GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. VIII
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
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COMMUNITY
COVID-19
AUSD Will Lift Mandates and Move to Mask Choice
on Mar. 11
Majority of public comment urged Board to enact Mask Choice immediately By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
The Show Choir performs at the 2019 Pioneer Day Parade. Contributed photo
The History of the Atascadero Greyhounds Choir Boosters
In 2017 the Greyhound Choir Boosters reinvented themselves as a nonprofit By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — Atascadero Greyhounds Choir Boosters have seen a lot of changes over the last five years. From starting over from scratch to fighting to keep the choir program at the
high school to navigating the COVID19 pandemic, the organization has been there through it all. Back in 2017, Atascadero’s choir director left her position behind and moved, and most of the Boosters members left at the same time. “I think there were three of us who
were still going to have students in the choir,” said current Greyhounds Choir Booster president, Alicia Borlodan. “The president had been president for a long time. Treasurer, all that, they just kinda went, ‘okay, we’re done, here’s the stuff.’ So we went ‘OK!’ So myself and another mom and a grandmother of one of the
students stayed on and took over.” In 2017 the Greyhound Choir Boosters, with the help of the three remaining Booster members, reinvented themselves as a nonprofit. “We had to restart [Greyhound Choir Boosters] essentially. So one Boosters CONTINUED ON PAGE A12
ATA S C A D E R O — Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) met for their regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 1, at 7 p.m. following their 6 p.m. Closed Session. The meeting started with the Board of Trustees moving item 7 on the agenda, Oral Communication From The Public, before item 6, School-Related Reports. The motion passed. The members of the public were told that Oral CONTINUED ON PAGE A12
CITIZENSHIP
Dora Cary: Behind the Iron Curtain
A journey from the Socialist Republic of Romania to America By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
PASO ROBLES — Today, Dora Cary owns a Orange Dot Quilts in Paso Robles on Railroad Street. She has a beautiful family and lives a happy life. But growing up in Timisoara, Romania, Cary’s life was not always so full of color and freedom. From the 1940s to the early 1990s, Romania was the Socialist Republic of
Romania (RSR), run by a communist party—a Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist state. It may have taken decades, but eventually, the new communist regime in Romania took everything Cary’s family had worked so hard to get. It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t everything at once. Romanians held their wealth in gold and land. Both were among the first to be taken from the people. Next, they took the people’s guns, animals, and land. Along with farmland being taken from the Romanian people, the new government took control of all the factories. In an effort to gain control of the entire country of Romania, the communist party
began pitting social classes against each other. The party deemed everyone wealthy as evil, and intellects were people who thought for themselves—also not allowed in the new regime. Along with intellects and the wealthy, anyone with aristocratic ties was condemned. Cary’s mother’s side had some aristocratic ties, which the family did everything they could to hide from the party. Soon, everything was centralized by the RSR government. Factories produced one “brand” of everything. Everyone, except the elite, had no choice in even the smallest aspects of their life. CONTINUED ON PAGE A12
Cary became an American citizen in 2008. Contributed photo
CALIFORNIA
State Lifts Mask Mandate in Schools Mar. 12
Starting Mar. 1, masks will no longer be required for unvaccinated people By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
CALIFORNIA — California, Oregon, and Washington announced the end of mask mandates for students in a joint statement on Monday, Feb.
SPORTS
28. Starting Mar. 12, masks will no longer be required in school and child care facilities. However, they are still strongly recommended. In California, starting Mar. 1, masks will no longer be required for unvaccinated individuals but
BUSINESS
will be strongly recommended for all individuals in most indoor settings. California Governor Gavin Newsom gave the following statement: “California continues to adjust our policies based on the latest data and science, applying what we’ve learned over the past two years to guide our response
GOVERNMENT
to the pandemic. Masks are an effective tool to minimize spread of the virus and future variants, especially when transmission rates are high. We cannot predict the future of the virus, but we are better prepared for it and will continue to take measures rooted in science to keep California moving forward.” Masks will still be required
2022 READERS POLL
for everyone in high transmission settings like public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and longterm care facilities. As always, local jurisdictions may have additional requirements beyond the state guidance. On Feb. 15, California dropped the mask mandate for
vaccinated residents, except in public transit, indoors in K-12 schools and childcare, healthcare settings, State and local correctional facilities and detention centers, homeless shelters, and adult/senior care facilities. That same day, many local students began protesting the mask mandate. Most notably CONTINUED ON PAGE A12
WEATHER
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