Cover Story
Shut down for speaking up
Fluttering weakly in a fall breeze blowing off the Salinas River north of Paso Robles, the American flag at the entrance to Colleen Enk’s home is faded and tattered. There have been times lately, Enk herself allows, when she feels much like that flag: patriotic, but at a cost. Enk’s saga began shortly after she…
Livin’ and learnin’ on Laurel Lane
I’m stilling waiting. I’ve been waiting ever since I first heard Damon Castillo perform. Ever since that day more than a decade ago, when I first mentally voted Castillo “most likely to succeed,” I’ve been waiting for him to blow up—the major label record deal, the world tour, the overplayed radio mega-hits. There’ve been plenty…
Club Listings
Goin’ South … BILL’S PLACE: 112 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9989. Fri.-Tues.: Karaoke. CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. Live music on Sat. from 1-5pm and Sun. Jazz from 11am-3pm. Mon. and Tues.: Louie Ortega. COSTA DE ORO WINERY: 1331 S. Nicholson Ave. Santa Maria, 922-1468. DOLPHIN BAY/LIDO: 2727…
Your spooky schedule
A special Halloween performance of Plan 10 From Outer Space will be staged at The Spyglass Inn Restaurant, 2703 Spyglass Drive, Shell Beach, on Oct. 31.Doors open at 7:30p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. See New Times Calendar for details on this dinner theater performance. Info: 489-3875 or murderinmind.com Halloween Festivities at SLO Farmers’ Market…
The best things come in small packages
New Times Tell me about the school you are attending, the Fine Arts Academy in Atascadero. Carla Cary It’s a school that has different programs: dance, art, band, and P.E. It is accelerated learning ; a school for kids with an artistic side, where they can learn more about what they are interested in. It…
Mars’ song
Mars might aptly be called all things to all people. For conspiracy theorists and science fiction fans it is the subject of endless speculation and generally bad movies. The red planet also functions as a tool for scientists seeking a better understanding of our own planet. For some it is a source of hope and…
An English of pomegranates and nightlights
William Faulkner charged poets with the duty of serving as a prop and pillar for society, enabling humankind to forever struggle, endure, and prevail; Samuel Taylor Coleridge observed that no poet could exist where there wasn’t also a philosopher; Christopher Morley said that poets were reporters interviewing their own hearts; and Oscar Wilde insisted that…
Boekenhoutskloof 2007 The Wolf Trap South Africa
This unusual, bargain-priced wine, which comes from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, is amazingly intense. Earthy and dense, it tastes of blackberries, ripe plums and black cherries, weaved with a strong thread of gaminess and spice. This one’s for people who love big reds like Petite Sirah and Cabernets. It can be…
Vina Robles 2006 Petite Sirah Jardine Paso Robles
Winemaker Matthias Gubler makes some of best Petite Sirahs locally, and this inky-colored red is proof once again. A blend of Jardine Vineyard and Penman Springs grapes, both notable Paso Robles vineyards, it’s layered with flavors. This vintage offers intense flavors of blackberries and black cherries with nuances of blueberry, spice and earth. Beautifully balanced…
Good, plenty,and cheap
As I sat in the Broad Street Giant Grinder Shop awaiting my order, I watched several other first timers approach the counter and react exactly the way I did upon seeing the grinder: “You’ve got to be kidding me!” That may lead you to think we were looking at the whole grinder, but no, it…
Vote for a Measure Y supporter
Some candidates in the election for City Council have decided to make opposition to binding arbitration central to their campaigns. They act as if the initiative were on the ballot this year. It is not. I was on the City Council in 2000 and I opposed the binding arbitration initiative. I feared that if a…
Defeat Measure E-08
Kylie Mendonca’s report, and those comments of several other residents and voters of San Luis Obispo, show real problems with city Measure E-08 (“No residency? No problem,” Oct. 9). The measure further states in the voter sample ballot that “non-registered voters” can also be appointed. Why should any non-registered voter be allowed on any city…
Angel’s fans
The San Luis Coastal Teachers Association is proud to endorse Phil Angel for a seat on the San Luis Coastal Unified School Board. With more than 400 local teachers represented by SLCTA, we hope the public will join us in an effort to elect Phil Angel to this important position. Phil Angel is a longtime…
Back Kelly and Ochylski
The upcoming Los Osos Community Services District election is basically a continued fight for or against the county plan for a sewer. We are tired of voting for Proposition 218 assessments and trying to get grants just to see our tax money go up in smoke and have nothing but excuses in exchange. This is…
Hooray for Venditti
The upcoming Los Osos Community Services District contest is a far more important election in our community than many people realize. The CSD has major financial hurdles ahead brought on primarily by nonsense Taxpayer Watch lawsuits and, as a water purveyor, has potentially serious water availability issues to figure out. It’s therefore critical to pay…
Oppose Prop. 8
I am seething right now, over the distasteful, insulting, and outright incompetent letter written by John Budlong regarding Proposition 8 (“Vote for Prop. 8,” Letters, Oct. 16). This proposition is not about what goes on behind closed doors in a same-sex marriage. How dare he make a mockery of one’s expression of love. Nobody particularly…
Decrease gay sex: Vote no on Prop. 8
I can understand John Budlong of Morro Bay being perturbed by what he believes to be normative sex between people of the same gender (“Vote for Prop. 8,” Letters, Oct. 16). Most of us are uncomfortable with sexual practices that our neighbors enjoy. But I am puzzled by his apparent assumption that gay people, who…
Honor free speech
When our “Yes on 8” yard signs were stolen from our property, after being posted for less than six hours, our constitutional right of free speech was infringed upon. Please, let us all show respect and civility to others during this election season and honor the right of free speech.
Carl Hansen – Executive Director, Food Bank of SLO County
NEW TIMES: What particular need does the Food Bank have now? HANSEN: Our main need is for donated food, in that our sources of low- cost food have dried up due to food’s increasing cost. Our supply agencies have to pay a lot more for food. NEW TIMES: What issues are the most pressing? HANSEN:…
Into the gay fray
Sixty years ago, California’s Supreme Court struck down the ban on interracial marriage because it deprived individuals of liberty and equal rights protected under the state constitution. This year, California’s Supreme Court decided the ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional for exactly the same reasons. 1. Civil rights: The high court, with its conservative majority,…
Correction:
New Times incorrectly identified Donald Fransen, a candidate for Paso Robles City Council, in the Oct. 16 issue “See How They Run,” as Donald Franklin. Sorry, Don.
Take the survey
The San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation needs the community’s help in filling out a survey that will better establish areas of need among the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community. The project is through the foundation’s Growing Together Initiative, an endowment that ensures funding for LGBT issues in SLO. The survey, which takes five or…
Stormy situation
Stormwater collection has a lot of people worried these days, mostly because they’re not sure what exactly to be worried about. What’s definite is that new stormwater standards passed down by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board will require a truckload of environmental studies and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They’re expected…
Three-story Cayucos Del Mar gets county’s OK
Despite feverish attempts by neighbors and one SLO County supervisor, the Cayucos Del Mar project was approved in a form that didn’t seem to make anyone happy. Neighbors complained that the planned building will be too massive and out of character for the small beach town. Most complaints focused on the building’s third floor. Planning…
Terrorism not a problem for Diablo Canyon, feds say
The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant has permission to store spent fuel in above-ground storage containers without further study of a potential terrorist attack. The decision was announced on Oct. 23 by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which ruled that an existing eight-page environmental assessment was adequate despite protests by Mothers for Peace. The SLO-based…
Sowing hate
Cal Poly University officials say they’ve spoken to residents after racist symbols and words were found adorning the Crops House, a university-owned house where agriculture students are given subsidized lodging in exchange for work on the school’s farms. Responding to inquiries from New Times, school officials said they’d confirmed that a racist sign was posted…
For the love of animals
The volunteers and supporters of the North County Humane Society and Animal Shelter Adoption Partners (ASAP) encourage pet seekers to think creatively when searching for a new best friend. They are devoted to making certain that no domesticated animal in San Luis Obispo County goes without a home. Toward that goal, they will host a…
Fast facts
Pick up some great early Christmas gifts or shop for fall necessities at Monument Board Shop (1402 Grand Ave. in the Spencer’s Market and Applebee’s shopping center in Arroyo Grande, and 8155 El Camino Real in Atascadero). They have it all—from your boarding needs to your clothing wants. With a stylish ambiance and staff, Monument…
Was last week’s jellyfish attack on the Diablo Canyon power plant terrorist-related?
Andy Finn painter “I think it was just the jellyfish acting up, because warm water temperature creates enough plankton, and enough food has made the jellyfish healthier.” Rebecca Dowless route driver “I feel confident enough in saying that the jellyfish attack was not terrorist-related.” Rob Wilkie mechanic “I’d say that this is a random incident…
The jail block
As the candidates and advocates duke it out for seemingly every last vote in this election’s final days, there’s at least one category of voters that isn’t getting courted much. Call them the vote-from-jail block. In California and most other states, people in jail, as opposed to prisons, are generally allowed to vote. They do…
What’s behind those ads?
A new TV commercial, sponsored by Santa A new TV commercial, sponsored by Santa Barbara-based Californians for Population Stabilization, purports that increased immigration—both legal and illegal—will quadruple America’s carbon footprint. In the commercial, running in heavy rotation on local channels, a 20-something male with spiked hair and a five o’clock shadow looks into the camera.…
Haters
Californians are slow to get worked up about things. They either grow up mellow or move here and mellow out. Maybe that’s why nobody seemed to want to believe it when New Times started asking about reports of racist signs and symbols at the Crops House on the Cal Poly campus. The campus officials were…
