Daniel Blackburn
Daniel Blackburn is editor of KCCN.tv
The "Continue Reading" links open in a new window or tab.
Arroyo Grande council eyes reopening Adams inquiry
By DANIEL BLACKBURN Stung by accusations of a cover-up, the Arroyo Grande City Council Tuesday decided to probe further into a late-night rendezvous between two officials who were discovered in a darkened City Hall last month. Prodded by council member Tim Brown and a string of angry residents, the panel decided to set a date […]... (Continue Reading)
Arroyo Grande tryst a group affair
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN A late night rendezvous at Arroyo Grande City Hall involving two city officials ended abruptly when emergency workers, responding to a 911 call about a missing spouse, discovered a partially dressed couple in the darkened building. But the sex scandal apparently goes far beyond staff using a City Hall […]... (Continue Reading)
Parkinson’s Navy
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Sheriff Ian Parkinson told San Luis Obispo County Supervisors in April that he needed an extra half million dollars to buy and operate a 27-foot Defender Class response boat to tow drug smuggling boats, known as pangas, an expense he said would save the county money. Parkinson noted in […]... (Continue Reading)
Here’s a vote for public comment
OPINION By DANIEL BLACKBURN As a general rule, there’s nothing in New Times’ Shredder column that’s worth reading, much less commenting on. Also, as a general rule, I don’t resort to name-calling in my writing. But to outlaws like me, those rules are made to be broken. This week, the newspaper’s Bible-toting editor, Ryan Miller, […]... (Continue Reading)
County pension liability tops $346 million
By DANIEL BLACKBURN San Luis Obispo County employees’ pension plan has a $346 million unfunded liability, a matter of concern to the Grand Jury because of its breathtaking size and the suggestion that officials may have tried to camouflage the problem. The Employment Retirement Plan imbalance was examined in a report just issued by the […]... (Continue Reading)
Supervisors waffle on support for Paso Robles water bill
By DANIEL BLACKBURN A heavily-amended legislative proposal to create a “hybrid” water district for controlling the Paso Robles water basin no longer has support from the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors following a circuitous, often testy discussion by the panel Tuesday. An effort by Chairman Bruce Gibson to place an analysis of those […]... (Continue Reading)
Creston group denied water advisory seat
By DANIEL BLACKBURN An influential Creston community organization has been excluded from a county advisory group whose eventual findings will help shape the future of the hotly-contested Paso Robles water basin. The Creston Advisory Board last week asked for a seat on the panel, the Paso Robles Groundwater Resources Advisory Committee (PRGRAC), but the effort […]... (Continue Reading)
Water district bill vote process altered
By DANIEL BLACKBURN A controversial proposal to form a managing water district for the Paso Robles groundwater basin passed a Senate committee Tuesday with significant amendments. Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo) agreed to the changes to his bill, AB 2453, including one that will require both the petition and formation vote to be based […]... (Continue Reading)
Arnold says Gibson misleading lawmakers
By DANIEL BLACKBURN Amendments to legislation aiding formation of a water district to manage the Paso Robles aquifer are just fine, according to county supervisors’ chairman Bruce Gibson, asserting he speaks for the entire board. Not so, said Fifth District Supervisor Debbie Arnold Tuesday, who will ask her fellow board members to discuss the issue […]... (Continue Reading)
A crafted perception of water district ‘cooperation’
Eyes On Your Water: Third in a series of reports on the North County’s festering water politics. By DANIEL BLACKBURN A surprise voting maneuver — engineered by its leader — divided a local landowners’ group and greased the skids for a plan to create a controversial water district regulating use of the Paso Robles basin. […]... (Continue Reading)
