|
San Luis Obispo officials unveiled the city’s new double-decker bus on Tuesday. The $844,000 bus, paid for mostly through federal grants, begins service today. City officials said the bus seats 81 people and enabled the city to replace two older buses. | |
|
By Nick Wilson -- The 22-year-old woman who is accused of causing the car crash that killed a CHP officer in June near Paso Robles now faces a charge of second-degree murder.Prosecutors toughened the allegations Tuesday against Kaylee Ann Weisenberg, who is allegedly responsible for the crash that killed Officer Brett Oswald.Blood and urine tests revealed that Weisenberg was driving with a “high level of methamphetamine” when her vehicle struck Oswald’s patrol car on South River Road near Spanish Camp Road, according to authorities. | |
|
By Joshua D. Scroggin -- The Cal Poly football team will join the Big Sky Conference, possibly as soon as the 2012 season, and as a result will avoid scheduling problems that have hurt the Mustangs in recent years.The new home is not the Western Athletic Conference, but it’s one the Mustangs think might be a better fit.Cal Poly interim President Robert Glidden announced his decision Tuesday to accept a football-only invitation to the Big Sky Conference in a news conference also attended by Mustangs Athletic Director Alison Cone and head football coach Tim Walsh. | |
|
Panera Bread, a bakery-cafe that bakes its breads and pastries on site daily, is expected to open a location in San Luis Obispo in the next three to four months.The restaurant would be the fifth outlet for First Picks Management, which holds the franchise rights for Panera Bread on the Central Coast, including San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, said Ingrid Roberts, managing director of First Picks.The San Luis Obispo bakery-cafe is in the final permitting stages, Roberts said. | |
|
By Sarah Linn -- The Atascadero school board on Tuesday unanimously approved a nearly
$130 million package of campus renovations and repairs that includes moving or renovating the junior high school and arts academy and constructing a new high school performing arts center.Atascadero Unified School District taxpayers would pay for most of that if voters in November approve Measure I, a bond and property tax increase. The state would finance a portion, too.In addition to renovating Atascadero Junior High School and the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy, or relocating those to a new site outside downtown, and building the performing arts center at Atascadero High School, the updated Facilities Master Plan includes numerous repairs and renovations at Del Rio Continuation High School and seven elementary schools. | |
|
By Bob Cuddy -- County supervisors Tuesday opposed statewide ballot initiatives that would legalize marijuana, add $18 to vehicle license fees to finance state parks, and undercut an anti-global warming law passed by the Legislature four years ago.The votes came as supervisors mulled five propositions that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot. The 90-minute discussion was designed to inform the public as well as prepare for a statewide meeting later this week of the California State Association of Counties.Proposition 19 | |
|
By Cynthia Lambert -- A 36-year-old Grover Beach man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of violating four restraining orders after county sheriff’s deputies received a report of a man hiding in the attic of an Oceano home. Manuel Heredia Hernandez was also arrested on felony suspicion of burglary and misdemeanor possession of burglary tools, according to Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rob Bryn. Heredia Hernandez was on probation in connection with a previous domestic violence case in Santa Barbara County, he said. | |
|
OceanoAn investigation is ongoing into a crash that seriously injured a 16-year-old on Sunday at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, local officials said Tuesday.Supervising State Parks Peace Officer Michael Lack said the accident took place about 3 p.m. in an open-riding area. | |
|
By By Bill Morem -- Want to know what chaps my hide beyond mere annoyance? Vandalism.OK, so I’ve gone gray in the beard and I’m not as forbearing of youthful indiscretions as I once was (although I’ve yet to tell kids to get their football off my lawn). I nonetheless have found I’ve reached the point of zero tolerance when it comes to wanton damage of someone’s property.With that in mind, a recent case of mindless vandalism gives me the feeling of chewing on tinfoil. Here’s the story. | |
|
By Cynthia Lambert -- Students arriving back to Grover Beach Elementary School in August were met with a surprise: brightly painted murals and surfboards adorning several exterior classroom walls. More are to be added before the end of the year.“It’s something that makes this school more recognizable, different,” said 12-year-old Montana Dobbs, who helped her mother, TJ, and parent Jen Matsuura, paint throughout the summer months.In all, TJ Dobbs completed six murals, which feature windsurfers, sharks and a patchwork design of a lighthouse and sailboats. There’s also a large mural of the school’s mascot, the golden gopher, that recently received an updated look. | |
|
San Luis Obispo’s Mindbody Inc. has gotten a $14 million boost from Silicon Valley investor Bessemer Venture Partners.Founded in 2001 by entrepreneur Rick Stollmeyer — who was honored last year as the Central California Small Business Person of the Year — Mindbody Inc. is an online management company for businesses offering personal services, including yoga, wellness, beauty salons, spas and fitness and healing arts practitioners.Stollmeyer could not be reached for comment. | |
|
North CountyThe county Sheriff’s Department Marine Unit had to help 12 people ashore at Nacimiento Lake after their ski boat sank Sunday afternoon.The boat appeared to be overloaded, according to the Sheriff’s Department. | |
|
By Tonya Strickland -- Atascadero won’t be able to save five of the decades-old trees around the city’s historic Administration Building. The trees are among seven that dot the lawn around the landmark building between Lewis and Palma avenues. Using old photos, city leaders estimate the six deodar cedars and one Italian cypress were planted within the first 10 years of the building’s completion in 1917. But the years have taken a toll on the historic trees, and the city arborist recently determined five would likely not survive the extensive pruning required to accommodate the exterior scaffolding needed to perform repairs to the earthquake-damaged building. | |
|
Labor Day is being observed today. Here are some places that are closed:• All libraries and federal, state, county, city and community-service and school district offices; Cal Poly and Cuesta College; banks and stock markets; post offices (though Express Mail will be delivered); and Tribune offices.• County library branches are also closed Tuesday, but Paso Robles’ city-run library will be open Tuesday. | |
|
By Bob Cuddy -- The county Board of Supervisors — which recently stopped a medical marijuana clinic from opening in Nipomo — will discuss Tuesday whether it wants to take a position on a November ballot measure to legalize the plant in California.Supervisor Bruce Gibson has asked his colleagues to evaluate Proposition 19 and four other measures, all of which he feels have an impact locally.At a minimum, he says, the discussion would inform supervisors and county residents. If the board advocates for or against an initiative, that will be considered by the California State Association of Counties when that group makes its recommendations Thursday. | |
|
Music lovers attended Pops by the Sea, with the San Luis Obispo Symphony, on Sunday afternoon. The program was held at the Avila Beach Golf Resort. | |
|
TuesdayAtascadero Unified School District Board of Trustees. 7 p.m. Kenneth Beck Building, 5601 West Mall. 462-4200. www.atas.k12.ca.us. On the agenda: Budget issues; facilities master plan and improvements; response to county grand jury report about inappropriate hiring practices.Paso Robles City Council. 7:30 p.m. City Hall/Library Conference Center, 1000 Spring St. 237-3888. www.prcity.com. On the agenda: Groundwater basin study report; proposed public restroom at Downtown City Park; Riverside Avenue fence design; city library study center contract with county. On the radio: Live on KPRL-AM 1230. | |
|
By David Sneed -- Anticipation hangs over a small group of biologists as wildlife photographer Chris Wemmer removes a small point-and-shoot digital camera from its plastic housing.Everyone gathers round as Wemmer begins scrolling through the images on the camera’s memory card. Cries of delight go up as the camera’s small viewing screen shows a silhouetted image of a sleek gray fox standing atop a sandstone outcropping. Other shots in the sequence reveal a pair of Western screech owls using the rock as a perch to scan for prey.“It’s like a whole new world opens up to you,” Wemmer said. | |
|
The Pinedorado Parade kicked off the annual Pinedorado Days in Cambria on Saturday. | |
|
By David Sneed -- Oil company Conoco-Phillips has agreed to clean up a 2003 oil spill in Nipomo Creek near the Dana Adobe.The cleanup is expected to take place next summer, or the summer of 2012 at the latest, according to officials with the Regional Water Quality Control Board in San Luis Obispo.The oil came from a leaky crude oil pipeline, which has since been repaired. The leak resulted in a 300-foot, roughly circular area of contamination running beneath the creek. | |
