By STACEY WARD
When the sheriff came to town, backed by countless federal agents, to bust a legitimate, city-approved business, we could all breathe ahuge sigh of relief. No more squirrelly riff-raff posing as patients to get theirmarijuana fix.
No more “medical” marijuana dispensaries in San LuisObispo County. No more respect for community-based values andstandards in which local citizens govern themselves.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Trustees working the Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) collapse – including a pair retained by the failed lender – want nearly a quarter-million dollars for their efforts during the past month and a half.
That includes $10,400 for two round trips by car from San Francisco to Paso Robles.
Read MoreBy THE EDITORS
UncoveredSLO is expanding. In a world where it’s grow, or go away, we are redesigning our Web site; adding a host of new attractions like the county‘s best activities calendar (currently under construction); and broadening our news coverage in order to provide an even more rewarding and informative reading experience. Under the brand-new banner of CalCoastNews.com, quality investigative reporting by UncoveredSLO — which tens of thousands of daily readers anticipate and depend on — will continue to be our primary focus. That we promise.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE
Not a lot shocks me anymore. Even so, I am stunned by the number of blog posters and media reporters who worry that people accused of child porn, once convicted, will be unable to get their lives back on track.
The facts, however, suggest that a great percentage of these people have been way off track for a long time and stand little chance of ever changing.
Recent local arrests were preceded by lengthy, intensive investigations, officials said. Former San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Goossens and part-time postman Jeremy Neubauer are battling charges of child pornography following a widespread roundup of suspected members of a child pornography ring. A third county man, Bryan Arnold, will be arraigned September 8.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE
A senior official of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said today “an explosion” which occurred August 18 at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant was a life-threatening “catastrophic failure.”
No radioactive leaks were reported, however, at the South County facility.
“It was an explosion,” Michael Peck, an NRC senior resident inspector, told UncoveredSLO.com. “Had it happened during business hours, someone in the vicinity would have risked injury. The explosion propelled shrapnel into offices.”
NRC spokesperson Scott Burnell described the explosion as “energetic.”
Read MoreA federal agent said today that a like-minded group which included San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Goossens and 51 others shared “very disturbing and graphic” images of children depicting bestiality and bondage.
Calling the evidence “horrific,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jorge Guzman told UncoveredSLO.com that 26 children, aged 2 to 17, have been removed from “dangerous environments” by appropriate family and child services officials.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo police officer peddles custom imprinted T-shirts, sometimes while on duty, as a federal bankruptcy court considers his twin Chapter 7 petitions.
Officer Christopher Charles Chitty apparently runs the cash business from the home he shares with his wife, Lisa Solomon, Paso Robles’ chief of police.
Chitty said Sunday that the business, Trick Tape, no longer exists. An investigation by UncoveredSLO.com suggests otherwise.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A federal judge presiding over Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) bankruptcy hearings declined Tuesday to authorize disbursement of funds from a pending sale of investment property from the troubled lender’s portfolio.
U.S. District Court Judge Robin Riblet instead ordered proceeds from the sale placed in a segregated account to allow trustees time to weed through a mountain of documents.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputy is the target of an FBI investigation which has included a search of the deputy’s house and the seizure of his computer.
Bryan Goossens, a 20-year employee of the sheriff’s department, was placed on paid administrative leave July 11 by Sheriff Pat Hedges.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Ernie Dalidio is abandoning a contentious, 16-year effort to develop his property along Highway 101 south of San Luis Obispo, and is negotiating an extended option agreement with a group of local investors.
Dalidio declined comment Monday afternoon, but sources told UncoveredSLO.com, “Dalidio has had enough and just wants to get on with his life.”
A local company, Promenade-Two, has made an unspecified offer to Dalidio, according to reliable sources.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE
Atascadero Mayor Mike Brennler won’t seek a second term on the Atascadero City Council because of health concerns.
And council member George Luna said he will also retire from the council after two decades of public service.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy on administrative leave drove into four parked vehicles before flipping and rolling his pickup truck in a July 19 mishap.
Deputy Bryan Goossens was northbound on Traffic Way in Atascadero at 8:50 a.m. when the chain-reaction collision occurred.
Currently on paid administrative leave in an unrelated matter, Goossens was not ticketed or charged by Atascadero police officers.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Three people were assaulted Wednesday night as they exited a shuttle bus after attending a Mid-State Fair concert. The victims contend fair and police officials are downplaying the incident to avoid negative publicity.
Following the John Mayer concert, the trio was about to board a shuttle bus at the fair’s main entrance when two young men boisterously pushed their way to the front of a nearby bus line, shouting “PR13,” a gang designation.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE
Coast National Bank is operating at a loss after projecting first-quarter profits, partly because of $9.3 million in non-performing loans.
Bank officials originally reported earnings of $168,000 for the first quarter of 2008, down from $291,000 for the same period in 2007. Bank officials recently reported an adjustment in Coast’s financial statements portraying an after-tax loss of $733,000, and cited questionable loans to developers as one reason.
Read MoreBy KAREN VELIE
Eight Probation Department employees have filed a lawsuit against the county of San Luis Obispo claiming they were harassed and discriminated against because of their race and gender.
The plaintiffs, all Hispanic women, accuse the department of five causes of action including allegations of prejudice in promotions, training, workload, and supervisory requirements in the lawsuit.
Read More