New Times, March 12, 2026

Avoid Back Surgery!

Editor’s note

This year, the Paso Robles Joint Union School District decided to tackle parent and student concerns about transgender issues differently than the Lucia Mar Unified School District did last year. Paso responded with an informational session, explaining what state laws said about school responsibilities, student athletes, and bathrooms. Just as the North County district did that, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against California’s laws protecting students who don’t want to tell their parents about their gender identities. Staff Writer Chloë Hodge speaks to parents and the school district about the issue [7].

In addition, read about Avila Beach’s vacation rental problems [8]; a local using AI to make art and music [24]; and the burgers that dreams are made of [31]

Camillia Lanham editor

cover file photo by Jayson Mellom cover design by Alex Zuniga

STUDENT RIGHTS Across San Luis Obispo County, school districts have faced pressure to clarify local policies regarding transgender student athletes. Those on all sides of the issue protested outside a Lucia Mar Unified School District board meeting last April.

Gianna Patchen CIRCULATION Jim Chaney

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Morro Bay City Council approves buying Morro Elementary for $5.3 million

The almost century-old Morro Elementary property is on its way to city ownership after the San Luis Coastal Unified School District accepted Morro Bay’s offer to buy the site.

Appraised at $10.2 million, the 1930s-era building holds historical, cultural, open space, and recreational value to the city. Funding reductions in 2001 forced the school’s closure.

On March 10, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution approving a $5.3 million purchase price and sale agreement with the school district—the culmination of negotiations that officially started in May 2025.

“I walked that site, and I felt something special there,”

Councilmember Bill Luffee said. “I think the community is going to get everything they want there, housing, preservation of the school, just a complete site. It’s going to be a lot of work; it’s a legacy project. But now we can talk about it openly and we can get your input because it’s going to be a community event.”

Luffee and fellow Councilmember Zara Landrum comprised the two-member subcommittee that worked with the city community development director and citizens group Friends of Morro Elementary to negotiate with the school district.

Luffee’s comments came partially in response to feedback from former Morro Bay City Councilmember and Friends of Morro Elementary member Betty Winholtz who said that the City Council didn’t engage with the community.

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City Attorney Brian Stack confirmed at the March 10 meeting that the purchase agreement doesn’t propose to close on the Naylor Act offer, but rather the entire property would be bought by the city for $5.3 million. By enacting various policies, it’s up to the council to decide what activities can take place on different parts of the property.

Though Morro Elementary has been closed for 25 years, the building isn’t empty. It’s now home to a public Montessori school, some preschools, a special needs program, an adult graduation program, and Shoreline Cavalry Chapel.

raising money to help with the purchase, the city is paying all upfront costs. Winholtz told New Times that the nonprofit raised more than $50,000, spending almost $20,000 as of March 11 toward getting the site nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Friends of Morro Elementary member D’Arcy Hayes said the group will continue fundraising for future costs related to the nomination.

“Now that the city is in escrow with the school district, and the city is seeking funding sources, it is timely for the City Council’s motion to sign a

“Now that you can, I’m hoping you will,” she said at the meeting. “You all ask questions, and you get answers. When we ask questions, you don’t always answer them. … I’m disappointed that you haven’t talked about the Naylor Act or the soccer fields. … I think that will be a discussion in the community engagements.”

The Naylor Act requires a school district that proposes to sell or lease land used for outdoor recreation to offer a portion of that land at discounted sale or lease to a city or county that has jurisdiction.

Morro Bay could acquire up to 30 percent of the elementary school site that’s surplus property for 25 percent of the fair market value.

Last August, the City Council authorized an offer to buy 2.9 acres of the Morro Elementary property’s grass sports field for a little more than $630,000 per the Naylor Act.

Los Osos considers Morro Bay option for fire and EMS services

When the Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) asked neighboring Morro Bay whether it could provide fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) in September 2025, Morro Bay Fire Chief Daniel McCrain said it may be possible.

Now, the decision rests with Los Osos.

During the March 10 Morro Bay City Council meeting, council reviewed and approved sending a response to the Los Osos CSD outlining what a shared fire services agreement could look like and how much it might cost.

“This response does not commit us to providing this service,” McCrain told the council. “It is an

Stack added that city ownership of the property would let these groups choose if they want to stay on at the site.

“If there are going to be tenants remaining on the property, the school district would assign their interest in the lease to us, and we would agree to that assignment,” he said. “The city’s request for the time being is for those that want to stay, like the Montessori, to have the status quo remain.”

Although the school district accepted the offer, it’s scheduled to consider the purchase agreement on March 17. Its approval of the agreement will trigger a “due diligence” period that expires on Aug. 31. Morro Bay would be required to put down a deposit of $500,000, which would be credited to the full cost of purchase.

While Friends of Morro Elementary has been

answer to their letter of interest and a starting point for negotiations, should the Los Osos CSD decide to pursue this option.”

Los Osos has contracted with Cal Fire and San Luis Obispo County Fire since 2004. While the district owns its fire station and equipment, Cal Fire provides personnel. Rising costs, however, prompted Los Osos to explore alternative models.

“Recent sharp increases in contracted service costs—and persistent challenges in resolving operational and fiscal issues with the county—have prompted the board to direct staff, as of Sept. 4, to seek alternative service models that better meet Los Osos’ needs,” Los Osos CSD General Manager Ron Munds wrote in the September 2025 letter to Morro Bay.

In response, the Morro Bay City Council formed

memorandum of understanding with the Friends be fulfilled,” Hayes said. “Then the Friends fundraising can participate in the purchase.”

Community meetings to discuss future uses of Morro Elementary are set for April and July. A plethora of ideas are swirling around the community.

“The common one, of course, is the preservation of the historic buildings, and using the buildings for a civic center in some form,” Hayes said. “Combine the balance of the school property with the cityowned property on Shasta Avenue up to Piney Way, there are a multitude of housing options, open space, and yet-to-surface ideas. Community input, along with community needs and fiscal feasibility, will all be in consideration in the shaping of the future of Morro Elementary.” ∆

—Bulbul Rajagopal

a subcommittee in October to evaluate the request and prepare a draft proposal outlining potential service levels and estimated costs.

Under the proposal presented to the council, Morro Bay would seek a 15-year contract if the arrangement moved forward. McCrain said a longer agreement would provide security since the city would need to hire additional staff to operate a station serving Los Osos.

“The Morro Bay Fire Department does not currently employ enough personnel to provide this level of service,” McCrain wrote in the draft proposal. “Recruitment of 12 personnel would be required prior to implementation. Funding for recruitment, training, and PPE would have to be provided in advance of the implementation date.”

SIGNS OF LIFE Though Morro Elementary closed in 2001, the site is still used by a public Montessori school, some preschools, a special needs program, an adult graduation program, and Shoreline Cavalry Chapel.

The proposed model calls for four fire fighters on duty each day—one captain, two engineers, and one firefighter—staffing two apparatus, such as two engines or one engine and one squad. Each apparatus would include at least one paramedic on duty per apparatus.

“Having a larger pool of personnel provides greater flexibility for mutual aid, participation, special event coverage, and the ability to staff up additional resources in the event of a local disaster,” McCrain said.

The proposal includes two cost estimates for operating fire services in Los Osos under Morro Bay management.

Using the highest possible salary and benefit levels, the estimated annual contract cost would be about $4.6 million, including roughly $3.62 million in personnel costs and about $470,000 in operating costs.

A second estimate reflecting more typical first-year hiring conditions places the contract cost closer to $3.6 million annually.

Additional expenses—such as station utilities, vehicle replacement funds, and capital improvements—would be paid directly by the Los Osos CSD, bringing the estimated total annual operating cost to just under $4.2 million.

“Just for comparison, the current Los Osos CSD fire department budget is $4.155 [million],” McCrain said. “This is for three full-time employees, and not four. And their current contract costs with Cal Fire is $3.358 million.”

Council members emphasized that Morro Bay residents would not see a reduction in services if the city entered into a partnership.

“It would be unacceptable to have any degradation in the level of service here in Morro Bay,” Councilmember Bill Luffee said.

Mayor Carla Wixom echoed the sentiment, adding, “My priority always will be to the citizens of Morro Bay first and foremost.”

Los Osos officials are currently reviewing several options, including continuing with Cal Fire, seeking a state contract, forming its own department, or partnering with Morro Bay. If the district chooses the latter, both agencies would enter formal contract negotiations before any agreement could be approved. McCrain said implementation, including hiring and training, could take at least a year.

“This is just the first step in answering their question of, if we were to explore this, what’s an estimate of what those costs could be,” McCrain said. “Their board will deliberate and determine what their next steps are.”

—Chloë Hodge

•

Arroyo Grande will draft a ballot measure that allows buying state water

The Arroyo Grande City Council is preparing to make its water supply more reliable through a ballot measure asking voters to cancel a policy that’s been around since 1990.

At its March 10 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved city staff to prepare a measure for the November ballot to repeal an initiative called Measure A that required residents to vote every time the city wanted to purchase water from the state.

“I think it’s critically important that we’re able to, as a community, as a county, share the resources that are available,”

Councilmember Aileen Loe said. “I think

this is a really important, proactive measure, looking forward.”

Voters approved Measure A in 1990, effectively prohibiting Arroyo Grande from participating in the California State Water Project—a 705-mile-long water storage and delivery system that snakes across two-thirds the length of the state—unless they cast an affirmative vote.

Assistant City Manager Bill Robeson told New Times there isn’t a clear reason why the city worked on Measure A, adding that people seemingly equated state water purchases with development and population growth.

“When you are in a drought emergency, it is too late to purchase state water, and contract negotiations can be timeconsuming and unnecessarily tense/ difficult,” he said via email. “As a city, we want to be proactive managers of our water supply rather than crisis managers. The repeal allows us to be operationally flexible as uncertainties arise and/or are anticipated.”

A successful repeal of Measure A also has a domino effect on Measure E, passed in 2016 by a little more than 86 percent of voters. That policy was a “carve out” of Measure A that allowed state water purchases without a citywide vote during declared drought emergencies.

While there could be uncertainty because the city would have to rely on a state water contractor to provide water under acceptable terms, according to Robeson, nixing Measure A would mean that state water can be purchased outside declared drought emergencies without first requiring an affirmative vote from the public.

“The potential change in requirements in the purchasing of state water provides the ability for the city to have options and react quickly as uncertainties arise, rather than working within an emergency status or waiting approximately a year or longer to introduce a ballot measure to address water supply shortfalls,” he said.

In 2024, the City Council deliberated going ahead with a state water ballot initiative after a review of a water supply evaluation. The council directed staff to pull out of the cost-sharing agreement for the Central Coast Blue project that aimed to stabilize water supply in the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin with recycled wastewater.

Council members then asked to postpone a state water ballot measure until 2026 because the city had an adequate water supply in 2024 and not enough time to educate voters on the need before the November 2024 election.

According to the city’s staff report, declining levels at Lopez Lake and shaky long-term sustainability in the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin compelled an exploration of more water supply options.

The exact amount of water that could be available to Arroyo Grande isn’t known yet.

“We have had discussions with other state water contractors in past years, and their state water availability,” Robeson said. “However, we will need to renew our discussions to update that information, if the council directs us to do that.”

—Bulbul Rajagopal

Divisions

stall San Miguel CSD board appointment

The San Miguel Community Services

District (CSD) board has been unable to fill a vacant seat since board member John Green passed away in December 2025, leaving the five-member board with one open position.

During the district’s annual reorganization in December, the board selected its officers for 2026, reelecting Ashley Sangster as president and appointing Brendin Beatty as vice president, District Manager Kelly Dodds told New Times in January. The board then began the process of filling Green’s seat, receiving letters of interest from multiple residents. Four candidates were ultimately selected for interviews in January.

On Jan. 22, the board interviewed the candidates but failed to reach agreement and a proposal was made to request county intervention.

“Normally when it comes back to the Board of Supervisors, there is a consensus candidate that comes from a CSD board,” 1st District Supervisor John Peschong told New Times. “In this particular instance, I understand they interviewed four people and could not come to a consensus.”

The deadlock continued at a Feb. 26 follow-up meeting, during which three of the original four candidates were present. Board members were asked to submit additional questions to better inform their decision. Again, motions for appointment failed.

“There obviously is a divide difference in what we think is best in terms of assisting the community or doing things to keep it operating the way it should,” Sangster said. “I know that we have some bridges to gap. I just don’t know that those can be bridged today.”

Former board member Raynette Gregory, who served from July 2019 to November 2024—including as president and vice president—received nine letters of community support and one letter of opposition; however, the board was reluctant to elect her.

Gregory has allegedly faced harassment and sexism from the board, according to resident Jay Brown, who sent a letter backing her candidacy.

“Say no to sexism, stabilize the CSD. … I support Raynette Gregory for the board,” Brown wrote, citing harassment Gregory had faced from former board member Green on Facebook.

Supervisor Peschong confirmed that the county will not intervene in filling the vacancy, leaving the board with a choice: appoint someone themselves or leave the seat open. Given the board’s persistent divisions, members have decided to wait for voters to fill the seat during the November 2026 general election. That election will also include three board seats.

The board still has time to unite around a candidate, Peschong added but warned of the consequences of a prolonged deadlock.

“There’s plenty of time for them to be able to work together, to come together with somebody that they would like to see,” Peschong said. “I hope that that’s the case where they build a coalition of support around somebody, and it’s good for the community. Because these divided boards like this. … It’s not healthy for the community; so let’s see if they can come together.”

New Times contacted Gregory, and board members Rod Smiley and Brendin Beatty but did not receive comment before publication. ∆ —Chloë Hodge

Gender in play

Central Coast schools grapple with policy, politics, and transgender athlete participation

In April of last year, Hilary Norcross was walking her family dog through the Arroyo Grande Village when a flyer on the front door of Harvest Church caught her eye.

The flyer advertised a movie night showing a detransitioning documentary produced by Turning Point USA and the Daily Wire, followed by a discussion on what was “going on in [the] community,” her husband Trevor Norcross recalled. Curious, he decided to attend—not to participate, but to sit back and listen.

“During the movie night, they did not use my daughter’s name, but they identified her in a way that can only be her,” Trevor told New Times. “There’s an n-of-1 as an openly trans athlete at the high school. They were asking for adults and students to speak at school board meetings against trans athletes and bathrooms and all those issues.”

Trevor and Hilary’s daughter, Lily Norcross, is a junior at Arroyo Grande High School and a member of the school’s track and field team—she also happens to be transgender. Over the past year, she has become a focal point in a growing local debate over transgender students’ participation in sports and access to school facilities.

Across San Luis Obispo County, school districts are facing pressure from parents and community members to clarify local policies regarding transgender student athletes. Cases in Idaho and West Virginia banning trans girls from competing in women’s sports, combined with the U.S. Supreme Court’s temporary suspension of California’s law preventing schools from outing transgender students without their consent, have created uncertainty.

Lily came out to her parents just before starting high school, and since then, her family has worked closely with school administrators to ensure she can participate safely in athletics and daily school life.

“The least interesting thing about her is her gender identity,” Trevor said. “She’s an amazing kid, super smart. You know, she does not want to be in this position but is also willing to fight for herself and the rest of her community.”

While Lucia Mar Unified School District did not implement new policies last year after calls to ban transgender students from sports, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) has taken steps

to openly discuss how Title IX—the federal law that protects students from sex-based discrimination—and California law apply to transgender students. On Feb. 24, PRJUSD Superintendent Jennifer Loftus guided the district through its first informational discussion on student rights and athletic participation, aiming to create clarity.

“Our board of trustees has really charged staff with really respecting and listening closely to our students and wanting to put their needs first,” Loftus said during the presentation. “We want all students to feel welcome.”

“With regard to Title IX, California state law specific to girls’ sports indicates that students are allowed to play on sport teams that match their gender identity,” Loftus explained.

She added that the law comes directly from the California Education Code passed in 2013-14, which states that students must be allowed to participate in school programs and athletics consistent with their gender identity—regardless of the gender listed on the child’s records.

“So, in simple terms, in California, if a student identifies as a girl, she can play on a girls’ team. And if a student identifies as a boy, he can play on a boys’ team,” she said. “Along with that, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which runs high school sports in California, they also follow the state law of California. So, per CIF, policy allows students to compete in athletics consistent with their gender identity. CIF has also said it will continue to follow California law even when there are federal disagreements.”

Loftus’ informational session came after a Jan. 13 board meeting where students, parents, and community members spoke about feeling uncomfortable with transgender students using girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, and participating on girls’ athletic teams at Paso Robles High School.

“No student should feel pressured to stay silent when their privacy and dignity are being compromised,” student Addison Long told trustees, describing her experience as a cisgender girls tennis player sharing a locker room with a transgender teammate.

During the Feb. 24 presentation, Loftus

explained that the district will add three to four private changing stalls to the girls’ locker room by the end of spring break, with more to be added this summer in areas currently occupied by showers.

“We’ve heard a lot from our students about their need for additional privacy in the locker rooms,” she said. “Specifically, trustee [Kenney] Enney has requested that staff look into locker room trailers. … We do find this particular option problematic.”

Loftus emphasized that transgender students cannot be required to use private stalls and that portable locker room trailers will not be considered. She added that the district maintains staff supervision during locker room transitions and offers 12 gender-neutral restrooms across campuses.

New Times reached out to Enney but did not receive a response before publication.

“When Superintendent Loftus in Paso Robles gave that presentation, it was phenomenal. It was like—every school district should be doing that,” Trevor told New Times on March 6. “I made comment Tuesday night at Lucia Mar for the superintendent and the school board and staff to watch that presentation and share that information. … What was amazing is, one of the moms on the other side got up after me and agreed that that Paso Robles presentation was incredibly helpful. But she

still didn’t understand that Lucia Mar had all those things in place as well.”

Just days after Loftus’ presentation, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a lower court decision to take effect that blocks California’s ban on schools outing transgender students to their parents without the students’ consent. The March 2 ruling came after parents in San Diego County challenged the state policy, arguing it violated their religious beliefs and parental rights.

“What the Supreme Court did is disappointing. Because it puts these kids in jeopardy,” Gala Pride and Diversity Center Board President Aja Myers told New Times. “Schools are not out there recruiting kids to be queer or trans; that is just unbelievably a false narrative. … They can’t even get them to do their homework. They’re gonna get them to reassign gender? Let’s take on the harder task.”

Superintendent Loftus told New Times in an email that the district is aware of the ruling and “will review its policies and regulations to determine if any need to be updated to align to the recent Supreme Court ruling.”

She added that the district is in the process of providing staff with training on the implications of the ruling. ∆

Reach Staff Writer Chloë Hodge at chodge@ newtimesslo.com

GENDER INCLUSION As courts and lawmakers debate transgender rights, schools on the Central Coast are navigating how to support transgender students while addressing community concerns.

No vacancy

Avila Beach Committee member

Vicki Book misses having familiar next-door neighbors. Over the years, the homes dotting her surroundings have evolved into vacation rentals, eating away at the beach town’s stock of long-term housing.

“I don’t have a problem with vacation rentals, what I have a problem with is not having neighbors, of having empty houses that aren’t occupied,” Book said. “It makes it hard; there’s not community here.”

As a subcommittee of the Avila Valley Advisory Council, the Avila Beach Committee faced a dilemma early this year when the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department reached out with a request from 215 1st St. property owner Erik Vasquez to amend an existing condition that limits vacation rentals to one studio unit on-site.

According to Book, Vasquez wanted to convert all nine units into vacation rentals— which doesn’t align with the local short-term rental regulation that new vacation rentals can’t be within 50 feet of an existing one.

Book’s owned her Avila Beach home since 1989. She runs a portion of it as a vacation rental herself—a way for her children to pay for its maintenance once they eventually inherit the property. She alleged that the county doesn’t regulate vacation rentals equitably.

“When I wanted to remodel my house, I couldn’t add more than 25 percent of the square feet. I couldn’t change anything or if anyone complained, I would have to put it back the way it was,” she said. “And I’m not offered an amendment, but an LLC guy comes in and wants to change something, and it’s, ‘Oh well, you can do an amendment.’ That really pissed me off.”

In January, Vasquez of HDFT Investments applied to the county Planning Department to change the coastal development permit that identified a sole unit as the only allowable vacation rental on the property that sits a few blocks away from the beach. This isn’t his first brush with frustrated Avila Beach residents. In 2020, he tried to get the same condition amended for a project at 217 1st St.

Project construction replaced three existing residences with seven residential

townhomes and one studio spanning four buildings. The county Planning Commission limited vacation rentals to just the studio after Avila Beach residents complained about the property’s potential to host short-term visitors.

The Planning Commission denied Vasquez’s request to repeal the condition, which the Board of Supervisors upheld after an appeal in 2021.

Now, a similar review process is brewing for the 215 1st St. property that’s located within the residential multi-family land use category. Vasquez didn’t respond to New Times’ request for comment.

Planning Department Deputy Director Mark LaRue told New Times that the county, like any agency with land use authority, can’t prohibit an applicant from proposing a project. Planning Department staff will review Vasquez’s permit application and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission for approval, modification, or denial.

Any subsequent vacation rental proposed on Vasquez’s property must comply with Title 23 of the Coastal Zone Land Use Ordinance that dictates elements like traffic volume, noise, the number of occupants allowed, and the distance between new and existing rentals.

Book told New Times that the increasing number of vacation rentals in Avila Beach goes against the vision for the small beach town as laid out in its 26-year-old specific plan.

“The Avila Beach Specific Plan envisions Avila Beach as a fun, funky, and eclectic place widely known for its weather, its beautiful, south-facing beach and its mix of shops and homes,” the plan reads. “The charming and quaint town will continue to be filled with people who value its serenity and isolation.”

But that all changed with the onset of the internet, according to 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg.

“When residential properties became business opportunities, it really started to present challenges for our authorities like our county Planning and Building Department, for us at the board, for the communities itself,” she said. “We’re still working on trying to figure out a good balance.”

Ortiz-Legg also mentioned the possibility of creating a compliance system that tracks whether a vacation rental’s occupants and overseers are good neighbors. A “use it or lose it system” could be implemented in the future, too, which penalizes people who have vacation rentals but don’t rent them out often enough throughout the year.

“One of the things that we have is we don’t have any consistency in our vacation rental rules,” Ortiz-Legg said. “In Los Osos, when I was on the Planning Commission, we actually put a cap on the number of vacation rentals because of the fear of losing more of the workforce housing. … That’s really the only place where we’ve put a cap.”

Ortiz-Legg added that a combination of initiatives must be enacted to achieve that equilibrium, starting with raising the cost of having a vacation rental.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved an annual review fee for all short-

For Avila Beach Committee Chair Mary Matakovich, the increasing number of vacation rentals leaves the beach town with a smaller pool of full-time residents who can represent the community at advisory council meetings. Of the 400 water bills sent out by the Avila Beach Community Services District, 288 are mailed to people who live outside the community, she added.

“We just realized that the reason why

RENTAL DILEMMA Some Avila Beach residents are worried that the units at 215 1st St. will become vacation rentals after property owner Erik Vasquez submitted an application to modify a permit condition.

PHOTO BY PIETER SAAYMAN

Dive right in

For the first time, Paso Robles High School swimmers won’t have to leave campus to practice.

On Friday, March 6, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District officially opened the Paso Robles Aquatics Center after years of planning, design, and construction. The new 38-meter pool will serve the high school’s swim and dive teams and physical education classes.

“We’ve had swim and dive programs as part of our athletic program for a long time,” said Brad Pawlowski, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services. “We’ve used the city’s municipal pool, so now having that pool on our campus will alleviate our need for the municipal pool for our athletic programs. It’ll also really allow it to expand.”

The idea for an on-campus pool dates back to November 2016, when voters approved Measure M, a general obligation bond that included funding for two swimming pools.

The district initially moved forward with plans for a larger facility. Pawlowski said the original design included a 50-meter pool and a second pool, and the district even purchased the pools ahead of construction.

But in January 2019, the project hit a setback.

“The bids came in over budget,” Pawlowski said. “All the bids were rejected at that time, and we started exploring different options.”

District leaders ultimately decided to scale back the project. The revised design reduced the plan to a single 38-meter pool.

In April 2022, the district hired a new architect to redesign the facility and began seeking construction bids. The school board approved construction in February 2024.

The facility is located on the north side of the high school’s student parking lot, on land previously occupied by portable classrooms.

“This project has been a long time coming, and we are excited to celebrate its completion with our community,” Superintendent Jennifer Loftus said in a press release. “Having a pool on campus reflects the support of our voters and will provide generations of students with new opportunities.”

The new on-campus facility will remove the logistical challenges of getting the swim and dive teams to and from the city’s municipal pool for

competition and practices, Pawlowski said.

“The municipal pool served its purpose, but it required a lot of coordination, and maintenance was always a concern,” Pawlowski said. “Now, students will have immediate access to a modern facility that supports athletic programs, PE classes, and learning-to-swim programs.”

The aquatics center includes a smaller, shallow area designed for students learning to swim.

Pawlowski said the district hopes to eventually expand access to the community, but the high school students will be the first to use the pool.

“We really just kind of need to figure out how it’s going to operate,” he said, noting the district will evaluate scheduling, program needs, and facility management as the pool begins regular use.

Pawlowski credited both the community and the school board for seeing the project through despite hurdles and redesigns.

“Kudos to our community … and to our school board for prioritizing the aquatics center despite delays and budget challenges,” Pawlowski said.

Fast fact

• San Luis Obispo County Libraries is inviting the community to participate in the 2026 Book of the Year program, a countywide reading initiative now in its 17th year. This year’s book selection is Sacrament by acclaimed California author Susan Straight. The novel’s set during the first year of a pandemic and highlights the experiences and heroism of ICU nurses. Straight, a National Book Foundation finalist and creative writing professor at University of California, Riverside, will speak about the book at a public event on April 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center at Cuesta College. The talk will be followed by a book signing, and students can attend for free without advanced registration. The annual program is organized by County of San Luis Obispo Public Libraries, Cuesta College, and the Paso Robles City Library. Copies of Sacrament are available through local libraries. Tickets are available at cuesta.universitytickets. com/w. ∆

Reach Staff Writer

Chloë Hodge at chodge@ newtimesslo.com.

AQUATICS CENTER Students at Paso Robles High School swim in the district’s new aquatics center for the first time following the facility’s ribbon cutting on March 6.

PHOTO BY CHLOE VAN PELT

No more war

America and Israel are too comfortable when it comes to military intervention in the Middle East

While polls revealed that 70 percent of Americans opposed war with Iran, why has our government, at the behest of Israel and without a vote by Congress, begun bombing Iran’s major cities? The truth is that this war has been planned for 19 years.

In March of 2007, Amy Goodman interviewed retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who pulled the curtain back on Pentagon plans for the Middle East.

On Sept. 20, just nine days after 9/11, Clark told Goodman that he was at the Pentagon visiting Secretary Rumsfeld. While there, one of the generals encouraged Clark into his office. He closed the door, according to Clark, and said, “We made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq.” Clark said, “Why?” He said, “I don’t know. … I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military, and we can take down governments.”

Clark told Goodman that he went back to see the same general a few weeks later, “and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan.” Clark said he asked if the U.S.

Let workers finish the job on offshore wind

President Trump does not like windmills. In December, his Department of the Interior issued stop-work orders for five offshore windfarms along the Atlantic coast, putting thousands of workers out of a job just days before Christmas.

Thankfully, a little more than a month later, federal judges ordered all the projects

was still planning to go to war with Iraq. “He said, ‘Oh it’s worse than that.’” The general then handed Clark a piece of paper that came from the secretary of defense’s office, Clark told Goodman. The general then said, “This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and, finishing off, Iran,” according to Clark.

And who promoted and supported regime change in every one of these countries? Bibi Netanyahu.

Israelis claim is part of the greater Israel they are working so hard to create. Now, Syria is reportedly moving its own forces back into the region.

Jordan has long been a puppet of Israel and America. This can be seen clearly by the fact that Jordan intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, acting as a defender of Israel during our last war with Iran.

Libya and Israel were enemies for decades under Gaddafi. Israel pretended to be negotiating with Gaddafi before his fall, but it was actively supporting the U.S. in its desire to bring him down. Chaos in Libya has been the result.

Somalia had a long history of interventions by the U.S. related to the fear that Somalia would join Ethiopia in becoming a Marxist state. The U.S. supported regime change many times to gain a foothold in the country.

It is Israel that has convinced U.S. administrations from George H. W. Bush to Donald Trump to take military actions against these seven nations.

In Syria, Israel worked with the CIA to destabilize the Assad regime. Together they finally toppled it in December 2024. Then Israel moved its troops beyond the illegally occupied Golan Heights in Syria, which the

to move forward, putting workers back on the job and keeping the projects on track to power more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.

Right now, families across the country are shouldering the strain of unaffordable energy bills. Offshore wind is a clean, reliable, and ready-to-go solution. These

Israel’s role is more opaque here, because it has wanted to become partners with its current leaders. Now, Israel hopes Somalia will house many of Gaza’s Palestinian refugees.

five projects are already creating thousands of local jobs and helping to transition states away from fossil fuels.

Speak up!

Send us your views and opinion to letters@newtimesslo.com.

Israel has a strategic interest in normalizing relations with Sudan, as the Sudanese Red Sea coast is essential from a security and economic perspective. Sudan represents the heart of Africa, with deep extensions into the African continent thanks to its location, large geographical area, and expansive borders. The United States is working to transition Sudan from a military to a civilian government.

Then there is Iran, which Israel and the United States are attacking pre-emptively, for the second time. Iran was No. 7 on the Pentagon list, and the country Israel was most committed to seeing fall.

It is Israel that has convinced U.S. administrations from George H. W. Bush to Donald Trump to take military actions against these seven nations.

Why do America and Israel feel secure in beginning this new illegal war? Because, for them, their previous war crimes, including the genocide in Palestine, have had no consequences. It’s time for Americans, and the rest of the world, to say no to endless wars that destabilize the world and put us all in harm’s way. We must join together to say, “No more war.”

Gale McNeeley writes to New Times from Santa Maria. Respond with a letter for publication by emailing it to letters@ newtimesslo.com.

LETTERS

This has been an intensely cold winter. Large portions of the country have been blanketed in snow, and thousands of homes have lost power. While fossil fuel power plants struggle to stay on during winter storms,

offshore wind is a reliable energy source that helps communities save money and keep the lights on. In fact, offshore wind is strongest in the winter and at night—right when we need it most.

I am calling on President Trump to stop his senseless attacks on offshore wind. Let the workers finish the job.

Stephen Van Domelen Paso Robles

HODIN Russell Hodin

BY JOHN DONEGAN

A bad hare day

The culture wars sure experienced a bad hare day with Bad Bunny’s Superbowl performance. While I personally don’t pay a lot of attention to popular youth culture, it sure got a lot of people going. I had largely consigned the kerfuffle to distant memory when my friend Steve Dunn sent me a copy of his take on the subject. Steve is a retired professor who writes an opinion column for The Telluride Times in which he presents the liberal perspective. He is my hero because he has actually been paid for his ranting, while I remain without recompense for my indignant sputtering, not that I am whining or anything.

Steve apparently enjoyed the show more than I did. I have pretty low expectations for every halftime show, finding them glossy, vulgar, homogenized spectacles targeted at 20-year-olds with ADD. The only part of a halftime show that might have held any interest for me was Janet Jackson’s famous “wardrobe malfunction” in Superbowl XXXVIII, which I missed while trying to scoop up the last bit of guacamole. I may affect cultural pretensions but am always happy to wallow in the salacious.

Steve’s column explored the cultural vitality of Bad Bunny’s performance, celebrated diversity, and took a couple of whacks at Trump, Christian nationalism, taking over Greenland, censorship, and conservative xenophobia. I have to respond.

First, Bad Bunny’s most frequent dance move seemed to be grabbing his crotch,

which I found ironic. This move seemed to mimic the “personal scratching” by generations of men on their couches watching TV, much to the annoyance of their spouses, yet now they are treated to a big-screen performance showcasing the same behavior to popular acclaim. Life isn’t fair.

Second, I really have to wonder about giving the performance in Spanish, a language which probably 80 percent of the audience doesn’t understand. What was the point? My own competence in the language is mostly limited to creating new terms, such as pronouncing myself a queso grande, much to the amusement of my Spanish speaking friends. But I don’t watch opera, which is often performed in Italian, so maybe it is just me. In any event, the grinding seems pretty universal.

Third, my point of reference is admittedly the “good old days,” in which halftime shows featured marching bands and where a player wearing white football shoes created a scandal. Today, the players’ entire outfits look like an explosion at a crayon factory, although I have yet to see anyone playing in burnt umber.

Fourth, as a militant supporter of the free market, I have to concede that the programming was the choice of the NFL and network, and their call to make. If they can make some money off of it, well, good for them.

And, no, I didn’t watch the “alternate” halftime show with Kid Rock. I have never

followed him nor any of the other acts, although I did find it amusing when he blasted the pile of Bud Light with a rifle. Different strokes, and all that.

The rumination in the column about diversity got me thinking. I personally enjoy diversity in beliefs and culture. A world solely populated with people just like me would be terribly boring, as there would be no new things to learn, nor people to argue politics with. And a diversity of viewpoints is a good way to ensure that policy is well thought out. But, how diverse should a nation be?

To function as a nation requires that we see each other as one whole people, not as a collection of separate populations. We need to share a common language and be able to talk with each other. We need to have enough commonality in worldview to have a functioning social contract. We need to be similar enough to see each other as “us” and not as “them.”

A nation composed of distinct, isolated cultural identities in which the first allegiance is to the group, with little or no identification with the country, will have difficulty functioning. Each will inevitably be competing against the others and will be easily exploited by opportunistic politicians. We are hardwired for xenophobia, and tend to view those outside the group with distrust, which is often aggravated by envy or resentment.

The traditional “melting pot” model has served us well. Each incoming group largely adopted the culture and identity of the majority, and in turn, imparted some of

their old culture into the majority culture.

Relatively recent immigrants tend to be some of the most fiercely loyal Americans and frequently distinguish themselves in military service to the country.

The recent trend to highlight and exaggerate the separate cultural identities of Americans is destructive. Should the objective of immigrants be to “join the club,” or to just be an “economic tourist” exploiting the opportunities?

The goal should be to incorporate everyone into a national identity as Americans. ∆

John Donegan is a retired attorney in Pismo Beach who is always ready to “bust a move” if the Superbowl needs a show, but keep a chiropractor on standby. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.

How should SLO keep track of the city’s rental properties?

Reinstate the Rental Housing Inspection Program!

Create a mandatory registry for

Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Presents

DEMETRI MARTIN DEMETRI MARTIN

Saturday, March 28, 7:30 PM

Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo

Acclaimed comedian Demetri Martin, celebrated for “The Overthinker,” “Important Things,” and the film “Taking Woodstock,” brings his smart, original, laugh-out-loud comedy to the PAC for a one-night-only performance.

Sponsored by:

pacslo.org (805) 756-4849

Proceeds benefit local youth charities and global Rotary

Whose rights?

In a world full of thorny issues, is any thornier than the transgender debate?

How do we protect everyone’s “rights”?

Considering how challenging adolescence is for a cisgender kid, I can’t imagine the complications of simultaneously navigating gender identity as a trans kid. Any decent human wants all children, regardless of gender identity, to feel comfortable and accepted, so what about the cisgender child who legitimately feels uncomfortable sharing a locker room with a trans student? Whose “right” to feel comfortable supersedes the other’s?

Maybe the salient questions are: Do any of us have a fundamental right to always feel comfortable and unchallenged, and do any of us have the right to never be offended? Just exactly how coddled do we deserve to be?

These questions are front and center in SLO County schools, and it can be challenging to sort out the hysteria from the legitimate concerns. Do you remember the outrage over the trans female athlete who allegedly twerked in the faces of students in the Atascadero High School girls’ locker room? How about Arroyo Grande High School student Celeste Duyst who went on Fox News to describe being distressed having to change in a locker room with a trans student?

“I went into the women’s locker room to change for track practice where I saw, at the end of my row, a biological male watching not only myself, but the other young women undress. This experience was beyond

traumatizing,” Diest said, breaking into tears.

It certainly doesn’t simplify matters that California law regarding trans athletes contradicts the messages coming from tRump and the federal government.

The California Education Code states that students must be allowed to participate in school programs and athletics consistent with their gender identity, and the California Interscholastic Federation, which runs California high school sports, follows this state law.

So legally speaking, trans athletes can compete, but what about locker rooms? Up at Paso Robles High School, they’re adding four private changing stalls by the end of spring break with more planned for summer. Is that the answer? It’s certainly a better solution than at least one other suggestion. Board trustee and notable knuckle dragger Kenney Enney suggested staff look into locker room trailers. Hey, Kenney, how about “normal” and “trans” water fountains while you’re at it?

I guess 1954 and Brown v. Board of Education was so long ago that Kenney forgot the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

To complicate matters, the court recently allowed a lower court ruling to take effect that blocks California’s ban on schools outing

transgender students to their parents without the student’s consent. San Diego County parents argued the state policy violated their religious beliefs and parental rights.

“What the Supreme Court did is disappointing. Because it puts these kids in jeopardy,” Gala Pride and Diversity Center Board President Aja Myers told New Times. “Schools are not out there recruiting kids to be queer or trans; that is just unbelievably a false narrative. … They can’t even get them to do their homework. They’re gonna get them to reassign gender? Let’s take on the harder task.”

The problem with this issue is the utter hysteria that surrounds it. Conservatives equate accepting a child as trans as tantamount to child abuse. Charlie Kirk ’s organization Turning Point USA and the Daily Wire went so far as producing a documentary called Identity Crisis that condemns parents who accept their child as trans and argues for detransitioning.

OK, but what about a student like Lily Norcross, an Arroyo Grande High School junior on the track and field team who’s trans and whose parents clearly love her? Should they be condemned?

“The least interesting thing about her is her gender identity,” Lily’s father, Trevor Norcross, said. “She’s an amazing kid, super smart. You know, she does not want to be in this position but is also willing to fight for herself and the rest of her community.”

Should Lily have to fight to be accepted?

Sigh.

Speaking of knuckle draggers, I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but deceased San Miguel Community Services District board of directors Vice President John Green seems like a real bag of dicks. The remaining board members have been trying to fill his vacant seat, but they’re hopelessly divided. On Facebook, one of Green’s last posts before he passed read, “Ok, last post you’ll see from me on this feed. I have officially been released from Drs care to go home and say goodbye to family So goodbye to friends and those spying on me can SUCK MY DICK …. lets start with Lorre cuz I don’t think Rayinnett could fit it up!”

What a classy way to slip this mortal coil! “Goodbye cruel world! I’m paranoid! Also, I have a massive peen!” What a misogynistic way to go. Former board member Raynette Gregory was in consideration for Green’s open seat along with three other candidates, but remaining board members—President Ashley Sangster, current Vice President Brendin Beatty, Rod Smiley, and Owen Davis—can’t seem to agree on anything. They asked the county to fill the seat, but that didn’t happen, so now they’ve decided to leave it vacant until November’s election, which means eight months of total decision-making dysfunction.

Good luck, denizens of San Miguel. ∆

The Shredder identifies as machine. Spill your tea at shredder@ newtimesslo.com.

Hot Dates

SWEET ART

Celebrate where community and creativity intersect at Studios on the Park’s annual fundraiser on Wednesday, March 18, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $150, and include light appetizers, cocktails, wine, live music, and a live auction. This year’s event will honor the General Store Paso Robles’ co-founders. More information can be found at studiosonthepark.org.

—Angie Stevens

ARTS

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

COASTAL WINE AND PAINT PARTY

Listen to music while enjoying an afternoon of creativity, sipping, and mingling. The party includes a complimentary glass of wine and canvas with materials. Saturdays, 12-2 p.m. $55. (805) 394-5560. coastalwineandpaint.com. Harmony Cafe at the Pewter Plough, 824 Main St., Cambria.

COSTA GALLERY SHOWCASES

Features works by Ellen Jewett as well as 20 other local artists, and artists from southern and northern California. Thursdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays, 12-4 p.m. (559) 799-9632. costagallery.com. Costa Gallery, 2087 10th St., Los Osos.

FOREVER STOKED PAINT PARTY

Join us at the gallery, for a few hours to travel on a creative paint journey. You will receive as much or as little instruction as you prefer. No artistic experience is necessary. Saturdays, 7-9 p.m. $45. (805) 772-9095. foreverstoked. com. Forever Stoked, 1164 Quintana Rd., Morro Bay.

GALLERY AT MARINA SQUARE MARCH

2026 FEATURED ARTISTS See the seven new featured artists on display until the end of March. Through March 29, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (805) 772-1068. galleryatmarinasquare.com/. Gallery at Marina Square, 601 Embarcadero suite 10, Morro Bay.

INTERMEDIATE FORGING: SPOONS AND UTENSILS An intermediate forging class focused on spoons, spreaders, and functional utensils. Emphasis is

placed on form, proportion, and finish, with room for experimentation and personal expression. March 14 1-5 p.m. and March 15 , 1-5 p.m. $320. (805) 237-8632. randystromsoe.com. Randy Stromsoe Metalsmith, Highway 46 West, SLO County.

THE PLEIN AIR TEAM Acrylic artist, Nancy Lynn, and husband, watercolorist, Robert Fleming, have an ongoing show of originals and giclee prints of Morro Bay and local birds. ongoing (805) 772-9955. Seven Sisters Gallery, 601 Embarcadero Ste. 8, Morro Bay, sevensistersgalleryca.com.

SUCCULENT MUSHROOM WORKSHOP

Join us at Cambria Nursery for a hands-on Mosaic Pot Workshop. March 21 , 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $40. (805) 927-4747. cambrianursery.com. Cambria Nursery and Florist, 2801 Eton Rd., Cambria.

NORTH SLO COUNTY 3 ARTISTS RETROSPECTIVE REVEAL

Susan Lyon, Maryanne Nucci, and Kathy Madonna invite you to visit their Retrospective Show including original photographs, charcoals, watercolors, etchings, linocuts, and mono prints. Saturdays, 2-5 p.m. (805) 440-7152. cottontailcreek.com/susanart. Pocket Gallery on Pine, 8491/2 13th Street, Paso Robles.

DAILY POTTERY Walk in, pick your pottery project, and paint away. Something for all ages. Prices vary depending on what you choose and includes; paint, glaze, firing, and studio time. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Varies. (805) 400-9107. artsocial805. com. ArtSocial 805 Creative Campus, 631 Spring St., Paso Robles.

DATE NIGHT Couples or friends, bring

a bottle of wine and enjoy a creative night out. Have fun and get messy as the venue walks you through the basics of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Fridays, 6-8 p.m. $144. (805) 203-0335. thepotteryatascadero.com/datenight. The Pottery, 5800 El Camino Real, Atascadero.

DON’T TELL COMEDY SHOW Secret comedians. No spoilers. Enjoy wine, dinner, and big laughs at the first tasting room comedy night with Don’t Tell Comedy. March 21 , 6:30-9:30 p.m. $30. (805) 237-1245. mcpricemyers.com. McPrice Myers Wine Company, 3525 Adelaida Rd., Paso Robles.

FIGURE DRAWING - SATURDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS AT FIELDWORK Join us for figure drawing every Saturday and Wednesday for ages 18 and over. All skill levels are welcome. Bring your own materials. Saturdays, 10 a.m.-noon and Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m. $20 + model’s tip. fieldworkart.org. Fieldwork, 4307 El Camino Real, Atascadero, (971) 645-2481.

GEL PLATE PRINTMAKING WORKSHOP

Gel plate printing is the perfect way to rediscover your playful side and go home with something beautiful and handmade! March 20 , 6:30-8:30 p.m. $100. (805) 423-5906. Studios on the Park, 1130 Pine St., Paso Robles, studiosonthepark.org.

PASO DE LA LUZ BY JUAN FUENTES

Meet the artist Juan Fuentes when he comes to Paso February and March with his masterfully-created and world relevant works of art. Saturdays, 2-5 p.m. through March 28 (805) 440-7152. Pocket Gallery on Pine, 8491/2 13th Street, Paso Robles.

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT FEATURING

JOE SCHWARTZ Join us for a

photography exhibit featuring Joe Schwartz’s compassionate images capturing everyday people, cultural diversity, and quiet human connection, inspiring reflection and empathy. March 21 , 1-3 p.m. and March 22 , 1-3 p.m. Free. (805) 391-4465. awakeningways.org. Awakening Ways Center for Spiritual Living, 7350 El Camino Real, Ste. 101, Atascadero.

STUDIOS ON THE PARK: CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS Check site for a variety of classes and workshops offered. ongoing studiosonthepark.org. Studios on the Park, 1130 Pine St., Paso Robles, (805) 238-9800.

SWEET ART FUNDRAISER AT STUDIOS ON THE PARK Studios on the Park will celebrate its neighbors, the founders of General Store Paso Robles at its Sweet Art fundraising event. Since opening, their iconic store has celebrated the evolution of Paso with carefully curated goods, and the work of countless local makers. Tickets include light bites, cocktails, wine, live music, and a live auction. March 18 3:30-5:30 p.m. $150. studiosonthepark.org/events/sweetart-2026/. Studios on the Park, 1130 Pine St., Paso Robles, (805) 238-9800.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

“ONE VISIT” POTTERY CLASS This is a great class if you are looking to try out pottery! Throw on the wheel or paint pre-made pottery. Get a student discount with a valid school ID. Fridays, 6-7:30 p.m. $75. (805) 896-6197. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo, anamcre.com.

ACTOR’S EDGE: ACTING CLASSES

Actor’s Edge offers film and television acting training in San Luis Obispo, plus exposure to Los Angeles talent agents.

All ages and skill levels welcome. Classes available in SLO, LA, and on zoom. ongoing $210 per month. actorsedge.com. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

ALL LEVELS POTTERY CLASSES Anam

Cre is a pottery studio in SLO that offers a variety of classes. This specific class is open to any level. Teachers are present for questions, but the class feels more like an open studio time for potters. Thursdays, 6-8 p.m. $40. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo, anamcre.com.

CAL POLY BAND FESTIVAL FINALE CONCERT: MUSICAL JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD Cal Poly’s Wind Bands will present works drawn from American, Cuban and Spanish traditions– a new setting of “Shenendoah”, John Mackey’s “Foundry,” and much more! March 13 7:30 p.m. $12-$22. (805) 756-4849. music.calpoly.edu/calendar/winds/. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo.

CENTRAL COAST COMEDY THEATER

IMPROV COMEDY SHOW An ongoing improv comedy program featuring the CCCT’s Ensemble. Grab some food at the public market’s wonderful eateries and enjoy the show upstairs. Second Friday of every month, 6-8 p.m. $10. centralcoastcomedytheater.com/ shows/. SLO Public Market, 120 Tank Farm Road, San Luis Obispo.

COMEDY NIGHT WITH JEFF APPLEBAUM (WITH DINNER + CHILDCARE!) Comedian Jeff Applebaum will bring his sharp humor to SLO! Enjoy pasta dinner before the show. Adults only, an onsite childcare available! March 14 , 6-8:30 p.m. $40. bethdavidslo.org. Congregation Beth David, 10180 Los Osos Valley Road, San Luis Obispo, (805) 544-0760.

CREATIVITY DAYS WITH THE SILK ARTISTS OF CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST An opportunity to work on your own projects and materials while picking up new skills among friends. Note: this event is held mostly every third Monday (attendees are asked to call or email to confirm ahead of time).

Third Monday of every month $5; first session free. artcentralslo.com. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo, (805) 747-4200.

DATE NIGHT POTTERY Bring your date and throw a cup on the pottery wheel. Next, texture a clay slab and press into a form creating a personalized piece. Guest are welcome to bring drinks; venue provides aprons. Pieces are fired, glazed, and ready in two weeks. Saturdays, 6-7:30 p.m. $140. anamcre. com. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

INTRODUCTION TO MONOPRINTING WORKSHOP WITH JUNKGIRLS Learn monoprinting with Gelli plates using acrylic paint, botanicals, stencils, and found objects to create unique textured prints for collage, journaling, cards, or framed art. March 21 2-4:30 p.m. $95. (805) 439-0123. JunkGirls, 870 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo, junkgirls.com.

JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY AND ART Owen and Kyoko Hunt from Kyoto, Japan offer classes for Japanese calligraphy (Fridays, 5:30-6:30 p.m.), a Japanese art called “haiga” (Fridays, 10-11:30 a.m.) and more at Nesting Hawk Ranch. Fridays $45. (702) 335-0730. Nesting Hawk Ranch, Call for address, San Luis Obispo.

LEARN TO WEAVE MONDAYS An opportunity to learn how a four-shaft loom works. You will get acquainted as a new weaver or as a refresher with lots of tips and tricks. This class includes getting to know a loom, how to prepare/ dress a loom, and much much more. Mondays, 1-4 p.m. $75 monthly. (805) 4418257. Patricia Martin: Whispering Vista Studios, 224 Squire Canyon Rd, San Luis Obispo, patriciamartinartist.com.

MEMORY LANE COLLAGING CLASS Let’s have some fun and take a walk down memory lane. Receive stepby-step instructions for creating a memorable vintage collage. March 21 , 12-4 p.m. $45. (805) 747-4200. artcentralslo.com. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEB HOFSTETTER

SLO County, Various locations countywide, San Luis Obispo.

PICKET PAINTING PARTY Decorative picket purchasing opportunities are available to show your support and help fund maintenance and educational programs in the Children’s Garden. Second Saturday of every month, 1-4 p.m. $75 per picket or 2 for $100. (805) 541-1400. slobg.org. San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

WHAT MOVES US: PINA BAUSCH AND EMBODIED COGNITION Experience

PINA (2011), a tribute to Pina Bausch, with a psychology talk on movement and memory, plus a collaborative choreography exercise—no dance experience required. March 14 7-9 p.m. $22. (805) 541-5161. slofilmcenter. eventive.org. Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St, San Luis Obispo.

WHITNEY PINTELLO: SOLO SHOW On display now through mid-April. ongoing slogallery.com/. SLO Gallery, 1023 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

burning. Join Central Coast Wood Carvers in Morro Bay at St. Timothy’s. Open for beginners, intermediate, or advance. Learn a wide range of techniques and skills. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, 962 Piney Way, Morro Bay, (805) 772-2840, sttimothymorrobay. org/index.html.

YOUTH POTTERY CLASS Teens love this class. Learn handbuilding techniques and throwing on the potter’s wheel. Held every Friday after school. Fridays, 3:30-5 p.m. $40. anamcre.com. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

PLEIN AIR PAINTERS OF THE CENTRAL COAST A self-directed fun group of dynamic artists who enjoy painting and sketching outdoors. Artists meet on site at various locations. Weekly plein air destinations are provided by Kirsti Wothe via email (mrswothe@yahoo. com). Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-noon SLO County, Various locations countywide, San Luis Obispo.

CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS MEETING Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a Twelve Step recovery program for anyone who desires to have healthy and loving relationships with themselves and others. Meeting is hybrid (both in person and on Zoom). For information, call 805900-5237. Saturdays, 1-2:15 p.m. Free. thecambriaconnection.org/. Cambria Connection, 1069 Main St., Cambria, (805) 927-1654.

CLARK CENTER PRESENTS AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE STUDIO COMPANY

SAMANTHA NYE: WEB OF LOVE See Guggenheim Fellow Samantha Nye’s immersive video installation starring Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens filmed on location in SLO. Mondays, Fridays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. through March 13 Free. cuesta.edu/community/cuestaarts/artgallery/2025-2026-Exhibitions/ WebofLove.html. Harold J. Miossi Gallery, Highway 1, San Luis Obispo, (805) 546-3202.

SLOCAL COMEDY RETURNS TO OAK & OTTER BREWING Enjoy an evening of laughs with Headliner Phil Johnson (Sirius FM, Bob and Tom Show), Bay Area favorite Iris Benson, and Unpaquito (Comedy Store). March 14 8-10 p.m. $20. (805) 878-2038. Oak and Otter Brewing, 181 Tank Farm Road, suite 110, San Luis Obispo.

UBU’S OTHER SHOE STAGED READING: WIFE OF A SALESMAN A devoted housewife – from a certain classic American drama – tracks down the woman who is sleeping with her husband and discover unexpected commonalities. March 13 , 7-9 p.m. and March 14 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. $18-$23. (805) 786-2440. slorep.org/shows/stagedreading-wife-of-a-salesman/. SLO Rep, 888 Morro St., San Luis Obispo.

VIRGINIA MACK: BEGINNING WATERCOLOR This is a watercolor class designed to let you jump in and try out this engaging medium through experimentation. It’s designed for beginners and those with watercolor experience who wish to expand their knowledge of painting in watercolors. To enroll please contact Mack via email: vbmack@charter.net Mondays, 1:30-3:30 p.m. $35. (805) 747-4200. artcentralslo. com/workshops-events/. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

Composed of 12-18 extraordinary young dancers, aged 17 to 21, this elite group represents the next generation of top ballet talent. March 18 7:30-9:30 p.m. $49-$75, Platinum $79; Senior & Student Discounts. (805) 489-9444. clarkcenter. org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande. WORKSHOPS AND MORE AT THE LAVRA Check the venue’s calendar for storytelling workshops, lectures, movie nights, and discussions held on a periodic basis. ongoing thelavra.org/ home. The Lavra, 2070 E. Deer Canyon Road, Arroyo Grande.

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

BREATHE AND STRETCH One must be able to get down onto the floor and back up again, with ease, in order to participate in this 55-minute session. It’s specifically designed to enhance mobility and strength. Please bring a mat and some water. Mondays, 9-10 a.m. $10 per session. (415) 516-5214. Bayside Martial Arts, 1200 2nd St., Los Osos.

CENTRAL COAST UECHI-RYU KARATE-

DO Uechi-Ryu Karate-do is a traditional form of karate originating from Okinawa, Japan. Focus is on fitness, flexibility, and self-defense with emphasis on self -growth, humility, and respect. Open to ages 13 to adult. Beginners and experienced welcome. Instructor with 50 years experience. For info, call 805215-8806. Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6-7:30 p.m. Morro Bay Community Center, 1001 Kennedy Way, Morro Bay, 772-6278, morro-bay.ca.us.

CENTRAL COAST WOOD CARVERS

Learn the art of wood carving or wood

MORNING BIRDERS

Join the Estuary Program and Morro Coast Audubon Society for a birdwatching morning on Sunday, March 15, from 9 to 11 a.m., at the Sweet Springs Natural Preserve in Los Osos. Visit eventbrite.com to reserve a spot.

ENJOY AXE THROWING Enjoy the art of axe throwing in a safe and fun environment. Kids ages 10 and older are welcome with an adult. No personal axes please. Fridays, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturdays, 12-6 p.m. $20. (805) 5284880. baysidemartialarts.com. Bayside Martial Arts, 1200 2nd St., Los Osos. LEARN TO SAIL AT MORRO BAY YACHT CLUB! Learn to sail at the Morro Bay’s only sailing school: Morro Bay Yacht Club. These sessions are led by competent, responsible sailing instructors. Expect a great experience, with the goal of each student being comfortable in commanding their own sailboat. There’s a focus on teamwork, developing leadership skills, and having fun. March 14 - Aug. 9 , 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $450. my805tix.com. Morro Bay Yacht Club, 541 Embarcadero, Morro Bay, (805) 772-3981.

LOS OSOS SUNDAY MEDITATION

CLASS Sitting with a supportive group strengthens one’s meditation practice. Join us for a weekly talk on topics related to meditation and consciousness plus silent and guided meditation. Facilitated by Devin Wallace. Beginners welcome. Email devinwalla@gmail. com for more information. Sundays, 10:15 a.m.-11:15 p.m. By donation. (805) 709-2227. inner-workings.com. Central Coast Body Therapy Center, 2005 9th St., Los Osos.

SOCRATES DISCUSSION GROUP Have a topic, book, or article you wish to discuss with interested and interesting people? Join this weekly meeting to discuss it, or simply contribute your experiences and knowledge. Contact Mark Plater for instructions on entering the Chapel area. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.noon (805) 528-7111. Coalesce Garden Chapel, 845 Main St., Morro Bay. STAY YOUNG WITH QI GONG Qi gong offers great anti-aging benefits, providing a comprehensive system for improving physical, mental and emotional health. Its roots date back thousands of years in China. Learn with certified instructor Devin Wallace. Call first. Thursdays, 10-11 a.m. $10. (805) 7092227. Hardie Park, Ash Ave. and B St., Cayucos. Qi gong offers great anti-aging benefits, providing a comprehensive system for improving physical and mental health. Its roots date back thousands of years in China. Learn with certified instructor Devin Wallace. Call first for info and exact location. Fridays, 9-10 a.m. $12. (805) 709-2227. innerworkings.com. Los Osos, Townwide, Los Osos.

SWEET SPRINGS BIRDING Join the Estuary Program and Morro Coast Audubon Society for a morning of birdwatching at Sweet Springs Nature Preserve. March 15 9-11 a.m. Free. eventbrite.com. Sweet Springs Nature Preserve, Ramona Ave, Los Osos, N/A. TAI CHI AND QI GONG: ZEN IN MOTION Small group classes with 2019 Tai Chi Instructor of the Year. Call for time and days. Learn the Shaolin Water Style and 5 Animals Qi Gong. Beginners welcomed. Mondays, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Call for price details. (805) 701-7397.

& LIFESTYLE continued page 17

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Irah Nox, Mark of the Altar, Ghostframe, Vicious

MARCH 21

Brewing, SLO

Brew, Atascadero

Pour House, Paso Robles

charvetmartialarts.com. Morro Bay Martial Arts, 850 Shasta, Morro Bay.

WEEKLY QIGONG PRACTICE AT

FITNESSWORKS MORRO BAY Calm your mind and nourish your joints with a weekly Qigong practice led by Mike Raynor of Tai Chi Rejuvenation. The practice is rooted in Qigong fundamentals, and standing/moving meditations. Forms include: Eight Brocades, Five Elements, Shibashi 18, and Tai chi 24. Saturdays, 10:45-11:45 a.m. Members free; non-members $8-$10. (805) 772-7466. fitnessworksmb. com. FitnessWorks, 500 Quintana Rd., Morro Bay.

ZEN IN MOTION Learn the Shaolin Water Style and other deep breathing and moving meditation techniques with the 2019 Taijiquan Instructor of the Year. Beginners Welcome.Instructor Certification Courses available. Mondays, Wednesdays Call for details. (805) 701-7397. charvetmartialarts.com. Grateful Body, 850 Shasta, Morro Bay.

NORTH SLO COUNTY

BALANCE FLOW Suitable for all levels.

This class is meant to benefit the mindbody connection while emphasizing safe and effective alignment as well as breath awareness and relaxation. Please call to register in advance. Tuesdays, Thursdays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. $16-$22; $50 membership. (805) 434-9605. ttrtennis.com/fitness/ yoga/. Templeton Tennis Ranch, 345 Championship Lane, Templeton.

CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS

MEETING Co-Dependents Anonymous is a 12-step fellowship of men and women. The only requirement for membership is a desire for healthy and loving relationships. Tuesdays, 12-1 p.m. Free. (805) 221-5755. Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a Twelve Step recovery program for anyone who desires to have healthy and loving relationships with themselves and others. Tuesdays, noon-1 a.m. Free. (760) 846-1443. North County Connection, 8600 Atascadero Ave., Atascadero.

CRAFT*ER*NOON BYOC (Bring Your Own Craft) to our Sunday Afternoons of Crafting! Grab your unfinished projects and your bestie and join us. March 22 , 1-5 p.m. Free. (805) 591-7003. stilsoncellars.com. Stilson Cellars, 1005 Railroad Street, Suite 2, Paso Robles.

HAMBLY LAVENDER FARM GUIDED

EXPERIENCE This one-hour walk about the farm immerses you in the processes of growing, harvesting, and drying this fragrant herb. Saturdays, Sundays, 10 a.m. my805tix.com. Hambly Farms, 1390 Grana Place, San Miguel.

NAR-ANON: FRIDAY MEETINGS

A meeting for those who know or have known a feeling of desperation concerning the addiction of a loved one. Fridays, 12-1 p.m. Free. (805) 4412164. North County Connection, 8600 Atascadero Ave., Atascadero.

SANTA LUCIA ROCKHOUNDS MEETING

Bring your favorite rock, gem, crystal, fossil, etc., to show the rest of the club. Third Monday of every month, 7 p.m. slrockhounds.org/. Templeton Community Center, 601 S. Main St., Templeton.

TAI CHI This course’s instructor has won many Tai Chi and other internal martial arts tournaments. Both experienced martial artists and new learners are welcome to the class. Tuesdays, Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. $65. (805) 237-3988. Centennial Park, 600 Nickerson Dr., Paso Robles.

YANG STYLE TAI CHI The course’s instructor won many Tai Chi and other internal martial arts tournaments. Both experienced martial artists and new learners are welcome to the class. Mondays, Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. $62. (805) 470-3360. Colony Park Community Center, 5599 Traffic Way, Atascadero.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

AERIAL SILKS CLINIC Build memory, strength, coordination, confidence, and endurance at the Aerial Silks Clinic, for ages 7 to 17. All levels are welcome. March 14 , 1-3 p.m. $25. (805) 547-1496. performanceathleticsslo.com. Performance Athletics Gymnastics, 4484 Broad St., San Luis Obispo. THE BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT

INAUGURAL EVENT The Beautiful Movement is a celebration of liberalism and democracy, featuring speakers, games, live music and more! Come and let’s save this sinking ship! March 21 12-4 p.m. Free. Gazebo Mitchell Park, 1400 Osos ST, San Luis obispo, (805) 781-7306, slocountyband.org.

CIRQUE KALABANTÉ Afrique en Cirque fuses Guinean culture, acrobatics, and live Afro-Jazz, with dazzling feats, human pyramids, and music on kora and percussion celebrating strength and agility. March 20 , 7:30 p.m. (805) 7564849. calpolyarts.org/20252026-season/ cirque-kalabante. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo.

FAMILY CLIMB (PARENT-CHILD

AERIAL SILKS) Family Climb is a parent-child structured silks class for ages 5 and older! Together you’ll build strong muscles and memories. No experience is necessary. March 14 , 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. $15. (805) 547-1496. performanceathleticsslo.com. Performance Athletics Gymnastics, 4484 Broad St., San Luis Obispo. FREE TOURS OF THE MISSION Tour San Luis Obispo’s Spanish Mission, founded in 1772. Come learn its history and importance to the development of this area. Tours are led by docents and meet in front of the church Sundays, 2:30 p.m. and Mondays-Saturdays, 1:15 p.m. Free. (805) 550-7713. missionslodocents.org. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, 751 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.

GALA PRIDE AND DIVERSITY CENTER BOARD MEETING (VIA ZOOM) Monthly

12 - MARCH 22, 2026

meeting of the Gala Pride and Diversity Center Board of Directors. Meets virtually via Zoom and is open to members of the public. Visit galacc.org/ events to fill out the form to request meeting access. Third Tuesday of every month, 6-8 p.m. No admission fee. galacc.org. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

KIDS’ PARTY PARADISE: CLOVER

CAPER Drop your kiddos off at Kids’ Party Paradise for pizza, movie, and gymnastics fun while you get an evening off! Geared towards ages 4 to 13 years of age. No experience is necessary. March 14 5-9:30 p.m. $50. (805) 547-1496. performanceathleticsslo. com. Performance Athletics Gymnastics, 4484 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

MISSIOIN SAN LUIS OBISPO DOCENTS

ORIENTATION MEETING Mission

SLO Docents give free daily tours for visitors of all faiths. Orientation for new docents - help share the special story of Mission SLO! Third Saturday of every month, 9 a.m.-noon Free. 657/465-9182. missionslodocents.org/. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, 751 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.

MOONLIGHT HOURS Since reopening in 2008, the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum has offered free hours, Moonlight Hours, the third Thursday of each month. Experience the wonder and get more info at the link. Third Thursday of every month, 5-7 p.m. Free. (805) 544-KIDS. slocm.org/moonlight-hours. San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, 1010 Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo.

PLUG-IN TO LOCAL CLIMATE ACTION

Get inspired by local action, connect with others, and discover more ways to get involved with the SLO Climate Coalition. Attend virtually or in-person. Sustainable snacks and childcare will be provided. Third Thursday of every month, 6-8 p.m. sloclimatecoalition.org/ events/. Ludwick Community Center, 864 Santa Rosa, San Luis Obispo.

PUBLIC TALK: BE SET FREE Enjoy this public talk by Christian Science practitioner, Nicole Virgil, CS, about how a spiritual sense of God-given liberty opens the way to overcome what binds us. March 15 , 1-2 p.m. Free. (805) 543-5853. christianscienceslo.org/talksevents. Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, 801 Grand Ave., suite 102, San Luis Obispo.

REPAIR CAFE Get free help fixing household appliances, outdoor gear and apparel, phones, laptops, game consoles, bikes, tools, clothing, and

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE continued page 23

before you, dear readers, and it’s all about trust—as in who do you trust to outserve, outshine, and outsmart the rest. Who is the Best of San Luis Obispo County? We’re not looking for any fake community idols here; we want the real deal. We need you to tell us who

deserves to keep their torch lit. Vote for your favorite co ee shops, bars, restaurants, dentists, salons, and more—we’ve got categories for all of them! No need to strategize or discuss it with the rest of your tribe. This challenge is yours alone. Find the ballot online at newtimesslo.com. Remember, you need to complete at least 30

categories to make the cut. Return this ballot to the New Times o ice or finish filling one out online by Monday, March 16, at 5 p.m., and keep an eye out for our biggest issue of the year highlighting the sole survivors on May 7.

Monday, March 16, at 5 p.m., to be eligible for inclusion in the poll results.

One ballot per person. No more than two ballots may be submitted per envelope or in person at one time. No photocopies can be accepted. To prevent ballot-box stu ing (also known as cheating), all ballots must have at least 30 categories completed and must include the name and address of the voter, for verification purposes only. Ballots without this information will be disqualified. All information is kept in complete confidence. Ballots must be in our o ice by Monday, March 16, at 5 p.m. Winners will be announced in our May 7th special publication. All entries become the property of New Times Remember, vote for your favorite local businesses!

Best Restaurant in Templeton

more! March 14 1-4:30 p.m. Free. repaircafe5cities.org. iFixit, 1330 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo, (805) 464-0573.

SLO LEZ B FRIENDS (VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM) A good core group of friends who gather to discuss topics we love/ care about from movies, outings, music, or being new to the area. We come from all walks of life and most importantly support each other. Transgender and Nonbinary folks welcome. Third Friday of every month, 6:30-9 p.m. Free. sloqueer. groups.io/g/lezbfriends. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

SLO PHILATELIC SOCIETY The SLO Philatelic Society (SLOPS) meets at the SLO Senior Center on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Visitors are welcome. Third Tuesday of every month, 1-3 p.m. SLO Senior Center, 1445 Santa Rosa St., San Luis Obispo, (805) 5409484, slocity.org/seniors.

SLO RETIRED ACTIVE MEN MONTHLY GET-TOGETHERS SLO RAMs is a group of retirees that get together just for the fun, fellowship, and to enjoy programs which enhance the enjoyment, dignity, and independence of retirement. Third Tuesday of every month, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $31 luncheon. retiredactivemen. org/. Madonna Inn Garden Room, 100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo.

TEEN MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

GROUP Learn more about mental health and coping skills to help you through your journey towards wellness and recovery. Thursdays, 4:30-6 p.m. Free. (805) 540-6576. t-mha.org. Hope House Wellness Center, 1306 Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo.

TOUR THE HISTORIC OCTAGON BARN

CENTER The Octagon Barn, built in 1906, has a rich history that The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County looks forward to sharing with visitors. Please RSVP. Fourth Sunday of every month, 2-2:45 & 3-3:45 p.m. Tours are free; donations are appreciated. Octagon Barn Center, 4400 Octagon Way, San Luis Obispo, (805) 544-9096, octagonbarn.org.

TRANS* TUESDAY A safe space providing peer-to-peer support for trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and questioning people. In-person and Zoom meetings held. Contact tranzcentralcoast@gmail.com for more details. Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m. Free. GALA

Pride and Diversity Center, 1060 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, (805) 541-4252.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

BEGINNING BALLET FOR ADULTS Enjoy the grace and flow of ballet. No previous experience needed. Wednesdays, 5:15-6:15 p.m. $12 drop-in; $40 for four classes. (510) 362-3739. grover.org. Grover Beach Community Center, 1230 Trouville Ave., Grover Beach.

BODY FUSION/EXERCISE AND FITNESS CLASS Do something good for yourself and stay fit for outdoor sports, while enhancing flexibility, strengthening your core to prevent lower back issues, improving your posture through yoga, and more. Tuesdays, Thursdays, 9-10:30 a.m. Free. (970) 710-1412. Avila Beach Community Center, 191 San Miguel St., Avila Beach, avilabeachcc.com.

DANCE FITNESS ART AND CULTURE FOR ADULTS Discover dance as a form of artistic expression and exercise, using a wide range of styles and genres of music (including modern, jazz, Broadway, ethnic). Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m. $10 drop-in; $30 for four classes. (510) 362-3739. grover.org. Grover Beach Community Center, 1230 Trouville Ave., Grover Beach.

FILLED LOCAL A gathering for foster, adoptive, and kinship moms with a focus on connection, refreshment, teaching, and fun. March 20 , 5-9:15 p.m., March 21 9:30 a.m.-9:45 p.m. and March 22 1:30-4:30 p.m. $150. (805) 748-3628. filledretreat.com/filled-local. Calvary Chapel Arroyo Grande, 1133 Maple St, Arroyo Grande.

GRAND DUNES TRAIL GUIDED HIKE

Guided walk on Grand Dunes Trail (soft sand) through dune habitat and shoreline. Meet at the plaza area at 25 W. Grand Avenue in Grover Beach. RSVP at the number provided. March 13 9:30-11:30 a.m. Free. (805) 474-2664. centralcoastparks.org/awn/. Pismo State Beach, W. Grand Avenue, Grover Beach.

MULTICULTURAL DANCE CLASS

FOR ADULTS Experience dance from continents around the earth, including from Africa, Europe, and more. Described as “a wonderful in-depth look at the context and history of cultures of the world.” Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. $10 drop-in; $30 for four classes. (510) 362-3739. grover.org. Grover Beach Community Center, 1230 Trouville Ave., Grover Beach.

NIPOMO SENIOR CENTER

MEMBERSHIP SIGN-UP & POTLUCK

Bring a dish to share and join for a potluck, along with general meeting updates and local informative guest speakers. Third Wednesday of every month, 12:30-2 p.m. (805) 929-1615. nipomoseniorcenter.org. Nipomo Senior Center, 200 E. Dana St, Nipomo.

OCEANO’S BEAVERS Join State Park Docent Dan to learn about Oceano’s beavers and enjoy a walk around Oceano Lagoon. Space is limited. RSVP by calling the number provided. March 14 10 a.m.-noon Free. (805) 474-2664. centralcoastparks.org/awn/. Oceano Dunes Visitor Center, 555 Pier Ave., Oceano.

POINT SAN LUIS LIGHTHOUSE TOURS

A docent-led tour of the buildings and grounds of the historic Point San Luis Light Station. Check website for more details. Wednesdays, Saturdays pointsanluislighthouse.org/. Point San Luis Lighthouse, 1 Lighthouse Rd., Avila Beach.

PONY PICTURES Take a photo with a pony at the Discovery Center. March 21 9 a.m.-noon Free. (805) 473-1421. Exploration Discovery Center, 867 Ramona Ave., Grover Beach.

SOCIAL GROUP FOR WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS Call for more details.

Second Saturday of every month, 10 a.m. (805) 904-6615. Oak Park Christian Church, 386 N Oak Park Blvd., Grover Beach.

THE VINTAGE VASE MARKETPLACE

Enjoy this indoor vintage and handcrafted marketplace, with artisans selling handcrafted items, including pottery, art, jewelry, and vintage and collectibles. Check their Instagram @ vintagevasemarketplace for more information about upcoming events. March 15 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. (310) 8711668. Camp Arroyo Grande, 250 Wesley St., Arroyo Grande, camparroyogrande.com.

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

ST PATRICK’S DAY CAR SHOW Only entrants, vendors and sponsors need to register. Everyone else can come on down and enjoy! Get vehicle and vendor registration pricing at the link. March 14 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free. my805tix.com. St. Louis de Montfort Church, 1190 East Clark Avenue, Santa Maria.

SPICY SIPS

Sample more than 35 chili and salsa varieties, along with drinks from countless wineries, craft breweries, and spirit companies during the Buellton Wine & Chili Festival at the Flying Flags RV Resort on Sunday, March 15, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Enjoy live music and merchant vendors. Tickets range from $28.17 to $71.59. Visit buelltonwineandchilifestival.com for additional details.

FOOD & DRINK

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

BREAKFAST ON THE BAY A monthly occasion that brings together the passionate citizens and business owners of the greater Estero Bay region in one place to deepen connections and share information. Breakfast is included with ticket price. Third Wednesday of every month, 7:30-9 a.m. $20 per member; $25 per non-member. (805) 772-4467. morrochamber.org. Morro Bay Community Center, 1001 Kennedy Way, Morro Bay.

MORRO BAY MAIN STREET FARMERS

MARKET Get fresh and veggies, fruit, baked goods, sweets, and handmade artisan crafts. Come have some fun with your local farmers and artisans and enjoy delicious eats while enjoying the fresh breeze of Morro Bay. Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 p.m. Varies. (805) 824-7383. morrobayfarmersmarket.com. Morro Bay Main Street Farmers Market, Main Street and Morro Bay Blvd., Morro Bay.

WOOD-FIRED PIZZA NIGHTS AT

CAMBRIA PINES LODGE Join us every

Friday for an unforgettable evening of fun, food, and festivities at the Pizza Nook at Cambria Pines Lodge! Fridays, 5-9 p.m. through Sept. 25 Free. (805) 927-4200. cambriapineslodge.com. Cambria Pines Lodge, 2905 Burton Dr., Cambria.

NORTH SLO COUNTY

2ND THURSDAY TRIVIA SERIES:

SEINFELD Test your knowledge of the incredible classic TV Sitcom, Seinfeld, at Dracaena Wines. March 12 , 6-8 p.m. (805) 270-3327. dracaenawines.com.

Dracaena Wines, 1244 Pine Street, suite 101 B, Paso Robles.

CLUB CAR BAR TRIVIA WITH DR. RICKY Teams of one to six people welcome. Visit site for more info. Wednesdays, 7-10 p.m. my805tix.com. Club Car Bar, 508 S. Main St., Templeton.

MEAT YOUR MATCH We’re bringing the heat with an unforgettable wine and fire collaboration between Primal House BBQ and MCV Wines — a night where bold flavors, slow smoke, and beautifully aged vintages come together in perfect harmony. March 14 6 p.m. $130. my805tix.com. MCV Wines, 3773 Ruth Way, suite A, Paso Robles, (805) 712-4647.

RHONE RANGERS EXPERIENCE

Celebrate Spring with the Rhone Rangers! 80 wineries from throught the USA with your favorite Rhone varietals and blends. March 21 1:30-4 p.m. $65. (800) 467-0163. rhonerangers.org. Paso Robles Event Center, 2198 Riverside Ave., Paso Robles.

TACO TUESDAYS La Parilla Taqueria will be in the courtyard serving up their delicious tacos and tostadas. Menu typically includes barbacoa, chicken, and pastor tacos, as well as shrimp ceviche tostadas. Tuesdays, 5-8 p.m. (805) 460-6042. ancientowlbeergarden. com. Ancient Owl Beer Garden, 6090 El Camino Real, suite C, Atascadero.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

DOWNTOWN SLO FARMERS MARKET Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. Downtown SLO, Multiple locations, San Luis Obispo. SLO FARMERS MARKET Hosts more than 60 vendors. Saturdays, 8-10:45 a.m. World Market Parking Lot, 325 Madonna Rd., San Luis Obispo.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

PACIFIC POURS Join on our oceanfront lawn, for an open-air afternoon of wine, unlimited tacos, and live music by the ocean. March 21 , 12-4 p.m. $55. (805) 773-1011. event.marriott.com. Vespera Resort, 147 Stimson Ave., Pismo Beach.

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

SECOND SATURDAY OPEN AIR MARKET: LOS ALAMOS A carefully curated open air artisan and farm market. Features great vintage finds, handwoven and hand dyed textiles, hand-spun yarn, organic body care products, and locally grown organic eats. Second Saturday of every month, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. (805) 722-4338. Sisters Gifts and Home, 349 Bell Street, Los Alamos.

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY BUELLTON WINE & CHILI FEST Sample from over 35 wineries, craft breweries, seltzers, cider and spirit companies! Sample over 35 chili and salsa competitors and vote for your favorite! Enjoy live entertainment by Maclovia, Salty Strings Band and DJ FIU, along with plenty of merchant vendors. March 15 12-4:30 p.m. $28.17-$71.59. Flying Flags RV Resort, 180 Ave. Of The Flags, Buellton, (805) 688-3716. ∆

PHOTO COURTESY OF BUELLTON WINE AND CHILI FESTIVAL

Arts

Calling all artists

Live Well SLO, a chiropractic and wellness business, has put out a call for artists interested in displaying work in its offices.

“We are looking to partner with you,” the business announced.

“We have the space, you have the art. We are excited to introduce our WellArt space. We will be rotating art on a bi-monthly basis. If you are a photographer, ceramicist, jewelry maker, painter, or yet to be defined artist, we want you. No cost to show your work, no commission on your sales. Check out our first two artists next time you are in our office.”

One of their first artists is photographer Zyan Sachs.

“I was born and raised here in San Luis Obispo,” Sachs explained in a statement. “In 2024, I spent a year studying in Spain, where I began my professional photography journey. Photography has become a way for me to slow down and observe life with intention, drawing inspiration from different cultures and everyday moments. The images on display were captured across my travels and reflect places, people, and perspectives that have shaped me along the way. I’m grateful to share my work here and honored to have it displayed in a space that means so much to me.”

If you have work to show, email nan@livewellslo.com.

African circus

Cal Poly Arts presents Cirque Kalabanté and their show Afrique en Cirque at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo on Friday, March 20 (7:30 p.m.; $39 to $69 at calpolyarts.org).

“Afrique en Cirque is a show by Yamoussa Bangoura, inspired by daily life in Guinea,” Cal Poly Arts announced. “This performance shares the beauty, youth, and artistry of African culture. A colorful show beyond its scenery, costumes, and staging, it makes any theater vibrate with energy and represents the strength, agility, and life’s joys of young Africans. The audience will see acrobats execute gravitydefying moves and human pyramids, accompanied by the contemporary sounds of live Afro-jazz, percussion, and kora. Welcome to the universe of Kalabanté Productions and prepare for an unforgettable journey!”

Cirque Kalabanté is based in Montreal and founded by Guinean artist Yamoussa Bangoura in 2007. “Kalabanté” originates from the Susu language and means a “go-getter, ambitious child with exceptional courage.” Previous shows include The Thief of Dreams and Won’Ma Africa. Bangoura’s circus supports educational and humanitarian projects in Guinea. Δ Glen Starkey

BY GLEN STARKEY

Is it art or … ?

Pete Biltoft hopes his work passes the ‘tear test’

Have you used AI? Maybe it helped you write an email or summarized a Google search. Maybe you have an AI personal assistant— “Hey Siri?” “Hey Alexa?” Or maybe AI scares the shit out of you, especially if you’ve seen Terminator and think Skynet and total human enslavement is only a matter of time.

Or maybe you’re like SLO resident Pete Biltoft, who thinks AI is just another tool. Not scary, simply useful.

“Let me first start with a disclaimer,” Biltoft said in an old-fashioned, face-to-face analog interview. “I by no means equate the images that I create with those images created by real artists. This for me is a hobby. I’m not trying to compete or displace real artists for whom I have immense appreciation. My wife’s an artist. I see what she does. I want real artists to survive, make money, enjoy their craft. I’m not competing with them in any way.”

What he is doing is creating colorful, painterly, often whimsical images starting with his original photos and using Photoshop and AI. He also creates songs using Suno AI Music Generator. Is it art? That’s for every viewer and listener to decide. If you like it, you like it, right?

A little background. Biltoft graduated from Georgia Tech with degrees in chemistry (1979) and metallurgy (1981). He worked in the Plutonium Metallurgy R&D Division at the Rocky Flats Plant near Golden, Colorado, from 1981 to 1984, then worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1984 to 2007. In 2008, he started his own business, Vintage Vibe Guitars, designing and fabricating custom electrical components for electric guitars, retiring, and closing the business in 2024.

“I play guitar a little bit, but I try not to inflict myself on others,” he joked. “I’ve always appreciated artists and always wanted to be one, so I use the tools that are currently available to us in the 21st century to do what I can. My feeling about AI in some ways is it’s a democratization of the creative process. I’m just one of the masses who enjoys being able to bring ideas that I have to fruition.”

The genesis for his foray into AI stemmed from frustration.

“I actually had an idea from years and years ago about a live musical performance that I wanted to put together,” he explained. “And I just could

See and hear Pete’s work

You can view Pete Biltoft’s gallery and purchased his art at peterbiltoft.smugmug.com/202510-21-Landscape-art and listen to music he created using Suno on his YouTube channel, youtube.com/@ vintagevibeguitarstechtips6173 . Hear “Lost Within the Tide” at youtube. com/watch?v=yDvk7kOFDY0.

never communicate it to other creative people who, I hoped, would work with me to make it happen. I essentially wanted to be a producer.”

AI itself can offer is own frustrations. Biltoft noted that so-called AI “hallucinations” are problematic.

“I still cannot create, at least not with the tools that I’ve subscribed to, the thing that I have in my brain. But in terms of digital art, I can get a lot closer because I start out with my camera. I’ve got a Nikon mirrorless camera. I go out and take pictures; I work on the composition. And then I come home, and on my computer I can increase the saturation. I can remove distractions. I can make the sky more vibrant, and then with the help of AI, I can add some painterly effects.”

Much of Biltoft’s work looks like impasto painting or like the crackle paint effect.

“I could spend months on end in front of a canvas and never be able to create anything near that,” he said. “My wife could, but for me, I just don’t have the artistic talent. She and I actually painted together. It was one of those wine dates where you go out and sip wine and make a painting. Well, we both had an image in front of us, a beach image, and she made art, and I made garbage.”

Biltoft’s music he’s created with AI is remarkable. One song especially, “Lost Within the Tide,” has an earworm chorus that will stick in your head.

“I’ve created some songs that I think passed a new kind of test. Now you’re familiar with the Turing Test?”

In 1950, British mathematician, logician, and cryptanalyst Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test devised to see if a human evaluator could distinguish between a conversation with human and a machine.

“Could a computer fool a person into thinking that you were talking with another person? I think that there should be a new test now, and we’ll call it the eye watering test because some of the music that I’ve created that has instrumentation and vocals has, to me, been so good that it almost made me cry. If you could, with digital software and artificial intelligence, create a song that actually brought you to tears, I think that’s a new level. That’s reaching emotion at a level that I think is pretty impressive.”

It helps to feed effective prompts into Suno, and the program allows you to tweak and refine the songs through one iteration after another.

“I asked Suno to create a dark, moody song in 1950s surf guitar style about a surfer who gets lost so far deep in the tube that he never comes out. I asked for a female vocalist,” Biltoft recalled. “And the first iteration was pretty good, encouraging.”

Suno also came up with the song’s lyrics.

“He paddled out at break of dawn, chasing whispers in the foam, a gleam beneath the curling waves, calling him to come alone. The sea was still, holding its breath—a doorway in the water’s depth.

… He rode a tube so deep inside, where sun and sound both disappear, the ocean closed around his light, and kept him hidden year to year. No one saw him slip away. No one heard his fading cry. The tide just rolled like nothing changed, but the shoreline learned to sigh.”

“Now, I do go in and edit the lyrics because sometimes they’re a little clanky, you know? I try to wordsmith them, but probably 95 percent of the lyrics in this song were generated by artificial intelligence,” Biltoft said. “Honestly, when I when heard that, my eyes did water up.”

Biltoft is having fun, and he wants to “crack people up.” His secret dream was a to be a contributor to Mad magazine. Instead, he’s contenteed himself with creating images like Godzilla attacking the Fremont Theater.

“I just went downtown and took pictures of the crew repairing the Fremont Theater. And then because I’d done the Godzilla picture in Morro Bay earlier, it occurred to me, ‘Oh, I could make a funny image out of this.’ And so, this image, I removed a bunch of cars and construction stuff. I replaced the sky with a photograph taken from my house. I circled that area in the foreground and I said, ‘Add people running away, screaming and in horror.’” Voila. Fremont closed due to an act of Godzilla. ∆

Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@ newtimesslo.com.

PAINTERLY Pete Biltoft started with his photo of Morro Rock and created this image that looks like an impasto oil painting with crackled paint.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PETE BILTOFT

USING THE TECH AVAILBLE Pete Biltoft uses his original photos, Photoshop, and AI tools to create images and Suno AI Music Generator to make songs.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PETE BILTOFT

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? According to Pete Biltoft, the Fremont Theater in SLO was damaged by Godzilla, not a heavy rainstorm.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PETE BILTOFT

Damn the man!

Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal helms this updating of the Bride of Frankenstein story. Set in 1930s Chicago and up the Eastern seaboard, the story follows Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale), who’s referred to as Frank, as he asks Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create him a companion to help cure his deep loneliness. They resurrect a dead woman (Jessie Buckley), who’s uncontrolled behavior attracts the police and inspires social change. (126 min.)

THE BRIDE!

What’s it rated? R

What’s it worth, Anna? Full price

What’s it worth, Glen? Full price

Where’s it showing? Colony, Downtown Centre, Park, Stadium 10

Glen Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Young Frankenstein (1974)—and yes, there’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” involved—both Joker (2019) and Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), and even Bonnie and Clyde (1967) are this film’s forebears. Gyllenhaal’s film is positively brimming with ideas, arguably too many, but front and center is fighting the patriarchy, right down to our protagonist yelling “me too, me too”— hashtag implied. Yes, it borders on heavyhandedly didactic, but men are awful. It’s about two monsters trying to be human in a monstrous men’s world. As our narrator Mary Shelley (also Buckley) explains as she struggles from some unknown purgatory to “write” the Bride’s story, is it a ghost story, a horror story, or most frightening of all, a love story? Viewers get to decide. Anna Buckley turns out quite a performance as the Bride, as Ida, and as Mary Shelley. She’s a live wire in life and one in death too. The tale of her death is not just that of madness and an accident, but we learn that Ida was working to take down the corrupt mob boss, Lupino (Zlatko Buric). As a clandestine spy for police, her fate, along with many other young women working as escorts, is dark. When Frank’s appeal of vast loneliness to Dr. Euphronius sparks the

DAWSON’S CREEK

What’s it rated? TV-14

When? 1998 to 2003

Where’s it showing? Netflix, Hulu, Disney+

After the recent and untimely death of James Van Der Beek at age 48 due to colorectal cancer, I—and probably a lot of women my age—was sent into a nostalgic tailspin. It seems just yesterday that the weekly show rotation featured Dawson, Pacey, Joey, and Jen, teens coming into their complicated social dynamics, their sexual renaissance, their angsty and misunderstood lives.

Cuddled up and cozy, my cousin and I spent a weekend rewatching Dawson’s Creek and

doctor’s heart—and her somewhat rabid lust for reinvigoration—Ida is reborn, but with only vague and fleeting recollections of life before. Frank is overjoyed with his new companion, but Pretty Penny, as he calls her, is not one to go lightly into the wash of a new life. In fact, I think she might say, “I prefer not to.” This stylized film has a lot going on, but I loved it.

Glen The real monster is Lupino, who keeps women’s severed tongues in jars of formaldehyde like floating chicken thighs. All the men just plain suck. Even the detective pursuing the couple—Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard)—is a corrupt weakling who takes credit for his secretary, Myrna Malloy’s (Penelope Cruz), deductive prowess. The Bride’s murderous rampage is so inspiring to women that she sparks a feminist movement. In fact, Gyllenhaal’s film is best described as a feminist manifesto. It’s also a completely bonkers over-the-top ride, but is it too much? Does “too much” have any meaning in

BL AST BL AST FROM THE FROM THE

what a wildly different watch it is as a seasoned adult. What was once so romantic turns out to be so cringe in moments, the problems of teens so dwarfed by the experience of age once life has kicked your ass a few times. Yet nostalgia rules, and we soon found ourselves reciting monologues and remembering plotlines that somehow still reside in our brains. If you want a trip down memory lane (and a great reminder of how truly dramatic being a teen can feel), give this WB classic another watch and honor the legacy of Van Der Beek and the absolute icon of a teen star he was as Dawson. (128 approximately 45 min. episodes)

—Anna

and

LDEAD OF WINTER

What’s it rated? R

When? 2025

the age of Babylon (2022) and Megalopolis (2024)? Judge for yourself.

Anna I really like Gyllenhaal both as an actor and a director, and she uses her brother, Jake, in this film as the other object of Frank’s admiration—dancing movie man Ronnie Reed. But when Frank stumbles upon the star at a gala, it’s soon clear that sometimes it’s best to leave our heroes on the big screen and away from real life. There are chaotic dance numbers, a turbulent mix of fantasy and reality—very Joker: Folie à Deux. Much of the film is the two on the run after Frank’s unbridled anger takes out a couple of thugs who assault Penny. You can’t help but see Bonnie and Clyde written all over these two characters. Both Bale and Buckley are stars, and they shine here. Put on your black lipstick and get ready for the revolution. ∆

Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

Where’s it showing? HBO Max

ike Allison Janney’s Lou (2022), Dead of Winter is Emma Thompson’s turn to embrace her age and wrinkles while still proving what a tough, resourceful old bird she can be. Barb is in mourning, and her memories of her husband, Karl (Cúán Hosty-Blaney), are coursing through her as she’s searching for Lake Hilda, where they had their first date. She comes upon a cabin to ask for directions from “Camo Jacket” (Marc Menchaca), but something seems off, and it is. Camo Jacket and his wife “Purple Lady” (Judy Greer) are up to some shady business, but can

an old, unarmed woman rescue Leah (Laurel Marsden) from these two armed assailants who clearly have nefarious plans for the girl. Thompson is terrific as Barb, with her Midwestern accent. She’s straddling between heartbreaking loss and the determination not to let down a desperate girl chained up in a basement. Both Hosty-Blaney and Greer offer complex takes on the bad guys—she’s in need of an organ transplant while he wants to do the right thing but also save his wife. Their relationship and its limits are integral parts of the story. The wintery landscape offers a severe backdrop to this chilly psychological tale. (98 min.). ∆

—Glen

SHOOT FIRST Jessie Buckley stars as a resurrected dead woman meant as a companion to Frankenstein’s monster, but she has her own agenda, in The Bride!, screening in local theaters.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

TRUE GRIT

Emma Thompson stars as Barb, a widow fulfilling her late husband’s request to have his ashes scattered in a remote lake, who stumbles upon a kidnapping, in Dead of Winter, streaming on HBO Max.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CINEMANSE VIA AP

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT (Left to right)

Pacey (Joshua Jackson), Jen (Michelle Williams), Dawson (James Van Der Beek),

Joey (Katie Holmes) star in Dawson’s Creek, streaming on various platforms.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Music

BY GLEN STARKEY

Locals rule

Two North County troubadours play Club Car Bar shows

On “Grown,” his 2025 single release, Paso Robles singer-songwriter Casey Anglin explores the depths of fatherhood: “Work hard and do my best, throw a bomb straight and fast. Now I’m grown, two of my own, and I finally understand what it means, to love something so strong. All them nights, stay up waiting, for a little boy to come home, knowing damn well had to be back before the streetlights come on. Finally get why you worried so much. Nothing compares to a father’s love.”

Numbskull and Good Medicine present Casey Anglin at Club Car Bar on Saturday, March 14 (doors at 7:30 p.m.; all ages; $15.14 at goodmedicinepresents.com). According to his bio, the country singer-songwriter’s “music is rooted in straightforward storytelling, shaped by small-town life on the Central Coast and a sound that leans honest rather than flashy. Blending traditional country sensibility with a subtle West Coast influence, he writes songs about relationships, distance, and the choices people make when no one’s watching. His work favors clarity over polish, letting the lyrics carry the weight and the emotion speak for itself.”

Also this week from Good Medicine and Numbskull, Low Power Trio featuring Paso Robles winemaker and frontman Mark Adams plays at Club Car Bar on Tuesday, March 17 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $18.75 at goodmedicinepresents.com). The band also includes Paul Griffith on drums and David Keif on bass.

According to their bio, “Each member brings decades of professional touring and recording experience, both locally and beyond. The trio writes and produces collectively as equal creative partners, while frequently welcoming seasoned guest artists in the studio and onstage. Since forming in 2025, they’ve released two studio albums and are currently working on their third record for early 2026.”

Keep it local!

Live Music

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

BLUES AGENDA JAM AND SHOWCASE

A rockin’ blues dance party at Niffy’s Merrimaker every first, third, and now fifth Wednesdays. The Blues Asylum house band welcomes local, visiting, and newcomers to the blues groove. Spirits, beer, and wine, with outside food welcome. Every other Wednesday, 7-10 p.m. Free. (805) 235-5223. The Merrimaker Tavern, 1301 2nd Street, Los Osos.

FAULTLINE BAND LIVE Returning from their rockin’ show at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, Faultline Band brings their live classic rock show to Niffy’s Merrimaker. March 13 , 8-10 p.m. Free. (805) 439-1735. Niffy’s Merrimaker, 1301 2nd St, Los Osos.

KELLYTOWN, ST.PADDY’S DAY PARTY

Hear rockin’ Irish pub songs, fiddle tunes, polkas and sea shanties. March 17, 3-5 p.m. WeAreKellytown.com. The

Something for everyone

No matter your musical tastes, The Siren probably has you covered this week. Looking for some ’90s rock? Check out Flannel 101— The Ultimate ’90s Party on Friday, March 13 (doors at 7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18.48 at tixr. com). You’ll hear songs by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, No Doubt, 311, Oasis, Stone Temple Pilots, The Offspring, Rage Against the Machine, Blink 182 Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, The Breeders, Veruca Salt, and more! If reggae is your jam, One Love Bomb returns on Saturday, March 14 (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). Fronted by Eric Cotton, One Love Bomb recently released a new two-song EP called “Healing Time.” “Healing time, time for meditation,” Cotton sings on this classic socially conscious song about the dreadful state of the world and how reggae music is the cure. The second track is “Get Up,” another song about the healing power of music. It’s a call to arms: “Get up, rise up— get up everyone, and dance to the music.”

If New Wave and ’80s pop is your thing, the Molly Ringwald Project returns on Saturday, March 14 (doors at 7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $29.59 at tixr.com). Expect fun, danceable, high-energy songs you’ll want to move and sing along to.

Merrimaker Tavern, 1301 2nd Street, Los Osos, (805) 534-1007.

KELLYTOWN, ST.PATRICK’S DAY PARTY! Hear rockin’ Irish pub songs, fiddle tunes, polkas, and sea shanties! March 17, 6-8 p.m. WeAreKellytown.com. The Siren, 900 Main St., Morro Bay, (805) 225-1312.

OPEN MIC NIGHT Each Wednesday, enjoy this Open Mic Night in the downstairs dining area. Grab some friends and show off your talents. Food and drink service will be available. Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Free. (805) 995-3883. schoonerscayucos.com. Schooners, 171 North Ocean Ave, Cayucos.

NORTH SLO COUNTY

FRIDAY NIGHT DJ Weekly DJ series, with a different DJ every Friday. Presented by friends at Traffic Record store in Atascadero. Come listen, dance, drink,

and unwind every Friday. All ages event; no cover charge. Fridays, 7-10 p.m. (805) 460-6042. ancientowlbeergarden.com. Ancient Owl Beer Garden, 6090 El Camino Real, suite C, Atascadero.

SINGING HANDS CHILDREN’S CHOIR

A unique performing arts group that performs across the state for deaf festivals, service organizations, churches, fairs, and other outlets. New members always welcome. Registration open weekly. Mondays, 5-6:30 p.m. $45 tuition per month. singinghandschildrenschoir. com/. Singing Hands Children’s Choir and Performing Arts, 1413 Riverside Ave., Paso Robles.

SUNNY WRIGHT, JAKE ODELL, DAVID KEIF, AND DARYL VANDRUFF LIVE AT SENSORIO Come enjoy the Light Art exhibits and great jazz, blues, and soul with Sunny Wright and crew! There are firepit tables, food, and a full bar.

Gear up in green and head to The Siren’s St. Paddy’s Day celebration when Kelly Town! plays on Tuesday, March 17 (doors at 6 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). Expect rocking Irish pub songs, lively fiddle tunes, accordion polkas, and a couple of sea shanties.

In the mood for some Latin, jazz, and funk? MiniNova plays on Wednesday, March 18 (doors at 7 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). Led by Scott Martin on sax from the band War and Kenny Lee Lewis on guitar from The Steve Miller Band, hear original and cover songs.

TexiCali

Rod & Hammer Rock hosts Texas “carousel rock” act West 22nd on Wednesday, March 18 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $27.21 at ticketweb.com). The band comprises friends who met at the University of Texas at Austin. According to the band, their sound “spins through genre, emotion, and energy without ever losing its center.”

Dipsea Flower opens.

Classic California act The Expendables from Santa Cruz plays on Thursday, March 19 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $35.45 at ticketweb.com). They continue to tour in support of Pleasure Point (2023), playing their mix of reggae, ska, surf rock, punk, and metal.

March 14 6-9 p.m. $65. (805) 226-4287. sensoriopaso.com/. Sensorio, 4380 Highway 46 East, Paso Robles.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

CAL POLY ARAB MUSIC ENSEMBLE

SPAIN TOUR PREVIEW CONCERT

Musicians and dancers will preview the ensemble’s upcoming tour to Spain with guest artists, a reunion with alumni members and much more! March 14 7:30 p.m. $12-$22. (805) 756-4849. music. calpoly.edu/calendar/ame. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo. CAL POLY CHOIRS: PERSICHETTI WINTER CANTATA Cantabile will sing Vincent Persichetti’s “Winter Cantata” with John Astaire on marimba, and Suzanne Duffy on flute. PolyPhonics will sing work from its spring tour. March 14 2 p.m. $12-$22. (805) 756-4849. music.calpoly.edu/calendar/choirs. First

Formed in 1997, they began as a party band covering surf rock songs like “Wipeout” and “Miserloo.” Chad Tepper and Acari open.

Will it happen?

Let me preface this section by saying Good Vibez’s Fremont Theater shows are subject to change as the theater is closed until further notice due to storm damage to the historic marquee, but what follows is what’s planned in the event the theater is OK’d to reopen. Electronic duo, Snakehips, performs on Friday, March 20 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $36.02 at prekindle.com). Oliver Lee and James Carter are the U.K. DJ duo that have more than 2 billion catalogue streams over their career.

Tribute, Big Band, and Americana

The Clark Center has three wide-ranging concerts this week starting with Doobie Brothers tribute band The Brothers Doobie on Thursday, March 12 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $45 to $75 at clarkcenter.org). Expect hits such as “What a Fool Believes,” “Listen to the Music,” “China Grove,” and “Minute by Minute.”

Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo, 981 Marsh St., San Luis Obispo.

CAL POLY SYMPHONY WINTER CONCERT: SOLOIST SHOWCASE AND PINES OF ROME The concert will showcase winners of the symphony’s Solo Competition. Ottorino Respighi’s symphonic poem “Pines of Rome” will conclude the concert. March 15 , 3 p.m. $12-$22. (805) 756-4849. music.calpoly. edu/calendar/symph/. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo.

CAL POLY VOCAL STUDENT RECITAL

Enjoy this free recital, presented by Cal Poly Music Department student vocalists. March 12 7:30 p.m. Free. (805) 756-2406. music.calpoly.edu/calendar/free. Cal Poly Davidson Music Center, Room 218, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

CUESTA JAZZ WITH ERNIE WATTS Join for an unforgettable celebration of music, creativity, and community at the annual

Central Coast Jazz Festival concert! March 13 8 p.m. $10-$20. (805) 546-3198. Harold J. Miossi CPAC at Cuesta College, Highway 1, San Luis Obispo.

CUESTA WIND ENSEMBLE & SLO WIND

ORCHESTRA: “A TAPESTRY OF WINDS” Join us for Tapestry of Winds, as the Cuesta Wind Ensemble teams up with the SLO Wind Orchestra for a thrilling joint concert! March 21 3 p.m. $12-$32. (805) 546-3198. Harold J. Miossi CPAC at Cuesta College, Highway 1, San Luis Obispo. EASTON EVERETT Easton Everett is a singer-songwriter who blends folk blues and world-beat styles with intricate fingerstyle guitar playing. March 13 6-8 p.m. Farmhouse Corner Market, 1025 Farmhouse Ln Ste 1G San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, San Luis Obispo, (805) 465-7900. FORBES ORGAN SERIES: AMELIE HELD

NARRATIVE COUNTRY Numbskull and Good Medicine present Paso singer-songwriter Casey Anglin at Club Car Bar on March 14

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOD MEDICINE PRESENTS

LOVE THE ’80S Molly Ringwald Project brings its neon dance party sounds to The Siren on March 14

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SIREN

STARKEY continued page 28

DISCLOSURE W/ JADALAREIGN ................... .APR 07

DISCLOSURE W/ TODD EDWARDS .................. .APR 08

DAVID BYRNE ............................. .APR 14

CHARLIE PUTH W/ DANIEL SEAVEY, ALLY SALORT ......... .APR 25

JAMES TAYLOR ............................ .MAY 06

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS ................. .MAY 07

LORD HURON ............................. . JUN 02

THE BLACK KEYS W/ FAI LACI ................... .JUN 13

GABRIEL ‘FLUFFY’ IGLESIAS ................... JUL 17

YOUNG THE GIANT W/ COLD WAR KIDS, KENNYHOOPLA ..... JUL 18

RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE W/ SPACEY JANE ........ JUL 19

TREVOR NOAH ............................ .AUG 01

TREVOR NOAH ............................ . AUG 02

SIERRA FERRELL ........................... .AUG 06

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND W/ LUKAS NELSON ......... .AUG 13

TRAIN W/ BARENAKED LADIES, MATT NATHANSON .......... .AUG 22

EARTH WIND & FIRE ......................... SEP 18

FREYA SKYE ............................... SEP 19

ALABAMA SHAKES W/ TYLER BALLGAME . ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM SEP 25

JACK JOHNSON W/ G. LOVE...................... 0CT 03

JACK JOHNSON W/ G. LOVE..................... .0CT 04

The world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra plays on Friday, March 13 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $39 to $65 at clarkcenter.org).

Led by music director and saxophonist Erik Stabnau, and featuring vocalist Jenny Swoish, the 18-member Glenn Miller Orchestra plays iconic hits like “In the Mood,” “Moonlight Serenade,” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Women of Americana plays on Saturday, March 14 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $34 to $59 at clarkcenter.org). This celebration of American roots music such as early folk, gospel, and Western swing features Cristina Vane and Brennen Leigh performing songs made famous by artists like Brandi Carlile, Emmy Lou Harris, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, and more.

Cal Poly times four

Cal Poly has a bunch of shows coming up this week starting with the Cal Poly Band and Orchestra Festival Finale Concert on Friday, March 13, at the Performing Arts Center (7:30 p.m.; tickets at pacslo.org). Cal Poly’s Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra will present works drawn from American, Cuban, and Spanish traditions and more.

Cal Poly Choirs presents Vincent Persichetti’s Winter Cantata on Saturday, March 14, at the First Presbyterian Church (2 p.m.; tickets at pacslo.org). Cantabile will sing Winter Cantata. PolyPhonics will perform Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service.

Cal Poly’s Arab Music Ensemble plays the PAC on Saturday, March 14 (7:30 p.m.; tickets at pacslo.org).

Expect examples of the “muwashshah” genre.

The Cal Poly Symphony’s Winter Concert comes to the PAC on Sunday, March 15 (3 p.m.; tickets at pacslo.org).

The concert showcases winners of the symphony’s Solo Competition.

Live music at Vix

What used to be the Village of Arroyo Grande’s F. McLintock’s is now called Vix Creek Saloon and is celebrating its one-year anniversary. The owners—Victor Albarran and son Vic Jr., hence the name “Vix”—are now bringing in live music, and this Friday, March 13, you can hear Grammy-winner Louie Ortega (6 to 9 p.m.).

Ortega played with the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados among others, and as a solo artist he delivers a blend of Tex-Mex, rock, blues, and folk music.

“Vic Sr. was a long-time chef at F. McLintock’s prior to taking over the restaurant,” Brett Trudeau of Classic Entertainment explained. “Both Vics are really good guys and are committed to having live music at least once a week.” The menu looks chock-full of comfort food, so bring your appetite.

Get classy

If you’re looking for a sophisticated venue to enjoy quality music in an intimate setting with craft cocktails and small plates, check out Anderson Social (951 Monterey St., SLO). From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, it serves espresso and patisseries, but Thursday through Sunday nights, it hosts live music events. This week, guitarist-composer Tom Bethke & Friends perform on Thursday, March 12, through Sunday, March 15 (doors at 5, live music at 6:30 p.m.; $10 at the door).

Bethke spent most of his professional career working in Los Angeles with folks like Sir James Galway, Joel Gray, Jewel, Jan Hammer, Van Dyke Parks, Katharine McPhee, Najee, Micheal Bolton, Thelma Houston, Bernadette Peters, Henry Mancini, Les McCann, Gary Morris, Juice Newton, Steve Wariner, Joe Williams, Michael Wolff, and many more.

Visit anderson.social/music to see what’s coming up next weekend.

New CD alert!

Local duo The Taproots is back with a new nine-song album called Comedy of Fools, and like their first—2022’s Tales of Wonderland—it’s another collection of wellpenned Americana songs featuring songwriter-inchief Tom Walters (acoustic guitar and mandolin) and Nichole Cassingham’s (ukulele) perfectly matched voices.

Whether Walters’ voice is taking lead on tracks like “Bourbon Street” and “I Don’t Believe” or if Cassingham’s on lead like on “Monterey,” these two sing well together, and Walters knows melody and how to write a hooky chorus.

“Our next show is at Sycamore Springs (in the Secret Garden) on Sunday, March 15 (3 to 6 p.m.; all ages; free),” Walters said. “We are working to set up an album release show.” When it happens, I’ll let you know. Listen and download at taprootsmusic.com. ∆

Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

STARKEY from page 27

IN THE MOOD? The Clark Center hosts the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra on March 13

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLARK CENTER

Organist Amelie Held, acclaimed for her red shoes and global performances, showcases a wide-ranging repertoire from early to contemporary music on the Forbes Pipe Organ. March 22 2 p.m. (805) 756-4849. calpolyarts. org/20252026-season/amelie-held. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo.

ORCHESTRA The most sought-after big band in the world returns with its signature swing sound and timeless charm. March 13 , 7:30-9:30 p.m. $39$59, Platinum $65; Senior & Student Discounts. (805) 489-9444. clarkcenter. org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

PEACE, BEAUTY, HARP Unwind into the weekend with the peace and beauty of the harp in the peace and beauty of SLO’s historic church. Fridays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. through March 20 Free. (805) 543-7212. St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1344 Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

CLARK CENTER PRESENTS: THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA EXPERIENCE, FEATURING EVIL

CLARK CENTER PRESENTS: WOMEN OF AMERICANA - A CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN MUSIC Celebrate the roots of American music with Women of Americana, a powerful and heartfelt tribute to early folk, gospel, and Western swing. March 14 , 7:30-9:30 p.m. $34-$54, Platinum $59; Senior Discounts. (805) 489-9444. clarkcenter.org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

THE LOUNGE AT BESO An upscale afterhours nightclub experience. With limited capacity and a dress code. For ages 21 and over. Fridays, 10 p.m. my805tix.com. Beso Cocina, 1050 Willow Road, Nipomo. WEST COAST PERFORMING ARTS CONCERTS PRESENTS: MOTOWN MANIA! THE GOLDEN HITS OF THE TEMPTATIONS & THE SUPERSTARS OF MOTOWN Revisit the classic songs and stars of the Motown era complete with heart-stopping harmonies, dazzling choreography, and the memorable hits you love most from Motown’s golden age! March 21 , 7:30-9 p.m. $45-$65. (805) 489-9444. clarkcenter.org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

WOMAN – THE AMERICAN ELO See this dynamic performance that will reimagine Jeff Lynne’s fusion of orchestral elegance and classic rock with vibrant visuals and masterful musicianship. Tickets and more info are available at the link. March 20, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $49-$75, Platinum $85; Senior & Student Discounts. (805) 4899444. clarkcenter.org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

CLARK CENTER PRESENTS: THE BROTHERS DOOBIE Always delivering high-energy and precise musicianship, The Brothers Doobie brings the full range of Doobie Brothers classics to life. Hear them live at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts! March 12 7:30-9:30 p.m. $45-$65, Platinum $75; Senior Discounts. (805) 489-9444. clarkcenter.org/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

CLARK CENTER PRESENTS: THE WORLD FAMOUS GLENN MILLER

EASTON EVERETT Easton Everett is a singer-songwriter who blends folk blues and world-beat styles with intricate fingerstyle guitar playing. March 12 5-7 p.m. Mulligans Bar and Grill, 6460 Ana Bay Road, Avila Beach, (805) 595-4000.

JAZZ/BLUES/SOUL AT PUFFER’S WITH SUNNY WRIGHT, JAKE ODELL, JOE DURAN AND JAMES CONVER!

Hear Sunny Wright, Jake Odell, Joe Duran, and James Conver live at Puffer’s. March 15 5-8 p.m. $5. (805) 773-6563. puffersofpismo.com/. Puffer’s of Pismo, 781 Price St a,, Pismo Beach.

KARAOKE EVERY WEDNESDAY A weekly event with barbecue offerings and more. Wednesdays, 4-8 p.m. Rancho Nipomo BBQ, 108 Cuyama Ln., Nipomo, (805) 925-3500.

KERRY IRISH PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: ST. PATRICK’S DAY IN IRELAND Experience the true spirit of Ireland! Immerse yourself in the heart of Irish traditions with a rollicking celebration of music, song, and dance. March 15 2-4 p.m. $28-$67. (805) 4899444. clarkcenter.org/. Clark Center for

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS LIVE MUSIC AT THE GATEHOUSE Experience an afternoon of live music with Ruby Jane and Estate-grown wines at The Gatehouse. March 21 , 12-2 p.m. (805) 688-0881. tockify.com. The Gatehouse at Bein Nacido, 3503 Rancho Tepusquet Road, Santa Maria. MUSIC LESSONS AT COELHO ACADEMY Learn to play piano, drums, guitar, base, ukulele, or violin, or take vocal lessons. ongoing (805) 925-0464. coelhomusic. com/Lessons/lessons.html. Coelho

Flavor

BY MADISON WHITE

Order’s up

The Culture food trailer wants to give you the best smashburger you’ve ever eaten

During the busiest shifts at his food trailer, Willie Galvan can crank out a smashburger in 10 or 11 minutes. When there’s no line, he can do it in five.

“The buns take longer to toast than the burgers,” the Santa Maria native said.

After an order comes in, he toasts the buns and heats up burger toppings. The last step is to grill the freshly ground brisket patty for about four minutes.

Part of the reason Galvan and his wife, Angie, put smashburgers instead of regular patties on their menu was because they hoped to be so busy that they’d need every extra minute. They were right, but success didn’t happen overnight.

In March the husband-and-wife team hit three years of operating their food trailer, Culture, selling burgers, fries, and mac and cheese. A big milestone came in January when they secured a spot outside Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria to serve lunch and dinner on Wednesdays and Fridays. It marked the start of a much-needed semi-permanent schedule for Culture.

“It was a big moment for us, getting in at the hospital,” Galvan said.

Around the same time, the Galvans booked the Thursday lunch hour at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. They station their colorful, space-themed trailer by the entrance, so members of the public can park in the lot and hop in line.

Central Coast residents can also find Culture at Birchwood Nipomo on Thursdays for dinner and at Laetitia Vineyards and Winery on Saturdays. Occasionally the trailer pops up at Santa Maria’s Rancho Bowl (where the couple met) and Orcutt’s Naughty Oak Brewing Company. The Galvans update their website with their monthly schedule— they’re currently the busiest they’ve ever been.

“Lately, we’ve just been on fire,” Galvan said.

That would also describe their menu, which Galvan said is a greatest hits sampling

Treat yourself

For Culture food trailer’s complete monthly schedule and menu, visit culture805food.com or follow @ culture.805 on Instagram. Send inquiries to the owners by emailing culture.food805@gmail.com.

of all the entrees they’ve created. Galvan and his wife are “pretty proud” of how the menu looks.

Though it’s a close race for the title of best seller, The Impala burger sits at the top of the list now. Its patty is smashed with onions and jalapeños, then topped with cheddar cheese, pickles, and chipotle aioli.

Also sky high in popularity is The Cadillac, Galvan’s personal favorite. It’s the same signature patty filled with onions and jalapeños. In between the buns he also layers red wine garlic mushrooms, pickles, citrus herb aioli, and a melted pepper jack “cheese crust.”

The Cadillac is the best burger Galvan has ever had, and the phrasing caught on in his social media posts. Customers couldn’t help but agree.

“It’s got the sweetness from the onions. It’s got the crispiness from the patty. It’s got the umami from the mushrooms,” Galvan described. “It’s just a really good, balanced burger that hits all the senses for me, and it’s so good I can’t get enough of it.”

With so many popular entrees, the Galvans walk the line between prepping too many ingredients and selling out. Freshness is key to their work.

“We use our fresh-ground USDA prime grade brisket, and we fresh grind the beef every day,” he said. “We slice the onions every day. We chop the lettuce.”

Every detail matters when it comes to quality. He knows they’re just selling burgers, but at the same time, it’s much bigger than that.

As a culinary school graduate, Galvan understands how to balance flavors and fill in gaps with the right ingredients. At 19 years old, he got classic French training in

Scottsdale, Arizona, at a Le Cordon Bleu program. It was an intense but exciting time for the young chef.

One dish that stands out from his training is crème brulee. He’s been making it the same way ever since and brings his butterscotch recipe to the food trailer. Galvan said it comes out perfectly every time.

Culture’s mac and cheese is made with a classic béchamel sauce, Swiss cheese, and bacon. All three mac varieties on the current menu—Korean Beef, Buffalo Chicken, and Nashville Chicken—have won awards at the Avila Beach Macaroni and Cheese Festival.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do just because we like to eat the food ourselves,” he said.

Culinary school was Galvan’s first experience working in a kitchen, and he got hooked. Before becoming a business owner, he gained experience in many fine dining restaurants, including the private Club 33 at Disneyland.

He found himself back in Santa Maria with Angie, noticing scarce food options in town. They had a “crazy” idea to set up social club nights serving five- and six-course meals for up to eight guests out of their home. Each event featured a different cuisine, hence the name Culture, which carried over to their

food trailer. When everyone kept asking for burgers and mac and cheese, they knew they’d found their specialty.

The power duo is no stranger to working together, having met in in the kitchen at Rancho Bowl 10 years ago.

Nowadays they are the only two working at Culture, except for the occasional third pair of helping hands during busy events. Galvan is the chef, and Angie does everything from taking orders to stocking the trailer.

“She’s the muscle behind the operation. She preps. She cleans,” Galvan said about his wife. “She’s just running around doing everything with a smile on her face, taking care of everything.” They haven’t always worked together but realized when they were apart professionally, they missed it. The two got married last year and have plans to continue growing Culture.

“It took a while for us to get really busy, but we’ve been hot lately,” Galvan said. “It’s exciting, and we’re ready for it.” ∆

Sun Staff Writer Madison White, from New Times’ sister paper, and Staff Photographer Pieter Saayman don’t think you can go wrong at Culture. Tell us what you tried at mwhite@ santamariasun.com.

THE NEWLYWEDS In March, Angie and Willie Galvan celebrated three years since opening their food trailer, Culture. They make smashburgers, mac and cheese, and crispy side dishes at rotating locations on the Central Coast.

SAUCED UP The most popular burgers at Culture are made with the “Caddy patty,” a smashed mix of jalapeños, onions, and fresh-ground brisket.

PHOTOS

IT’S NOT AMATEUR HOUR Willie and Angie Galvan can make an order in five to 10 minutes, no matter how busy their line is.

2014 JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED SPORT 4WD

hardtop, prem whls, white, gray cloth. #288395

$12988;

2015 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO 4WD

3.6 V6, at, ac, ps, pw, pdl, cc, tw, am/fm/cd, alloys, white, blk cloth, 78k. #763149

$13,988

2017 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LTD 4WD

3.6 V6, at, ac, ps, pw, pdl, cc, tw, am/fm/cd, nav, 2pseats, blk, lthr, prem whle, mn . #740609

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2012 JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED SPORT 4WD

3.6 V6, at, ac, ps, pw, pdl, cc, tw, am/fm/cd, red, blk cloth, winch, rboards. #218752 $14,988

3.6 V6, at, ac, ps, pw, pdl,

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME

Maltby, Deputy. Exp. 01-23-2031. February 26, March 5, 12, & 19, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO. 2026-0169 (01/23/2026)

New Filing The following person is doing busi-

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO. 2026-0171 (01/01/2026)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Paso Robles Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing to consider the following project:

Project Description:

The Project is a 154-unit residential subdivision on a vacant property located at 2930 Union Road. The Project is an alternative to the previously approved “Covelop” development at this same location, which was originally entitled in 2024 and consisted of approximately 240,000 square feet of commercial/light-industrial space. The new Project requires approval of a zoning map amendment to apply the Mixed-Use Overlay zoning designation which will allow residential uses, including a request for an allocation of 154 surplus density units; a Special Planned Development overlay zoning designation to accommodate modifications to specific development standards; and an Oak Tree Removal request. These actions will require final approval by the City Council, therefore, the Planning Commission will be making a recommendation to City Council (PD25-14, RZN 2503, VTTM 3255, CUP25-05, OTR 25-09, P25-0080).

Applicant: Covelop, Inc. & MD3 Investments

Location: 2930 Union Road / APN: 025-362-050 CEQA Determination:

On February 20, 2024, the City adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for a commercial/industrial project (“Covelop”) consisting of 240,000 square feet of floor area spanning six buildings for this project site. Staff recommends the Planning Commission recommend to City Council approval of an addendum to the 2024 MND for the original Covelop project. The Addendum is the appropriate document under CEQA to analyze the consistency of the residential Project with the type and intensity of development previously analyzed for the site in the MND as provided for in CEQA Guidelines section 15162 and 15164.

Hearing Date:

The Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing on March 24, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Norris Room, Centennial Park, 600 Nickerson Drive, Paso Robles, CA 93446.

The public has the option to attend the meeting in person or to participate remotely. To participate remotely, residents can livestream the meeting at www.prcity.com/youtube, and call (805)865-7276 to provide live public comment via telephone. The phone line will open just prior to the start of the meeting.

Written public comments can be submitted via email to planning@ prcity.com or US Mail (submit early) to the City Clerk, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446 provided that the comments are received prior to the time of the public hearing. Comments received prior to 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting will be posted as an addendum to the agenda. If submitting written comments, please note the agenda item by number or name. Comments on the proposed application must be received prior to the time of the hearing to be considered by the Planning Commission. Challenge to the application in court will be limited to issues raised at the public hearings or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.

Copies of the project staff report will be available for review on the City’s website (www.prcity.com/meetings) on the Friday preceding the hearing. If you have any questions, please contact the Community Development Department at (805) 237-3970. March 12, 2026

NOTICE OF PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Paso Robles Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing to consider the following project:

Project Description: Development Plan for a 2-building commercial/light-industrial development with 8 lease spaces totaling 22,412 square feet and Site Plan Modification for a 7.5-foot-tall screening wall (PD2513, MOD25-09, and P25-0058).

Applicant: Micah and Lacey Utter

Location: 2940 American Way (APN 025-434-013)

CEQA Determination: The project is exempt from environmental review as a class 32 categorical exemption for infill development pursuant to the State’s Guidelines to Implement the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Section 15332.

Hearing Date: The Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing on March 24, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Norris Room, Centennial Park, 600 Nickerson Drive, Paso Robles, CA 93446.

The public has the option to attend the meeting in person or to participate remotely. To participate remotely, residents can livestream the meeting at www.prcity. com/youtube, and call (805)865-7276 to provide live public comment via telephone. The phone line will open just prior to the start of the meeting.

Written public comments can be submitted via email to planning@prcity.com or US Mail (submit early) to the City Clerk, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446 provided that the comments are received prior to the time of the public hearing. Comments received prior to 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting will be posted as an addendum to the agenda. If submitting written comments, please note the agenda item by number or name. Comments on the proposed application must be received prior to the time of the hearing to be considered by the Planning Commission.

Challenge to the application in court will be limited to issues raised at the public hearings or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.

Copies of the project staff report will be available for review on the City’s website (www.prcity.com/meetings) on the Friday preceding the hearing. If you have any questions, please contact the Community Development Department at (805) 237-3970. March 12, 2026

CITY OF EL PASO DE ROBLES

NOTICE OF INTENT TO ADOPT A MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION

Notice is hereby given that the City of Paso Robles will consider adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act for the project described below:

Project Title: Paso Robles Landfill Annexation

Applicant: City of Paso Robles

Project Location: Paso Robles Landfill, State Route 46 East and Union Road; APNs: 015-043-005, 015043-006, 015-043-007, 015-043-008, and 015-043-009

Project Description: The City of Paso Robles (City) owns and operates a municipal landfill at an 80acre site located at 9000 California State Route 46 East (SR 46E), approximately nine miles east of U.S. Highway 101 (US 101). The City owns 133 acres of unincorporated vacant land immediately south of the active landfill, fronting SR 46E. The City purchased this land in 2005 to create a buffer between the active landfill and any future development in the vicinity. This land and all of the adjacent parcels currently have a County of San Luis Obispo (County) land use designation of Agriculture, with a Renewable Energy combining designation (overlay). The City now proposes to annex the 133 acres of vacant land and build an organics processing facility (OPF) on an approximate 20-acre site within the annexed area (OPF project site).

FINDING

The City of Paso Robles has reviewed the above project in accordance with the City of Paso Robles’ Rules and Procedures for the Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act and finds that an Environmental Impact Report need not be prepared because the proposed project will not have a significant effect on the environment, and that a Mitigated Negative Declaration may be approved for this project.

The 30-day public review period for the proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration will commence on March 12, 2026, and will end on April 11, 2026. The Initial Study, which provides the basis for this determination, is available at the City of Paso Robles, Community Development Department, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, California. The public is invited to provide written comment on the Mitigated Negative Declaration. The appropriateness of the Mitigated Negative Declaration will be reconsidered in light of the comments received. Questions or comments about the proposed project and the Mitigated Negative Declaration may be directed to Katie Banister, Associate Planner, at (805) 3864 or via email to planning@prcity.com. Comments on the proposed project and Mitigated Negative Declaration may be mailed to the Community Development Department, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, California, 93446 provided that any comments are received no later than 5:00 pm on April 11, 2026. March 12, 2026

POST ADOPTION NOTICE AND SUMMARY OF ORDINANCE NO. 1166

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT AT ITS REGULAR MEETING ON TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026, AT 6:00 PM, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL PASO DE ROBLES ADOPTEDORDINANCE NO. 1166 REINSTATING AND AMENDING CHAPTER 3.21 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF EL PASO DE ROBLES REGARDING VISUAL ART IN PUBLIC PLACES.

The following is a summary of the Ordinance:

3.21.010 – Purpose: Establishes a city policy to enhance public welfare and community prosperity through the acquisition and installation of public art.

3.21.020 – Definitions: Clarifies key terms (visual art in public places, public art, works of art, Transient Occupancy Tax) to define program scope and eligibility.

3.21.030 – Arts and Culture Board and Bylaws: Establishes the Arts and Culture Board and bylaws governing the board’s composition, term of office, functions, and authority.

3.21.040 – Public Art Policies and Guidelines: Establishes policies and guidelines including artist selection criteria, procurement procedures, maintenance standards, and opportunities for public review and comment.

3.21.050 – Funding Requirement: Requires 0.5% of the City’s annual Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) be allocated to the Public Art Fund. The appropriation amount will be reviewed and adjusted through the City’s annual budget adoption process based on available funds and program needs.

3.21.060 – Public Art Fund: Establishes special fund designated for public art purposes: acquisition, design, installation, maintenance and program related costs.

3.21.070 Guidelines for Acquisition and Installation of Public Art: Establishes guidelines for acquisition and installation of public art, including visibility, durability, site compatibility, quality and maintenance. Excludes mass produced art and utilities necessary to operate pieces of art.

3.21.080 Authority and Administration: Establishes Director’s authority to develop guidelines, review proposed works of art, coordinate with the Board and City departments, and to refer to City Council the acceptance of high-profile public art donations and deaccessioning of works no longer suitable for display.

3.21.090 Placement of Works of Art: Requires works of art be placed in, on or about City-owned, leased, or controlled properties, including municipal buildings, parks, streetscapes, and open spaces.

3.21.100 Donations: Establishes City’s authority to remove, relocate, or deaccession any work of art that becomes damaged, obsolete, hazardous, or inconsistent with program objectives.

3.21.110 Deaccessioning and Relocation: Authorizes placement of temporary or permanent public art on city-owned property, subject to city council approval.

3.21.120 Appeals: Establishes timeline and process for appeals by any person aggrieved by a Board or Director decision.

Ordinance No. 1166 was adopted by the City Council by the following unanimous

vote: AYES: Gregory, Bausch, Beal, Strong, Hamon

The Ordinance will take effect thirty (30) days after adoption, as provided by Government Code section 36937. The above summary is a brief description of the subject matter contained in the text of the Ordinance, which has been prepared pursuant to Government Code Section 36933. This summary does not include or describe every provision of the Ordinance and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the full text of the Ordinance. Copies of the full text of the Ordinance are posted in the City Clerk’s office at 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, California or on the City’s website at www.prcity.com.

Date: March 12, 2026 Melissa Martin City Clerk

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

WHO: San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors

WHEN: Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. All items are advertised for 9:00 a.m. To find out placement of this item on the Board of Supervisors Agenda, go to the County’s website at www.slocounty.ca.gov on the Wednesday before the scheduled hearing date.

WHAT: Hearing to consider an amendment to the Inland and Coastal Land

Use Ordinances to: [A] Amend Section 23.04.320 Outdoor Lights and 22.10.060

Exterior Lighting and Sections 23.11.030 and 22.80.030 Definitions for light source; [B] Amend Sections 22.70.060 and 23.01.060 to increase noticing radius requirements to 1,000 feet for projects located outside of urban and village reserve lines, and 1,000 feet for energy storage facilities; [C] Amend Sections 23.08.094 and 22.34.050 to require approval by a majority of votes for the granting of a permit, lease or authorization for construction, installation or expansion of onshore support facilities for offshore gas and oil activities in compliance with Measure A; and [D] Expand school district housing in the Public Facilities Land Use Category to the Coastal Zone. (County File Number: LRP2025-00012). All Districts.

County File Number: LRP2025-00012

Assessor Parcel Number: N/A

Supervisorial District: All Districts

Date Accepted: N/A

WHERE: The hearing will be held in the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 1055 Monterey St., Room #D170, County Government Center, San Luis Obispo, CA. The Board of Supervisors Chambers are located on the corner of Santa Rosa and Monterey Streets. At the hearing all interested persons may express their views for or against, or to change the proposal.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: You may contact Kip Morais, Project Manager, in the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning and Building, 976 Osos Street, Room 200, San Luis Obispo, California 93408, kmorais@co.slo.ca.us (805) 781-5136. The staff report will be available for review the Wednesday before the scheduled hearing date on the County’s website at http://www.slocounty.ca.gov.

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: This project is exempt under CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), General Rule Exemption. The Environmental Coordinator has determined that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed project may have a significant adverse effect on the environment. A Notice of Exemption has been prepared pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15062.

The proposed ordinance amendments qualify for a Common-Sense Exemption because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that it will have a significant effect on the environment (CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3)), will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (CEQA Guidelines §15060(c)(2). The proposed amendments consist of updates removing an exception to lighting standards, increasing public noticing requirements, an amendment requiring a majority vote to develop onshore facilities for offshore oil extraction in accordance with Measure A, as passed in 1986, and allowing school district housing in the coastal zone consistent with the inland planning area. Any projects that may be allowed by these amendments would be subject to environmental review under CEQA.

Therefore, the proposed activity qualifies for the common-sense exemption under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15061 (b)(3), thus no further environmental review is required.

COASTAL APPEALABLE: County action may be eligible for appeal to the California Coastal Commission. Appeals must be filed in writing as provided by Coastal Zone Land Use Ordinance Section 23.01.043.

**If you challenge this matter in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this public notice or in written correspondence delivered to the appropriate authority at or before the public hearing**

DATED: March 9, 2026

MATTHEW PONTES, EX-OFFICIO CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

By: /s/ Niki Martin Deputy Clerk March 12, 2026

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 9:00 a.m.

Public Hearing to Consider Application for Temporary Commercial Outdoor Entertainment License for the event, “Spartan Race San Luis Obispo Ultra, Beast, Super and Trail Weekend” to be held on November 7 through November 8, 2026

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo (“the Board”) will conduct a public hearing at their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard, in the Board Chambers, 1055 Monterey Street, County Government Center, San Luis Obispo, California. The Board will consider by testimony and other evidence to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the following application pursuant to County Ordinance Title 6, Chapter 6.56.

APPLICATION: Temporary Commercial Outdoor Entertainment License for the event, “Spartan Race San Luis Obispo Ultra, Beast, Super and Trail Weekend” to be held on November 7, through November 8, 2026.

LOCATION: Santa Margarita Ranch, 5995 W. Pozo Road, Santa Margarita, California

APPLICANT: Spartan Race, Inc.

Interested persons are invited to attend the public hearing. Written comments to be considered as part of the proceedings may be mailed to the following address prior to the hearing:

County of San Luis Obispo Clerk of the Board 1055 Monterey St., Suite D-430 San Luis Obispo, CA 93408

A copy of the application is available at the San Luis Obispo County Tax Collector’s Office, 1055 Monterey Street, Room D-290, County Government Center, San Luis Obispo, California 93408, (805) 781-5831.

Matthew P. Pontes, Ex-Officio Clerk of the Board of Supervisors

By: /s/ Niki Martin

Deputy Clerk

Dated: March 11, 2026 March 12, 2026

NOTICE OF PLANNING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Paso Robles Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing to consider the following project:

Project Description: Amendment to Conditional Use Permit (CUP) 02-010 for a bar establishment at 622 12th Street. The Amendment (AMD26-01) modifies site specific condition number 2 on CUP 02-010 to update the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) license from a Type 42 (On-Sale Beer & Wine – Public Premise) to a Type 48 (On-Sale General - Public Premise).

Applicant: Daniel Carinale, El Dorado Water LLC Location: 622 12th Street (APN 009-093-035) CEQA Determination: Staff

The public has the option to attend the meeting in person or to participate remotely. To participate remotely, residents can livestream the meeting at www.prcity.com/youtube, and call (805)865-7276 to provide live public comment via telephone. The phone line will open just prior to the start of the meeting. Written public comments can be submitted via email to planning@ prcity.com or US Mail (submit early) to the City Clerk, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446 provided that the comments are received prior to the time of the public hearing. Comments received prior to 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting will be posted as an addendum to the agenda. If submitting written comments, please note the agenda item by number or name. Comments on the proposed application must be received prior to the time of the hearing to be considered by the Planning Commission.

Challenge to the application in court will be limited to issues raised at the public hearings or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.

Copies of the project staff report will be available for review on the City’s website (www.prcity.com/meetings) on the Friday preceding the hearing. If you have any questions, please contact the Community Development Department at (805) 237-3970. March 12, 2026

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

Applications to make minor changes to the properties at the addresses listed below have been received by the City.

1. 1334 Kentwood Dr. DIR-0001-2026; Review of a Homestay permit application to allow short-term rental of up to two bedrooms within an owner-occupied residence. This project is categorically exempt from environmental review (CEQA); R-1 Zone; Matthew Bates, applicant. (Mallory Patino)

2. 820 Del Rio Ave. DIR-0020-2026; Review of a Homestay permit application to allow short-term rental operations (such as Airbnb) of up to five bedrooms within an own-occupied single-family residence. This project is exempt from environmental review (CEQA); R-1 Zone; Brooke and Troy Wieck, applicants. (Mallory Patino)

3. 2675 Johnson Ave. DIR-0050-2026; Review of a Homestay permit application to allow short-term rental of up to two bedrooms within an owner-occupied residence. This project is categorically exempt from environmental review (CEQA); R-1 Zone; Rammy Taisir Aburashed, applicant. (Mallory Patino)

4. 277 Granada Dr. SBDV-0010-2026; Lot Line Adjustment between two commercial zoned parcels. The LLA will separate the portion of land currently being used by the owner from the unused, vacant portion. This project is categorically exempt from environmental review (CEQA); C-S-SP Zone; Promega Corporation, applicant. (Ivana Gomez)

5. 778 Higuera St. DIR-0103-2026; Review of a recommendation from the Cultural Heritage Committee to delist 778 Higuera Street (“Network” building) from the historic local register. This project is categorically exempt from environmental review (CEQA); C-D-H Zone; Phillip Lien, applicant. (Ivana Gomez)

The Community Development Director will either approve or deny these applications no sooner than March 23, 2026. The Director’s decision may be appealed, and must be filed with the appropriate appeal fee within 10 days of the Director’s action. For more information, contact the City of San Luis Obispo Community Development Department, 919 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, stop by Monday and Wednesday between 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday between 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., or call (805) 781-7170, weekdays, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. March 12, 2026

ORDINANCE NO. 3586 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTERS 2.11 AND 2.36 OF COUNTY CODE

The Board of Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo, State of California does ordains as follows:

SECTION I: That Section 2.11.010 of the County Code be amended as follows: 2.11.010 – Office and department created.

The San Luis Obispo County central services department and the office of director of central services are is hereby established. The department office shall be administrated by the director of central services chief executive officer or designee, who shall perform the duties required by Section 2.11.030. and shall possess the qualifications and experience required by Section 2.11.020. The director of central services chief executive officer or designee, shall also act as the purchasing agent pursuant to Chapter 2.36 of this county code. The director of central services shall be appointed by, and serve at the will and pleasure of the county administrator at a salary to be set by the board.

SECTION II: That Section 2.11.020 of the County Code be deleted in its entirety.

SECTION III: That Section 2.11.030 of the County Code be amended as follows:

The director of central services chief executive officer or designee, shall generally advise, assist, and be responsible to the county administrator for the proper and efficient management of the county central services department office and shall:

(1) Plan, organize, and direct the activities of the central services department office including but not limited to fleet services, purchasing and property management;

(2) Represent the county before public and private groups, professional associations and public agencies in matters related to the central services department office;

(3) Oversee the preparation and administration of the central services department office budget;

(4) Act as the purchasing agent pursuant to Chapter 2.36 of this County Code;

(5) Supervise and evaluate the performance of assigned staff and oversee all personnel matters, including hiring, reassignments, discipline and separation of employees as appropriate.

SECTION IV: That Section 2.36.020 of the County Code be amended as follows:

2.36.020 – General duties.

The purchasing agent, under the direction of the county administrative officer, shall have the duties and powers prescribed by this chapter and by the laws of the state relating to county purchasing agents. He The purchasing agent shall be the head of the purchasing department office of the county and shall appoint such deputies, assistants and other employees therein as shall from time to time be authorized in the current salary ordinance of the county. He The purchasing agent shall, through the county administrative chief executive officer, furnish the board of supervisors with such reports and information as the board, or county administrative chief executive officer, may from time to time require and shall establish methods and procedures necessary for the proper functioning of the purchasing department in an efficient and economical manner.

SECTION V: That Section 2.36.033 of the County Code be amended as follows: 2.36.030 – Specific duties.

The purchasing agent shall:

(1) Purchase for the county and its offices, pursuant to subdivision (8), all supplies (except for election supplies), furnishings, materials, equipment, livestock and other personal property of whatever kind and nature, and except in cases of emergency as set out in Section 2.36.040, no purchase of personal property by any person other than the purchasing agent shall be binding upon the county or constitute a lawful charge against any county funds;

(2) Rent for the county and its offices, furnishings, equipment and livestock, excepting, however, road equipment which the road commissioner is authorized by law to rent;

(3) Negotiate and execute in the name of the county all equipment service contracts and lease purchase agreements of personal property;

(4) Negotiate and execute in the name of the county as lessee, rental of real property which the county may require except as otherwise provided in this code;

(5) Sell, salvage, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any personal property belonging to the county and found by the board of supervisors not to be required for public use, or he may when purchasing personal property accept advantageous trade-in allowances for such property not further required for public use;

(6) Engage independent contractors to perform sundry services for the county and its offices thereof with or without the furnishings of material within the monetary limits specified in Section 25502.5 of the Government Codes as hereafter amended; provided, however, this does not apply to contracts to print legal briefs or legal notices, contractors for court reporters’ services or transcribers, contracts for election supplies, contracts for expert services to be rendered to the offices of county counsel, district attorney or sheriff, contracts for consultant or other experts employed directly by the board of supervisors, or contracts for other services which by law some other officer or body is specifically charged with obtaining;

(7) Contract on behalf of the county, and county officer or department, or any district or court of the county for special services as permitted by Government Code Section 31000 within the monetary limits specified in Government Code Section 25502.5 as hereafter amended;

(8) Engage independent contractors to construct, repair, paint or furnish any building or structure enumerated in Section 20121 of the Public Contract Code within the monetary limits specified in Public Contract Code Section 20131 as hereafter amended;

(9) Acquire by formal or informal competitive bidding, supplies (except for election supplies), equipment, furnishings, livestock, and other personal property where it is determined the expenditure will not exceed twenty-five fifty thousand dollars or as otherwise set by the Board of Supervisors by Resolution for a class of commodities normally obtained from the same source of supply. If it is determined the annual expenditure could exceed twenty-five fifty thousand dollars, or the amount otherwise

established by the Board of Supervisors, the purchasing agent shall issue invitation for formal sealed bids with award made in contract form. If it is determined by the purchasing agent and substantiated by the requisitioning department that there is only one source of supply or that there are necessary restrictions in specifications, or that emergency or hardship to the county would result by delay, the purchasing agent may, without notice, advertisement or the securing of competitive bids or quotations, make any purchase of personal property;

(10) When specifically authorized by law, purchase for the superintendent of schools or other public officer or agency personal property;

(11) When specifically authorized by law, sell or dispose of personal property of any special district and pay the proceeds thereof into the treasury of the district, or if any exchange of trade is made, return the proceeds to the special district;

(12) Originate and prepare at time of purchase or other acquisition by the county, records, on approved form, of equipment items subject to inventory and shall forward records to such department as the board of supervisors shall designate to maintain physical inventory records. Such records shall specifically show description, value, and location of the various items;

(13) Perform such other services as the board of supervisors may from time to time by resolution require;

(14) Engage independent contractors to perform work upon the county roads with or without the furnishing of materials within the monetary limits specified in Public Contract Code Section 20394 as hereafter amended;

(15) The purchasing agent, or his/her designee, is authorized to utilize the informal bidding procedures set forth in the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (California Public Contract Code Section 22000 et seq.) for any public project qualifying thereunder, within the limits established under Public Contract Code Section 22032, as amended from time to time, or as such amounts have been adjusted by the state controller in accordance with Public Contract Code Section 22020.

SECTION VI: That Section 2.36.033 of the County Code be amended as follows:

2.36.033 – Local suppliers.

(a) The purchasing agent shall give a preference of five percent to local suppliers for all informal and formal bids for contracts except with respect to those contracts which state law requires be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder or for any contract which any State or Federal law, regulation or agency prohibits such preference.

If the total cost of an item or services from a local supplier is not more than five percent higher than the lowest bid from a non-local supplier, then the purchasing agent shall award the bid to the local supplier.

(b) A local supplier is a business which conducts business in an office with a physical location within the county and which holds a valid business license issued by the county or a city within the county.

Business must have been conducted, meeting the aforementioned requirements, for a period of not less than six months prior to consideration as a local supplier in the evaluation of any bid.

SECTION VII: Except as set forth in this ordinance, all of the provisions of Chapters 2.11 and 2.36 shall remain unchanged.

SECTION VIII: That the adoption of this Ordinance is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act as defined in title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 15378.

SECTION IX: In any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the constitutionality of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

SECTION X: This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its passage and before the expiration of fifteen (15) days after passage of this ordinance. The Clerk shall publish the previously prepared summary of the ordinance along with the names of the Board of Supervisors members voting for an against the ordinance and post the full text of the ordinance along with the names of the Board of Supervisors members voting for or against the ordinance in the Administrative Office.

Introduced at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors held on the 10th day of February, 2026 and passed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo, State of California, on the 10th day of March, 2026, by the following roll call vote, to-wit:

AYES: Supervisors Heather Moreno, Bruce S. Gibson, John Peschong and Chairperson Jimmy Paulding

NOES: None

ABSENT: Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg

ABSTAINING: None

Certified copies of the full text of the ordinance may be purchased at reproduction cost or reviewed without charge in the San Luis Obispo County Administrative Office, 1055 Monterey St., Room #D430, County Government Center, San Luis Obispo, California 93408, or on the County’s website at slocounty.ca.gov.

DATED: March 11, 2026

MATTHEW PONTES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & EX-OFFICIO CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

By /s/ Niki Martin

Deputy Clerk

March 12, 2026

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the City of San Luis Obispo will receive bids by mail for the “Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Ozone Containment Improvement Project Specification 2001026” at the Public Works Administration Office located at 919 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 until THURSDAY, MARCH

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as possible, the Pismo Beach Planning Commission will hold a public hearing in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 760 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach, for the following purpose:

PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA:

Address: 2539 Spyglass Drive

Applicant: City of Pismo Beach

Project No.: P26-000012

Description: Coastal Development Permit for the installation of 60 linear feet of new wood bollard and chain fencing 10 feet from edge of bluff at Spyglass Park adjacent to a coastal access trail originating at Seacliff Drive, and Categorical Exemption 2026-004. An Emergency Coastal Development Permit was issued by the City on February 10, 2026. The project is within the Coastal Appeal Zone and is appealable to the California Coastal Commission. APN: 010051-002

Environmental Review

In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), it has been determined that the project is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15301(c) of the CEQA Guidelines regarding minor alterations to existing pedestrian trails.

Details about ways to participate in this hearing will be provided on the agenda posted for the meeting online at pismobeach.org/agenda, and on the bulletin board at City Hall. The agenda will be posted in the afternoon of March 19, 2026.

You have a right to comment on these projects and their effect on our community. Interested persons are invited to participate in the hearing or otherwise express their views and opinions regarding the proposed projects. Emailed comments may be submitted to planningcommission@ pismobeach.org; staff cannot guarantee that emailed comments submitted after the start of the meeting will be given full consideration before action is taken. Written comments may be delivered or mailed to the Community Development Department / Planning Division Office at 760 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach, CA 93449, prior to the meeting, or hand-delivered during the meeting no later than the comment period for this item. Oral comment may be provided prior to the meeting by calling 805-773-7005 and leaving a voice message. Please state and spell your name, and identify your item of interest. Oral comment may also be made by attending the meeting in person in the Council Chamber at City Hall. Please refer to the agenda for this meeting for specific instructions for participation. Staff reports, plans and other information related to these projects are available for public review from the Planning Division Office, by emailing Commission Clerk Brianna Whisenhunt at bwhisenhunt@pismobeach.org. The meeting agenda and staff report will be available no later than the Friday before the meeting and may be obtained upon request by mail or by visiting www.pismobeach.org/ agenda. The Planning Commission meeting will be televised live on Charter Spectrum Cable Channel 20 and streamed on the City’s website.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you challenge the action taken on this item in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Pismo Beach at, or prior to, the public hearing.

For further information, please contact Commission Clerk Brianna Whisenhunt at bwhisenhunt@pismobeach.org or 805-773-4658.

Brianna Whisenhunt Commission Clerk March 12, 2026

SEALED BIDS will be received by the Public Works Administration, or designee, of the City of El Paso de Robles until Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. for the Creston Road Corridor Improvements Phase 2, DPW Project No. 12-12H5. Please be certain that any bid submitted is sealed and addressed and noted as follows: City of El Paso de Robles Public Works Administration 4305 Second Wind Way Paso Robles, CA 93446

Sealed Bid for Creston Road Corridor Improvements Phase 2, DPW Project No. 12-12H5

Following the closure of the bid submittal period, bids will be publicly opened and read for performing work as follows: Furnishing all labor, materials, equipment, and performing all work necessary and incidental to the construction of the project known as Creston Road Corridor Improvements Phase 2, DPW Project No. 12-12H5, according to drawings and specifications prepared by the City of El Paso de Robles and according to the Contract Documents. The work shall include, but is not limited to, pavement rehabilitation, concrete surface improvements, sewer, water, fiber conduit, storm drain pipeline improvements, lighting improvements, signage and striping improvements, along the retaining walls, landscaping and irrigation. Contractor to provide all necessary work plans, permits, and inspections necessary, all as shown on the plans and/or as specified herein.

Work shall be completed in phases, as noted below, and only one notice to proceed will be issued.

Phase A: Phase A is that portion between Orchard and Melody Drive and includes the items with the roundabout. Work shall begin (10) days from the issuance of the Notice to Proceed. Contractor shall have (375) working days to complete the work and shall pay to the City of El Paso de Robles the sum of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00), for each and every CALENDAR day’s delay in finishing the work in excess of the working day completion time.

Phase B: Phase B is that portion between Melody Drive and Niblick Road. Work shall begin (10) days from the issuance of the Notice to Proceed. Contractor shall have (125) working days to complete the work and shall pay the City of El Paso de Robles the sum of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00), for each and every CALENDAR days delay in finishing the work in excess of the working day completion time.

Phase C: Phase C is that portion of work in front of Nick’s Barbershop. Work may begin anytime during contract duration while work occurs in either Phases A & B. However, once the contractor begins in Phase C, Contractor must complete the work within (15) working days and shall pay to the City of El Paso de Robles the sum of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00), for each and every CALENDAR days delay in finishing the work in excess of the working day completion time. Furthermore, driveway access to businesses must be available at all times, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) implemented amendments to the In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleets Regulations (“Regulation”) which went into effect on January 1, 2024, and apply broadly to all self-propelled off road diesel vehicles 25 horsepower or greater and other forms of equipment used in California. A copy of the Regulation is available at https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/ barcu/regact/2022/off-roaddiesel/appa-1.pdf Bidders are required to comply with all CARB and Regulation requirements, including, without limitation, all applicable sections of the Regulation, as codified in Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations section 2449 et seq. throughout the duration of the Project. Bidders must provide, with their Bid, copies of Bidder’s and all listed subcontractors’ most recent, valid Certificate of Reported Compliance (“CRC”) issued by CARB. Failure to provide valid CRCs as required herein may render the Bid non-responsive. Copies of the Bid Documents are now on file and available for public inspection at Public Works Department at 4305 Second Wind Way, El Paso de Robles, California.  Interested bidders must obtain copies of the documents electronically.

The Contract Documents will be available electronically, at no cost, at DemandStar Paso Robles, CA.  Use the link DemandStar Paso Robles, CA to navigate to the website for out to bid projects.  To download the Bid Documents, the user must register as a user on the site.  It is the responsibility of each prospective bidder to download and print all Bid Documents for review and to verify the completeness of Bid Documents before submitting a bid.   Any Addenda will be posted at DemandStar Paso Robles, CA.

It is the responsibility of each prospective bidder to check DemandStar Paso Robles, CA on a daily basis through the close of bids for any applicable addenda or updates. DemandStar Paso Robles, CA sends email notifications to ONLY those registered on their website. The City does not assume any liability or responsibility based on any defective or incomplete copying, excerpting, scanning, faxing, downloading or printing of the Bid Documents. Information on DemandStar Paso Robles, CA may change without notice to prospective bidders. The Contract Documents shall supersede any information posted or transmitted by any other vendor besides the City.

Bidding procedures are prescribed in the Contract Documents. Each bidder must submit bid security in one of the following forms: cash, cashier’s check payable to City, a certified check payable to City, or a bid bond in the form included with the bid documents, executed by an admitted surety insurer, made payable to City in an amount equal to at least 10% of the total amount of the bid or proposal.

Pursuant to Section 1770, et seq. of the California Labor Code, the successful bidder and all subcontractors shall pay not less than the prevailing rate of per diem wages as determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Pursuant to Labor Code Section 1725.5, for bids due on or after March 1, 2015, all contractors and subcontractors that wish to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal for, or enter into a contract to perform work on the Project must be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code sections 1725.5 and 1771.1. No bid will be accepted, nor any contract entered into if the bidder is not registered as required by law.

Pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 22300, for monies earned by the Contractor and withheld by City of El Paso de Robles to ensure the performance of the Contract, the Contractor may, at its option, choose to substitute securities meeting the requirements of Public Contract Code Section 22300.

All bidders shall be licensed under the provisions of the Business and Professions Code to do the type of work contemplated in the project. In accordance with provisions of California Public Contract Code Section 3300, City has determined that the Contractor shall possess a valid Class A (General Engineering) License at the time that the bid is submitted.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Arroyo Grande City Council will conduct a public hearing in the Arroyo Grande City Council Chambers located at 215 E. Branch Street, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 on TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., or soon thereafter, to consider the following item: Consideration Of Appeal Case 26-001; Appeal of Planning Commission Approval of Conditional Use Permit 25-001 and Finding That This Action Is Exempt From The California Environmental Quality Act Pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21080.66(a); Construction of Ninety-Two (92) Multi-Family Residential Units; Location – 1271 and 1281 James Way; Appellants – Pismo Medical Properties LLC, Arroyo Grande Partners LLC and Ray B Bunnel Revocable Trust

The City Council will consider an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of Conditional Use Permit 25-001 to construct two new residential buildings containing a total of ninetytwo (92) multi-family residential units on approximately 1.81-acre parcel located at 1271 and 181 James Way within the Office Mixed Use (OMU) district. Both buildings will be four stories in height in a split-level concept. The project will include a community center, fitness area, and 31 one-car garages. The project proposes to reserve either 15% of the base density in the form of deed-restricted units reserved for individuals meeting San Luis Obispo County’s Affordable Housing Standards for Very Low Income households, or 24% of the base density for Low Income households. In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Community Development Department has determined that the proposed project is statutorily exempt pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21080.66(a).

This City Council meeting is being conducted in a hybrid in-person/ virtual format. During the public hearing, public comment will be limited to three (3) minutes per speaker, pursuant to current meeting procedure. The public can join the meeting virtually through the following Zoom link: https://arroyogrande-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ NRsyFrUIQ_6179_iBTyDVA

The City Council may also discuss other hearings or business items before or after the item listed above. If you challenge the proposed action in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Council at, or prior to, the public hearing. Failure of any person to receive the notice shall not constitute grounds for any court to invalidate the action of the legislative body for which the notice was given. Documents related to the project are available in the Community Development Department located at 300 E. Branch Street, Arroyo Grande. The Agenda and reports are posted online at www. arroyogrande.org 72 hours prior to the meeting. Please call (805) 473-5420 for more information. The City Council meeting will be televised live on Charter Cable Channel 20 and streamed live on the City’s Website.

Jessica Matson, City Clerk March 12, 2026

Free Will Astrology by Rob Brezsny

Homework: Take yourself to the river when it’s time to go to the river. Newsletter.freewillastrology.com

ARIES

(March 21-April 19): In theater, “breaking the fourth wall” means acknowledging the audience. An actor steps out of the pretense that what’s happening onstage is real. It’s a disruptive moment of truth that can deepen the experience. I would love you to break the fourth wall in your own life, Aries. It’s a favorable time to slip free of any roles you’ve been performing by rote and just blurt out the more interesting truths. Tell someone, “This isn’t working for me.” Or say, “I need to be my pure self with greater authenticity.” Breaking the fourth wall won’t ruin the show; it will be more fun and real and entertaining.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20): English speakers like me use the terms “destiny” and “fate” interchangeably. But a scholar of ancient Sumer claims they had different meanings in that culture. Nam the word for “destiny,” was fixed and immutable. Namtar, meaning “fate,” could be manipulated, adjusted, and even cheated. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I believe you now have a golden chance to veer off a path that leads to an uninteresting or unproductive destiny and start gliding along a fateful detour.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20): The coming months will be a favorable time for you to shed the fairy-tale story of success that once inspired you when you were younger and more idealistic. A riper vision is emerging, calling you toward a more realistic and satisfying version of your life’s purpose. The transformation may at first feel unsettling, but I believe it will ultimately awaken even deeper zeal and greater creativity than your original dream. Bonus: Your revised, more mature goals will lead you to the very rewards your youthful hopes imagined but never quite delivered.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I love your diplomatic genius: the capacity to understand all sides, to hold space for contradictions, to find the middle ground. But right now it’s in danger of curdling into a kind of self-erasure where your own desires become the one thing you can’t quite locate. Another way to understand this: You are so skilled at seeing everyone’s perspective that you sometimes lose track of your own. Here’s the antidote I recommend: Practice the revolutionary act of having strong opinions, of preferring one thing over another without immediately undercutting your preference with a counterargument. I guarantee that your relationships will survive your decisiveness. In fact, they will deepen as people locate the real you beneath your exquisite balance.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): New love cravings have been welling up inside you, Scorpio. These cries of the heart may confuse you even as they delight you and invigorate you. One of your main tasks is to listen closely to what they’re telling you, but to wait a while before expressing their messages to other people. You need to study them in detail before spilling them out. Another prime task is to feel patient awe and reverence for the immensity and intensity of these deep, wild desires.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you are fulfilling your birthright as a Sagittarius, you are a philosopher-adventurer with a yearning for deep meaning. As you seek out interesting truths, your restless curiosity is a spiritual necessity. You understand that wisdom comes from collecting diverse, sometimes contradictory experiences and weaving them into a coherent worldview. You have a fundamental need to keep expanding and reinventing what freedom means to you. All these qualities may make some people nervous, but they really are among your primary assignments now and forever. They are especially important to cultivate these days.

City

COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & BUILDING PLANNING COMMISSION

WHO County of San Luis Obispo Planning Commission

WHEN

Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 9:00 AM: All items are advertised for 9:00 AM. To verify agenda placement, please call the Department of Planning & Building at (805) 781-5600.

WHAT

Hearing to consider a request by Buona Fortuna, LLC. for a Variance (N-DRC2025-00010) to allow grading on slopes in excess of 30% for the construction of a new approximately 2,180 square-foot three-level single-family residence which will include an attached accessory dwelling unit (ADU), 836 square-foot non-habitable basement, 443 square-foot two car garage, and 477 square-feet of deck areas. The future development will result in the disturbance of the entire approximately 3,700 square-foot vacant parcel. The proposed project site is located within the Residential Single-Family land use category and is located on Richard Avenue (APN: 064-204-062), in the community of Cayucos. The site is in the Estero Planning Area.

Also to be considered is the determination that this project is exempt from environmental review under CEQA based on the General Rule or Common Sense Exemption.

County File Number: N-DRC2025-00010

Supervisorial District: District 2

Assessor Parcel Number(s): 064-204-062

Date Accepted: 10/23/2025

WHERE

The hearing will be held in the Katcho Achadjian Government Center, Board of Supervisors Chambers,1055 Monterey Street, Room #D170, San Luis Obispo, CA. The Board of Supervisors Chambers are located on the corner of Santa Rosa and Monterey Streets. At the meeting all interested persons may express their views for or against, or to change the proposal.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

A copy of the staff report will be made available on the Planning Department website at www.sloplanning.org. You may also contact Andy Knighton, Project Manager, in the Department of Planning and Building at the address below or by telephone at 805-781-4142.

Ysabel Eighmy

Secretary Planning Commission March 12, 2026

CANCER

(June 21-July 22): Even if you’re not actually far from home, Cancerian, I bet you’re on a pilgrimage or odyssey of some kind. The astrological omens tell me that you’re being drawn away from familiar ideas and feelings and are en route to an unknown country. You’re transforming, but you’re not sure how yet. During this phase of exploration, I suggest that you adopt a nickname that celebrates being on a quest. This will be a playful alias that helps you focus on the pregnant potential of this interlude. A few you might want to consider: Journey Seed, Threshold Traveler, Holy Rambler, Map-Edge Maverick, or Wanderlust Wonderer. Others? Choose one that tickles you with the sense that you are being born again while you travel.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): Love is more than a gentle glow in your heart or a pleasurable spark in your body. When fully awakened and activated, it becomes a revolutionary way of being in the world that invites you to challenge and rethink all you’ve been taught about reality. It’s a bold magic that alters everything it encounters. You can certainly choose a milder, tamer version of love if you wish. But if you’d like to evolve into a love maestro—as you very well could during the next 12 months—I suggest you give yourself to the deeper, wilder form. Do you dare?

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Octopuses have neuron clusters in their arms that enable them to “think with their limbs.” Let’s make them your spirit creature for now, Virgo. Your body’s intuitions are offering you guidance that might even be as helpful as your fine mind. This enhanced somatic brilliance can serve you in practical ways: a creative breakthrough while doing housework, a challenging transition handled with aplomb, a fresh alignment between your feelings and ideas. I hope you will listen to your body as if it were a beloved mentor. Trust your movements and physical sensations to reveal what you need to know.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In traditional navigation, “dead reckoning” means finding your position by tracking your previous movements. Where you have been tells you where you are. But it only works if you’ve been honest about your course. If you’ve been misleading yourself about the direction you have been traveling, dead reckoning will get you lost. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because I really want you to rededicate yourself to telling yourself the deepest, strongest, clearest truths. Where have you actually been going? Not where you told yourself you were going or where other people imagined you were going, but where your choices have actually been taking you. Look at the pattern of your real movements, not your stated intentions. Once you know your true position, you can chart a true course for the future.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You’re entering a rambling zigzag phase. Each plot twist will branch into two more, and every supposed finale will reveal itself as the opening act of another surprise. Fortunately, your gift for quick thinking and innovative adaptation is sharper than ever, which means you will flourish where others might freeze. My suggestion? Forget the script. Approach the unpredictable adventures like an improv exercise: spontaneous, playful, and open to the fertile mysteries.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-March 20): Can you compel acts of grace to intervene in your destiny? Can bursts of divine favor be summoned through the power of your will? Some spiritual scholars say, “Absolutely not.” They claim life’s wild benevolence arrives only through the mysterious tides of fate—impossible to solicit and impossible to predict. But other observers, more open-minded, speculate that your intelligent goodness might indeed attract the vivid generosity of cosmic energies. I bring this up because I suspect you Pisceans are either receiving or will soon receive blessings that feel like divine favor. Did you earn them, or are you just lucky—or some of both? It doesn’t matter. Enjoy the gift. ∆