2015

Proposed Paso Robles water district tax unjust

OPINION By SUE HARVEY Open Letter to San Luis Obispo County LAFCO Commissioners: San Luis Obispo County Supervisors approved a funding plan for their proposed Paso Robles Groundwater District that unfairly taxes and penalizes rural residential users, vacant parcels, and... (Continue reading)

Grover Beach man Tased after threatening cop with shovel

Officers Tased a man who used a broom and then a deadly shovel to assault a California Highway Patrol officer on Tuesday, according to the Grover Beach Police Department. Around 11 a.m., the CHP officer was working a traffic assignment... (Continue reading)

North County men arrested for California theft spree

Two North County men allegedly teamed up to steal more than $35,000 worth of property, including a Mercedes Benz and a Norwegian passport, from victims in locations ranging from Los Angeles County to Paso Robles. On Sunday, Paso Robles police... (Continue reading)

Father shoots son, police arrest son

A man shot his son during an argument at a Santa Maria home Monday night, but when police responded, they arrested the son. [KCOY] Around 11:10 p.m., Santa Maria police responded to a reported shooting in the 3400 block of... (Continue reading)

Fire delays Santa Margarita Elementary School opening day

Classes at Santa Margarita Elementary School will not start on Wednesday as previously planned, the Atascadero Unified School District announced Tuesday. Approximately 1,000 firefighters are battling a blaze burning on the southwest side of the town. The last estimate, on... (Continue reading)

Does California have a hotel bubble?

Hotel buyers are spending in record fashion in California this year. [OC Register] Buyers spent $4.4 billion on 174 California hotels in the first half of 2015, according to Atlas Hospitality Group of Irvine. That surpassed the annual total spent... (Continue reading)

SLO City takes citizens on a wild ride

By RICHARD SCHMIDT Usually I write about very serious San Luis Obispo City politics — water rates, tax elections, other boring stuff. Today, dear readers, we’ll talk about goofy little things our city people do, the warp and weft of... (Continue reading)

California plans to seize farms to build water tunnels

California officials are preparing to take as many as 300 Central Valley farms by eminent domain in order to build water tunnels, according to a report prepared by state contractors. [ABC News] Governor Jerry Brown is calling for the state... (Continue reading)

Sanitation district wiped away records, audit finds

By JOSH FRIEDMAN Four and a half years of accounting data were wiped away from South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District computers under the leadership of John Wallace, a former IRS investigator alleges. In May, the sanitation district board... (Continue reading)

Man who forced girls into prostitution sentenced

A 34-year-old man who forced two teenage girls into prostitution in Fresno and San Luis Obispo received a federal prison sentence of more than 12.5 years. Fresno resident Michael Anthony Andrade was one of two men who pleaded guilty to... (Continue reading)