Hometown News Since 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CIV, NO. X
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020
atascaderonews.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
LOCAL
HEALTH
LET’S FISH!
COVID-19 Hits North County Worldwide pandemic first detected in the community Saturday By NICHOLAS MATTSON nic@atascaderonews.com
“It was 500 pounds so probably roughly about 1,000 fish,” Michniuk said. “They are rainbow trout, and they are triploid where they go through a process where they can’t reproduce — so if for some reason they get out of the lake [into Atascadero Creek] they can’t reproduce.” While the rainbow trout are welcome inhabitants of the Atascadero Lake, they are an invasive species to the local waterways. “They won’t survive here,” Michniuk said, “with the water conditions and the heat [over summer]. The fish won’t have an effect on the algae, but the
NORTH COUNTY — On December 31, 2019, China alerted the World Health Organization to several unusual cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, at which time the term “coronavirus” was relatively unknown. Today, March 18, nearly 200,000 cases of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, have been reported along with 7,868 deaths, and more than 80,000 recoveries, worldwide. On January 28, we reported 11 cases were confirmed in the United States. As days turned into weeks, the virus spread around the world and conflicting reports battled over the narrative as it related to California and the Central Coast. In the first week of March, the County of San Luis Obispo began delivering updates on COVID-19, but had yet to confirm a case. On March 5, California declared a state of emergency and the first patient in SLO County was tested and found negative for COVID-19. On March 6, events began canceling around the state and county like dominoes falling — meetings and events were canceled or placed online only, sports were canceled at the university and high school levels. On March 13, SLO County declared a state
CONTINUED ON PAGE A11
CONTINUED ON PAGE A11
Locals fish at the Atascadero Lake after a 1,000 rainbow trout were stocked on Saturday. Photo by Nicholas Mattson
Local residents gather after Atascadero Lake stocked with trout By NICHOLAS MATTSON ATASCADERO — Let’s fish! Echoes of the KSBY show “Fishmasters” whispered along the surface of Atascadero Lake on Friday, March 13, when an estimated 1,000 rainbow trout poured in. The fish were provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from San Joaquin Hatchery in Fresno and are expected to live in the lake until summer. Before stocking the lake, protections were put in place to keep the trout from escaping into connected waterways, such as Atascadero Creek, where they would be an invasive species and nega-
EDUCATION
North County Schools Close School boards vote to keep students home due to COVID-19 pandemic By LUKE PHILLIPS & MARK DIAZ NORTH COUNTY — School boards in Atascadero, Templeton and Paso Robles all convened emergency meetings this past Friday, March 6 to vote on whether or not to close schools due to the imminent arrival of the novel coronovirus COVID-19 in the county and also to decide how long schools should remain closed. The Atascadero Unified School District board of trustees vote to close schools beginning Monday, March 16 and announced that they would be re-evaluating the need for the closure some time before March 31. The school district announced that the school calendar would be changed to include a weeklong recess starting Monday, March 16 and continuing until Tuesday, March 24 and then the regular spring break will be moved up, begging March 24 and last through March 31. The “comprehensive closures” include all extracurricular activities, athletics, performing CONTINUED ON PAGE A11
atascaderonews.com
tively impact naturally occurring steelhead trout. “That was the big holdup,” Department of Fish and Wildlife District Biologist Dennis Michniuk said. “In order to stock this lake we had to show that no fish could get out into Atascadero Creek.” The Friends of Atascadero Lake footed the bill to get a screen installed in a downstream culvert in order to prevent fish from invading. “The Friends of Atascadero Lake donated the money to pay for the screen and then we as a department installed it,” Mishnik said. “It was a cooperative effort.” Now that the lake is set up for planting fish, the first of many more stocking was able to take place.
CITY
Atascadero Considers Options to Fight Predatory Practices at Mobile Home Parks By LUKE PHILLIPS luke@atascaderonews.com
A TA S C A D E R O — T h e Atascadero City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone its decision on how to deal with predatory mobile home park owners in the city. The City formed an ad hoc committee, comprised of Council members Roberta Fonzi and Charles Boureau last September after concerned mobile home residents brought the issues to their attention, mostly centered around the city’s largest mobile home park, Rancho Del Bordo Mobile Home Estates at 10025 El Camino Real. Residents claim that the management at Del Bordo is engaged in practices that, while they may be legal, could also be considered predatory. Del Bordo management is accused of raising space rents sharply and unexpectedly, which not only makes it more difficult for the tenant to afford the space but also lowers the resale value of their mobile home, making it more difficult to sell the home at an acceptable
LOCAL NEWS
Accusations of predatory practices by mobile home management have mostly centered around Rancho Del Bordo Moble Home Estates at 10025 El Camino Real.
price. Del Bordo also requires new tenants to make four times the space rent in income in order to be considered, making it even more difficult for tenants to find a buyer when they want to escape the situation. “It’s well known in the industry by both park owners and park residents that there’s a direct inverse relationship between space rental and the amount you can sell your home for,”
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
Bourbeau said. Often, unable to pay the high price of rent and unable to sell their home, tenants are forced to abandon the homes, which park management is then able to buy at a rock-bottom price. Bourbeau said that the ad hoc committee had confirmed that most of the complaints about predatory practices were coming from residents
at Del Bordo, although there were some similar complaints received about the Lost Oak Mobile Home Park. “This particular park (Del Bordo) is the most difficult park in the community to sell a home in,” Bourbeau said. “But (Del Bordo’s) premise is that the City should not interfere with what standards are used to approve tenants unless they are willing to guarantee the payment of rent.” Bourbeau also noted that several mobile home parks in the area are locally owned, family-run businesses that charge fair amounts for rent and have happy residents who don’t have any complaints about the management of the parks. Lost Oak resident Kathy Choate spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting and said that the mobile home park used to be family owned but was sold to a corporation five years ago at which point the new management “began a systematic process to increase the cost of living in the park while reduc-
ENTERTAINMENT
CONTINUED ON PAGE A11
WEATHER
twitter.com/ @AtascaderoNews facebook.com/ @AtascaderoNews
5
67808 24135
7
SERVICE GROUPS join to install permanent fencing at Joy Playground | A4
CITY OF ATASCADERO abandons plans for Del Rio roundabouts | A4
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR ‘THE HUNT’ Inflaming the Week 1 of 2: A spotlight on masses? A movie review by top local athletes | B1 Chris Allen | B3
The Atascadero News Atascadero. Real News. Good News • Real News • Your Hometown News
High 56º | Low 39º
Stay connected with your community. atascaderonews.com