Karen Velie
Karen Velie lives in San Luis Obispo County.
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Paso Robles property owners win water rights battle
By KAREN VELIE A group of Paso Robles property owners won a major court battle in their war against several water purveyors who contend they have notoriously taken water from the Paso Robles Basin for at least five years and now have greater rights to the water than the property owners. In response to the San […]... (Continue Reading)
Haggens files $1 billion lawsuit against Albersons
By KAREN VELIE Haggen, a Washington-based chain of grocery stores, filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking more than $1 billion in damages against Albertsons. In Dec. 2014, Haggen bought 146 Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions and Safeway stores. Shortly after the purchase, many of the stores customers left after prices skyrocketed and previously stocked items were no longer […]... (Continue Reading)
Susan said, Cliff said
By KAREN VELIE Accomplished novelist Susan Branch’s latest work, a memoir very thinly disguised as fiction, provides readers a rare look under the covers and into the marriage and divorce of one of San Luis Obispo’s former prominent couples. Though the names of many of their friends, colleagues, and companions have been changed, some Central […]... (Continue Reading)
Mission Prep bedeviled by lawsuit, Reagan trip sexual misconduct
By KAREN VELIE Officials at Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo announced last week there will not be a junior varsity football team when the season begins next week, leaving many to question why. This fall, Mission Prep will be the only high school involved in the the two major San Luis Obispo County conferences […]... (Continue Reading)
SLO tale of falsified documents, code violations and water theft
By KAREN VELIE Editor’s note: This is the second in an exclusive series about developers Ryan Petetit and John Belsher, their development projects, their failures to abide by building requirements, legal troubles, and unpaid monies owed to subcontractors and investors. Read part one here. Two San Luis Obispo-based developers find it easy to obtain building […]... (Continue Reading)
Mountain lion chews off Cayucos man’s hand
By KAREN VELIE A large mountain lion was spotted near the mauled body of a Cayucos man Saturday evening on Hang Glider Hill near Gilbert Avenue. Shortly after 7 p.m., several of his neighbors watched Steven Weaver, 63, walking his dog. A few hours later, Weaver’s dog returned to Gilbert Avenue alone prompting several people […]... (Continue Reading)
Plane crash victims’ questionable pasts
By KAREN VELIE Exclusive: The two men identified in a plane crash in the backcountry of Santa Barbara have been identified as a San Diego pilot and a businessman, both of whom have questionable backgrounds. The pilot, David Keith Martz, 58, and his passenger, 56-year-old Birger Greg Bacino died in the Thursday night crash. Officials said […]... (Continue Reading)
Dollars or sense for Carroll family children?
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Editor’s Note: This is the last of a three-part exclusive series detailing how three children were taken from their parents and placed in a home with a man now accused of sexual assault. Find part one here and part two here. San Luis Obispo County expects $21 million in […]... (Continue Reading)
A twisted road into the hands of a child rape suspect
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Editor’s Note: This is part two in a three-part series on how three children were taken from their parents and placed in a home with a man now accused of sexual assault. Find part one here. Three San Luis Obispo children were taken from their homeless parents by the […]... (Continue Reading)
Exclusive: County put children into hands of man accused of rape
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Editors Note: This is first in a three-part series on how three children were taken from their parents and placed in the home of a man now accused of sexual assault. A child allegedly raped and sodomized for more than six years at a Nipomo home was placed there […]... (Continue Reading)
