The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed documents that indicate at least one defendant plans to testify for the prosecution in the high-profile kidnapping and murder case of slain Santa Maria 15-year-old Dystiny Myers. Jason Adam Greenwell, 21; Frank Jacob York, 19; and Rhonda Maye Wisto, 47, of Nipomo; Ty Michael Hill, 28, […]
MATT FOUNTAIN
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Stemming the tide
A multi-agency task force takes on northern-creeping maritime drug smugglers and human traffickers
As California Department of Fish and Game Warden Ryan Hanson drove toward the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse on his way to Morro Bay, he didn’t exactly have “catch Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers” on his day’s agenda. It was just after 8 a.m. on a gloomy, windswept May morning in San Simeon, and Hanson instead […]
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Everything must go
A federal court rebuffs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on waste storage plans
Highly toxic, supremely radioactive, and long-lasting nuclear waste must not be stored on-site indefinitely after a nuclear power plant goes offline, a federal appeals court recently ruled. In what’s being interpreted by experts as a game-changer for the nuclear industry on a national scale, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled […]
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Maldonado faces tax dispute over family farm
Abel Maldonado, congressional candidate for the 24th District, is haggling with the Internal Revenue Service—again—over roughly $470,000, the amount the government agency says Maldonado owes on his family’s business. The former lieutenant governor disputed the IRS’s claim in a statement released by his campaign April 5. The dispute concerns Maldonado’s 2006 and 2007 taxes on […]
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And then there was one
Prosecutors are now 11-0 in their yearlong effort to convict 12 medical marijuana collective operators, after a San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge recently dismissed two more defendants’ cases. None of the so-called “Doobie Dozen” has even made it to trial. On Feb. 15—the date designated as “Medical Marijuana Day” after Proposition 215, which […]
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Local hospitals restructure their affiliation with the Catholic Church
Catholic Healthcare West, which operates one hospital in Santa Maria, has changed its name and some of its facilities’ affiliations with the Catholic Church as part of a governance restructure. One of the largest healthcare systems in the country, the not-for-profit organization will now operate under the name Dignity Health. According to a press release, […]
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All down the line
Volunteer with Amtrak and you’ll go places, baby
It’s a sunny and clear Christmas afternoon in downtown San Luis Obispo and the streets are mostly empty, save for a few revelers hopping from one pub to another. The most happening spot in town appears to be the Amtrak station, where about 70 people walk by with bags slung over their shoulders. Young families […]
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CPUC denies PG&E’s Diablo funding application
An administrative law judge dismissed Pacific Gas & Electric’s application to use customer money nearly two years after the application was first filed in an effort to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operating for another 30 years. PG&E requested $80 million in ratepayer funding to pay for its federal license renewal for both […]
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Steve Pappas throws his hat in ring against Farr–again
A Los Olivos business owner has announced he’ll go up against Doreen Farr again for the 3rd District seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Steve Pappas, 52, sent a press release on Dec. 28 stating that he’s in the running for the coveted “swing” seat in the upcoming November 2012 election. “I […]
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SLORTA selects a new executive director
The San Luis Obispo County intercommunity transit system, which stretches into Northern Santa Barbara County, has selected a new head administrator following the departure of the previous director in August. On Dec. 22, 2011, the San Luis Obispo County Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Board of Directors announced its selection of Geoff Straw as new executive […]
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Santa Maria officials appoint new city librarian
Following a sweeping national recruitment effort, the city of Santa Maria announced it has selected a seasoned library services veteran as the new city librarian. Mary Housel—most recently the managing librarian for adult services and collection development at the Monterey County Free Libraries—will begin work at the Santa Maria Public Library on Jan. 30, 2012, […]
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Central Coast catches ‘Geezer’ fever
The “Geezer Bandit,” known for a string of brazen bank robberies primarily throughout San Diego County, allegedly struck again earlier this month at a busy downtown San Luis Obispo Bank of America. Though he got away this time, he left more than a few leads for local and federal investigators. As the Friday rush hour […]
