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SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXI, NO. XXXV
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2021
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PASO ROBLES HIGH SCHOOL
PRHS Senior Parents Join Together to ‘Save the Class of 2021’ No Friday Night Lights, senior perks, or high school campus memories for the Class of 2021 By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com PASO ROBLES — Parents of Paso Robles Seniors are working to “Save The Class of 2021.” The class of 2020 missed their senior trip, their prom, proper graduation, and all their last moments to soak in high school. What was meant to be two weeks of homeschool ended up being an extended senior ditch day. Now, the class of 2021 is in the seventh month of their senior year and have yet to step foot on campus. Students have missed out on homecoming, winter formals, senior night, Friday Night Lights, and being a senior, finally! Being a senior on campus typically comes with perks. You now can have first dibs on the senior lockers. The area where only seniors sat? You can sit there now. The area reserved for senior parking? Yeah, you get to park there too. Except, the class of 2021 has yet to experience any of this. This is where parents of Paso Robles seniors have stepped in to give their kids the chance to live out all those special moments. Near the start of the school year, a group of parents got together with the intention of “saving the class of 2021.” Together, the group plans activities and events for seniors like senior breakfast and movie nights.
EDUCATION
Board Approves Grand Jury Response Resolution #21-18 With a 5-2 Vote By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9. The board moved agenda item J.3. Resolution #21-18 Approving Board’s Response to the Grand Jury Report to the front of the agenda. Trustees Chris Bausch and Dorian Baker both raised concern that there are errors within the report, both grammatical and other. For over an hour, trustees discussed their final response to the Grand Jury Report: Paso Robles Schools: A Cautionary Tale. There was apparent tension in the air CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
FUNDRAISER
GOVERNMENT
Supervisors Address Concerns with Homelessness and Financial Constraints Board voted to authorize initiating litigation against Sprouse Communications By MELISSA MATTSON melissa@pasoroblespress.com
Restaurant owners have been handling COVID restrictions in their separate ways. They comply with the restrictions as they are able to continue to keep their business open. Many owners have allowed customers to eat their take-out orders on their patios,
SAN LUIS COUNTY — The Board of Supervisors met for a regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. on Feb. 9. The meeting began with the consent agenda, which was passed by the Board with a 5-0 vote. Next, Penny Borenstein, the Public Health Director, spoke on agenda item 19, the COVID-19 update. While the county has seen an increase in the last three months, she states, “we are definitely moving in the right direction,” with the positivity rate dropping from the all-time high of 11.1 percent in January to 5.9 percent last week. Borenstein ended her report with an update on the state’s position on religious services in terms of COVID-19 regulations. This comes directly after the Supreme Court gave a partial win to churches fighting California’s limits on indoor worship services. Borenstein stated that while formerly banned, religious entities are now permitted to hold indoor services with 25 percent capacity in the purple and red tier and 50 percent when counties move to orange or yellow. The one remaining restriction being that singing and chanting is still prohibited due to the higher transmission rate of these activities in indoor settings. The Board then heard from members of the public who were concerned with not only the current homeless population but also those facing homelessness due to financial constraints. Supervisor Bruce Gibson spoke in response to the callers, “The county has access to some 17 million dollars that could be used to address those behind in their rent and threatened with eviction eventually. By some estimates, that may be less than half of the rent debt accumulated in the county…. I’ve been very concerned with our ability to address this.” He then suggested creating a task force to address the complex housing issue facing the county. “This is something I’m very interested in seeing move forward aggressively and effectively.”
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Parents of Paso Robles High School Seniors coordinated with the students and the city to hold a “HOCO” rally and parade on Saturday, Feb. 6. in downtown Paso Robles. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Loewen Photography
Shannon Gidcumb said they are trying to “Give the senior class a sense of school community and have that farewell to their peers’ events.” The group is not affiliated with Paso Robles High School or ASB. From the group’s social media page: “Group has been created to keep the Parents of Class of 2021 informed of activ-
ities and events planned for our Seniors. Due to school restrictions on activities, we parents will be planning events that are NON-SCHOOL related. Pics can also be shared in this group. Before an Administrator accepts your request to join, you will need to verify your graduate’s name. The intention of this group is to make the Class of 2021 Senior Year a memorable one!
This FB Group is separate from Parents of PRHS Class of 2021, which will keep you informed of school-related information and deadlines.” One example of events the parents planned was the HOCO Rally held in Downtown Paso Robles. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
BUSINESS
North County Restaurants Receive Warning From State Alcohol Beverage Control With ever-changing restrictions how are businesses expected to adapt and keep up? By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com NORTH COUNTY — It is probably safe to say that restaurant owners are exhausted from the constant pivoting they have had to do to comply with COVID restrictions almost across the board. On Dec. 3, California announced a regional stay at home order which included San Luis Obispo County under the Southern California region. For restaurants, this meant they could be open for take-out or pick-up only. In December of 2020, many restaurant owners in North County received a violation letter from the State Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Department. In Templeton, 15 Degree C Wine Shop & Bar and Colony Market and Deli in Atascadero are two of many North County restaurants that received a warning from the ABC. Colony Market received a violation letter in December for having customers dining outside. 15 Degree C was notified later over the phone they had violations for customers dining inside or outside the restaurant.
SUPER BOWL LV
Ali Carscaden, owner and sommelier of 15 Degree C Wine Shop and Bar in Templeton expresses her frustrations with the regulations “back and forth.” Contributed photo
During the week of Jan. 22, these restaurants’ owners received a call from ABC warning that they will be enforcing restrictions made by the State Government during the stay at home order. Again, these restrictions included dining outside, even if customers were dining outside with take-out orders.
COVID-19 UPDATE
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