Threat but no bomb
A May 24 bomb threat evacuated the San Luis Obispo County Government Complex for three hours, shut down the surrounding streets, and gave many county employees a chance to go home early. No bomb was found.
While county officials called the phone call a "credible threat," the atmosphere in front of the complex during the evacuation was relaxed. Police and sheriff-s deputies chatted in front of the barricades. County employees lounged on the corners of the surrounding blocks.
As he herded people away from the corners and into the relative safety of the County Library building, John Schwind, the county safety officer, paused to help a woman lift her baby stroller down a set of stairs.
At an impromptu press conference in front of the library, Schwind and San Luis Obispo Police Department spokesman Rob Bryn fielded questions.
Bryn wouldn-t discuss details of the threat - "Because we-ll get a number of copycat calls," he said - but news reports in the following days claimed the caller was male and simply stated that there was a bomb in the building.
While a sheriff-s department bomb squad truck idled nearby on Palm Street, Bryn and Schwind described what was going on.
By about 3:45 p.m., the teams had found nothing and the government complex was reopened.
Schwind wasn-t sure the last time the county had received a bomb threat but he guessed that it had been between two and three years ago. One reason for his uncertainty: He-s been the county safety officer for less than a month.
Coincidentally, he-s spent the last month training county employees how to handle emergency evacuations.
"So this was a timely exercise," he said.
Memorial to remember those lost at sea
The fourth annual "Lost at Sea" memorial service will take place at the Cayucos Pier on May 31 - Memorial Day - at 4 p.m.
Sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Kiwanis Club, the service honors the military personnel, fishermen, and civilians who have died at sea.
Chaplain Bill Houston will conduct the ceremony, which includes a U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Hit and run injury
On the morning of May 25, a 48-year-old female resident of Cayucos was hit by a small red car near the corner of Santa Rosa and Olive in San Luis Obispo.
The motorcyclist, who was riding a teal 1997 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200, was headed southbound and entered the right turn lane for Olive. The suspect vehicle was also driving south and suddenly changed from the left lane into the right turn lane, sideswiping the motorcyclist.
The suspect vehicle, which the victim described as similar to a 1980s Honda Civic, fled the scene.
The victim was treated for a broken foot at Sierra Vista Hospital.
Anyone with information about the collision is encouraged to contact officer Greg Gallo of the San Luis Obispo Police Department at 781-7317.
SLO officials still not worried by Marketplace plans
Conflicting studies on the predicted impact of San Luis Marketplace on the city-s downtown commercial district are not proving worrisome to San Luis Obispo leaders, economic development manager Shelly Stanwyck said Wednesday.
A study commissioned by the project-s developers and presently only last week differs starkly in its conclusions about future economic drains on the downtown created by the Marketplace-s construction.
Stanwyck said she and other city officials are standing squarely behind their original conclusions, as contained in a 2002 report prepared by Allan D. Kotkin for the city - that the Marketplace will not appreciably affect downtown revenues.
An environmental impact report for the proposed 650,000-square-foot shopping center, which developers Ernie Dalidio and Bill Bird hope to construct at the southern end of San Luis Obispo off Highway 101, was discussed Wednesday night by the city-s Planning Commission, after New Times had gone to press.
And the San Luis Obispo City Council will hold a special two-hour hearing on both studies June 28 starting at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
The city-s original study, paid for by Bird and Dalidio, concluded their project would have a "relatively modest" negative impact on downtown businesses.
Subsequently, the Bay Area consulting firm of Keyser Marston Associates was commissioned by Tom Copeland, Rob Rossi, Bob Davis, Howard Carroll, and other property owners on behalf of the Downtown Association.
Keyser-s study concluded that the Marketplace would drain as much as 15 percent in revenues from downtown area commerce.
Man found hanging in County Jail cell
Sheriff-s officials are trying to locate relatives of a 50-year-old man who apparently hanged himself in a San Luis Obispo County Jail cell on May 23.
Correctional officers reported they found David Edward Gillott on a routine security check at about 12:30 a.m. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, according to Chief Deputy Gregory Slane of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff-s Department.
Gillott was arrested by San Luis Obispo police on May 16 for allegedly being drunk in public. After his incarceration, he was taken to a local hospital for medical assessment and observation, and returned to his cell on May 21.
Sheriff-s officials said the incident remains under investigation.
Custodian faces work comp fraud charges
A Paso Robles man has been charged with filing false workers- compensation claims totaling nearly $140,000 in less than a year.
Clifford Lively, a custodian for Paso Robles Public Schools, told his bosses he had back pain caused by his job that was so severe "all he could lift were cotton balls," according to reports by school officials.
Lively, 60, was filmed by a private investigator lifting heavy bales of hay and sacks of cement at his North County home.
He has been receiving funds for the past five months without working, school superintendent Patrick Sayne told investigators. Sayne suggested Lively might face civil lawsuits from the school district.
Lively faces two felony counts of making false insurance claims.
Freitas trial conference set
A conference for setting a trial date in the manslaughter case of Kenneth Freitas is scheduled Friday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court at 8 a.m.
Freitas, 33, is accused in the Sept. 7, 2002, death of Sarah Marcella Scruggs, 17, of Grover Beach. She and a friend were walking on Grand Avenue in Grover Beach at about 9:04 p.m. when Freitas drove through a crosswalk and struck her. Her friend was not seriously hurt.
Freitas is the son of San Luis Obispo County Treasurer and Tax Collector Frank Freitas. ³
News is compiled by News Editor Daniel Blackburn and Staff Writer Abraham Hyatt from local and other sources.
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