Cover Story
Season of the witch: ‘Herbie’ magic grows wild across SLO County’s secret gardens
When Kathryn Clayton tends to the personal poisonous herb garden she keeps at her home in Cambria, she thinks not of the harm they can do, but of all of the good. These taboo herbs—hemlock, nightshade, and mandrake among them—were at one time the only medicines known to man; the only means to soothe, heal,…
Judge dismisses California Valley fraud case
As SLO County Superior Court Judge Craig Van Rooyen dismissed the felony voter fraud case against California Valley Community Services District (CSD) President Lisa Marrone, he added a caveat. “I don’t fault the District Attorney’s Office for investigating this matter,” he told the District 7 courtroom. “It was a close call.” The issues on the…
Marijuana growers reluctant to register with SLO County
The setting was both fitting and surreal. In the dim basement of Novo Restaurant in Downtown SLO on Oct. 20, roughly 35 cannabis growers sat facing SLO County Planning and Building officials Bill Robeson, Art Trinidade, and Brandi Cummings, who stood and fielded questions. After years of operating in the shadows, local marijuana cultivators are…
Blast from the Past: Westworld
Where? DVD. I’ve been watching the HBO series Westworld, which is awesome and I’ll definitely be writing about it later, but it got me thinking about its inspiration: writer-director Michael Crichton’s first theatrical release, 1973’s Westworld. I trotted over to Crossroads Video and rented a copy for $1.50. Crichton, who studied English and later medicine…
Orchestra Novo presents Serenade for Strings Oct. 30
Warm, sweeping, and vibrant. That’s what an afternoon of stringed instruments singing out their soothing sounds is. Maestro Michael Nowak and Orchestra Novo present exactly that in Serenade for Strings on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 4 p.m. at the Cuesta College Performing Arts Center. Guest violin soloist Jessica Guideri, the Santa Barbara Symphony’s concertmaster, will…
33rd annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival starts Nov. 5
Poetry is personal. An emotional narrative that gives voice to what’s inside of someone. It’s the language of the soul. The 33rd annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival can feed your soul in November with poetry readings, workshops, films, books signings, and more on Nov. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19, and 20. The events…
Picture perfect: New Times Media Group presents annual Winning Images exhibit
A photograph can capture a moment in a way that words simply can’t. And the way in which that point in time is portrayed has everything to do with the person behind the camera. New Times Media Group is celebrating moments and the people who captured them with an exhibit of our annual Winning Images…
Get haunted: Quick, go find something scary before Christmas takes over
For $10, you can wait in a very long line—maybe pop over to Whiskey and June or Camozzi’s for a drink in teams while you rotate holding a spot—watch some ghost-faced creepy people prowl around a parking lot, head in to The Haunt for a quick scare, and it’ll be over before you know it! …
Laughing at politics: Capitol Steps shakes off election cycle stress with humor
What is stress in the modern world? Technically, it’s the struggle between your primal self (the part of your brain that still thinks you might get eaten by a wild animal or murdered by a rival tribe) and the ever-changing external circumstances that can and will trigger that fear. “Reply all” on a snarky work…
The Alan Parsons Project plays their hits at the SLOPAC on Nov. 3
It’s pretty hard to overstate Alan Parsons’ contributions to rock ’n’ roll. The songwriter, musician audio engineer, and record producer was instrumental in a number of iconic albums, from The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Let It Be to Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. As the Alan Parsons Project, albums like I Robot…
Libertine Brewing Co.’s Framboise and Adelaida Winery’s 2014 Anna’s Estate Vineyard Mourvedre
Is your forthcoming Turkey Day menu feeling a little … blah? Sick and tired of the same old fall flavor combos sucking away your will to cook year after year? Considering ordering Thai food? Plan to perk up (and pucker up) with this dry, tart, yet ridiculously raspberry-kissed framboise produced by local purveyors of wild…
Fresh for fall
Music to our mouths: A celebration of Paso’s most famous resident will kick off Nov. 2 to 6 with the annual Paderewski Festival taking over ballrooms, wineries, and estates across the region. Classical piano performances, a film screening, and events at Epoch Estate Winery and Halter Ranch Winery will blend the world-renowned pianist’s two great…
Paso’s wine family wolf pack: Barton Family Wines knows home is where the heart is
Jenny Barton has what you’d call an electric smile. Petite and powerful with a welcoming vibe that radiates true warmth, she ushers visitors into the remodeled Barton Family Wines and Grey Wolf Cellars tasting room she owns alongside her husband and winemaker, Joe Barton. The afternoon sun is shining brilliantly on this warm harvest day.…
What’s your favorite Halloween movie and why?
Luke Mitchell Cal Poly student “Halloweentown is my favorite. I think because I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid.” Brady Corcouran Cal Poly student “E.T., because it’s mystical and awesome. It’s a classic.” Emily and Ruby Waechtler mother and daughter “We’re not into Halloween because we don’t like goblins…
Puppet masters: Traditional Japanese performance theater makes a rare appearance at San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
Strings hanging down from above do not a Japanese puppet make. It’s more intricate than that, more detailed, more nuanced. Each doll is controlled by three puppeteers, who move around on stage behind a waist-high screen with their nearly life-sized charge. They work together to articulate life into the lifeless in Ningyo Johruri Bunraku puppet…
Clubs 10/27/16 – 11/3/16
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Rd., Shell Beach, 773-5000, cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Rd. in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on…
Pick your poison
What’s worse: A SLO County Board of Supervisors candidate taking money from a billionaire with properties on the Central Coast or one taking money from people or businesses outside the state? I know. It’s a tough one! OK. Here’s another one. What’s worse: A thinly veiled threat against developers who haven’t donated to your campaign…
Down with misogyny
I’m left wondering what election officials think about the voter fraud prosecutions after reading; “Locked up” (New Times, Oct. 13). Are these two California Valley Community Services District (CSD) incumbents going to vote under the presumption of innocence until proven guilty just like they continue to appear and vote on the CSD board? The Central…
Bernie Sanders supporters: Harmon is your candidate
I want to endorse and urge support and votes for Heidi Harmon as mayor of San Luis Obispo. Jan Marx has been mayor for a long time—too long. She has proven herself to be in the hip pocket of big money interests here. She has supported and pushed ordinances against the homeless in various ways…
SLO City Council snubs neighborhood
An “important city goal” for 2015-2017 adopted by the SLO City Council is neighborhood wellness. The council ignored that goal and the pleas of the neighbors by approving a massive four-story, 43-foot-high development at Chorro and Foothill, with Councilmember John Ashbaugh dissenting. The out-of-town developer received numerous exceptions: a 23 percent height increase, 35 percent…
Vote for Andy and Aaron
San Luis Obispo is a place I call home, a community I want to invest in, and the future for my family. Finding quality jobs and affordable housing options continue to be a barrier for young professionals like me. Aaron Gomez and Andy Pease, candidates for the San Luis Obispo City Council, understand these challenges…
Marcia Guthrie for Pismo Beach
The voters of Pismo Beach have the opportunity to vote for someone who actually has true ethical values and can’t be paid off. Marcia Guthrie is running for City Council; she has been fighting to protect our quality of life for many years now. Marcia is smart; she understands the issues we are facing. I…
A legacy of destruction
In all the years I’ve observed the “left,” not once have they accepted responsibility for the disasters they created, be it a socio-economic wreck leaving a country a wasteland or apologizing for tyrants. East Germany’s Berlin Wall and Cuba with its prisons overflowing with political prisoners comes to mind along with American cities plagued by…
Reality check
Every time I read a blog post or letter or article about or by a victim of sexual assault or rape, my throat gets tight. My eyes start to tear up. I sniffle a little, and then I get angry. The anger seeps into my memories, haunting me with snippets from my past, things my…
Soup for wildlife: Soupabration! fundraiser to benefit Pacific Wildlife Care
What typically comes to mind when thinking about a fundraiser is a large room with white-cloth-draped tables and two main dishes on the menu. “Everyone was just sick of the chicken dinner banquet and silent auction, you could say,” Charmaine Coimbra said. While drinking a bottle of wine with her husband, Coimbra thought of a…
Mailpocalypse: In the digital age, politicians still rely on snail mail to get your vote
As the final days of the election count down, SLO County residents are likely sifting through mountains of political mailers for candidates, ballot propositions, and causes before getting to their letters, bills, and Amazon packages. In a country that increasingly lives with one foot firmly planted in the digital world, targeted mailing is still a…
What’s up with Measure J?
If you’re a registered voter in San Luis Obispo County, you may remember the day a 30-page voter information booklet was stuffed into your mailbox. In case that booklet went straight into your recycling bin, it described Measure J, a ballot initiative devised to address SLO County’s road woes through a countywide sales-tax increase of…
Vote-by-mail ballots increase
San Luis Obispo County hit record-breaking numbers for voters who opted to vote by mail. With this year’s general election, SLO County has sent out a little less than 200,000 vote-by-mail ballots; of those, 26,000 ballots have been received so far. This is a huge increase of ballots sent out to voters, and the…
Shandon-San Juan forms water district
Frank Mecham, SLO County’s 1st District Supervisor, remembers making the prediction. It was March, and North County residents overlying the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin were gearing up to vote on a proposed water district that would have helped develop a plan to manage the basin under the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). “I thought,…
Phillips 66 takes SLO County to court
As the dust settled from a contentious 3-2 vote by the SLO County Planning Commission to deny the Phillips 66 rail spur project earlier this month, the company not only filed an appeal to the SLO County Board of Supervisors, but also filed a petition against the SLO County Planning Department in SLO County Superior…
Carpenter gets $20,000 donation
As he rounds the corner into the final weeks of the 2016 election, Dan Carpenter won’t be short on cash thanks to a massive donation from a conservative-leaning billionaire. Carpenter received a $20,000 contribution Oct. 21 from B. Wayne Hughes Jr., businessmen and philanthropist with a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to estimates by…
