Daily Briefs


City attorney fines Ashbaugh for campaign misconduct

San Luis Obpispo City Attorney Christine Dietrick fined Councilman John Ashbaugh $252 Friday for accepting an illegal campaign contribution from County Supervisor Adam Hill. Ashbaugh admitted to receiving two bottles of wine from Hill in addition to a $200 check,... (Continue reading)

Paso Robles woman strikes driver in road-rage incident

California Highway Patrol officers arrested a Paso Robles woman and her 19-year-old son following a road rage incident that became violent. [Tribune] Irene Martinez, 39, was headed south on Highway 101 when she cut off Randall Griffin as both drivers... (Continue reading)

SLO sewage spill closes Avila Beach

Port San Luis and Avila Beach were closed Friday after 1,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into local waterways because of a blocked sewer lateral near 1585 Calle Joaquin Road in San Luis Obispo. The sewage leaked into the ocean... (Continue reading)

Ashbaugh continues questionable use of city email

Following the filing of a campaign misconduct complaint against incumbent San Luis Obispo City Councilman John Ashbaugh, the candidate for reelection once again made personal use of his public email account. The city attorney’s office announced Tuesday that it is... (Continue reading)

Anti-death penalty support mounting

Voter support for a ballot measure to repeal California’s death penalty has increased dramatically now just 3 percentage points behind those in favor of capital punishment, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found. [LATimes] The survey, conducted last... (Continue reading)

Visiting Montana de Oro could cost you

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is slated to vote Tuesday on a contract amendment that would allow the state to charge a fee to visitors and campers at Montaña de Oro State Park. [Tribune] Contract language between... (Continue reading)

Turkey vulture shuts down Cuesta College

A turkey vulture striking a power line on Thursday caused San Luis Obispo Cuesta College campus officials to cancel evening classes because of a power outage. Power was lost to parts of the campus at 3:30 p.m. and the entire... (Continue reading)

Brown’s tax plan faltering

With polls showing support slipping for Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure, Prop. 30, the state’s chief executive yesterday raised the threat of a $6 billion cut to California education in the event voters reject the temporary tax increases. (Ventura Star)... (Continue reading)

Another elected county official leaves office early

San Luis Obispo County Treasurer-Tax Collector Frank Freitas announced Wednesday he will retire on Friday less than two years into a four year term. Two months ago, SLO County Auditor-Controller Gere Sibbach announced he will retire on Dec. 29, also... (Continue reading)

Credit card breach at SLO Barnes & Noble

Hackers have stolen credit card information from customers of 63 Barnes & Noble stores across the country, including the San Luis Obispo store. [LATimes] On Sept. 14, Barnes & Noble discovered that the customer information had been stolen but kept... (Continue reading)