GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XIV
GOVERNMENT
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022
atascaderonews.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
COMMUNITY
Atascadero Farmers Market Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
City Council holds Study Session on the 2021-2023 Action Plan
AARON BERGH
Aaron Bergh Named Distillers of SLO County President
Members addressed the approval of the Broadband Strategic Plan Memorandum of Understanding By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers and was followed by the council’s closed session. The meeting started with Mayor Heather Moreno giving a proclamation designating the last week of April as World War II Commemoration Week. “Now, therefore, on behalf of the City of Atascadero, we CONTINUED ON PAGE A16
Police Chief Robert Masterson, Council Member Charles Bourbeau, Glenn’s Repair Geoff Auslen (back), Council Member Mark Dariz (front), Mayor Heather Moreno, North County Farmers Markets Director Robyn Gable, Supervisor Bruce Gibson, and Atascadero Chamber President & CEO Josh Cross cut ribbon to celebrate the Atascadero Farmers Market five-year anniversary. Contributed photo
The anniversary festivities started off with an official ribbon-cutting By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATA S C A D E R O — Atascadero celebrated five years of holding its Farmers Market in the Sunken Gardens on Wednesday, April 6, from 3 to 6 p.m. “It’s lovely to be together with the city in this big
Charles Paddock Zoo Welcomes Spring and Babies The zoo’s Spring Festival runs now through April 24 By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
ATA S C A D E R O — Zookeepers at the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero introduced some of their new zoo babies on Monday, April 11, to kick off their Spring Festival, which is happening all through April. Zoo Director Alan Baker, began by introducing some radiated tortoises “Many of the species we have here at the zoo are critically endangered, and they need special care, particularly when they are young,” he said. Born about one week ago, the
EDUCATION
COUNTY
radiated tortoises are native to Madagascar. Next, Flavia Parotti, vet tech at the zoo, introduced a baby roadrunner who was approximately 32 days old on Monday. The roadrunner’s parents, native to California and on exhibit in the zoo, were not properly taking care of their eggs. So, zookeepers took over, and the zoo’s first roadrunner was finally born. The baby roadrunner and tortoises will not be on exhibit until they are old enough to be independent. Last to be introduced was a 5-month-old prehensile-tailed porcupine. The porcupine can already be visited and is on exhibit with his parents. He is still slightly smaller than his parents and can often be found sitting in his food pan.
NEWS
endeavor to grow this wonderful Farmers’ Market here in Atascadero,” said North County Farmers Markets Manager Robyn Gable. The anniversary festivities started off with an official ribbon-cutting by a mixture of Atascadero City Council members and leaders in the community. “It is so fun to see that it’s grown so much and how many people are out here. I mean, just look at today; there’s probably a lot of people that
haven’t been here before,” said Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno. “I’ve been coming regularly, I’d say, two to three times a month, and I love it. I’ve met people I didn’t know before the Farmers Market. And then you run into them regularly, and it just feels like a real community market.” Though the Farmers Market previously took place in Sunken Gardens, for a 14-year period it was located away from the downtown area. “Back in 2003, when we
had the San Simeon earthquake and City Hall was no longer inhabitable, and downtown was really dead for the most part, the Farmer Market moved over to what is now the Smart & Final parking lot,” Moreno said. “And in 2015, City Hall was back and going again, and we were really trying to revitalize downtown. So we reached out to the organizers of the market in late 2015 and started conversations with them about coming back,
Bergh is master distiller and founder of Calwise Spirits in Paso Robles By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES — Aaron Bergh, master distiller, president, and founder of Calwise Spirits in Paso Robles, has been named the new president of Distillers of SLO County. “It’s an honor to be able to help this group continue to grow and put Paso Robles on CONTINUED ON PAGE A16 the map as the premier place in California for craft spirits,” ANIMALS said Bergh. The Distillers of SLO County website says they are “an affiliation of farmers, winemakers, brewers, bartenders, chemists and overall spirit enthusiasts with the common interest of crafting world-class distillates in the heart of the Paso Robles, wine regions, and beyond.” The association has been around for about eight years, and Bergh joined four years ago after opening the Calwise Spirits location on Ramada Drive. “Over the past four years, I’ve had a chance to see it [the association] grow and participate in growing it,” Bergh added. San Luis Obispo County, especially Paso Robles, has The 5-month-old prehensile-tailed porcupine is currently on exhibit at the zoo. Photo by Camille DeVaul/ATN been known for its wine, but The prehensile-tailed porcu- brating spring with their Spring you entertained. some craft distillers are becompine is a native from Central Festival. From now until April Spring Festival Animal Feed- ing more and more popular in the area. and South America — much 24, the zoo is hosting fun-filled ing Schedule: Wednesday (April 13) — 11 “Paso Robles has become smaller than their African family activities. From a variknown as wine country, but crested porcupine cousin found ety of crafts, backyard babies, a.m. — Malayan tiger baby chicks, and scheduled just down the way. Thursday (April 14) — 11 it’s not just for wine anymore,” said Bergh, “There are great Through the month of April, animal feedings, there is plenty a.m. — American alligator CONTINUED ON PAGE A16 CONTINUED ON PAGE A16 Charles Paddock Zoo is cele- happening at the zoo to keep
PERSPECTIVE
CALENDAR
WEATHER
atascaderonews.com twitter.com/ @AtascaderoNews facebook.com/ @AtascaderoNews
GREYBOTS PREPARE SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS BARBIE BUTZ TALKS For first Championships in against two local Cheesecake & Lakeside Houston | A4 business owners | A5 Wine Festival | A12
ECHO 11TH ANNUAL Empty Bowls Fundraiser April 28 | A13
High 66° | Low 45°
5
67808 24135
7