Cover Story
The great solar quagmire
If you were to wander downtown San Luis Obispo on a busy night and bug people about the solar projects proposed for construction in the Carrizo Plains, chances are you wouldn’t encounter the same fervor defining the arguments and the very shapes of those projects. On a recent Thursday night, mazing through the crowds at…
Road dogs and cool cats
Badass biker gang the Central Coast Classic Motorcycle Club (CCCMC)—a collection of dangerous financial planners, automobile restoration specialists, businessmen, and professionals—will be revving up their vintage sport bikes to benefit Woods Humane Society. The CCCMC’s event, the second annual SLO Classic Motorcycle Rally, will be held Thursday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Oct. 10, and is…
Copelands outed as Dalidio’s foes
The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) identified and could levy fines against the financial backers ofthe 2006 campaign that stymied developer Ernie Dalidio’s San Luis Obispo Marketplace project. This latest milestone in Dalidio’s decades-long struggle to develop the 131-acre multi-use property on his land near Madonna Road and Highway 101 comes after the FPPC…
Proposition vs. proposition
In addition to deciding if they want to smoke their doobies legally, voters this November will have a chance to choose how political power is distributed in California. Among the propositions and candidates struggling for Election Day victory are two ballot propositions that will help decide how political boundaries will divide California in the years…
Kids rule!
I’m surrounded by rugrats as I roll into Salon 544 on Friday, Oct. 1, at 6:10 p.m. They’re crowded around a drawing table, stringing colored macaroni into necklaces, getting their faces painted, running around the front yard of Salon 544. Inside the downtown hair salon, children’s art fills the walls and people mill about, placing…
Come taste Pismo clams
It was surprising to learn that this year marks the 64th anniversary of the Pismo Beach Clam Festival. I was really happy to learn, however, there are many exciting new events taking place during this year’s event. Pismo’s surfin’ safari offers more treats than ever before. This festival, organized by the Pismo Beach Chamber of…
Clayhouse 2007 Petite Sirah Central Coast
I enjoyed this delicious wine recently with winemaker David Frick, who said he strives to make it friendly. This easy-sipping wine has classic Petite Sirah flavors without the heavy tannins you get in most versions of this variety. This fruit-forward red wine tastes of plums, blackberries, and boysenberries, with the tang of cranberry notes. Subtly…
Clayhouse 2009 Adobe Pink Paso Robles
Winemaker David Frick created a tasty Rosé from this intriguing blend: 46 percent Mourvedre, 19 percent Grenache, 17 percent Syrah, 9 percent Grenache Blanc, 6 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3 percent Tempranillo. Grown in their estate Red Cedar Vineyard (outside of Paso Robles AVA), it’s processed like white wine, fermented in stainless steel to preserve…
Vote for Ian, like me
I ask your readers to join me in voting for Ian Parkinson for sheriff. The Sheriff’s Department needs someone with Ian’s interpersonal skills and political acumen. He will bring his enthusiasm, communication skills, personal integrity, law enforcement professionalism, and leadership to the position. Ian has served since 1984 in virtually every role from patrol officer…
Do you know where your clavicle is?
Justin Morgan business consultant “I do happen to know where the clavicle is. I guess I won’t look stupid in this picture!” Aubree McAtee student “I don’t have a clue, I just know it’s a bone.” @font-face { font-family: “Times”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1…
Mistakes that worked
Lori K. Oliver’s free motion photography technique was the result of a “happy accident.” While she attempted to capture the colored lights in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square, someone accidentally bumped into her. But the resulting photograph “looked kind of cool,” Oliver said. “I started to experiment, right then and there, with different movements. I noticed…
Cheap date!
Some of them deal in paint and canvas. Others deal in light and air. Still others, like Los Osos’ Erin Perry, deal in British flags, buttons, and dead flowers. But all of this year’s Open Studios artists will gladly cut you a deal this month: You show up at their studio, they’ll show you their…
Check all that apply
Former Pismo Beach police chief and current candidate for county sheriff Joe Cortez has recently been responding to questions about his health after news broke that he once applied for permanent disability compensation with the state. But Cortez isn’t the only sheriff candidate to make such a workers’ compensation claim. His challenger in the race,…
SLO City Council punts historical home ordinance
Bowing to strong public pressure, the San Luis Obispo City Council heavily modified and then postponed consideration of a controversial historical home ordinance. The council had stripped many of the controversial parts out of the document in the sparsely attended late hours of the Oct. 5 council meeting, but the complex ordinance still provoked public…
Supes pinch off another sewer update
The San Luis Obispo County Government Center was about as restrained as the House of Commons at the Board of Supervisors’ Oct. 5 meeting. The topic: the Los Osos Wastewater Project. The outcome: $750,000 was added to the budget, residents will soon decide how they want to bill themselves, and the contract bidding process was…
California Valley ranch again raided for animals
San Luis Obispo County Animal Services raided a California Valley ranch on Sept. 17, confiscating an assortment of animals due to neglect, said a SLO Sheriff spokesman. The owner of the animals and the ranch is Neal Smith, who happened to be in the hospital getting a double lung transplant during the first raid in…
SLORTA and bus drivers reach impasse, strike is possible
San Luis Obispo Rapid Transit Agency and its drivers have reached an impasse and will be meeting with a federal mediator on Oct. 7 in a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike, according to the leader of the drivers’ union. “Yes, if an offer comes out of the mediation, and we don’t recommend it, and…
The 507 words you can’t say on Rideshare
When Lorelai Monet went to the San Luis Obispo Regional Rideshare website to sign up for the organization’s October Commute for Cash challenge, she was accused of using offensive language and her profile wasn’t processed. Monet works as center coordinator for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and when she typed the organization’s name in the…
Offensive?
Meet Cuban Pete, the Cal Poly salsa club mascot making cameos in classic images. But his appearance in a famous Pink Floyd poster generated at least one call to the Student Life & Leadership office and the words “sexual harassment.” “Right now, they asked us to pull it down,” said CPSalsa President Sean Forsberg. “Our…
Clubs
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Ha! Found you!
This has got to stop right here. I’m sick of the lies and odious slander. You blood-starved jackals won’t cease with your salacious accusations, so I will say this once. I … am … not … a … witch. Also, I am not a crook. I yam what I yam. As for those Copeland guys—yeah,…
Randy Adler, Moondoggies Beach Club owner
NEW TIMES: What is the Surf for Kids and Teens event about? ADLER: The city of Pismo Beach is going to start a surfing camp for kids and teens for ages 7 to 17. The city contacts us when there are people who are interested in learning how to surf, and Moondoggies takes them out…
Ignore the kleptocracy; vote yes on H
If the city had tried to come up with the worst way to move traffic across the south end of town, it would have designed its proposed Prado Road extension, with its truck route through neighborhoods, parks, and sports parks, and its silly traffic-stopping dead end at Broad Street. Measure H is a much-needed corrective…
Measure H supporters: See the elephant?
While I don’t claim to be an expert in city planning and have not been really following the Yes on Measure H campaign too closely, I keep hearing one argument that seems especially specious to me. The argument goes that the Prado Road extension would create an unhealthy environment by bringing a road so close…
People who use parks should pay for the use
Proposition 21 asks us to approve an $18 increase to our vehicle license fees to preserve and improve state parks. State parks bring visions of open space, forests, streams, meadows, and beaches. The wording in Proposition 21 states that the revenue generated will be used for: (b) Wildlife conservation and protection of natural resources, including…
This might be karmic payback for Meg Whitman
So Meg Whitman wants us to believe her when she says she didn’t knowingly employ an undocumented worker? Sounds more like, “I did not have labor relations with that woman!” as she points into the camera. Apparently she fired the woman in 2009 but waited until it was discovered to tell Californians that she had…
Bring back the rock
Dear sticky fingers, I am almost 85, have crippled arthritis hands, and have trouble controlling a paint brush. So I know your reason for taking my painted rock is not my artistic talent. It must have been on a dare or a prank, so will you please return my painted rock to the Hula Hut…
Possible book ban? Explain this to me
Whoa! Hold on! SLO High School is considering banning the book Kaffir Boy because one anonymous genius complained that the book contained offensive writing (“Anonymous complainer wants SLO High to consider book ban,” Sept. 30)? Why is the school board even thinking about considering a complaint from one person who won’t even sign his or…
Times are tough, but SLO city is strong
It is unfortunate that the New Times article, “Heading for the cliff” (Sept. 30) confused the facts and came to unwarranted conclusions. In particular, the idea that the city could become insolvent is unfounded and was illustrated using misleading examples. For instance, the utility box art program was paid for with money collected for public…
Who’s the Boogie Man?
I think we all have the potential to be open to new ideas and be inquisitive of things that we don’t understand. Capturing this curiosity is a path for us to learn and understand our differences, while still being true to our individuality and our loving selves. I also think we have the potential to…
I’ve got some dune monitoring suggestions
As an avid user of the Oceano Dunes, it is amazing to hear how many people are concerned about windborne silica and other particulates that could be potentially harmful, and how they want to make major policy changes with minimal wind data. I just have one simple question: Where are all the wind stations on…
I shudder to think what could have happened
I would like to thank Representative Lois Capps for joining 90 other representatives in taking a strong stance against Social Security cuts. We have to stop Republicans from trying to eliminate things they don’t like, such as Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is not in a crisis, it’s working the way it’s supposed to.…
Wait, wait, don’t tell me
Robert McDonald’s article (“Heading for the cliff,” Sept. 30) was great. Tell us, what is the difference between a pension fund and a ponzi scheme?
Restore the luster to California parks
From San Diego’s sandy shores to the towering redwoods in the northernmost areas of the state, California’s 278 state parks represent our rich natural and cultural heritage. Incorporating more than 1.5 million acres and a wide diversity of environments, California’s state parks were once considered the crowning jewel of state parks nationally. Unfortunately, the sparkle…
All that jazz!
From the first track on Chamber Music Society, the new album by Esperanza Spalding, I knew I was listening to something special. “Little Fly” sets a poem by William Blake to a sparse but stirring composition by the talented classical bassist with a lush, delicious voice. Spalding released her debut in 2008, which spent…
