GOOD NEWS. REAL NEWS. HOMETOWN NEWS.
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XXX
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021
atascaderonews.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
COMPETITION
JB Dewar Tractor Restoration Winners Awarded at CMSF
Templeton High School takes first and second place By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES — Shane Brennan and John Paul Schmidt took first and second place in the JB Dewar Tractor Restoration Program at the California Mid State Fair. Winners were announced during the Cattleman’s Day dinner on Friday, Jul. 22. This year marks 21 years of the program. Each year, JB Dewar and Chevron Delo reward young students who have restored an antique tractor by providing them with a platform to share their workmanship, along with the distribution of scholarships. JB Dewar mentors and advises students, teaching them business skills, teamwork, project management, budgeting, planning, and marketing lessons in their restoration process. This year there were eight
restored tractors entered. Students can work as a team or individually on a tractor. Since 2002, JB Dewar, Chevron Delo, the Alex Madonna family, and other local businesses have awarded over $100,000 in scholarships. Brennan is a Senior at Templeton High School (THS) and is the FFA Chapter President. He restored a 1952 Farmall Super AV, which took him two years to complete. This is Brennan’s second tractor he has restored for the program. This year’s tractor required a full rebuild, making it a more extensive project full of new lessons. Brennan said he learned more business skills, time management and honed in on his mechanical and rebuilding techniques. He got his tractor from Isaac Lindsey, a former THS student and Dewar tractor restoration program contestant. Brennan says, “I want to thank all my mentors. I appreciate all their help, and there’s so many I can’t name them all—I want to say thank you so much to all the people
who have guided me through the process and who have helped with donations.” Schmidt will be a Sophomore at THS later this year. He restored a 1940 Allis-Chalmers B that he has been working on since he was ten years old. The worn-out tractor was sitting under a neighbors tree when Schmidt decided to take on the project and rebuild the engine. Since then, Schmidt has been taking the tractor to various shows. As anyone who ever owned a tractor before knows, they can always use a little work, which is what Schmidt has been doing in preparation to enter the antique in the Dewar Restoration Program. Schmidt says his favorite part of the program was learning to machine his own parts, “I learned how to machine a lot of my own parts as a lot of them weren’t available.” Both boys are planning to enter their tractors in the Delo Tractor Restoration, a national-level competition.
NON-PROFIT
Atascadero Greyhound and Lighthouse Foundation strive to develop wholesome kids
The meets were welcome to all ages from 4 to 90-years-old; competitors participated in the Discus Throw, Pole Vault, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump, Turbo Javelin, 100/110m High Hurdles, 4X100m Relay, Kids (6 and under) little hurdles, 400m, 1500m/ Mile, 100m, 800m, 200m, and 3000m. By PATRICK PATTON Atascadero High School Choir director Carrie Jones patrick@atascaderonews.com opened up the first and last nights’ events with the ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Greyhound singing of the National Anthem. Foundation (AGF) and Lighthouse Foundation (LF) According to AGF Executive Director Donn hosted their annual All-Comers Track & Field meet Clickard, the number of families who attended was at the Atascadero High School Track on Wednesdays throughout July. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
EVENT
Atascadero’s National Night Out
ATASCADERO — Tuesday, Aug. 3, marked the National Night Out, and for the fourth year in a row, Atascadero participated in the nationwide community-building event. Atascadero Police Department (APD), Atascadero Fire Depart-
RESCUE
ment (AFD), San Luis Obispo (SLO) County Sheriff ’s Office, SLO County Search and Rescue, United States Army all came out for a giant meet and greet with the community of Atascadero. Families and children were able to tour a fleet of emergency vehicles, pet Luke the K-9, see riot gear close up, learn about gun injury prevention, see what evidence and crime scenes look like, and enter a free raffle to win The community came together for a prizes from Atascadero businesses. meet and greet for National Night CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
This year’s judges were Joe McKee, Faron Bento, and Quentin Thompson. Students typically begin restoring their tractors in the fall and must have them complete the following
July along with their record books and presentations. From start to finish, students log in about 400 hours of work on their tractors. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
The Western Drought and the Food Supply
All-Comers Track & Field Event Huge Success
By PATRICK PATTON patrick@atascaderonews.com
For the Dewar program, competitors are judged on three parts: the physical tractor restoration, record book of their hours and finances, and finally, a presentation and interview with judges.
CALIFORNIA
Competitors of all ages participated in a range of track & field events. Photos by Patrick Patton
Community outreach and goodwill in the Sunken Gardens
Left to Right: Ben Foxford, Joe Domingos, Braydon Beckett, Casey Havemann (2020 Grand Champion), Shane Brennan (2021 Grand Champion), Cameron McEntire, Annika Ernstrom, Annika Jensen, John Paul Schmidt, Josh Jorgensen, Hunter Breese, Gabe, Brett Lipscomb, Gabe Fuller. Contributed photo
Out in Atascadero at Sunken Garden on Tuesday night. Photo by Patrick Patton
COMMUNITY
COVID-19 UPDATE
How it’s affecting farmers, and how it will affect the nation By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
CALIFORNIA — If you have driven through the California Valley, you’ve likely seen a sign that read “No Water = No Food.” These signs are remnants from the State’s previous droughts and never taken down because of how likely another waterless year will be. And here we are. California is facing yet another drought. According to the California Farm Water Coalition (CFWC), 2021 is on track to being critically dry— the same as the State’s last drought, which lasted from about 2014-2016. What’s worse is, as of Jun. 2, over 2 million acres—more than one-quarter of Californian irrigated farmland—is receiving 5 percent or less of its water supply. More than half of that is getting no water allocation at all. In other areas of California, farms have reportedly had their water supplies cut by 25 percent or more, and 60,000 acres in Northern California will receive zero water this year. Founded in 1989, the CFWC is a non-profit, educational organization that provides fact-based information on farm water issues to the public.
SUPERIOR COURT
Due to lack of water, farmers across the State have had to face the crucial decision to reduce their planted acres. Photo of California wheat fields. Contributed photo
“We’re all about helping people understand the connection between farm water and their food supply,” said Mike Wade, executive director at CFWC. Due to lack of water, farmers across the State have had to face the crucial decision to reduce their planted acres. And some farmers were given no choice but to plow under their crop—because the California Water Board (CWB) cut off their water supply by suspending the farmer’s water rights. Farmers on the Russian River and the Sacramento-San Juaquin watershed have already had their junior water rights suspended by the CWB. “We’ve seen dozens of crops that are having reduced plantings this year. Farmers are fallowing fields of annual crops,” said Wade. He continued, “What that does is it doesn’t just affect the farmer, as important as that is. It affects communities. It affects people who depend on those farms for jobs. It
affects related businesses, particularly transportation and processing all the way down the food chain to the grocery store where we see reduced supply and higher prices for consumers.” The last driest year California saw was in 2015. According to drought. gov, “drought impacts to California’s agricultural sector resulted in $1.84 billion in direct costs, a loss of 10,100 seasonal jobs, and surface water shortages of 8.7 million acrefeet.” California Governor Gavin Newsom was on the Central Coast Jul. 8, where he signed an executive order for Californians, including agriculture, commercial and residential, to decrease water use by 15 percent. As of Jul. 13, 50 California counties have declared a drought emergency, including San Luis Obispo County, affecting 42 percent of California’s population. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
atascaderonews.com twitter.com/ @AtascaderoNews facebook.com/ @AtascaderoNews
NORTH COUNTY PAWS CAUSE SALINAS RIVER PROJECT After a COVID kitten explosion, cats 19,000 pounds of trash and materials need forever homes | A3 have been removed in July | A4
FOLLOWING GOV. NEWSOM’S KRISTIN SMART MURDER Recent vaccination measures, Preliminary hearings, Day 1 and 2, California employers follow suit | A5 move forward | A13
High 92° | Low 54°
5
67808 24135
7