Guests have chosen the Atascadero Holiday Inn Express & Suites as one of the best overall internationally.

Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center announced that it has named Rollie Pirkl as its chief financial officer.

A new restaurant and bar is taking the place of Broad Street Tavern in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Villicana Winery has opened a new side business, Paso Robles Craft Distilling, to use wine grapes to create vodka and gin.

The Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce is planning a trip to Cuba for its members and other San Luis Obispo County residents this summer — possibly making it the first chamber in California to get the opportunity to travel to the country in decades, according to chamber Chief Executive Peter Candela.

Pismo Beach Mayor Shelly Higginbotham and her husband, Dr. Robert “Sonny” Higginbotham, have been selected as Pismo Beach’s Citizens of the Year.

The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens restaurant in Cambria, known as one of the best jazz rooms on the West Coast, will close Sunday.

Taking advantage of lower interest rates, the city of San Luis Obispo is set to sell $5.48 million of water revenue bonds Wednesday that would replace a 2002 bond refinancing.

IQMS hired 40 employees last year; now in danger of outgrowing its Wisteria Lane headquarters, the business hopes to construct a two-story building within the next year and a half.

Clever Ducks, an information technology services company in San Luis Obispo, is moving into the building that formerly housed A&R Furniture.

Former U.S. Rep. Andrea Seastrand has been named organizational development director of the San Luis Obispo Property and Business Owners’ Association.

Ben Flajnik, the latest singleton featured on ABC’s “The Bachelor,” co-owns Envolve Winery in Sonoma. Clever Concepts of Paso Robles recently designed and built the winery's website.

Niner Wine Estates on Highway 46 West is offering cooking classes taught by San Luis Obispo County chefs Nanette Smalley, Maegen Loring and Andre Averseng.

Those seeking tips on winter pruning in the vineyard can attend a seminar Wednesday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. held by the Independent Grape Growers of the Paso Robles Area.

Some things to think about in the new year:

The Grover Beach Chamber of Commerce has chosen Marianne Conner as its 2011 Citizen of the Year.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will be the featured speaker at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce's next Legislative Council Lunch in February.

The second Chipotle Mexican Grill in San Luis Obispo opened Wednesday at the Madonna Plaza.

Mission Community Bank has repaid $5.1 million to the U.S. Treasury Department, repurchasing all 5,116 shares issued under the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s Capital Purchase Program.

Central Coast Waterproofing’s 2011 revenue was up about 20 percent over the previous year. Owner Bill Leys attributes the increase only partly to weather.