Hometown News Since 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CIV, NO. XLI
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020
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Firestone Walker Creates a ‘Solar System’ For nearly 25 years, the brewery has been good to the community and the environment
RISE Sees Increase in Domestic Violence Calls During Pandemic By BRIAN WILLIAMS brian@atascaderonews.com
Cass Winery nearly 20 years ago. Cass Winery was also Winery of the Year in 2015 and 2018. Sterling Kragten has been the winemaker all three times. “It’s quite an honor,” Steve Cass said. “We are very excited about it, the whole team is. Thank you very much. We are very honored.” Plemons said it was a team effort,
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Unified School District School Board held its first meeting since unanimously voting to open schools on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and were met with fireworks from Atascadero District Teachers Association President Christine Williams. She opened the meeting voicing the displeasure of the teachers association due to comments made by Board members at the previous session on Oct. 6. Williams explained that the ADTA expected the Board to approve the reopening plan. The reason for their statement at the previous meeting was more an issue about the lack of details provided to them from the District and how the Board members carried themselves in the meeting. Williams’s contention was directed at the entire
COUNTY — October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the nonprofit RISE reminds people that help is only a call away. “Just know that there is help, that they don’t have to go through this alone, there are options,” said Stacey Salome, RISE Director of Development and Marketing. RISE’s tollfree crisis line is staffed 24 hours a day — 855-886-RISE (7473). “What we want people to know this month is that we are here for them regardless of their circumstances and that we are a resource that is nonjudgemental that we will listen and can point them to options that may work for them,” she said. The crisis line is not only for people currently experiencing violence. It’s for their friends, it’s for their family, it’s for anyone who feels like they need to provide support to someone in that circumstance, Salome added. Salome said RISE has seen an increase in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said they have seen a 30 percent increase in calls for service over previous years. “Because of all of the trauma related to COVID,” Salome said, “the stress on relationships right now, even healthy relationships, the stress is greater than normal. For us, as an organization, what we have seen is that we’ve had a pretty significant increase in calls to our crisis line.” RISE’s tagline is Respect. Inspire. Support. Empower. Its vision is “a world free of sexual and intimate partner violence.” The Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention Center of San Luis Obispo and the North County Women’s Shelter and Resource Center merged in 2013 to form RISE. SARP began as the Rape Crisis Center of SLO in 1975 and the NCWSRC was formed in 1982. The agencies have decades of
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David Walker and Adam Firestone, co-founders of Firestone Walker Brewing Company, walk through the newly constructed solar array that will offset a majority of the brewery’s energy usage. Photo courtesy of Firestone Walker Brewing Company
By BRIAN WILLIAMS brian@atascaderonews.com
T
ucked behind Firestone Walker Brewing Company is what co-founder David Walker playfully calls the “solar system” — a 2.1-megawatt array that will offset a majority of the brewery’s energy usage. “That is a pretty grand word for it, isn’t it, solar system,” he says with a hearty laugh before lowering his voice and saying,
“Welcome to our solar system.” He is obviously having a bit of fun, but make no mistake, Walker and co-founder Adam Firestone take sustainable brewing very seriously. “Whenever we can reduce our carbon footprint, we are going to do so, and using sunshine to fuel our brewery is a simple way for us to participate,” Walker says. “Brewers have sought to conserve energy for centuries, and we want to continue that tradition here on the Central Coast.”
The solar project is another in the long list of commitments Firestone Walker has made to the environment since brewing began here on the Central Coast in 1996. “A no-brainer really,” Walker says, adding that they feel it is a fitting milestone on the eve of the brewery’s 25th anniversary. The 9.7-acre solar array is located on Firestone Walker land adjacent to the brewery and was built in collaboration with REC Solar. It features ground-mounted single-axis trackers that maximize solar energy capture. It is
VITICULTURE
projected to generate 4,570 MWh (megawatt hours) of electricity each year. A second, smaller 277-kilowatt solar installation will occupy a parking shade structure spanning 14,000 square feet just south of the brewery. Construction of the solar project began in April and included utility substation upgrades that will make it easier for other local companies to tap into solar energy power. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
EDUCATION
ADTA Asks for Apology From Trustee Buban Secondary school students to return Jan. 5 By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com
The Cass Winery team has plenty to celebrate after being named 2020 Winery of the Year from the Central Coast Wine Competition. This is the third such award for Cass. Photo by Charles Roberts Photography
Cass Winery Earns Third Winery of the Year Honor
By BRIAN WILLIAMS brian@atascaderonews.com PASO ROBLES — For the third time since 2015, Cass Winery was named Winery of the Year from the Central Coast Wine Competition. Cass Winery earned the 2020 honor after all 18 of its competition wines placed. It’s Mr Blanc, a white Rhone blend of Roussanne, Viognier and
LOCAL NEWS
Marsanne, was the Best White Wine in the 2020 Central Coast Wine Competition. The Winery of the Year announcement was made Friday afternoon, Oct. 17, during a virtual celebration hosted by Tom Keffury of the California Mid-State Fair and Christopher Taranto of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. Steve Cass and Ted Plemons started
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ATASCADERO POLICE CUESTA COLLEGE CELEBRATES SIX PEOPLE ARRESTED invites community to “A Night Out with Hispanic Heritage Month with series of in connection to July 21 BLM Protest Atascadero Police & Fire” | A3 events in October | A3 in SLO | A5
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