Central Coast Gifford Fire now largest blaze burning in California
By KAREN VELIE The fast moving Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties swelled to 23,588 acres on Saturday morning making it the largest blaze currently burning in California. The fire is spreading rapidly through dry vegetation in rugged terrain. Firefighters are facing temperatures in the mid...
Over 1,400 households without power in northern San Luis Obispo County
By KAREN VELIE More than 1,400 PG&E customers lost power in northern San Luis Obispo County on Saturday morning. Shortly before noon, power went out for 1,466 PG&E customers from Templeton to Lake Nacimiento. The cause of the outage remains under investigation. Workers are examining the electric system in the...
Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo County grows to 5,000 acres
By KAREN VELIE The Gifford Fire burning in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties grew to 5,000 acres by Friday evening, with no containment. The fire is burning primarily in the Los Padres National Forest. Shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday, a caller reported four small fires burning along...
Arroyo Grande man charged with attempted murder
By KAREN VELIE An Arroyo Grande man is charged with attempted murder after he allegedly threatened to kill several people outside a hotel on Friday morning. Shortly after 6 a.m., an employee of the hotel on El Camino Real in Arroyo Grande reported a man armed with a knife had...
Good Samaritans rescue man drowning in pool in San Luis Obispo
By KAREN VELIE Three men rescued a man drowning in San Luis Obispo late Thursday afternoon. A man was swimming in the pool at Laguna Terrace Mobile Home Park on Pefumo Canyon Road with two of his children when he went under water. The man then sunk to the bottom...
Fire burning in SLO and Santa Barbara counties scorches over 800 acres
By KAREN VELIE The fast moving Gifford Fire burning in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties grew to 818 acres in four hours on Friday, with no containment. Shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday, a caller reported four small fires burning along Highway 166 about 30 miles northeast of...
Latest in Paso Robles Groundwater Basin war: New tax rejected
By KAREN VELIE As part of a more than decade-long war over control of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, the newly formed joint powers authority’s plan to tax landowners over the basin failed on Friday. During Friday’s meeting that included the ability for the public to attend and comment through...
