The Oct. 6 article, “It’s on,” incorrectly identified a candidate for the 24th congressional district. David Cruz Thayne (D) is running for District 26.
Katcho scores a win with his state hospital bill
Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, San Luis Obispo County will be able to recoup costs from local cases for some patients going through Atascadero State Hospital and other state mental hospitals. Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian’s Assembly Bill 1016 passed both houses of the Legislature unanimously and was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 9.…
Cal Poly probes sorority after underage drinking incident
Cal Poly is investigating an incident in which a student was taken to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center after a night of drinking, according to university officials. Officials are trying to find out what happened at a Sept. 28 party in which applicants were to find out if they had been accepted to the Alpha…
Trucks are no longer hauling through Santa Margarita
After hearing early concerns from residents, solar energy giant SunPower has ceased hauling gravel through Santa Margarita. On Oct. 6, New Times reported that SunPower—with a blessing from San Luis Obispo County officials—had altered truck routes to transport gravel to its 250-megawatt facility in the California Valley. Due to delays in the permitting process for…
Crews begin Montebello dives
A massive, multi-agency effort is underway to figure out just how much oil lingers in the hull of the long-sunken World War II-era tanker, the S.S. Montebello, which has rested for more than 70 years on the seafloor approximately seven miles off the Cambria coast. On Oct. 11, the United States Coast Guard held a…
What do we want?
Local residents took to the streets beginning Oct. 5, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York and other cities in the country. Roughly 100 protesters attended the first gathering in front of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, but numbers dwindled in the days that followed. Organizers of the Occupy…
