Cover Story
Rediscover Atascadero: A staycation reveals all the new things there are to do, see, eat, and drink in the North County city
We’ve all heard the insults: Atrashcadero, Atascabama, Mud Hole. If SLO County had a redheaded stepchild city, it would surely be Atascadero, but guess what? A-Town has gone from joke to jewel. If you don’t believe me, come along on my 20-hour whirlwind tour of this little hamlet founded in 1913 by E.G. Lewis. It’s…
Grover Beach invests $250,000 to improve its sidewalks
Walking around Grover Beach is about to get smoother. A citywide renovation project will fill in and fix its dilapidated sidewalks thanks to an investment of $450,000. This money comes from Grover Beach’s Capital Improvement Program for sidewalk infill work. But it’s only a small chunk of an estimated $38 million needed to fill in…
Oceano Dunes officials battle lawsuits and public frustration as they race to control dust emissions and off-road driving
Dust—annoying when it settles daily on countertops, but Herculean to manage when it blows around the Oceano Dunes. Then, throw a lawsuit into the mix. California State Parks and San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) faced this dilemma together when a SLO Superior Court judge recently invalidated one of their dust control…
SLO scraps pickleball courts at Mitchell Park
San Luis Obispo is switching gears on its plans for new amenities at Mitchell Park—dropping an effort to install two pickleball courts. “Overall, the public did not support the installation of two pickleball courts,” city officials wrote in an Oct. 19 staff report, “and expressed ideas for other passive amenities to revitalize the park.” For…
Paso Unified teachers rally for higher pay as district, union go back and forth on salary negotiations
In the late afternoon on Oct. 12, a small crowd began to form outside the Paso Robles Unified School District office. Teachers, parents, and kids wearing red and maroon T-shirts grew in numbers before taking the rally to the street, where passing cars honked in support. One young Glen Speck Elementary student held up a…
Central Coast needs more blood donors to keep up with demand
The blood supply on the Central Coast is the lowest it’s been in more than a year, due to a perfect storm of increased use and fewer donors. Vitalant is a community blood donation nonprofit with locations in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Maria. It currently has less than a two-day supply of…
Camp Ocean Pines to host free Harvest Festival on Halloween
Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria is best known for its youth summer camps, secluded oceanside retreats, and gorgeous setting among coastal Monterey Pines. But on this Halloween, the 13-acre campus will transform into something else: a Harvest Festival—complete with a pumpkin patch, hayrides, face painting, caramel apple decorating, axe throwing, archery, and more. Residents of…
Hotel SLO’s Ox + Anchor chef Ryan Fancher makes the Central Coast proud
Dining decisions Link to Hotel SLO’s restaurants and bars at hotel-slo.com. Sign up for winemaker dinners under the events tab at oxandanchor.com. Follow the eateries on Facebook and Instagram
Multi-band concerts come to Castoro Cellars and BarrelHouse Brewing this weekend
If you’re looking for a little variety in your concert experience, Numbskull Productions and Good Medicine Presents have cooked up two amazing concerts this week with a stack of great bands at both shows. It all starts this Friday, Oct. 22, when Dustbowl Revival and The Mother Hips share the bill at Castoro Cellars (doors…
Traveling closet to provide clothing for underserved families
A wardrobe on wheels is San Luis Obispo County’s long-running clothing supplier for its families in need. The onslaught of the pandemic only expanded how much it could provide for the community. “We were the only direct resource provider that could accommodate all these agencies flipped upside-down due to COVID. All these families still needed…
Gallery at Marina Square showcases four photographers and one acrylic painter in latest exhibits
Gallery at Marina Square in Morro Bay presents Between the Tides, a group exhibition showcasing photographed landscapes and seascapes of coastal areas throughout the Central Coast, through Friday, Oct. 29. This exhibit features works by four different photographers: Kerry Drager, Teresa Ferguson, Greg Siragusa, and Dominic Hartman. Between the Tides is on display in the…
The Last Duel examines toxic masculinity and misogyny
THE LAST DUEL What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Galaxy, Park, Stadium 10 Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) directs this historical drama written by Nicole Holofcener and two of its stars, Ben Affleck…
Local Friends of the Library group hosts Fall Book Sale to benefit the SLO Library
The San Luis Obispo Friends of the Library is currently hosting its multi-day Fall Book Sale inside the San Luis Obispo Library Community Room. The sale ends on Saturday, Oct. 23, and features a wide selection of books from various genres for attendees to browse and shop for. An additional selection of DVDs, CDs, and…
Midnight Mass
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2021 Where’s it showing? Netflix From Mike Flannigan, the mind behind Netflix’s hit horror series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, comes the platform’s newest spooky sensation, Midnight Mass. Once again using a handful of the same cast that appeared in his previous two series,…
Independent oversight
Dear members of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors: John Peschong, Bruce Gibson, Dawn Ortiz-Legg, Lynn Compton, and Debbie Arnold. We are shocked, disappointed, and saddened by the findings of the Department of Justice in its recent report on our county jail. That so many serious infractions continue even after the adjustments made…
Scream
What’s it rated? R When? Oct. 22 and 23, at 9:15 p.m. Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre in SLO Horror master Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street) directs this slasher film that both winked at and revitalized the genre upon its 1996 release.…
We have a new street!
We have a new street in front of our house on Trouville Avenue, Grover Beach. Thanks to: • The Grover Beach City Council for placing a bond measure for street repair on the ballot. • Voters of Grover Beach who approved bond Measure K-14 that will generate $48 million for street repair over a 25-year…
Wake up, SLO County
Thank you, Don Maruska, for your letter to New Times last week (“Stop politicizing county government”). Well said! In a more woke community, there would be an intelligent reminder (like yours) to the masses every week. I totally agree with your remarks! The disgraceful, partisan, cynical politicking by SLO County Board of Supervisors’ Trumpist-majority is…
Highway 227
While the executive director of SLOCOG says, “There are some very smart people who are looking at this corridor” (“Officials eye roundabouts for Highway 227, residents ‘not convinced,'” Oct. 14), I am not sure they have common sense. I agree that I would like to know if they have taken into consideration the trucks and…
The problem with beaming up William Shatner
The forest fires, floods, drought, and the extreme weather we are all living with just got some help from William Shatner, Jeff Bezos, and his billionaire buddies. The latest version of a rich guy buying a Ferrari is launching yourself into space for a 10-minute joy ride. But what is the real cost of some…
Trust and the jab
Well, just when we figured that the pandemic was finally in our rearview mirrors, the virus has come roaring back, and the blame is now being focused on all those red-state anti-vaxxers. The pandemic and the vaccine have been politically weaponized. Caveat: It is dumb to refuse vaccination, and I have myself been vaccinated. While…
Cannabust
Do you know which business is the top sales tax producer in all of Grover Beach? Hold your breath and exhale slowly … because it’s a cannabis dispensary. Yes, Natural Healing Center (NHC) claims it fills Grover Beach’s tax coffers like a big bong rip fills pot smokers’ lungs … cough, cough, cougher. You’d think…
Natural Healing Center threatens legal action after SLO rescinds dispensary permit
“NHC! NHC! NHC!” A few dozen employees of Natural Healing Center chanted their company’s acronym in unison on Oct. 19 while gathered on the steps of San Luis Obispo City Hall. Donning white T-shirts with “save my career” printed across the back, NHC executives and workers assembled to protest a recent SLO city decision to…
Students react to anti-LGBTQ acts at Paso Robles High School
Paso Robles High School senior Danny Perez first heard about an incident involving a pride flag at his school about a month ago while he was sitting in social science teacher Geoffrey Land’s class. “Mr. Land just told us, straight up and flat out, that someone had taken a pride flag down from a teacher’s…
