Latest news with #MichaelMitchell
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Yahoo
Memorial Day ceremony in SLO County honors fallen military members with flyover
American flags fluttered softly in the breeze at the Paso Robles District Cemetery on Monday, where more than 250 people gathered to honor fallen servicemembers at a Memorial Day Ceremony. The audience was filled with people of all ages, from gray-haired veterans to the young scouts who led the flag salute. The Cuesta College Chorus opened the ceremony with the national anthem, and the Estrella Warbirds flew over the cemetery. Col. Dan Dow, who is also the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney, gave a speech at the event. During the ceremony, Leo Castillo, an Iraq veteran and Paso Robles Veterans of Foreign Wars Post commander, wiped tears from his eyes as he remembered his fallen friend, Michael Mitchell. 'It's meaningful to me specifically because I had a friend that I lost when I was overseas,' he said of the ceremony. The pair served together in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. Mitchell was killed in action on April 4, 2004. 'He was about two months away from getting married, and he was only in his mid-twenties, so it was one of those things where life was robbed from him,' Castillo said. Castillo named his son in memory of his friend. 'He volunteered to go on that mission, so he did that on his own accord — which is honestly the biggest sacrifice anyone can make for others,' Castillo said. 'That means a lot to me, to this day, and means a lot to my children.' See photos from the ceremony below:
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major project approved with no affordable homes
Plans to build 1,300 homes in a flagship scheme on the waterfront in Exeter have been given the go-ahead without any requirement for affordable housing. Up to 980 flats and 320 student accommodation units, as well as shops and restaurants, will be built in the Water Lane development. At Exeter City Council's planning committee on Monday, some councillors said it was unacceptable to approve the plans without any agreement to provide affordable or social housing. The developer said it was spending more than £10m on getting the industrial site ready for development and was keen to deliver affordable housing as part of the scheme at a later date. The development could be up to nine storeys high on the former industrial site alongside Exeter's canal. The councillor for the ward, Diana Moore, Green Party leader, said: "It's very clear in the decision that affordable housing will not be secured through the planning system - it may be delivered by other mechanisms. "That means the developer has no responsibility to deliver any affordable or social housing, and that responsibility is offloaded on to the council or housing associations, or other organisations that are going to have to work up those schemes and pay for it in other ways. "That really concerns me and we will be keeping a very close eye on what is actually agreed and making sure affordable housing is delivered." During the four-hour meeting Liberal Democrat group leader Michael Mitchell said affordable housing should be included as a condition. Conservative leader Anne Jobson said there should be a "clear commitment" to reviewing the possibility of affordable or social housing at every stage. At the opening of the meeting Paul Knott, planning committee chairman and Labour member for Exwick, said it was the "largest and most complex" planning application he had dealt with in his 18 years as a councillor. Proposing the motion to approve the plans, he said: "I'm satisfied that if it's viable affordable housing will be delivered." Andy Wilkins, from the Water Lane Development Management Company, told the meeting this was "a watershed moment for the city". "This is an exciting moment that will see the delivery of much-needed housing in an exemplar scheme," he said. When questioned by councillors about the reasons for the absence of affordable housing, he said: "This site is about as brownfield as it gets and the cost of delivery is significant." He said the viability of affordable housing changed according to market conditions. "If it's viable for affordable housing to be delivered, it will be delivered," he said. Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ No affordable homes in major waterside development Fear over £110m 'industrial' energy centre in park Exeter City Council
