By JOSH FRIEDMAN San Luis Obispo County employees averaged slightly more than $100,000 a year in total compensation for 2014, an examination of county employee pay shows. The county’s top earner was M. Daisy Ilano-Ramos, the medical director of County Mental Health.... (Continue reading)
By JOSH FRIEDMAN A dispute over a small legal bill morphed into a public spectacle Tuesday as a months-long feud between San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow and several top county officials reignited at a board of supervisors... (Continue reading)
OPINION By DAN CARPENTER After observing most of the public hearing including staff presentation, public comment, and deliberation by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, I believe the majority made the right decision in upholding the appeal of... (Continue reading)
By JOSH FRIEDMAN Succumbing to pressure from San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson, the California Geological Survey has demoted a state geologist who is critical of the science behind a contested local air pollution regulation. The demotion has prompted feuding... (Continue reading)
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... (Continue reading)
A week after County Supervisor Bruce Gibson said the public had already spoken on the issue of Paso Robles groundwater basin restrictions, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission held a seven-hour meeting, largely dealing with that controversy. Gibson is... (Continue reading)
By JOSH FRIEDMAN San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson has used his sway to possibly jeopardize the job of a state geologist who is critical of the Oceano Dunes dust rule, a move that has drawn rebuke from three... (Continue reading)
By JOSH FRIEDMAN and KAREN VELIE The San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District is attempting to rehabilitate its Oceano Dunes dust rule, but in the aftermath of an appellate court ruling against the regulation, some members of the... (Continue reading)
By KAREN VELIE The federal government denied a request by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and members of the public to make a section of the Pacific Ocean between the Monterey Bay and Channel Islands a national marine sanctuary. In... (Continue reading)
By JOSH FRIEDMAN San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson attempted to push forward a vote on a hotly contested water use ordinance during a Feb. 17 poorly attended board of supervisors hearing on planning department priorities. Throughout this month,... (Continue reading)