The major civic ancestor for San Luis Obispo—both county and city—was born on September 1, 1772. In a hastily conducted ceremony, Fra Junipero Serra intonated the ritual es- tablishing the fifth outpost in the spiritual “conquest” of Alta California. Understandably...

When I was in my mid-20s, my brother Wayne and I often joined our friends at the Hofbrau restaurant on the Embarcadero in Morro Bay. Looking out on the calm bay with pelicans gliding by overhead and the moored boats pointing out the direction of the swelling tide, we...

Manuel Barba opened Traffic Records in downtown Atascadero in March of this year with his partner Dawn Neill because of his love of music. “I didn’t think I’d be opening a record store at all,” Barba said. “I just knew I’d do something with music. When the location in...

Pediatrician Dr. Rene Bravo doesn't exaggerate when he says during the course of his 30-plus-year career that has been spent entirely in San Luis Obispo he has easily treated 100,000 local youth. He does joke, though, he and his wife, Debra, of 38 years, have to leave...

In February last year, a landslide led to the failure of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge and closed Highway 1. In May, 36 miles to the north, more than 5 million cubic yards of dirt and rock dwarfed earlier slides, covering a quarter mile of tarmac at Mud Creek. With lots...

In his city hall office, San Luis Obispo city manager Derek Johnson, after a short but enthusiastic greeting,excused himself and darted out to grab some papers from the copier. Looking around in his brief absence, one notices the organized, neat but comfortable digs...

Coker Ellsworth worked in his father's corner grocery store from the time he was 7 years old. He had a special wooden crate to stand on emblazoned with the words “Shortest Box Boy.” For many summers and vacations to come Coker would stock shelves, work the cash...

First came the website. Now here comes the Sheriff's app. The Sheriff’s Office recently debuted its new mobile phone app. We understand people are on the go a lot these days. Now you’ll be able to take the Sheriff’s Office along with you to stay connected to us and...

The police found 4-year-old Sammy and her baby sister crying hysterically in a blood-spattered motel room; a disheveled stranger lay on the floor. The baby was filthy and hungry, with no food--just a bottle of spoiled, moldy formula. Mom was incoherent. That night,...