New Times - San Luis Obispo

what's news
Watchdogs eye cops

County residents met Wednesday at a public forum to discuss what sponsors called “the recent issues involving the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department,” and heard recommendations for a permanent citizen’s oversight committee.

Former Oregon police chief Penny Harrington, now a Morro Bay resident, started the organization, called San Luis Obispo Citizens for Justice Oversight, 18 months ago. The forum, held at the Veterans Hall in SLO, was the first public presentation of a plan to address law enforcement issues.

In a letter announcing the forum, Harrington said, “We are sure you are aware of the death of a Templeton man, the permanent physical damage to a Los Osos man, and the sexual assault of a man being held in the county jail. For all of these reasons and more, a group of citizens has formed and conducted research on the issue of citizens’ oversight of law enforcement.”

Harrington said the committee would be funded independently, through grants or contributions, and could conduct investigations of law enforcement activity with or without official cooperation.

Its authority would derive from either authorization by the county board of supervisors, or as a result of a referendum voted on by county electors.

ChevronTexaco pays Cambria CSD $9.1 million

ChevronTexaco has agreed to pay $9.1 million to settle a lawsuit resulting from MTBE contamination at a Chevron gas station located close to two of five wells that supply Cambria’s drinking water.

The Burlingame, Calif., law firm of Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & McCarthy filed suit against Chevron in May 2001, and the action was pending in SLO County Superior Court. The law firm said the settlement was one of the largest MTBE settlements in the country on a per capita basis, and $700,000 of it will be used to help fund a community bicycle and pedestrian trail in Cambria.

Bullets fly at huge
pot bust near Lopez Lake

Gunshots punctuated a Sept. 16 pot raid by San Luis Obispo sheriff’s deputies during an investigation into a marijuana patch stretching 3 miles long and a mile wide in the hills northeast of Lopez Lake.

Rubio Villa, 58, of Mexico, was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana for sale and assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. Four other men remain at large.

Police said two hunters stumbled upon the plants last week and contacted the Sheriff’s Department.

Ten members of the narcotics team went to the site in the early morning and saw five men pruning plants. The growers allegedly fired three shots at the officers after hearing a noise, and then fired another 10 shots. After deputies identified themselves, the men fled.

A 20-member Special Enforcement Detail responded to the scene after the shots were fired, and continued in the search.

Lopez Lake park rangers and wardens from the Department of Fish and Game joined the search.

A new kind of pot raid

When Fran Blatter walked out of her Leona Avenue home recently, she immediately sensed something was different: a 20-year-old potted plant, a rare Donkey Tail, had disappeared. So, too, had a variety of other potted plants.

Her husband followed a trail of green pods from the plant down the street to the home of a neighbor, Jeannie Pottratz. Pottratz and her neighbors then discovered they all had been victimized; potted plants randomly taken from front porches and yards.

Upon contacting San Luis Obispo police, said Blatter, she was informed that such thefts “are an annual event of returning Cal Poly students.”

“This is how the kids go shopping for potted plants, I guess,” said Blatter, who plans to start a new Donkey Tail plant from slips she managed to salvage.

Jimenez sentenced to prison in traffic death

Eric Jimenez, whose car veered into oncoming traffic on the Cuesta Grande and collided with one driven by an Arroyo Grande police officer, was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison.

Richard Berry, 46, was killed in the resulting crash. He was on his way to work when the Dec. 22, 2002 incident occurred.

The sentence was the maximum that could be imposed by Judge Roger Picquet.

A jury found Jimenez guilty of vehicular manslaughter on Aug. 4. His vehicle entered an area poorly protected and marked by temporary barriers at TV Tower Road, said his lawyer, David Fisher of San Luis Obispo.

Man dies in Highway 1 plunge

A 28-year-old carpenter died last weekend when his car left the highway, plunged over a cliff, and crashed to the surf below.

James Brand, who lived at Williams Ranch, 20 miles north of Cambria, was killed instantly, according to coroner’s reports.

Heavy fog blanketed the area late Saturday and Sunday, when the accident apparently occurred. Authorities are uncertain exactly when Brand’s car left the highway.

Familiar problem starts with school

Traffic snarls are expected to announce the start of Cal Poly on Monday, with delays expected during the first few weeks of classes between 7 and 9 a.m.

University Police Department officials said they anticipate traffic delays at all entrances to the university.

To help reduce congestion, the San Luis Obispo Police Department and California Highway Patrol will be working with the University Police in locations adjacent to the university, including Highway 1 and U.S. 101, as well as California Boulevard and Santa Rosa Street.

Commuters are asked to use alternative transportation during the first few weeks of the new school year, such as carpools, vanpools, the bus, a bicycle, or walking.

Lifelong learning at Cal Poly

A new program offered by the Continuing Education office at Cal Poly, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, promotes “the joy of lifelong learning” for people 50 and older, retired or semi-retired.

Registration is open, and classes start Sept. 20.

An informational catalog is available at the Cal Poly Office of Continuing Education. For more information, call the office at 756-2053 or check out their web site at www.continuing-ed.calpoly.edu. ³

This week’s What’s News was compiled by News Editor Daniel Blackburn and Staff Writer Matt McBride from local and other news sources.