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GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XVIII
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
atascaderonews.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
MEMORIAL
CITY
San Luis Obispo County Honors Fallen Peace Officers
City Council Passes Proposed Increase to Wastewater Rates
Atascadero proclaims May 2022 as National Foster Care Awareness Month By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
Members of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Honor Guard present the American and California flags during the SLO County Peace Officers Memorial at Pismo Beach Pier. Photo Courtesy San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
were honored and remembered on Thursday, May 5, at the SLO County Peace Officers’ Memorial held at Pismo Beach Pier. The annual event honors By CAMILLE DEVAUL peace officers who died in the camille@atascaderonews.com line of duty. This year’s event SAN LOUIS OBISPO was especially personal to the COUNTY — Two San Luis county since it comes just days Obispo County peace officers short of one year since the San
May 10 marked one year since Detective Luca Benedetti’s death
CAPS Officially Dissolves
Committee has played a huge role in grant funding for Atascadero schools the last 15 years By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — The Committee for Atascadero Public Schools (CAPS) is officially in the process of dissolving. CAPS has been a staple in grant funding for the last 15 years, raising close to $1 million for the public school classrooms of Atascadero. Earlier this year, Head Chair Nicole Hider and Event Chair Lori Bickel announced that they would be stepping down from their roles in CAPS, with hopes of new people taking over their chairs. “Unfortunately, nobody has stepped forward to take the mantel of leadership for the
Luis Obispo Police Department’s loss of Detective Luca Benedetti. Benedetti (37) lost his life in the line of duty on May 10, 2021, in San Luis Obispo while serving a search warrant. Benedetti was laid to rest on May 20, 2021, at the Paso Robles District Cemetery, following a
memorial and procession. His memorial, held at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center in SLO, was attended by thousands of community members and law enforcement officers. During the memorial service, SLOPD Sgt. Caleb Kemp said, “Detective Luca Benedetti died with a warrior’s heart, serving
his community and doing what he loved. I want to thank the Benedetti family for sharing him with the rest of the world and thank Luca for sharing himself with all of us ... We will heal; we will never forget, but we will heal. Luca’s sacrifice, legacy, will permanently CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
ATASCADERO—The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers and was followed by the council’s closed session. At the start of the session, the council presented a proclamation proclaiming May 2022 as National Foster Care AwareCONTINUED ON PAGE A15
PERFORMING ARTS
FUNDRAISING
AHS Theater Proudly Presents ‘No Room for a Picture on the Blank Wall’
San Gabriel Elementary School teachers pose with their CAPS Grants checks in 2019. Contributed photo
organization,” Hider said. While the nonprofit is dissolving, CAPS is still wrapping up the grants they awarded for this year, and the organization will continue through the end of the 202122 school year to its completion in June. Hider added that it will probably take several months for CAPS’s other business, like ending contracts and closing bank accounts, to conclude. “Volunteerism is just down across the board. CAPS is just a causality of that,” Hider said. “We’re not the only organization that’s facing a reduction in numbers and in leadership. Sadly, we just don’t have the people to make CAPS run the way it did 15 or even 10 years ago. “When I first started with
SPORTS
CAPS 13 years ago, I went to a board meeting that had 40 people in attendance. That wasn’t even the committees; that was just the primary group. And now our board is down to about seven people. It’s just not sustainable to operate an organization that requires so much effort with so few people.” Hider said that they were seeing a reduction in volunteers before COVID-19 and that if CAPS had not needed to take their fundraiser online, the nonprofit might have dissolved prior to 2022. “Because we moved to an online event, we were able to put on a fundraiser with seven people and a few others helping with individual tasks,” she said. “We had a very small group, and we were able to do CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
COUNTY
(From left) Annika McKnelly, Karson Deveraux, Isaiah Rice, Hannah Emmack, Cayleb Clarke, Johnny Reyes, and Alex DeFraga in “No Room for a Picture on the Blank Wall.” Contributed photo
See the show May 13 and 14 at the AHS Black Box Theater, with a percentage of proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Association By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero High School drama department is gearing up for the
COMMUNITY
second weekend of its current production, “No Room for a Picture on the Blank Wall.” The show will take place Friday, May 13, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, May 14, at 2 and 7 p.m. at Atascadero High School’s Black Box Theater. A portion of proceeds will go to the Alzheimer’s Association. Atascadero News attended the opening weekend of the production, which starts with Peter, the lead character and a photographer, realizing one day
that he can’t see one of his own pictures on the wall of his living room. “It all starts here with this picture that Peter can’t see,” said AHS Drama Teacher Shawna Volpa. The audience sees the whole production through the eyes of Peter as he progresses deeper into the disease of Alzheimer’s. As Peter forgets things, they disappear from the stage, and the actions and set pieces CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
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