Cover Story
Sweeping the field
METHODOLOGY To determine who deserved the honor or dishonor of a spot in the rankings, our researchers hit the county highway. New Times raided committee finance documentation going back to 2002, examined in detail the often murky sources of campaign funding, polled local experts, and reviewed voting records in search of potential conflicts of interest.…
No on Measure J coalition accused of deceiving voters
The No on Measure J group mailed out a misleading flyer to local voters that suggests the County Clerk Recorder, The Tribune, and New Times endorse their anti-Dalidio Ranch development campaign. “It’s misleading to say the least,” said San Luis Obispo County Clerk Recorder Julie Rodewald, in response to the No on J mailer bearing…
Art Cafe and Bakery is back in town
What is it about this place? Is it the killer desserts, the over-the-top sandwiches, or the chance to bump into Oprah Winfrey? Or is it all of the above? After feasting on Margaux Sky’s incredible curry sandwich a few # years ago, Oprah touted Sky as the “best sandwich maker in America.” Admirers of Sky’s…
Fast Facts
Wine tasting and turtle topiaries. Barbecue and a rock garden demonstration. Enjoy a weekend of wine, music, and gardening seminars while helping raise money for the children’s garden project at Cambria Grammar School. Featuring lectures by renowned horticulture aficionados, hands-on workshops, and dozens of garden-related vendors, the third annual Gathering of Gardeners Festival and Symposium…
A poster cause with no poster
This election season is bothersome. It’s annoying that this statewide ballot appears as inconsequential as the last. It’s annoying that California’s congressional seats seem locked into place. It’s annoying that, in three weeks, we’ll be paying $3.30 a gallon for gas again, and annoying that lots of oil exists in Iran. It’s annoying that voters…
Letters
Commentary jumped to racial conclusionsFreelance writer Shawna Galassi sees the disproportionate representation of blacks in prison as part of a plot to disenfranchise black voters (“Felony disenfranchisement,” Oct. 12). But men, compared to women, are also disproportionately represented in prison. Does this mean there is also a plot to disenfranchise male voters? Too many people…
Land Conservancy wants to buy
You won’t find directions to West Cuesta Ridge a spectacular hike that includes unfettered views of the Morros, a forest of Sargent Cypress, and rolling hills as far as the eye can see in the Sierra Club’s San Luis Obispo County Trail Guide. It’s not that those in the know are colluding to keep this…
The eye of the hurricane
In the world of community representation, the body overlooking the quiet coastal settlement of Los Osos has enjoyed headliner status for nearly 30 years. # Thanks to regiments of hard-lining citizens opining, the Regional Water Quality Control Board fining, and the perpetually dynamic status of the contentious sewer project strafing forward and back with every…
Bomb threat halts classes
“Think about what you say before you say it,” an administrator warned students over the loudspeaker at Morro Bay High School. # Several hundred teenagers waited out on the football field on the north end of campus late Tuesday morning, Oct. 17, evacuated from the building following a bomb threat issued to police at 8:46…
This seat’s taken
I feel sorry for Atascadero. It’s the city of rumors, scandal, and corruption. A town full of gossip and backstabbing. A big, messy mess of a mess. In fact, Atascadero is the new Los Osos or it would be, if the new Los Osos weren’t the new Los Osos. That town reinvents itself into an…
Beautiful but evil
This Thursday, Oct. 19, one-time California gubernatorial candidate and political pundit Arianna Huffington will offer a free talk called “A Political Update: Focus on California,” at 7 p.m. in Cal Poly’s Spanos Theater, followed by questions and a book signing. Huffington, who talked to New Times by phone, describes herself # as a “former right-winger…
Yes, no or maybe on Dalidio project
San Luis Obispo city councilmembers have officially agreed to disagree over the proposed Dalidio Ranch development project, Measure J. After a three-hour council meeting on the controversial topic Tuesday, Oct. 17 including 90 minutes of public testimony from both sides of the issue councilmembers did not vote on the measure. “We’re here to listen to…
Gibson sheds Chevron allegations
County planning commissioner and supervisor candidate Bruce Gibson released sales records Monday proving he discarded more than $24,000 in Chevron shares before voting on an agenda item involving the oil corporation. Allegations of a potentially-actionable conflict of interest emerged after opponents learned Gibson voted to approve a Chevron cleanup at an abandoned tanker dock in…
Private parts becoming public?
Regulars at Pirates Cove could conceivably face a larger problem than strolling packs of tactless gawkers if a proposed land buyout goes through. The Trust for Public Lands in conjunction with a land conservancy group and San Luis Obispo County announced this week plans to purchase the clothing-optional beach as part of a 121-acre parcel…
