GOOD NEWS. REAL NEWS. HOMETOWN NEWS.
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XVII
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
atascaderonews.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
FUNDRAISER
PREP SPORTS
ECHO Hosts Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser
Paso Robles junior Jake Morones rumbles down the sideline in the first half of Friday night’s game. Photo by Connor Allen
Bearcats Take Down Hounds in Season Finale
ECHO Volunteers and staff welcome the community to the beloved Empty Bowls events after having to cancel last year due to the pandemic. Photos by Hayley Mattson
Sold out event hits record numbers and raises $50,000 By HAYLEY MATTSON hayley@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — On Thursday, Apr. 29, the El Camino Homeless Shelter (ECHO) hosted their annual Empty Bowls fundraiser, and this year they were back in action. Starting at 11:30 a.m., cars lined up in the Atascadero Bible Church parking lot off of Atascadero mall ready to greet all the volunteers and ECHO support staff to pick
up their handcrafted one of a kind ceramic bowls and “to-go” soups that were beautifully presented in brown bags with the ECHO logo. The bags included various soups from local restaurants including Niner Wine Estates, Dan’s Grub Shack, McPhee’s Grill, Pacific Harvest Catering, Wild Fields Brewhouse, Giovanni’s Fish Market, Street Side Ale House, Woodruff Family, Red Scooter Deli, Odyssey World Café, Caiwala Food Market, Longbranch Saloon, The Range, Novo, Hofbrau Morro Bay, Granite Ridge Christian Camp, Don Q, Brian’s Bread, Back Porch Bakery, Sugar + Spoon Carmel’s, Temple-
By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com
ton Donuts Plus and Mr. Pickle’s Empty Bowls, for one we were able Paso Robles. to have it. Last year because of the Wendy Lewis, the Executive pandemic we could not hold this Director of ECHO, shared, “We are so excited about this year’s CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
EDUCATION
EVENT
Parents Plead for Trustees to Put Mask Policy on Agenda Members of the public spoke in-person for the first time since March 2020 By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero School Board of Trustees held their first meeting of the month last night and, for the first time since March of 2020, were able to allow members of the public to speak in-person during the oral communications from the public portion of the meeting. Seven parents and community members from Atascadero’s District and even one from out of the area showed up. They pleaded with the Trustees to place a mask policy item on the upcoming agenda so that it can be discussed with the public. Parents recited education code, health and safety concerns, liability, various statistics, and other reasons why they would like to see the policy on the agenda and why they do not support their children wearing masks at school. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SPORTS
Unprecedented football season ends with rivalry game at Memorial Stadium in Atascadero
ATASCADERO — The Bearcats and Greyhounds met Friday night for the season finale of the 2021 spring football season, and Paso Robles ran away with the victory, 42-13, at Memorial Stadium in Atascadero. The Bearcats were unstoppable Friday night, scoring on their first four possessions of the game while not giving up a first down until there was only 4:10 seconds to go in the second quarter. Sophomore running back Leo Kemp led the way for the Bearcat offense, rushing for over 100 yards again this season, and was joined in the century club by Devin Mowreader, who burst through the line for a 45-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Paso Robles offensive line, which has been the Bearcat’s strongest unit
all season, took over Friday night and created big holes that allowed for rushing touchdowns from five different running backs and one from their quarterback Trevon Bridewell. The Hounds first hit pay dirt near the end of the second quarter when quarterback Evan Moscardi hit John Tae Jackson, who was all alone behind the Bearcat defense, for a 46-yard touchdown and cut the lead down to 28-6 at halftime. The Greyhounds received the second-half kickoff and went straight into their bag of tricks for a double pass from quarterback Evan Moscardi to receiver Jarren Fischer who then hit receiver Sean Davis down the field for a big gain. However, the Hounds threw an interception in the red zone and could not turn the drive into points to swing momentum. The Bearcats went back to work on the ground, and a few minutes later, Coleton Sullivan barreled into the end zone to give Paso Robles a commanding 35-6. “Atascadero scored pretty quick on us, and we said, out of respect for Atascadero’s coaching staff CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
GOVERNMENT
150 registered riders showed up for the annual Tour of Paso fundraiser event that supports local cancer patients and their families. Contributed photos
13th Annual Tour of Paso Huge Success Cancer Support Community fundraiser broke a record by raising over $50,000 By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES — On Sunday, May 2, the 13th Annual Tour of Paso Bike Ride benefiting the Cancer Support CommunityCA Central Coast (CSC-CCC) broke a record by raising over $50,000! The bike ride broke another record this year with 150 registered riders and the most 50 mile riders they have ever had registered. Proceeds from the fundraiser directly benefit the CSC-CCC. This non-profit organization offers social and emotional support and health and wellness programs to local cancer patients, survivors, and their families
INSTALLATION
free of charge. Starting at 8:30 a.m., riders launched from the Omkar Medical Plaza at 1310 Las Tablas Road in Templeton. They rode their 50 or 26-mile trails through the backroads of Paso Robles’ wine country. Some highly experienced riders completed in under two hours, but all were back in time for their gourmet lunch provided by Niner Winery. In past years the bike tour started and ended at Niner Winery who provided a sit-down gourmet lunch while awards were presented. Due to COVID, Niner Winery provided pre-packaged gourmet boxed lunches for participants to take home after the ride for the second year. In addition to a sponsored lunch, participants received a complimentary bottle of J Dusi wine with a custom CSC-CCC label.
SMART CASE
CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEEKLY FEATURE
Supervisors Give Direction on Election Processes for the Future
Dr. Penny Borenstein addresses Vaccine Passports By MELISSA MATTSON melissa@atascaderonews.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors held a regularly scheduled meeting on May 4 from 9 a.m until 11:35 p.m. The meeting opened with public comment, which focused mainly on item 13, the request for the Board of Supervisors to sign and send a letter to the State Water Resource Control Board opposing two applications to appropriate water for the Shandon-San Juan Water District. Supervisor Bruce Gibson
moved for approval of the consent agenda with exception of item 13. His discussion on item 13 indicated that there was not enough information on the item for the Board to make a decision and should be tabled for future discussion. Supervisor John Peschong made a motion to support the letter of opposition, which was seconded by Supervisor Debbie Arnold. The motion passed 3-2 with Supervisors Gibson and Supervisor Dawn Otiz-Legg in opposition. Next was the county update from County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein. Borenstein spoke about the current cases, which is at 21,196 as of Tuesday morning, with one person in the hospital. Two more deaths had been added to the county’s total, bringing it to 260, which she stated means our area has faired better CONTINUED ON PAGE A5
WEATHER
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Happy Birthday Hayley! From all of us at the 13 Stars Media Team ♥
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