Hometown News Since 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CIV, NO. XXXIII
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020
EDUCATION
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SAFETY
PROTECT & SERVE
Thank You to All the Firefighters and First Responders Children’s House Montessori School in Atascadero received a waiver for in-person learning. File photo
Atascadero Begins Search For Next Police Chief
Eleven SLO County Private Schools Receive Waivers for In-Person Instruction
A peek into what the process will look like By CONNOR ALLEN
By BRIAN WILLIAMS brian@atascaderonews.com SAN LUIS OBISPO — Eleven small private schools in San Luis Obispo County had waivers approved for in-person instruction. SLO County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said Aug. 19 that eight of the 12 schools and districts in the County that applied for a waiver were approved. Three more were added Tuesday, Aug. 25. The total enrollment of the 12 schools that applied for the waiver was estimated at 1,000 by Borenstein. Enrollment for all schools in the County was roughly 35,000. “It’s a small number but I am hopeful that we can use that as a tool to understand how to introduce in-person instruction and see how well these small schools do it,” Borenstein said. “And then use that as a way to expand on it in other elementary schools and eventually, I hope to be able to get all of our kids back in school.” The eleven private schools are: • Wishing Well School in Los Osos • Trinity Lutheran School in Paso Robles • Montessori Children’s School in San Luis Obispo • Children’s House Montessori School in Atascadero • Valley View Adventist Academy in Arroyo Grande • North County Christian School in Atascadero • Templeton Hills Adventist School in Templeton • Coastal Christian School in Pismo Beach • Old Mission School in San Luis Obispo • St. Patrick School in Arroyo Grande • St. Rose Catholic School in Paso Robles Reopening plans for the schools were posted on their respective websites. The County has not released the names of the other five schools or districts that submitted waivers. On July 17, Governor Gavin Newson announced that if a county CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
COMMUNITY
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our mind waiting until things settled down and are now in there opening up brand new.” The Nutiles understand that they will need to once again build up their goodwill in the Atascadero community. They are focused on three things — customer service, consistency and speed. “Every owner runs their store a little differently, so when we go in here, we will be doing it our way and not the way it was done before, but we are really excited. We do have a reputation here, and we know people love Fatte’s, so we are excited to come back in and make it better than it was before,” Sarah Nutile said. “We focus here a lot on customer service,
ATA S C A D E R O — Atascadero Police Chief Jerel Haley announced his retirement in early July. As of Aug. 12, the City officially posted the position online and began the process of finding a new chief. The Atascadero News inquired about the selection process, and this article will detail everything that will go into the search and how the public can get involved. The City of Atascadero announced Haley’s last day would officially be Oct. 16 and that they hope to have the position filled before Haley concludes his ninth year in charge. He will also be included in the interview process for the new chief. According to municipal code in the power of appointment and removal, it is the duty of the city manager to appoint, remove, promote and demote any and all officers and employees of the City except elective officers and the City Attorney. However, appointment, removal, promotion, and demotion of department heads, officers, and employees shall be recommended to the City Council for concurrence and confirmation. This means City Manager Rachelle Rickard ultimately hires the position but will also bring the suggestion to the City Council for confirmation. The City of Atascadero will conduct a national search but will not be using an outside firm to hire the position stating, “While using a recruiting firm can be a very effective tool for some recruitments, the City has had similar success using other recruitment tools such as targeted job postings.” Following a review of all the applications and materials received from interested parties, the City will select the top qualified candidates, generally seven to nine, that will move on to the next phase of the recruitment process.
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Atascadero Fire Department personnel have been helping battle fires across the state, including the River Fire in Monterey County. Photo courtesy of the City of Atascadero
Amidst A Pandemic, Heatwaves, and Wildfires We Are Grateful For Our Everyday Heroes By HAYLEY MATTSON yet there were over 200 lighthayley@atascaderonews.com ning strikes again in the last few days across California. ildfires have According to Richard Steadu n f o r t u n a t e l y man, Control Officer of the become a part of Monterey Bay Air Resources the natural disasters that plague District Air Pollution Control our beautiful State through- Officer, “we have seen some of out the year. Currently, more the worst air quality we have than 14,000 firefighters are experienced since the agency battling over two dozen major formed in early 1970.” fires and lightning complexes On Saturday, several of the across California. As of writing counties within their threethis, the weather conditions are county jurisdiction were regisbecoming more favorable, and tering hazardous at times.
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It was recommended to stay inside due to the poor air quality and use common sense if you smell smoke, and if you cannot see across the street, that means the air is hazardous. On Sunday, the North County air started to lighten, and by Monday, there was blue in the sky again. Cal Fire reported on Tuesday that favorable weather conditions continue to aid firefighters in their efforts toward containment. Since the lightning
siege that started on Saturday, Aug. 15, there have been over 13,000 lightning strikes, with 233 new strikes in the past 24 hours. There have been more than 650 new wildfires during this time period, which have now burned over 1.25 million acres. The significant acreage burned makes the fires collectively larger than Delaware. In this siege, there have been seven reported fatalities CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
BUSINESS
Paso Robles Owners to Reopen Fatte’s Pizza In Atascadero By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — One of Atascadero’s longest-standing restaurants, Fatte’s Pizza, will be reopening its doors in September under the new ownership of Ron and Sarah Nutile, who own and operate Fatte’s Pizza in Paso Robles. Over the past year, the Atascadero location experienced some ownership issues that led to the departure of several dedicated workers and legal trouble that shut down the popular buy-one-get-one pizza spot. However, the Fatte’s faithful need not worry about any changes to their recipe or style of operation. This will be the second round of ownership for the Nutiles in Atascadero.
LOCAL NEWS
Fatte’s Pizza employees pictured from left to right are Jesus Osuna, Bolivar Arroyo, Damian Lagunas, Sarah Nutile, Acadia Nutile, Danika Nutile and Sam Nutile. Photo courtesy of Fatte’s Pizza
“We are excited about it now. It is kind of a sad story what happened with the Atascadero location. Our former business partner and a former friend got in a bad way. The business started failing. He ended up robbing us just a few months
COVID-19 UPDATE
ago, and he is now in jail,” Sarah Nutile told The Atascadero News. “He completely lost that store, the customers have been upset because they can’t get their Fatte’s Pizza anymore, the employee’s lost their jobs, and so we were in the back of
TODAY’S SENIOR
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WEATHER
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BREW AT THE ZOO goes virtual with tasty beverage delivery | A3
ATASCADERO ALLOWS open containers within responsible guidelines | A4
SLO COUNTY CONTINUES LEAVING A LEGACY to report COVID-19 cases and worthy of the life you’ve lived deaths | A5 can satisfy your soul | A13
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