Cover Story
As the first Regenerative Organic Certified winery, Tablas Creek is committed to farming like the world depends on it
Get the big picture Learn more information about the Regenerative Organic Alliance and who’s certified by visiting regenorganic.org. Find Tablas Creek Vineyard online at tablascreek.com, over the phone at (805) 237-1231, or in person at 9339 Adelaida Road in Paso Robles (make an appointment for tastings). Learn more about their certification process on Tablas Creek’s…
SLO mayoral candidates talk protests, COVID-19 in Mustang News forum
San Luis Obispo mayoral candidates Heidi Harmon, Cherisse Sweeney, and Sandra Marshall-Eminger discussed COVID-19, recent protests and arrests, and other local issues during an Oct. 27 election forum hosted by Cal Poly’s Mustang News. Answering questions posed by student reporters Lauren Koziki and Garret Brown, the three candidates agreed on many issues but contrasted on…
Lompoc City Council preemptively rejects proposed wine BID
Lompoc City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing a Santa Barbara County wine business improvement district (BID) at the council’s Oct. 20 meeting. BIDs, more often implemented in the hotel industry, levy an assessment—in this case, a 1 percent fee for Santa Barbara County wineries on all direct-to-consumer wine sales is proposed—in exchange…
Rallies continue for Tianna Arata and other protesters charged by DA
Several hundred people stood outside the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse on Oct. 22 to support local activists charged in relation to a July 21 Black Lives Matter protest, continuing their demand that SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow “drop all charges.” Past courthouse protests focused on Dow and former SLO Police Chief Dianna Cantrell,…
Santa Barbara Together Fund provides relief for local businesses
The Santa Barbara Foundation announced an additional cycle of the Santa Barbara Better Together Fund Small Business Grant Program in partnership with Santa Barbara County and the city of Santa Maria. Santa Barbara County’s partnership with the Santa Barbara Foundation will support grants of up to $7,500 per grant to qualifying small businesses located within the…
Public comment period for Pismo traffic relief project open until Nov. 17
If you live in SLO County, you’ve probably been stuck on the 101 somewhere in or around Pismo Beach in rush hour traffic. The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) is working with Caltrans on a long-awaited project that they say would prevent that 5 o’clock stop-and-go traffic on the county’s most congested portion…
Experience breeds ideology
There are significant logical flaws cloaked in words that masquerade as “logical” in John Donegan’s opinion piece (“Political pragmatism,” Sept. 24). First, one’s ideology, or raison d’etre, whether one is conscious of it or not, is the driving force for all of human beings’ activity. Namely, it is the need to survive. The first sentence,…
SLO County moves to set local campaign donation limits five times above state’s
San Luis Obispo County supervisors are getting out ahead of a new state law that, starting next year, would cap how much any one individual or committee could donate to a county candidate in an election cycle at $4,700. At its Oct. 20 meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to push its own local…
Vote no on Measure G-20
The opinion piece on San Luis Obispo’s Measure G-20 (“A path forward,” Oct. 8) is long on empty words and short on specific facts. First off, there’s no guarantee that any of this tax increase will go to any of the eight services mentioned. Once collected, the money will be mixed into the general fund…
San Simeon isn’t having a CSD election
San Simeon voters will not be electing the members of the area’s community services district, as not enough people filed papers to run for the open seats and the board reappointed director Daniel de la Rosa to his position. De la Rosa was appointed by the board of directors in June to fill a vacant…
The political apparatus continues to drive people crazy
Not long before the birth of Jesus, a gentile went to Rabbi Hillel and said, “Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” The rabbi replied, “Whatever irritates you, don’t do it to anyone else. That’s the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.” Hence,…
Things are looking sunnier for Central Coast tanning salons
Cristin Nightingale, owner of Sunkissed Tanning Salon in Santa Maria, had always wanted to own her own salon, “even since high school.” In mid 2019, she decided to take the leap. “It was a long process,” Nightingale recalled. “I had to find the spot, get the [tanning] beds, decorate it, and all that fun stuff.”…
Cheaper in the long run?
Some current Morro Bay City Council candidates are stating that it might be desirable to cancel the current wastewater recycling facility/sewer project and build a cheaper one next to the new Cayucos sewer facility. I wondered how the potential cost of such a move would be handled. In speaking to SLO County Supervisor Bruce Gibson’s…
Struggling performing arts groups call on government leaders for a clear reopening path: ‘We need your help’
Editor’s note: The Dia de Los Muertos drive-in concert on Oct. 31 has been cancelled, according to an event organizer. County health officials notified organizers that the concert was not permitted under COVID-19 health guidelines. New Times learned of the cancellation after this story went to press. On Halloween night, cars will pack the La Cuesta Ranch in San Luis Obispo for the county’s…
Hate
Hey, liberals! Here is some news! Contrary to the blathering of much of the political punditry, especially during this bitter confirmation fight, we conservatives don’t hate you. Really! It’s just that you scare the hell out of us. We see politics as analogous to two people stuck together in a car fighting over the steering…
Little has changed in the year since the death of a former Cal Poly professor brought to light risks associated with popular blood thinners
As her guests settled into chairs gathered under a shady spot on the porch, Joanne Ruggles set four glasses of ice and a glistening pitcher of fresh-squeezed lemonade at the center of the table. It was a sweltering, record-breaking-heat kind of August afternoon, and according to Joanne, if it’s not made with real lemons and…
Linnaea’s Café presents The Art of Dissent, a five-artist political art show
Coffee for thought The Art of Dissent—featuring political art from Mark Bryan, Elizabeth Chaney, Robbie Conal, Colleen Marlow, and Lena Rushing—will be on display through Nov. 8 at Linnaea’s Café, 1110 Garden St. in downtown SLO. Linnaea’s opens at 6:30 a.m. daily, closing at 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and…
Award-winning singer-songwriter Jody Mulgrew streams Oct. 24
Editor’s note: The Dia de Los Muertos drive-in concert on Oct. 31 has been cancelled, according to an event organizer. County health officials notified organizers that the concert was not permitted under COVID-19 health guidelines. New Times learned of the cancellation after this story went to press. Morro Bay’s favorite son, Jody Mulgrew, continues to…
The Laboratory Series welcomes guest speaker Allana Clarke
The Laboratory Series, a Black-identified artist showcase program co-hosted by R.A.C.E. Matters SLO and the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery, holds its third Zoom event, with special guest speaker Allana Clarke, on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. Admission is free. Through video, performance, photography, and other media, Clarke’s artistic practice is built upon “a…
Charles Paddock Zoo hosts its Virtual Halloween Costume Contest
In lieu of canceling its traditional in-person Zoo Boo event this year, the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero is hosting its inaugural Virtual Halloween Costume Contest. All ages are welcome to participate, and the zoo will be accepting entries through Sunday, Nov. 1. There is no fee to enter the contest, but costumed participants must…
The Boys turns the superhero genre on its head
THE BOYS What’s it rated? TV-MA What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime What if superheroes were actually corrupt and arrogant jerks who were owned by a corporation that monetizes them through films and merchandizing while carefully crafting their heroic public personas to appear virtuous…
Hell on Wheels
What’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2011-2016 Where’s it showing? Netflix If you liked HBO’s Deadwood, you’re going to love Hell on Wheels, a sweeping, epic Western rich with interesting characters, superior production values, excellent direction and cinematography, and solid acting by a stellar cast portraying real-life characters that include Colm Meaney as Thomas “Doc” Durant,…
Social Distance
What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2020 Where’s it showing? Netflix “Conceived, cast, and executed entirely remotely during quarantine,” this new series created by Hilary Weisman Graham and Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan examines the how families, couples, and friends navigate the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. From AA meetings and isolation to…
Partisan shuffle
Shouldn’t we stop pretending like elected city officials are nonpartisan? It’s clearly not the case. Let’s take San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon, for instance. She excoriated SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow for the charges he filed against Black protesters involved in a July protest that shut down Highway 101. As I read through…
DA charges six more protesters, Harmon accuses Dow of ‘systemic suppression’
The SLO County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against six additional individuals involved in a July 21 protest that blocked traffic on Highway 101, bringing the total number of protesters charged to eight. According to court documents, the DA’s Office filed an amendement to the case against local activist and protest leader Tianna Arata on…
Outgoing SLO councilmember sounds off against city tourism promotion
In an unusually tense discussion at a San Luis Obispo City Council meeting on Oct. 20, outgoing Councilmember Aaron Gomez ripped into the city’s latest tourism marketing plan—dubbed the #SLOReady campaign—arguing that the promotion clashes with both public health imperatives and the city’s ambitious environmental goals. “I feel like I can’t sit here and pretend…
