Cover Story
White walls: Bringing new art into SLO can be a battle between profit and passion
It’s hard not to look up every time a pebble falls from the pyramid-shaped block of ice-encased little rocks hanging from the ceiling. Each moment of gravity is accompanied by the sharp plinks of solidly packed minerals ricocheting off hollow bamboo poles. The sounds bounce between a largely empty cement floor and barren white walls,…
Fuel up on worldly wines at The Station
When Liz and Brian Espy bought the old art deco gas station at 311 Higuera St. in 2014, it was dusty and forgotten, with a five-year homeless resident sleeping out back. Passed over by modern times, the rundown building—with its broad carport awning and chipped white paint—hadn’t provided gas in 34 years. At one time…
What business do you want to see in downtown SLO?
Chase Dreszer student “I’d want another venue for live music.” Denise Man student “Anything but another sandwich and salad place. We have way too many of those.” Michael Enem visiting from Santa Barbara “They should have a authentic Southern Californian Mexican food restaurant.” Sora Kim stay-at-home mom “I’d love a Korean resturant.”
‘How I Learned to Drive’ tackles tough themes with glowing humanity at SLO Little Theatre
It’s a dark, unshakeable fact of life: Bad things happen, again and again. Childhood is so often portrayed in film, television, and theatre as an impenetrable bubble. How I Learned to Drive is a very sharp tack. The play runs Sept. 25 through Oct. 11 at SLO Little Theatre. Written by Paula Vogel, the play…
Liquid courage
Sink your fangs into this: The Grey Wolf tasting room offers up a howling good time, whether you travel solo or with a pack! The homespun surroundings are warm, welcoming, and authentically Paso Robles (you can even chill out in a rocking chair with a guitar in your lap). Known for their award-winning stable of…
Castoro Cellars’ 2014 Balena and Cypher’s 2014 Grenache Blanc
There’s a lot going on at this year’s Beaverstock, Sept. 19 through 20 at Castoro Cellars (art, yoga, bands, food trucks, beer, an ancient hollowed-out tree kids can romp around in). By contrast, Castoro Cellars’ 2014 Balena might have even more going on—and that’s saying quite a bit. Under the cork you’ll find a vibrant…
Sheriff’s Family Day draws large crowd to law enforcement displays and demonstrations
View a slideshow from the event. It’s Saturday, Sept. 12, and as I’m riding toward the Madonna Inn meadow for Sheriff’s Family Day, I see a helicopter coming in for a landing near two other choppers parked at the west end of the field. A trio of Sheriff’s deputies are on horseback, and the field…
Oil painter Patrick Dennis opens Working Artist Studio in Cambria
Oil painter Patrick Dennis lives by the credo: “If you’re not absolutely positive that you are doing what you are meant to be doing, you can change that.” This isn’t just a pretty phrase—he’s lived it. After years teaching and government work, he is now coming into his own as a serious artist. Feel free…
Artists of Forever Stoked paint live at the Fremont Sept. 25
Everything is better live, right? The dudes behind Forever Stoked in Morro Bay sure as heck think so. These feel-good artists are ready to load up their brushes with paint and slang a healthy dose of color at the 2015 New Times Music Awards this Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The annual celebration of local…
Author Robert Wren seeks supporters for gothic fantasy ‘Ophelia, Doll’
When the mysterious and feared Impresario rolls into a lackluster town known for being “on the way to bigger and better places,” no one is more annoyed/intrigued than sullen 16-year-old Ophelia. Of course, the angsty teen secretly aches to join the Impresario’s mystical act, but once she falls down his chilling rabbit hole, she may…
Badass bikes: Titus Olivas crafts custom three-wheelers not for the faint of heart
You may not be able to pick Titus Olivas out of a crowd, but once he puts on his “costume,” and hops on his transportation method of choice, it’s a different story. “People look at me and wonder how they know me. Then I put on my hat, and they say, ‘You’re the guy with…
The SLO Symphony is being undermined from the outside
I read with dismay and great puzzlement what I can only describe as a hit piece, full of incorrect statements and innuendo in last week’s New Times regarding the symphony: “Silence is Golden … It’s time for people to speak up about the symphony … .” Well, I take you at your word, and will…
Be the change
California ranks 48 out of 50 in terms of its identified population of homeless children. That makes it one of the states with the highest such population. In San Luis Obispo County, there are currently 3,774 homeless individuals. Of these, 49 percent are children. In 2014, SLO County identified 2,210 homeless students; 209 were in…
Community, then coffee: Bello Mundo Café expands to larger location
What happens when the public’s need for coffee and the dedication of a committed staff overflows an incubation space? You get a bigger cup. Bello Mundo Café, sandwiched between Boo Boo Records and HumanKind on Monterey Street, is doing just that. After four years in its beloved, compact location, the café’s moving into a larger…
Cougars & Mustangs
Welcome, students of the world, to your first quarter of Cal Poly! We’re glad to see so many fresh faces, shining, shimmering, splendid, eager to draw in all the knowledge that their classes can provide, and then shoot it back out with a cold one afterward. Yes, yes, we know, you’re hitting the bars so…
Santa Margarita rejects water rate increase
Just leave it to Santa Margarita. The small, tightly-knit community needed 261 protest forms signed by title holding residents to reject a proposed water rate increase: 262 were submitted. In response to drought conditions and mandatory conservation requirements, Santa Margarita—an unincorporated community that uses groundwater pumped and treated by San Luis Obispo County—reduced its water…
SLOPD to pilot body camera program
Some SLO Police Department officers will begin wearing body cameras as part of a pilot program, department officials announced Sept. 15. The program will deploy 10 body-mounted video cameras on various members of the department’s police force. Acting Police Chief Keith Storton said a variety of personnel would use the cameras in their daily work,…
Sharks are making a comeback on the Central Coast, and maybe that’s a good thing
It should come as no surprise to anyone that there are sharks in the ocean—that’s where they live. But a recent uptick in local sightings, and a no-injury attack at Morro Bay in late August, has many ocean lovers feeling jittery about getting in the water. Cal Poly professor Ben Ruttenberg, who teaches marine ecology…
Park officials, OHV enthusiasts promote culture of safety, despite recent death at Oceano dunes
On Aug. 30, the Oceano Dunes experienced its second accident-related death of 2015. The victim, 27-year-old Fresno resident Leo Esqueda, was driving a Chevy Blazer on the dunes just after 2 p.m. when he was involved in a single-vehicle rollover accident, according to California State Park Officials. The accident occurred when Esqueda failed to navigate…
Speaker at local Republican luncheon has history of questionable remarks
An attorney slated to be the guest speaker at a luncheon for a local Republican women’s group has a history of making controversial remarks on the subjects of same-sex marriage and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. Brad Dacus, who will speak at the Estero Bay Republican Women Federated’s planned Sept. 17 luncheon, has compared…
BeachWalk Hotel development firm has ties to Palm Springs corruption case
The name of a development company currently looking to build a large-scale hotel and resort in Pismo Beach continues to pop up in connection with a federal investigation into government corruption in Palm Springs. The scandal, which has rocked Palm Springs, involves an allegedly cozy relationship between city Mayor Steve Pougnet and his friend and…
City Council approves Discovery SLO, stirring disagreement on SLO’s downtown policies
For all those who thought that the San Luis Obispo City Council was against new bars downtown, think again. The council voted 4-0 on Sept. 15 to approve Discovery SLO, a massive entertainment venue slated to occupy the former location of both Copeland’s Sports and Sports Authority on Chorro and Marsh. Dan Carpenter, who owns…
Beaverstock at Castoro Cellars promises great music on Sept. 19 and 20
Beaverstock’s this weekend, which means it’s time to pack up some low-back chairs or a blanket, gather up your friends or family, and head up to Castoro Cellars winery for what’s developed into one of the premiere music events of the year. Like the Live Oak Music Festival or the Seven Sisters Fest, Beaverstock aims…
Clubs 9/17/15 – 9/24/15
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…
Cry freedom!
I feel sorry for Rowan County Clerk of Courts Kim Davis, who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay Kentucky couples. And yes, apparently Kentucky has the gays. Who knew? But back to Davis. What about her religious rights? Just because she was elected to do a job, and just because the…
Breaking the SLO Symphony silence
Thank you New Times for Barbara-Jo Osborne (“Silence is golden, except when it’s not,” Sept. 10). She clearly talks about today’s dysfunctional San Luis Obispo Symphony management that so many have easily drifted into. This is the same problem with other groups in SLO County. Several of us care; members of nonprofits have been fighting…
The CCSD didn’t create its problems
CAVE or “cavers,” as locals commonly call them (Cambrian’s Against Virtually Everything), also known as sticks in the mud, have cost the district more than $200,000 in frivolous legal attacks designed to slow down or derail the water emergency project. The ugly meetings that resulted are an unpleasant reminder of dealing with free speech and…
Dear Glen and Anna, that last Split Screen was ageist
I had a real problem with your ageist review of A Walk in the Woods (Sept. 10). Why such sarcasm reviewing a film that appeals to those not in your age group? Are you reviewing movies only for college students and 20-somethings? My husband and I are in our 70s and we go to films…
Overpopulation is the biggest issue facing this world
New Times’ Sept. 3 lead opinion piece addresses the most important issue in the world: human overpopulation. The current European refugee crisis, the crisis in Haiti, the U.S. illegal immigrant problems—including its impact on schools, the extinction of species, water crisis throughout the world, mass poverty, loss of personal freedom, and many more issues—owe their…
