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SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. I
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
GOVERNMENT
City Council Approves Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Road Report Atascadero Police Department purchases new software for dispatch and police records management system By Christianna Marks
ATASCADERO—The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The meeting then recessed to a Successor Agency meeting and a Public Financing Authority meeting and was then preceded by the Council’s closed session. The evenings’ agenda was approved unanimously by the Council. When the meeting went into the consent calendar, Mayor Heather Moreno pulled Item 5. “I would like to have, not a major staff report by any means, but I would like to have a little bit of comment on item number 5,” said Moreno. Item 5 is in regards to a CAD/RMS Software Replacement that will update Atascadero Police’s Computer Aided Dispatch and their Police Records Management System. Both of these systems help make police work safe and effective. The software will also help Atascadero’s fire and police departments comply with legal mandates and clear up time by making manual processes automatic. “Thankfully, with the voters in passing D20, we’re able to finally invest in this for our public safety,” Moreno said. She then asked the Atascadero Police Chief, Bob Masterson, to speak on what Atascadero locals are getting for their money. “Computerated dispatch in this day and age, to operate a dispatch center without computering dispatches up to the modern standard (state of the art) is really asking for trouble. So we’re, needless to say, excited about this. The officers here at Atascadero PD have a front-row seat in the review, CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SPORTS
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NATIONAL DISTINCTION
Local Pastor Receives Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award Pastor Brad Alford received the award from Nelson Mandela Global Peace Award recipient Dr. Jason Renville By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES—On Friday, Jan. 7, Paso Robles, A New Day Church’s Pastor Brad Alford went down in American history after becoming a Presidential Lifetime Award recipient. In 2002, President George W. Bush created the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) to honor the hundreds of thousands of people across America that have volunteered hundreds, if not thousands of volunteer hours over their lifetime. The program was established to honor the volunteer works of individuals, families, and
Pastor Brad Alford (left) received the award from Dr. Jason Renville (right) on Friday night at A New Day Church in Paso Robles. Photo by Camille DeVaul
organizations throughout the United States. Specifically, The Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award (PLAA, also known as the President’s Call to Service
Award) is the highest level of the PVSA, requiring a minimum of 4,000 hours of documented volunteer service. When asked how he felt to be receiving such a pres-
tigious award, he said he felt “Very humble. I don’t deserve an award. I don’t see myself as ‘Oh I’ve done this, I’ve done that, I’ve done this.’ We try to live a selfless life to serve Jesus
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
because He is our reward, and so when Dr. Jason motioned to me that this may be a possibility, I was stunned—I look at it as something that is bigger than me.” Dr. Jason Renville, a Human Rights Ambassador for the United Nations (UN), came to Paso Robles to present the award to Pastor Alford. Renville himself is a recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, the Nelson Mandela G l o b a l Pe ac e Aw a rd , iChange Nations’ World Civility Award, iChange Nations’ National Statesman Degree, iChange Nations’ Peace Icon Award/Diplomat of The Year. Additionally, Renville is a Global Ambassador-At-Large and Ecclesiastical Officer under the UNs’ Economic and Social Council – Non-Governmental Organization—on top of that, he ministers around the world. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
CHARITY
‘I Have a Dream.’ Honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By HAYLEY MATTSON hayley@atascaderonews.com
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of thousands at the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963. King’s most important work applied America’s Founding ideals to the cause of civil rights. The last best hope for true racial
LITERATURE
Cancer Support Community executive director Candice Sanders receives donation check from Almond Country Quilt Guild’s Cindy Ursprung. Photo by Christianna Marks
Local Quilt Guild Gifts Donations to Local Non-Profits Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. File photo
progress, King realized, was solidarity: For people to see and treat one another as equals, they had to feel the tugs of a bond far stronger than either race or politics, and for King, that bond was America. After all, there are two words in the phrase “civil rights,” and King grasped that both are crucial. Civil rights are about the fair and equal participation of all citizens in the American community. For those rights to have any power, the bonds of that community must be close-knit and resilient. “I criticize America because I love her,” King said in a speech about the Vietnam War, “and because I want to see her to stand as the moral example of the world.” CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
GOVERNMENT
AGRICULTURE
Almond Country Quilt Guild gave $3,000 to the Cancer Support Community California Central Coast and RISE By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES—On Monday, Jan. 3, the Almond Country Quilt Guild gathered for their monthly meeting at Trinity Lutheran Church in Paso Robles. On top of their regular quilting meeting, they also awarded two local non-prof-
its with donations raised at their yearly quilt auction. “We have a yearly auction where members of our guild make quilts and various other things. So we have a live and a silent auction,” Cindy Ursprung, this year’s co-chair at the guild auction, said. “We were not able to have one last year, obviously, so this year we had a plethora of quilts, which was just fabulous.” The auction, which was held on Nov. 6, 2021, brought in a whopping total of $9,000. While one-third of the profits raised stay with the guild for funding CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
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NORTH COUNTY SPORTS Prep Sports Photo Gallery | A3
MY SMALL WORLD Local Vet Publishes Memoir | A4
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