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SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. II
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022
EDUCATION
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CITY EVENT
Thousands Attend Atascadero’s 6th Annual Tamale Festival
AUSD Address Changes to COVID-19 Guidance for Testing Positive The board unanimously approved the school district to apply for rural exemption from Educational Code By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATA S C A D E R O — Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) met for their regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The 7 p.m. Open Session meeting proceeded their 6 p.m. Closed Session. The meeting opened with a motion to move the Dec. 14, 2021 minutes’ approval to the next AUSD board meeting due to not having enough board members in attendance who were not absent in the last meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The board then recognized four donations. The Keller Family donated $500 to Santa Rosa Academic Academy. The Blackbaud Giving Fund and PG&E donated $124.98 to Santa Rosa Academic Academy. PG&E matching funds and Charles Taylor donated $240 to Atascadero Fine Arts Academy. Finally, PG&E matching funds and Don Pomi donated $240.00 to San Gabriel Elementary. The Superintendent’s Report started with Superintendent Tom Butler giving a COVID19 update. From the middle of Nov. to the middle of Dec., the case average was four to five students a week, with about one staff member testing positive. The last four weeks have seen an uptick in cases. Nov. 20 thru 26 saw 11 students test positive and four staff members. Winter break, Dec. 27 thru Jan. 2, saw 32 students test positive, alongside 12 staff members. Jan. 3 thru Jan. 9 saw 115 students test positive and 30 staff members. Jan. 10 thru Jan. 16 saw 51 students test positive, along with 21 staff members. It’s possible that last week’s numbers could change as more reports come in. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SPORTS
Around 10,000 people attended the 6th Annual Tamale Festival, which has become an Atascadero staple. Photos by Christianna Marks/ATN
tourists headed to Atascadero’s Sunken Gardens to celebrate their love of tamales. Around 10,000 people attended the 6th Annual Tamale FestiBy CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com val, which has become an Atascadero staple. Not even ATASCADERO — On on-and-off-rain could affect Saturday, Jan. 15, locals and the turnout.
La Luz Del Mundo Oxnard took home Best Overall Tamale
The festival started off with a tamale contest, where judges privately gathered in City Hall and tasted 17 tamales provided by vendors at the festival. Among the judges was Atascadero’s Mayor, Heather Moreno, who’s been a part of the festival for all six years.
“I was here from the very beginning. It’s exciting to see how it’s grown,” said Mayor Moreno of the Tamale Fest. “The first year was small, but we had thousands of people show up. We didn’t expect that big of a showing, and tamales sold out in under an hour.”
CULINARY
Around 12:30 p.m., the winners of the Fest’s “Best Tamale Contest ” were announced. Both Traditional and Gourmet tamales were judged during the contest. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
ART
Odyssey World Cafe Welcomes New Owners
Local artist Michelle Watson (left) and Specs by Kyla owner Kyla Skinner (right) quickly became friends. Photo by Christianna Marks
From left to right, Steve and Dawn Gregory, Carmelo and Anna Rodriguez, John and Hawley. File photo by Camille DeVaul
Dawn Gregory and John Hawley opened the cafe 25 years ago in Paso Robles By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES—Named for the Greek King, Odysseyous’s adventures through the Mediterranean Sea, Odyssey World Cafe was one of the first to bring international comfort food to Paso Robles 25 years ago. Now, after a quarter-century, the cafe’s owners are embarking on a new Odyssey in their lives, turning the restaurant over to long-time Odyssey chef Carmelo and his
COMMUNITY
wife, Anna Rodriguez. In 1997, Dawn Gregory and John Hawley opened the Odyssey World Cafe on Pine Street in downtown Paso Robles. Originally, the two envisioned Odyssey as a market-style shop, bringing the community worldly ingredients that Odysseus, from the epic poem by Greek author Homer, may have found throughout the Mediterranean during his Odyssey. But slowly, Dawn realized their customers wanted to stay at the shop and eat. They wanted John to create sandwiches with these new ingredients. Soon enough, Odyssey became a cafe, offering comfort food with an international
GOVERNMENT
CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SOCIETY
Local Artist’s Vision Comes To Traffic Way
Specs By Kyla owner will feature Michelle Watson’s art through February
By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — Local artist Michelle Watson and Specs by Kyla owner Kyla Skinner became fast friends after Michelle and her mom came searching for the perfect eyeglass frames at Kyla’s Atascadero opti-
cal store. With an interaction or two on Instagram, the two solidified their friendship, and now, in February, the two artistic ladies are teaming together to bring a fun and colorful collaboration to downtown Atascadero. “I think I had sent her [Kyla] a couple of pictures of me wearing my new glasses that I had purchased, and then on Instagram, she was like, ‘hey, I actually really like your art, maybe we should do a collaboration for one CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
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