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Weekend escape: Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, Part 1
SANTA BARBARA IS MY HAPPY PLACE, A PLACE TO lose myself on the beach boardwalk, breathing briny sea air thick with the caw of gulls. This time I drove down to explore the Funk Zone: a 10-square-block area of old warehouses, manufacturing and industrial plants. The...
Academic success through the arts
THE NEW YORK TIMES RECENTLY RAN A STORY ABOUT Betty Smith’s 1943 autobiographical novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, detailing her impoverished childhood and the “great golden glory lasting a half-hour each week when Mr. Morton came to Francie’s room to teach music.”...
County Librarians Park III
WHATEVER THEIR JOURNEY TO THE SMALL COUNTY IN the middle of California, each of the pioneer librarians (1919-1958) left a legacy of professional determination to enhance and enrich the cultural beacon of literacy. While each day was met by the exigencies of the time,...
Rudy Xavier: Diversity Coalition working across San Luis Obispo County
AS THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO’S POLICE DEPARTMENT held a special meeting in mid-July to address hate crimes and hate speech—after a man was arrested for threatening his neighbors—they have a new ally. As of May 2019 the Five Cities Diversity Coalition has expanded...
Nautical Bean Café: More than a coffee house
SAN LUIS OBISPO SAVED MY LIFE. IN FACT, THE FIRST TIME I saw San Luis Obispo was in a U-Haul truck filled with my humble possessions that I drove here from San Diego after earning my English Degree from SDSU. I started here selling roofing to help out my mom and dad...
Humankind Store SLO’s one and only fair trade retail store celebrates 10 years downtown
WHAT STARTED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO as a few individuals selling fair trade products at church-sponsored holiday craft fairs has blossomed over the years into a full-scale retail operation with a brick-and-mortar store—HumanKind Fair Trade— that just celebrated its...
Clayton Cullen: Local man brings world-class rodeo to New York City
WHAT DOES A GIANT SILVER BULL’S HEAD WITH blazing red eyes and smoke-breathing nostrils have in common with an ordinary tract house whose famous Christmas decorations are so elaborate you can practically see them from space? Answer: The breath-taking talents of...
Foster youth services in education
Under the radar for years, fostered youth students now find new help—and hope Most of us cannot comprehend how it would feel, in high school, to sit in an assembly presentation about the benefits of attending college and think, “What am I doing here? They’re not...
Behind the Badge: Sheriff’s search and rescue team
THE SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS has recently confirmed what we knew all along. The Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team is one of the best. We say that because the board passed a resolution commending our SAR team for their assistance during the Camp Fire...
Alan Pietsch: Dancer, teacher and author
Some folks look forward to slowing down as retirement approaches, but that doesn’t appear to be Arroyo Grande resident Alan Pietsch’s modus operandi. Asked to pose for a quick post-interview photo to, among other things, promote the budding author’s first book launch,...
Read this month’s cover story
Nautical Bean Café: More than a coffee house
Don Saueressig: Zero to 60…in the blink of an eye
Trust Automation, Inc.: Ty Safreno
