Uncovered SLO


SLO County prosecutors have video evidence of Flores’ sexual assaults

By JOSH FRIEDMAN and KAREN VELIE The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office disclosed their intent on Wednesday to provide the defense with video and audio evidence of sexual abuse Paul Flores allegedly committed before he was charged this... (Continue reading)

SLO County’s battle over polystyrene could shutter the IWMA

By KAREN VELIE San Luis Obispo County’s waste agency voted Wednesday to continue the countywide polystyrene ban even though the majority of board members voted to end it, leading several agencies to voice their plans to leave the agency. Divided... (Continue reading)

Flores killed SLO County coed while sexual assaulting her, DA alleges

By JOSH FRIEDMAN Paul Flores murdered Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, who has been missing since 1996, while raping or attempting to rape her, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow alleges. At a press conference Wednesday, Dow announced... (Continue reading)

SLO County sheriff details the Kristin Smart murder investigation

By KAREN VELIE San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson announced his detectives found evidence related to the murder of Kristin Smart at the homes of both Paul Flores and his father Rubin Flores, during a press conference on Tuesday.... (Continue reading)

SLO County deputies arrest suspects in Kristin Smart case, search for body

By JOSH FRIEDMAN San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputies arrested Paul Flores, the primary suspect in the disappearance of Kristin Smart,  and his father, Ruben Flores, at separate locations Tuesday morning. Investigators are currently digging under Rubin Flores’ home in... (Continue reading)

LAFCO to appoint Arroyo Grande director to its top spot

By KAREN VELIE The San Luis Obispo County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has selected Arroyo Grande’s new Community Development Department Director Robert Fitzroy to be its top executive. The LAFCO Commission will consider formally hiring Fitzroy at a meeting... (Continue reading)

SLO County judges send Tianna Arata controversy to the appellate court

By KAREN VELIE A panel of three San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judges on Friday ordered another appeal of Judge Matt Guerrero’s ruling to recuse the entire district attorney’s office in a cases regarding Black Lives Matter protesters transferred... (Continue reading)

SLO County BLM protester appeal headed back to the appellate court

By KAREN VELIE In the latest legal round regarding a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who blocked Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo last summer, the appellate court reversed their earlier decision not to hear an appeal of Judge... (Continue reading)

Assemblyman defending former SLO officer charged with violating COVID-19 rules

BY JOSH FRIEDMAN The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against a former San Luis Obispo police sergeant for allegedly violating coronavirus health orders, setting up a possible court battle between prosecutors and a sitting California assemblyman.... (Continue reading)

SLO County supervisors open the door to water banking

(Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors recent vote to allow water banking in the county’s aquifers.) By DANIEL BLACKBURN A barely-noticed action early in March by the... (Continue reading)