San Luis Obispo New Times

Cayucos residents successfully blocked a proposed water rate increase Sept. 1 after more than enough property owners protested the county’s plan to raise rates for customers in South Cayucos. The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously recognized the majority protest after the county clerk reported receiving 525 valid written protests—more than the 441 needed to stop the increase under Proposition 218. The vote means the proposed rates will not take effect.

Pismo Beach’s South Palisades Park, colloquially known as Beachcomber Park, will now bear a different name to honor the city’s first elected mayor. At its Sept. 1 meeting, the Pismo Beach City Council voted 4-0 to rename South Palisades Park to Mary Ann Reiss Park in recognition of Reiss’ 30 years of elected service. Reiss, a sitting council member, abstained from the vote. “When I first heard the news, I was completely humbled,” she said at the meeting.

She who represents herself has a fool for a client. Judge Timothy Covello warned Gaea Powell about the foolishness of being her own lawyer in her election fraud trial, but did she listen? Nope. And now that her trial was supposed to start on Monday, Aug. 31, she wants the court to appoint her a lawyer. Hey Gaea, why don’t you save the court’s time and taxpayers’ money and plead guilty so I can write about someone else? Powell’s ongoing travails are colossally inane and entirely of her own making.

Arroyo Grande resident Kathleen Minck credits her local library with keeping her mind sharp long after retirement, but its prolonged closure means the next generation is losing out on that mental enrichment. “I have a great-grandson who just started second grade, … and he doesn’t know anything about going to the library and getting a library card because it’s been under construction for so long,” said Minck, a former elementary school teacher.

After rapidly expanding in southern Monterey County at the end of August, the Plaskett Fire is proving difficult to contain while firefighters farther north are gaining ground on the weeks-old Timber Fire. The two wildfires have burned more than 50,000 acres along the Big Sur coast, closing Highway 1 and prompting evacuation orders and warnings in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.

Former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell was set to begin her fraud trial on Aug. 31, but her claims of sudden illness delayed the process. Powell’s absence that day prompted Judge Timothy Covello to issue an arrest warrant to be held until 1:30 p.m. on Sep. 1, contingent on her appearing in court. Powell arrived on time on Sept. 1, leading to Covello recalling the warrant and admonishing her. “Unless you’re so unwell you physically can’t be here … you’re ordered to be present.

Last week we lost Dolly Parton, the undisputed queen of country music. Over nearly seven decades, Dolly swept us away with her outsized personality, her ostentatious outfits, and her immense talent. Dolly grew up in a one-room shack in rural Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children in a dirt-poor but love-rich family.

Cal Poly is “exploring” a “mixed-use development” of prime agricultural land at the western entrance near Highland Drive. The Aug.

If you’re a fan of John Lennon, photography, documentary film, and a love story for the ages, you’re going to love The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang, on display at Edna Contemporary for three days only—Friday, Sept. 18 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Saturday, Sept. 19 (noon to 5 p.m.); and Sunday, Sept. 20 (noon to 4 p.m.). Pang had an 18-month romantic relationship with Lennon when he and Yoko Ono separated in 1973.

“Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin. Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in. Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove.