Cover Story
Student Guide 2024
Renters’ rights, a leg up for high schoolers, packaging potatoes, writing emails, and an inclusive campus in this year’s annual Student Guide issue. Renters, you have rights A guide to your basic rights and helpful resources BY GLEN STARKEY Glimpse the future Cal Poly’s Upward Bound program gives underserved high schoolers a shot at attending…
Beetlejuice
What’s it rated? PG When? 1988 Where’s it showing? Max Tim Burton directs this dark supernatural fantasy about newly dead married couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) who are navigating their new ghostly existence in their old home. When the house is sold to an obnoxious new family who begins to remodel…
There’s more to the environmental story of steelhead
Concerning your recent article on steelhead and lawsuits by environmental groups (“Fish flop,” Aug. 29). I have lived in San Luis Obispo County for 70 years. I have seen populations of steelhead in many streams over the years. Anadromous fish like steelhead and salmon spend portions of their lives in both fresh and salt water.…
People are working to resolve divisiveness and incivility
Thanks, Shredder, for calling a recess to disruptive local government meetings (“I call a recess!” Sept. 5)! Almost everyone is tired of divisive rhetoric and chaos and are looking for solutions. National groups like the League of Women Voters (LWV), Braver Angels, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse are working on this issue; hosting…
The Bikeriders
What’s it rated? R When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Peacock Writer-director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, Loving) helms this film based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 book in which the college-educated photographer essentially embedded himself in the Midwestern motorcycle gang the Chicago Outlaws. Lyon’s photo-rich book was inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s book Hell’s…
Power play
We elect politicians we believe will best represent us. In turn, elected officials run the government and make decisions that will best serve their constituents. This is representative democracy. We don’t always like the decisions officials make, so sometimes when they run for the office again, we vote for their opponent. It’s not a perfect…
SLO Rep celebrates 20 years of the Ubu’s Other Shoe staged-reading series
Enjoy a different theater style The San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre (SLO REP) is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ubu’s Other Shoe. The first staged reading in this year’s series will be Fortinbras by playwright Lee Blessing and directed by Jill Turnbow. To get your tickets for the Sept. 20 and 21 event, visit at…
Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary gets close to potential designation
The first tribally nominated national marine sanctuary is nearer than ever to being officially designated. On Sept. 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the release of the final environmental impact statement for designation of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The mammoth statement is split into two volumes, totaling more than…
Local maestro conducts autumn performances in SLO and Lompoc
Central Coast conductor Brian Asher Alhadeff will direct the Lompoc Pops Orchestra during its next concert at the First United Methodist Church in Lompoc on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 4 p.m. Alhadeff is widely known for his longtime work with the local orchestra, as well as his full-time conductor role with Opera San Luis Obispo,…
Paso City Council race sees accusations, conflicting stories among candidates
Allegations of stolen campaign signs and mismatched stories filled the Paso Robles City Council chambers at its last meeting when Michael Rivera accused Councilmember Sharen Roden of removing his campaign sign from in front of a local business. Rivera is running for the 3rd District City Council seat, while Roden is running to keep the…
Community for all: Cuesta College opens new Affinity Center to help connect students to campus resources
A new inclusivity center just opened at Cuesta College as a way to connect students to available resources and become a gateway to help them make friends. The Affinity Center, located in the campus library and still undergoing minimal construction, opened its doors this semester as a welcoming space for students of all backgrounds and…
Four competitors face off for two OCSD board seats in this upcoming election
Two incumbent Oceano Community Service District (OCSD) board members are running against each other this year, meaning either Charles Varni or Shirley Gibson will still be on the board next year—not both. The rivals are vying for the 5th Division seat, while incumbent Linda Austin faces a newcomer in her battle to keep her 1st…
Morro Bay ballot measure could challenge Vistra battery plant
In November, Morro Bay voters will decide on a ballot measure that could grant residents the power to block public land rezonings, an indirect effort to stop the potential construction of a battery plant. Measure A-24 was placed on the November ballot by local organization Citizens for Estero Bay Preservation that advocated against the construction…
Renters, you have rights: A guide to your basic rights and helpful resources
Is this the year you find yourself out of the “loving” embrace of dorm life and cafeteria food and into the cold, cruel world of the San Luis Obispo rental market and the “freedom” to take care of your own bills, cooking, and cleaning? If it is, you already know that rent is too damn…
SLO introduces ordinance for retail cannabis deliveries
Cannabis retail storefronts in the city of San Luis Obispo can now prepare to make deliveries to customers. The SLO City Council unanimously introduced a draft ordinance that amends zoning regulations in the municipal code to allow cannabis stores to make retail deliveries as long as they possess the appropriate conditional use permits. “Economic resiliency,…
Glimpse the future: Cal Poly’s Upward Bound program gives underserved high schoolers a shot at attending college
Surviving the college application process can be daunting, but an extra helping hand always makes it easier. Take it from Upward Bound, the U.S. Department of Education-funded outreach program that’s been offered by Cal Poly since 1981. “All of the programs under this umbrella are meant to help underrepresented students,” Cal Poly’s Upward Bound Director…
Cal Poly Wind Power Club starts prepping for student competitions
Propelled by a passion for wind farm development, one student-led Cal Poly group is already preparing for the upcoming 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition. The Cal Poly Wind Power Club, which consists of about 40 students, entered its first competition last year and took first place in two categories: connection creation and turbine development. Connection creation…
A fresh starch: A group of six Cal Poly students designed a new way to sustainably package potatoes
Cal Poly students are changing the way produce is packaged, several potatoes at a time. Their ideas placed them in the top three in a nationwide student design challenge, replacing brown, meshy potato sacks with a bright blue sturdy and stackable box. These six students, studying art and design, business, or industrial technology and packaging,…
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a rollicking undead sequel
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE What’s it rated? PG-13What’s it worth, Samantha? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Camillia? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Bay, Colony, Downtown Centre, Fair Oaks, Park, Stadium 10, Sunset Drive-In Editor’s note: Regular reviewers Glen and Anna are out of town, so New Times Editor Camillia Lanham and Staff Writer Samantha Herrera stepped into write Split…
Email as art: Tips for sending emails to professors and professionals
As a reporter, I get emails every day, and a large chunk of them aren’t very good. I get emails without any introduction or subject line, in all lowercase letters or all uppercase letters (please stop screaming at me), and/or using no punctuation at all—crafting the longest run-on sentence known to man. I’ve had people…
Paso Robles and Los Olivos wines find intimate harmony at upcoming dinner gathering
Pairings galore For more info on Thacher Winery and Carhartt Family Wines, visit thacherwinery.com and carharttfamilywines.com, respectively. Admission to the two wineries’ upcoming collaborative winemaker dinner in Paso Robles on Saturday, Oct. 5, ranges between $250 and $300 (plus tax). Owls often perch near the high ceiling of a historic barn where two birds of…
Thirteen-time Grammy Award-winner Bonnie Raitt plays Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Sept. 18
You’d think with more than five decades in the music business that Bonnie Raitt might be slowing down a bit, but it seems the opposite. Her 2022 album, Just Like That …—her 18th studio album—proves she’s just as vital a hitmaker as she’s been throughout her long and storied career. She won three Grammy Awards…
Charles Varni is no good for Oceano
Charles Varni’s opposition to funding Oceano’s portion of the Five Cities Fire Authority put Oceano’s fire safety at serious risk, endangering the lives of Oceano citizens and property. By resisting the funding measures, Varni directly contributed to longer response times and left our community vulnerable to disaster. The safety of Oceano residents is at stake.…
