Recent Comments:



  • "Roy you need to give the cynicism a rest. From people I have talked to that have bumped into him at The Ranch restaurant in Margarita and other places, say he is a very humble and nice guy. Kind of reminds me when Clint Eastwood use to come to Paso (Busi's I think) years ago when I first moved here. He came because he liked the slower pace and that people would leave him alone and let him be a normal person. That speaks well of us as local people. With your comment, you aren't putting down Galeck, you are putting down yourself and all of us as decent folks that he likes. Sad."

    BeenThereDoneThat commented in:
    Fire destroys Big Bang Theory star’s Santa Margarita home on 2017-06-28 22:01:12
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  • "There are several issues at work here. First, the idea that police know they are dealing with a mentally ill man and when county mental health refuses to accept him they automatically default to the jail is shameful. Shame on the police and shame on the sheriff. Does the sheriff know how to say "NO". Parkinson you run the jail and you get to say who gets booked into it. How about running a little interference for your people and not bending them over so that you can keep good relations with the police chiefs, BOS and other county officials by accepting mentally ill people on trumped up charges because county mental health doesn't have bed space. The second issue is that county mental health has played this "were are out of space" crap with law enforcement for years. You will not find a bigger bunch of people putting in so much effort to get out of doing their jobs than county mental health. The third issue is that our county supervisors have paid LIP SERVICE to funding mental health in this county for over twenty five years. It doesn't matter if it was a liberal board or a conservative board, they haven't done a damn thing to fix the problem. If anyone thinks that the current board is going to seriously fix mental health services, unless forced to do so as part of a civil settlement with the Holland family, they are "high". "Ding Dong" Peshong, "Giddy" Arnold, "Hot Mess" Compton, "Off His Meds" Hill and the "Smartest Man in the Room" Gibson all own the mess that is our county mental health system. They can fire the director or the doctors, but the buck stops with them... They ALL should be held accountable on Election Day. The fourth issue is the Sheriff and his department. Someone asked who holds him accountable? The answer is "We do sweetie." The sheriff is an autonomous elected official. The board of supervisors cannot control him, nor the governor, nor the attorney general. It is up to us to control the sheriff and all of the county elected officials, but if nobody worth a damn runs against any of them, don't be surprised when they are returned to office again and again. Sheriff Parkinson's predecessor, Pat Hedges, won three terms as sheriff, before he retired. I expect that this current sheriff will run for a third, fourth and maybe fifth term before he retires and if he is doing such as bad job I would expect a qualified candidate step up in the election next year and challenge his running of the jail. The bottom line here is these elected officials are our employees and we need to remind them of that fact by occasionally sacrificing one of them by turning them out of office. That can only happen if credible, qualified people step up to run against them."

    jana commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 22:00:58
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  • "Good point, copperhead- a good example of this would be Cary Stayner, who murdered four women in Yosemite- one of whom was beheaded. Stayner was convicted in 2002 and with an initial estimated cost of the process at 1.26 million, and at 15 years on death row at an estimated 90k annually, taxpayers have doled out an impressive $1,350,000. But there in lies the politics of the death penalty SMH"

    Chris R commented in:
    More than 100 people exercise California’s new right to die on 2017-06-28 21:18:58
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  • "And continuing this dialogue, lets not forget that John Wallace was going to do the walmart interchange before his "legal issues" and that Tom O Malley super mayor was friends with that lovely felon Kelly Gearhart. Atascadero has gone to heck, promoting track houses, over paid city employees and other bad agendas. Also, how many hotels does one town with no economic hope; a college or hospital, plan to build?!? Atascadero has city employees making over 170k a year btw, after giving themselves raises because "it had been a while". Jerks, the whole lot of them."

    billygatez commented in:
    Madonna Enterprises planning hotel in Atascadero on 2017-06-28 20:36:36
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  • "He seemed to be the rogue wolf of rational thought on the council until he left, sad! But really, they want to incorporate into atascadero; i.e., atascadero foots bill for roads, sewage, power lines, gas lines, water usage etc etc, which as stated, will loose "the general populous" money over years. Lets watch how over paid atascadero council votes yes on all of this craziness."

    billygatez commented in:
    Atascadero Eagle Ranch project placed on hold on 2017-06-28 20:33:32
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  • "Yes, projects like this will drive up the cost of living -- or diminish service levels below desired levels -- due to the cost of the project and the lack of income it will produce. Our local "leaders" just don't get that building new housing just jacks up prices. In SLO, a sharpie from out of town told the city they'd build workforce housing, but funny thing, once built the stuff was marketed as luxury student housing, $1000 per bed per month! It was such a success they've raised the price to $1100 per bed per month. So suddenly that's the new going rate in town, and you see slum houses renting for $4000, $5000, $6000 per month. It's not supply and demand, it's commanding the market, costs driven upward by cost of new construction and that trickling downward to old housing. No SLO working family can afford those sorts of housing costs. Same effect on costs will happen with Eagle Ranch if built. Oh, fear not in SLO. Our city geniuses are going to build lots more overpriced housing which will drive the market still higher -- because "we need housing." Who cares if we can afford it -- the pols and bureaucrats get a line on their campaign sheets next election. And lots of contributions from developers and their buddies. Win win for pols and developers, not so much for the rest of us."

    Ricky2 commented in:
    Atascadero Eagle Ranch project placed on hold on 2017-06-28 19:33:44
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  • "The measure was poorly written and ill-conceived. Most everything is GMO'd, but not all are altered the way most think when mentioning GMO. GMO, under the measure, would be applied to anything that even was cross-bred (e.g. seedless grapes). Maybe that was fine for some, but it would be unnecessarily confusing for too many. What should have been done is establish a "Threat Level" style GMO "warning system" - a la DEFCON or something. So a simple cross-breeding that we all (hopefully) studied in High School Biology would be labeled a level 0 or something easy; whereas the dna-altered via chemicals and/or radiation would be a level 10 or whatever. There needs to be a separation of healthy "GMO'ing" from the "eeeevil GMO'ing" that people believe Monsanto (hello, George Sorros!) does."

    r0y commented in:
    California to label Monsanto’s Roundup as cause of cancer on 2017-06-28 18:03:41
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  • "Does Atascadero need another marketplace and/or hotel? Is there a shortage of rooms in the north county? Maybe they think they can be like San Luis Obispo and focus on retail/tourism for the labor force and taxation to pay all the bloated public sector personnel costs; that is working out wonderfully for SLO! :( (yes, sarcasm, for those who need it pointed out) The main problem most governing bodies have is that they hire people who work in government. There will never be any real success with that kind of hiring policy. Ever. Yet, it continues."

    r0y commented in:
    Madonna Enterprises planning hotel in Atascadero on 2017-06-28 17:55:58
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  • "If I recall former Atascadero city councilman Bob Kelley wrote an opinion article in the TRIB some time ago and had outlined what a financial disaster the Eagle Ranch project would have been to the city. It sounds like he was right. Too bad that he is still not around to protect the citizens of Atascadero from the negligent financial decisions that the city management continues to keep trying to do."

    rukidding commented in:
    Atascadero Eagle Ranch project placed on hold on 2017-06-28 14:40:14
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  • "I will get the guys name from the person who told me this and call you tomorrow. If was either his cell mate or the inmate next to his cell. They had become friends over 3 weeks of talking back and forth. Than he hung himself."

    RC10thst commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 13:35:35
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  • "So how many self administered the poison like the concept was marketed? By omitting an ordinary witness all the safeguards are rendered hollow. State Documents in Oregon indicate that 20% of their assisted suicide deaths were bullied by the corporate facilitators forcing the poison. 60%, even the religious, favor the concept then 95% change to not-in-favor after they learn how easily the laws can be wrongly administered Risking us all,all ages, to be exploited by predatory corporations and predatory new best friends or heirs. Read the language of the laws to decern the double speak, omissions and commissions."

    bradleywilliams commented in:
    More than 100 people exercise California’s new right to die on 2017-06-28 12:52:48
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  • "Facetiously, thank Yahweh of the Christian faith that California is not predominately either Catholic, or has a large conservative Christian presence that would have made this law harder to pass. Therefore, with California’s Right-to-Die Act, reason was implemented to allow a person with a painful terminal illness the option to end their lives their way, and on their terms and location."

    Ted Slanders commented in:
    More than 100 people exercise California’s new right to die on 2017-06-28 12:36:42
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  • "I went to the website for this proposal. It makes no mention of cost. This appears to be another retirement community of luxury homes, "multi family" homes, and a hotel. My concerns: 1. The environmental impact. Do we have enough water for MORE properties when those of us who already live here are still having to cut our usage or face fines? Do we have the roads, the infrastructure? 2. Need. Do we NEED this? 3. Cost. Will this drive up home prices even more?"

    CentralcoastRN commented in:
    Atascadero Eagle Ranch project placed on hold on 2017-06-28 12:01:55
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  • "Holy Cow Batman! Can you just imagine if this truck was loaded with LPG that travels by rail and truck as well? The misguided apponents to the Phillips 66 plant only had OIL ON THEIR MINDS, at the expense of other very hazardous materials being shipped as well through the area. Again, where were the lawn posters wanting to eliminate other hazardous materials being shipped by rail and truck through SLO County? Did anyone see posters wanting to remove ALL railroad freight cars, along with trucks, that contained the following hazardous materials? Anyone? Anhydrous Ammonia, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Ethylene Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Vinyl Chloride, Anhydrous Hydrofluoric Acid, Anhydrous Ammonia Metallic Sodium Chlorine, Liquefied Hydrocarbon Gas, Motor Fuel Anti-Knock Compound Vinyl Chloride, Fertilizer Ammoniating Solution, Chlorine, Anhydrous Ammonia, Sulfur Dioxide, Butadiene, Refrigerant or Dispersant Gases, Nitrosyl Chloride, Helium Hydrogen Oxygen, Nitrogen Fertilizer Solution, Ethyl Chloride. If the naysayers of the oil trains were really supporting their cause for total safety to our area, then the above dangerous materials should have been listed as well! Can the naysayers spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E-S? Sure they can."

    Ted Slanders commented in:
    Tanker truck crashes in route to Phillips 66 oil refinery on 2017-06-28 11:19:04
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  • "You aren't going to like my answer. The County Mental Health facility does not have enough staff because they are not paying them enough. The staff can work at CMC or ASH and make about $20 an hour more and have pension/benefits. Additionally, there is extensive training and effective policy management in place at CMC and ASH that protect the staff and inmates/patients. From everything I have heard from those "in the know" at SLO County jail and the county in general, there are not current and effective policies in place. There is not enough staffing for the jail medical, and deputies are officers and NOT health care workers. When you don't have enough health care workers and space, you cannot open enough "beds' to inmates at MH. Therefore, these human beings have to go somewhere for their own protection, and the jail is the only other facility the county has. The county needs to: 1. Expand the jail (which I think they are working on) 2. Expand mental health facilities by hiring quality staff and paying them, and by finding more suitable space if space is the issue. 3. Pay. The Board of Supervisors needs to recognize that Public Health is not simply "nice". It is freaking NECESSARY. You can only police your County so much. The Board of Supervisors needs to understand that drug use and mental health issues are a Public Health PROBLEM. And like it or not, SLO county has a PROBLEM. They need to look at spending, they need to look FAIRLY at pay. Otherwise you cannot recruit and retain quality people. 4. Prevention SAVES money. Study after study show that for every $1 spent on prevention, $4 in health care dollars are saved. Don't believe me? I wonder how much money these upcoming lawsuits will cost. This is why greedy health insurance companies pay for/cover preventive care. It's not because they care, it is because identifying your high cholesterol is CHEAPER than a bypass surgery. The current administration will not listen to employees. Instead, they want to confiscate the cell phones of whistleblowers. I am so sorry for people who have been mistreated when all they wanted is help. I am angry for them. We must protect those who are most vulnerable in our society."

    CentralcoastRN commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 10:48:48
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  • "My heart goes out to everyone affected by this fire. Its heartbreaking to see people displaced from their homes. Resolve, community strength and leadership will help people pull through. I have seen amazing people stepping up to the plate already. One girl offered to help rescue animals for displaced homeowners and now Johnny Galecki stepping up to the plate to offer a message for the community. This community will heal, the people are just amazing. I met a displaced homeowner yesterday in AG and asked if there were anything I could do to help, his reply " no, no, I'm ok, my house didn't burned down, I just had to relocate to a hotel". This man could have completely exploited my offer of help but he did the right thing. Amazing people in Santa Margarita...."

    Bugslife commented in:
    Fire destroys Big Bang Theory star’s Santa Margarita home on 2017-06-28 10:27:53
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  • "This is a very sad story. I can't imagine what a person who is having an anxiety/panic attack would feel while being treated like this. There really is no excuse for this sort of treatment of a distressed human being. Never call 911 because you're depressed or anxious unless you plan on committing suicide in the next hour. If you have no where to turn, try going to a church, any church. Call the Pastor or the Priest or whoever runs the church that you pick. Most all clergy are trained to consul those with mental distress and if they can't help you, they'll find help for you. You don't have to be a believer to ask them for help."

    Cindy commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 10:18:15
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  • "So why is Atascadero providing water to Santa Margarita? I have asked the Water Dept several times for answers to this, how much they pay, how long will Atascadero provide it and with the City of San Luis pipeline running through S,M, why hasn't the County hooked in (they own the dam and lease it to SLO). I am still waiting for answers?????"

    SLOBIRD commented in:
    Madonna Enterprises planning hotel in Atascadero on 2017-06-28 09:40:22
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  • "I seriously believe this is not a problem for the Sheriff's Dept but rather our Mental Health Department. People should look at the County Mental Health Budget and see the MILLIONS they receive annually, yet, they refuse to house more than 5/6 patients at a time although they have rooms for many more. It is the Mental Health Department's to address the mental condition of the citizens, not the law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement should assist Mental Health, not be the lead and shame on the care and treatment in our mental health community. They only want to do appointment therapy and have no regard for the serious mental health patients in need of institutional housing."

    SLOBIRD commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 09:33:09
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  • "There is an overwhelming number of mentally ill roaming the streets of wealthy San Luis Obispo keeping mental health facilities at full capacity. This leads to incoming patients being dumped at the jail or released back on to the streets. This is not anything new but the lack of oversight and abnormally high death count under Parkinson has been documented over and over. Perhaps the director of the animal shelter should change jobs with Parkinson as homeless dogs live in better conditions. Pretty boy Parkinson has had more than enough chances to do his well paid job yet seems preoccupied promoting himself. Parkinson should work as hard at his position as he did acquiring an unnecessary status symbol taxpayer toy boat for his department that has yielded zero results yet continually costs taxpayers to maintain. I don't know who has oversight on Parkinson but they also are not doing their job. How much death and torture is allowed before someone steps in? Parkinson should be out as he has proven time and again he is not capable of the responsibility, nor has he taken necessary steps to correct deplorable inhumane conditions at Parkinson's Kansas Street death and torture chamber. Someone needs to call for a federal investigation of Parkinson."

    diamond commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 09:31:40
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  • "Never talk to the police unless it is to inform them you're exercising your right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. Do not call them. Do not offer to help them....and for God's sake don't ask them for help! Protecting and Serving are foreign concepts to police. They enforce the law. And in their eyes all of us need some law enforced on us, especially if we're having a bad day."

    DocT commented in:
    Man alleges torture in SLO County Jail on 2017-06-28 09:17:00
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  • "Every time a housing project is held back near Santa Margarita, Atascadero builds a new hotel and more houses. The Santa Margarita Ranch area (16,000 acres) got a community and County approval for 500 homes to phased in over many decades but instead the development continues in the surrounding areas. The obvious is that the Santa Margarita Ranch will have to farm as much as they can to protect their water entitlements or be deemed negligent thus losing their water to the down stream growing communities."

    Jorge Estrada commented in:
    Madonna Enterprises planning hotel in Atascadero on 2017-06-28 09:16:06
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