MATT FOUNTAIN

Everybody knew it was coming, and here it is: Nearly a year after their cases were reluctantly dismissed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, five of the medical marijuana collective operators arrested in 2010’s controversial “Operation Green Sweep” have filed a civil suit against the California Department of Justice. On Dec. 27, […]

One defendant in the trial stemming from the 2010 kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Santa Maria resident Dystiny Myers will spend the rest of his life in prison, following a plea agreement reached with the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. Another has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. On Jan. 3, Ty Michael Hill, […]

An early-morning raid on a suspected drug-smuggling skiff off the Central Coast ended in the death of a U.S. Coast Guard officer, according to a release from a top Coast Guard official. Earlier this month, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter CGC Halibut, based out of Port Hueneme, was investigating a possible panga in the water. […]

As some locals foretold when a controversial air quality rule passed for the Oceano Dunes in late 2011, a chainsaw could now cut the tension between the local air pollution control district and state parks. The disagreement mostly revolves around Rule 1001. Implemented by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District Board, the […]

Tears were shed, laughs were shared, activists in animal costumes required translators, and Pacific Gas & Electric left Santa Monica empty handed. As recommended by its staff, the California Coastal Commission put the final nail in the coffin for PG&E’s controversial plan for high-energy, three-dimensional studies off the Central Coast—at least for this year. On […]

The news broke on the evening of Friday, Nov. 2: A state regulating agency is not likely to hand Pacific Gas & Electric a pivotal permit necessary to kick off its controversial seismic studies off the Central Coast. Sans a permit, those tests won’t take place this year. On Nov. 2, staffers for the California […]

It’s been an infrastructure improvement project 30 years in the making, but when the ribbon was cut for the U.S. Highway 101/Willow Road interchange in Nipomo on Oct. 26, one state legislator pivotal to the project compared the opening to the birth of his eldest child. Crews broke ground on the final phase of the […]

The last of three phases of public improvement projects surrounding the beleaguered Maria Vista Estates in Nipomo will finally get underway following a contract awarded to a local company. On Sept. 18, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors approved in their consent agenda an item awarding approximately $544,000 to the lowest bidder, Nipomo-based […]

In an election year, it was thought that a bill that would place specific limits on how much schwag lawmakers could accept as gifts—and from whom—would be a slam dunk. Tell that to Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo). On Aug. 16, a Blakeslee co-sponsored bill limiting gifts to lawmakers died a quiet death at […]

As visitors and locals alike flocked to Avila Beach to get a glimpse of a pair of humpback whales that ventured near shore, a powerful state agency handed Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) a crucial permit necessary to begin its controversial seismic surveys off the Central Coast in about two months. Critics of the proposed […]

Driven by concerns expressed by one of their own, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors recently voted to show its support for long-awaited seismic studies to be conducted by Pacific Gas & Electric. But that support comes with conditions. County supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to the State Lands Commission ahead […]