SanLuisObispo.com: Breaking News

SLO council expected to sign another lease agreement with Rattlers

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:57 PST

By sconnell@thetribunenews.com -- SAN LUIS OBISPO — The City Council is expected to sign another lease agreement with the SLO Rattlers baseball team for the use of SLO Stadium at Sinsheimer Park for the 2009 season.

The council will consider extending the team’s lease agreement at Tuesday’s meeting. City staff reports that the Rattlers “have been an excellent tenant by complying with the terms of the agreement and making timely payments.”

That serves as a marked contrast to the San Luis Obispo Blues Baseball Team, which still owes the city $11,600 in rent. The Blues under new owner Stephen McPherson, who also uses the name Stevie Mac, have had trouble paying many team bills to concession stand workers, vendors and others.

Youth academy to be honored with statewide Golden Bell Award

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:53 PST

By Sally Connell -- SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Grizzly Youth Academy/ChalleNGe Charter School, a voluntary five-month residential high school program for at-risk youths from across California, will be honored with a statewide Golden Bell Award. Such awards promote excellence in education.

The Grizzly Academy was started in 1998 by the San Luis Obispo Office of Education and the California National Guard.

It has educated 1,500 students who enter the program as high school dropouts. They tend to leave the program as productive students, records show, improving during their five-month state by 1.5 grade levels. One year after completion, county data indicates, 92 percent of the graduates are either working full time in a job or at school or a combination of both.

Cal Poly's Barden misses out on Payton award

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:51 PST

By Brian Milne -- Cal Poly wide receiver Ramses Barden just missed being a finalist for the 22nd Walter Payton Award, given to the top football player in the Championship Subdivision.

Barden, a senior who played his final game with the Mustangs on Saturday, finished fourth in the voting process. The top three finalists are invited to The Sports Network's annual awards banquet on Dec. 18 in Chattanoogan, Tenn.

Western Illinois running back Herb Donaldson, Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards and James Madison quarterback Rodney Landers were the three finalists for the award.

Oceano man suspected of trading drugs for sex expected to see prison time

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:33 PST

By Leslie Parrilla -- An Oceano man suspected of swapping drugs for sex has changed his plea and is expected to be sent to prison.

Jose Luis Rosario, 27, pleaded no contest – which results in a conviction without admitting guilt – to felony committing a lewd act on a child under 14, committing a lewd act on a child over 14, furnishing a controlled substance to a minor and furnishing marijuana to a minor, according to prosecutors.

Rosario allegedly had sex with two girls ages 12 and 14 in various motels in South County and supplied them with drugs. He allegedly provided drugs to a third child who he did not have sex with.

It's official: the U.S. is in a recession

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:01 PST

By The Associated Press -- The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said today.

The NBER -- a private, nonprofit research organization -- said its group of academic economists who determine business cycles met and decided that the U.S. recession began last December.

By one benchmark, a recession occurs whenever the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, declines for two consecutive quarters. The GDP turned negative in the July-September quarter of this year, and many economists believe it is falling in the current quarter at an even sharper rate.

Hurst investors meet to discuss possible legal action against Kelly Gearhart

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:35 PST

By Melanie Cleveland -- Attorney Steven Sanchez of Kirby Noonan Lance & Hoge, a San Diego law firm, is expected to meet with an estimated 100-plus Hurst Financial investors today to discuss the firm’s possible lawsuit against developer Kelly Gearhart and Hurst Financial.

The proposed lawsuit focuses on an uncompleted $27 million Paso Robles project by Gearhart, called Vista del Hombre, according to a letter sent out by the firm to all Hurst Financial investors, said Murray Powell, a Hurst Financial investor. The firm is seeking to recover investors' losses based on a contingency fee, which included receiving 25 to percent of net recovery, depending on the time the recovery is received, the letter states.

Notification of the meeting was put out by e-mail to all Hurst Financial investors and more than 150 people are expected to attend, Powell added. Powell earlier filed a lawsuit against Hurst Financial and Gearhart, alleging fraud concerning an Atascadero project that Gearhart proposed and received money for, but never built.

Brian Milne: Gardner on target, but it was too little, too late for Cal Poly

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:30 PST

By Brian Milne -- Andrew Gardner is an easy target.

At 5-foot-7, 162 pounds, the Mustangs’ junior place-kicker is dwarfed by just about everyone on the Cal Poly sideline — even some of the ball boys.

When he trots on the field, you can’t help but point a finger, especially after all of the ups and downs the Cal Poly kicking game has endured this season.

UPDATE: Obama announces Clinton, Gates for Cabinet

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:41 PST

By Associated Press -- President-elect Barack Obama announced Monday that Robert Gates would remain as defense secretary, making President Bush’s Pentagon chief his own as he seeks to wind down the U.S. role in Iraq. Obama picked former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

At a news conference, Obama also introduced retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security.

The announcements rounded out the top tier of the team that will advise the incoming chief executive on foreign and national security issues in an era marked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism around the globe.

Bomb scare rattles Morro Bay neighborhood Sunday

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:04 PST

Police are investigating why a juvenile had homemade explosives that were reportedly found in a Morro Bay home on Sunday afternoon.

The bomb scare caused the evacuation of homes around the residence on the 900 block of Balboa Street for several hours, according to Morro Bay police.

About noon, police responded to a report that there were explosives at the residence.

Jordan Hasay makes it 4 for 4 at State cross country meet

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:41 PST

By Anthony Galaviz -- FRESNO - For the past three seasons, Mission Prep senior Jordan Hasay has dominated the Division V girls race. In her final race for the Royals at the CIF state cross country meet at Woodward Park, Hasay continued that trend in convincing fashion.

Hasay became only the second four-time champion, covering the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 18 seconds.

She joined Montgomery’s Sara Bei as the only four-time state individual champions in meet history.

Cal Poly football eliminated in first round of FCS playoffs

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:24 PST

By Brian Milne -- Sophomore quarterback Cameron Higgins threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns, and Trevyn Smith rushed for 137 yards and two scores as Weber State downed Cal Poly 49-35 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Higgins connected with Tim Toone 10 times for 199 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Brendon Doyle even added a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cody Nakamura as the Wildcats rolled up 564 yards of total offense.

Cal Poly, which took Wisconsin to overtime a week earlier, had 548 yards of offense but made five costly turnovers after making just six during the regular season. Jonathan Dally was intercepted four times, going 11 of 30 for 185 yards with two touchdowns. He did rush 23 times for 177 yards, but the Mustangs struggled to do much else offensively.

Dozens of businesses vandalized in downtown SLO

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:53 PST

By Stephen Curran -- Vandals etched graffiti into store windows of at least 25 downtown businesses late Friday night or early this morning, San Luis Obispo Police said.

Investigators said the vandals used a sharp object to etch a variety of “tags” into the windows of businesses located on or near Marsh Street. Damage was estimated to be several thousand dollars.

Investigators do not believe the vandalism to be gang-related, police said, but the graffiti does appear to have been caused by the same person or group of people.

Blog from the Cal Poly, Weber State playoff game

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:12 PST

Tribune Web Editor Brian Milne, who has covered Cal Poly athletics since 2000, hosted a live blog from the first-round FCS playoff game between Weber State and Cal Poly.

The live blog, which is located below, was updated throughout gameday Saturday. For additional coverage of the game, check out

www.sanluisobispo.com/mustangs.

Pricey painting stolen from SLO art gallery

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:37 PST

By Stephen Curran -- A $20,000 painting was stolen early Thursday morning from a downtown San Luis Obispo art gallery, police said.

Officers responded about 4 a.m. to the Just Looking Gallery at 746 Higuera St. to find someone had entered the business through a broken window and stole the 34 inch by 41 inch painting.

The artwork is an original acrylic painting by Patrick Nagel titled “Crouching Woman.”

SLO County shoppers show a bit more restraint as they take to the stores

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:16 PST

By Melanie Cleveland -- As a line of about 1,000 people waited outside Best Buy’s doors at 5 a.m., employees anticipated Black Friday sales would be as strong as the year before.

“The line was just as long and the energy felt good,” said Ron Rich, manager of the San Luis Obispo electronics store.

But once inside, shoppers’ behavior seemed different.

Tickets still available for Cal Poly, Weber State playoff contest

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:07 PST

By Brian Milne -- There are still plenty of tickets remaining for today’s Football Championship Subdivision playoff game with Weber State, according to Cal Poly school officials.

The postseason opener is the first playoff home game the Mustangs have hosted since moving to Division I-AA/FCS.

Game time is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Firefighters extinguish early-morning fire at Paso Robles home

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:43 PST

By Stephen Curran -- Investigators are looking into the cause of a fire that started in the garage of a Paso Robles home early this morning.

Crews responded about 2:50 a.m. to the home at 1701 Via Lantana to find a fire burning in the garage of the 2,300-square-foot home. Firefighters were able to keep it from extending into the main residence.

Two people were home when the fire started, but no injuries were reported.

Child killed in head-on crash near Paso Robles

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:06 PST

By Stephen Curran -- A child was killed tonight in a head-on collision on Highway 46.

Paso Robles Police Sgt. Tim Murphy said the child was in a vehicle traveling east on Highway 46 near Airport Road about 6:30 p.m. when it collided with another vehicle traveling west.

Three additional people suffered moderate to major injuries, Murphy said. Their names and other information about the collision have not been released.

Grover Beach fire nearly destroys two apartments

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:32 PST

A fire that broke out at just before 1 p.m. today nearly destroyed two apartments at a large apartment complex in Grover Beach.

No one was injured at the fire on the 1700 block of Manhattan Avenue although a couple of pets did not make it out alive, said David Mathe, an administrative officer for the Arroyo Grande Fire Department.

The cause of the fire was unknown but investigators hoped to know the source by Wednesday evening.

Santa's House opening in SLO on Friday

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:22 PST

By Sally Connell -- The San Luis Obispo Downtown Association’s holiday activities include Santa’s House opening in Mission Plaza on Friday and the 33rd Annual Holiday Parade being held on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.

Santa’s House will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information on hours after the weekend, go to www.downstownslo.com. The Classic Carousel will open Dec. 8 and hours can also be found on the Web site.

The parade will start at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5. The route starts at Palm and Chorro streets, then south to Monterey Street, east on Monterey, south on Osos and then west on Higuera streets.