Four years ago, Pacific Gas & Electric began the process of relicensing the two reactors at their Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in Avila Beach. It was Nov. 24, 2009, and a last-minute alert by the utility brought just about every media outlet from across the county to the PG&E Education Center for a chance […]
MATT FOUNTAIN
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The confidence game: SLO County has little faith in the federal government’s plan to handle nuclear waste
When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission comes to town, four things can be certain. First, the federal agency—or at least its press people—are going to get an earful, but still they’ll nod politely. Second, hours of public comment will be “accepted” for whatever report the NRC is pitching at the moment and end up in a […]
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Central Coast officials dispel safety concerns following a study on radioactive materials from Fukushima
News broke late this summer that nuclear fallout from the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan would hit Californian shores sometime next year. But is there any risk to public health and safety? A recent international study has concluded that there isn’t, as have federal and local health officials. But that response […]
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Santa Maria refinery seeks railroad extension to cut crude costs
Will the savings from Phillips 66’s proposal be passed along to the consumer?
In June, San Luis Obispo County residents began receiving vague phone calls from an East Coast-based company, which asked a long list of rather nebulous questions. At first, it seemed political; the pollsters asked for the residents’ opinion of each of the county supervisors, and were even unaware of the recent passing of District Four […]
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Waiting for justice
Six years after his arrest, Charlie Lynch remains in legal and personal purgatory
This month will mark the sixth anniversary of a day that Orcutt resident Charlie Lynch wishes was long behind him. But federal prosecutors have stood resolute in their case against the former owner and managing caregiver of San Luis Obispo County’s only medical marijuana dispensary, even after the federal government has taken a comparatively hands-off […]
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SLO Supervisor Paul Teixeira dead at 57
San Luis Obispo County was in mourning and the American flag in front of the county building was being flown at half-staff following the announcement that Board of Supervisors Chair and District Four Supervisor Paul Teixeira had died. Teixeira died the night of June 26 after being taken to Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria. […]
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Myers’ killers sentenced to life in prison
The trial of Rhonda Wisto and Frank York is over. On May 8, the last of five defendants who faced conspiracy and murder charges in the killing of 15-year-old Santa Maria teen Dystiny Myers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the speedy hearing, a standing-room-only courthouse filled with green-ribbon-wearing […]
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Defendants in Myers trial guilty on all counts
After just 2 1/2 hours of deliberation, jurors in the Dystiny Myers murder trial returned guilty verdicts for both defendants before an emotional audience. Frank Jacob York, 21, and his mother, Rhonda Maye Wisto, 49, both of Nipomo, were convicted of charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, as well as criminal enhancements […]
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Wisto and York trial: Unnerving, gruesome, and heartbreaking
The trial in the 2010 kidnapping and murder of 15-year old Dystiny Myers is well underway, with the prosecutor alleging that the two remaining defendants ran a methamphetamine ring, and defense attorneys laying blame for the actual murder on a defendant who already accepted a plea deal. Despite the stated efforts of the prosecution, proceedings […]
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Capps questions new NRC head on Diablo safety
The new chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was taken to task on the need for a better understanding of the seismic landscape around the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. On Jan. 28 in Washington, D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Power had a chance to hear from NRC Chairman Allison […]
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Shumey found guilty of murder
Following more than a week of testimony, a San Luis Obispo man was found guilty on Feb. 5 of murdering his mother with a shotgun. Though the jury rejected a charge of first-degree murder for Christopher Shumey, 36, they found him guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, as well as assault on a […]
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Trial begins for the suspected murderer of a Lompoc teacher
A San Luis Obispo man was suicidal, delusional, and not in control of his actions when he allegedly shot and killed his mother—a longtime Lompoc Valley teacher—at his apartment on Sept. 17, 2011, his defense attorney argued before 12 jurors. But in opening statements in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court on Jan. 28, Deputy […]