Measure A-26 would solve nothing for Grove Beach
In my view, Grover Beach’s Measure A-26 was born less from good government than from a political temper tantrum. How else do you explain turning a professional staff position into an elected office? The qualifications for this elected clerk gig are “impressive”: be at least 18, live in Grover Beach, be a registered voter, and…
Caribbean Love in SLO specializes in scalp health and styles for natural hair
What hairstylist Norma Pauline Humes provides for people with natural hair is so hard to find that a client visiting San Luis Obispo all the way from Connecticut sought her out. “They used to live here but ever since they moved back to the East Coast, they have not been able to find someone that…
Digger is an excessive and gloomy look at climate change
Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant, Biutiful, Babel, 21 Grams, Amores Perros) directs this black comedy satire he co-wrote with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Nicolás Giacobone based on a story he, Berman, and Jez Butterworth concocted about Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), a blowhard oil tycoon whose company unleashes a potentially world-destroying disaster in Greenland.…
East of Eden adapts John Steinbeck’s 1952 reinterpretation of Cain and Abel
Directed by Garth Davis (episodes 1 to 4) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (5 to 7) and written by Zoe Kazan (except episode 5, co-written with Alexander Chee), this sweeping multigenerational drama comes closest to capturing the full scope of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel that adapts the biblical story of Cain and Abel. The most famous…
The Robert Reich-produced documentary The Work in Progress screens Oct. 11
Ian Cheney directs this documentary that spent six months traveling to various American cities to get 100 ordinary people, mostly 30- and 80-year-olds, to sit down and have civil conversations. They were given a box of cards with questions to ask one another, such as, “How would you describe America in one word?” “Who belongs…
Grover Beach Sourdough reopens with a new café attached to its bakery
Sitting at a table by the window inside Grover Beach Sourdough, Jacob and Brooke Town can still see the site of their former restaurant across the street. In an unexpected, bittersweet turn of events, the owners had to close The Spoon Trade one year ago and pivot. A developer bought the building that housed The…
Santa Margarita native Jade Jackson plays a release party for Jadine Oct. 17
Jade Jackson gets personal on Jadine, her first new full-length album since departing from ANTI-Records. Filled with nostalgia and longing for home, the album’s songs reflect her deep affinity for her family, her hometown of Santa Margarita, and her rural upbringing. Growing up, her family didn’t have a TV or internet, but her parents had…
Opera SLO mounts Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado Oct. 17-18
Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, a satire of late 19th century British institutions, is about to get the OperaSLO grand production treatment, and it promises to be spectacular. The operetta is set in the fictional Japanese town of Titipu, where flirting is punishable by death, executions are social events, and government bureaucrats are absolutely full…
Cal Poly Arts presents Circa: Wolf on Oct. 20
The wolf is a symbol of our untamable selves—liberating and savage, according to contemporary Australian circus Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz, whose “10 extraordinary performers fuse acrobatics, aerial work, and athletic dance into a single, unbroken force” in Circa: Wolf, hosted by Cal Poly Arts at the Performing Arts Center in SLO on Tuesday, Oct. 20…
SLO Friends of the Library’s fall book sale Oct. 15-17
Looking for some affordable books to get you through the next year? Look no further than the San Luis Obispo Friends of the Library and its Fall Book Sale on Thursday, Oct. 15, through Saturday, Oct. 17, held in the Community Room of the SLO Public Library (995 Palm St. on the corner of Palm…
Residents for Quality Neighborhoods is still here
John Ashbaugh’s recent opinion piece (“Don’t throw your votes away in SLO’s municipal election,” Oct. 1) offers a familiar narrative about neighborhood issues in San Luis Obispo, but it mischaracterizes both the history and the role of Residents for Quality Neighborhoods (RQN). As someone who has been involved with RQN for decades and served as…
F-26 doesn’t fix Grover Beach’s housing
Grover Beach, like every other city in the state, needs more affordable housing. “Affordable” being the operative word. We don’t need luxury high-rises, destined to be second homes or vacation rentals; we need housing for the renters, families, seniors, and workers who live here full time. But don’t be misled: Measure F-26, on November’s ballot,…
Environmental laws are not your enemy
Remember the Cayucos Viewshed? You don’t have to remember it because it’s still there—all 47,000 acres of green rolling hills, oak woodlands, creeks, hiking trails, and occasional farms between highways 41 and 46, with Morro Bay and Cambria at one end and Paso Robles and Atascadero at the other. It is one of SLO County’s…
Pismo Beach moves forward with large-scale Central Coast Blue water purification facility
Pismo Beach, the last city standing with the Central Coast Blue water recycling project, authorized $42 million to design and construct an advanced water purification facility to boost water security for the city. “This community, this council has demonstrated that protecting water is the top priority,” City Manager Jorge Garcia said at the Oct. 6…
Lucia Mar and San Luis Coastal candidates receive political questionnaires from church and local committee
A familiar set of questions landed in the email inboxes and mailboxes of certain school board candidates in San Luis Obispo County ahead of the November election. Much like they did during the 2024 election cycle, candidates running for the Lucia Mar and San Luis Coastal school district boards received questionnaires from a church and…
BLM moves forward with oil leases near Carrizo Plain
For the first time in six years, federal land in California could be auctioned for oil and gas development, including thousands of acres along the edge of Carrizo Plain National Monument. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to offer 43 parcels totaling approximately 35,000 acres across San Luis Obispo, Kern, Kings, and Fresno counties…
The end of “Cal Poly time” creates disarray for students taking the bus
This fall, Cal Poly students who rely on San Luis Obispo’s buses are learning the difference 10 minutes can make when it comes to getting to class on time. For master’s student Esther Duong, the end of “Cal Poly time”—classes and meetings starting 10 or 40 minutes after the hour—means frequent races for buses that…
San Miguel CSD election could reshape divided board
Three seats on the San Miguel Community Services District board are up for grabs this November after nearly two years of disagreements over district leadership, local control, and the future of the growing North County community. Five candidates—John M. Butler II, John McClure, incumbent Rod Smiley, Andrew Havard, and incumbent Owen Davis—are competing for two…
Big red flag
Does someone who’s running for a school district board need to be concerned about making decisions about abortion if they get elected to office? I’ve watched a lot of school board meetings, and I can’t say that the issue’s ever come up. And if it did, that would be a big red flag! Everything the…
Paso Robles to add athletic fields through school district partnership
With two Paso Robles sports facilities expected to close next year, the city is turning to a shuttered school campus to help ease a long-standing shortage of athletic fields. The Paso Robles City Council unanimously approved a lease with the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District on Oct. 6 that will allow the city to…
