Latest news with #SanLuisObispoCounty
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
California's Gifford Fire surges to nearly 40,000 acres closing highway, evacuation orders expanded
NEW CUYAMA, Calif. – A nearly 40,000-acre wildfire forced people from their homes in two Southern California counties over the weekend as firefighters worked to contain the blaze in challenging terrain. The Gifford Fire started along Highway 166 west of Cayama on Friday afternoon, and by Sunday morning, it had exploded to 39,676 acres and was only 5% contained, according to San Luis Obispo County emergency management officials. Watch: California's Gifford Fire Races Up Hillside Toward Camera As Blaze Explodes In Size The fire is burning inside the Los Padres National Forest, consuming thick brush along both sides of Highway 166, with most of the fire in Santa Barbara County. According to the U.s. Forest Service, additional firefighting resources have been brought in to combat the fire burning in rugged terrain, including air tankers and helicopters. Video shared by the Forest Service shows an air tanker making a drop on the blaze. The fire is burning just west of the recent Madre Fire, which became California's largest wildfire of the year on July 3. The Madre Fire was fully contained on July 28 after burning more than 80,000 acres, according to the Forest Service. Utah Governor Declares Month-long State Of Emergency Due To Intensifying Wildfires Some evacuations have been ordered in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties near the Los Padres National Forest. Those remained in place and additional evacuation orders were issued in both counties on Sunday morning. Forest Service officials said three people were injured because of the fire. One civilian was taken by helicopter to the hospital for burn injuries. Two contractors were injured in a UTV rollover incident. All the victims were taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment. According to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard, Southern California faces elevated fire behavior with gusty winds in the week ahead. Under these conditions, abnormally elevated fire behavior and growth are possible. Forecasters are tracking smoke moving across Southern California from the Gifford article source: California's Gifford Fire surges to nearly 40,000 acres closing highway, evacuation orders expanded
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
California's Gifford Fire surges to nearly 40,000 acres closing highway, evacuation orders expanded
NEW CUYAMA, Calif. – A nearly 40,000-acre wildfire forced people from their homes in two Southern California counties over the weekend as firefighters worked to contain the blaze in challenging terrain. The Gifford Fire started along Highway 166 west of Cayama on Friday afternoon, and by Sunday morning, it had exploded to 39,676 acres and was only 5% contained, according to San Luis Obispo County emergency management officials. Watch: California's Gifford Fire Races Up Hillside Toward Camera As Blaze Explodes In Size The fire is burning inside the Los Padres National Forest, consuming thick brush along both sides of Highway 166, with most of the fire in Santa Barbara County. According to the U.s. Forest Service, additional firefighting resources have been brought in to combat the fire burning in rugged terrain, including air tankers and helicopters. Video shared by the Forest Service shows an air tanker making a drop on the blaze. The fire is burning just west of the recent Madre Fire, which became California's largest wildfire of the year on July 3. The Madre Fire was fully contained on July 28 after burning more than 80,000 acres, according to the Forest Service. Utah Governor Declares Month-long State Of Emergency Due To Intensifying Wildfires Some evacuations have been ordered in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties near the Los Padres National Forest. Those remained in place and additional evacuation orders were issued in both counties on Sunday morning. Forest Service officials said three people were injured because of the fire. One civilian was taken by helicopter to the hospital for burn injuries. Two contractors were injured in a UTV rollover incident. All the victims were taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment. According to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard, Southern California faces elevated fire behavior with gusty winds in the week ahead. Under these conditions, abnormally elevated fire behavior and growth are possible. Forecasters are tracking smoke moving across Southern California from the Gifford article source: California's Gifford Fire surges to nearly 40,000 acres closing highway, evacuation orders expanded Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Did SLO County clerk-recorder violate the Public Records Act? Here's a Reality Check
A California man filed a lawsuit against San Luis Obispo County and Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, alleging the two violated the Public Records Act when he asked for voter registration statistics. But the lawsuit went nowhere quickly, because the county says it didn't violate state law seeing as the man's request didn't qualify as a Public Records Act in the first place. The lawsuit, filed on June 24 by Shiloh Marx, claims Cano did not respond to his request for information on March 11 or his follow-up email on June 17 that requested voter registration statistics 'to assess election integrity and ensure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act.' Three days later, Cano responded to Marx's request for information on June 27, and he withdrew his lawsuit the same day, according to a dismissal document obtained by The Tribune. On Tuesday, however, Cal Coast News reporter Karen Velie published a story about the lawsuit and its accusations against the clerk-recorder. But Velie originally failed to include the county's position that there was never an actual Public Records Act request, nor the fact that the lawsuit was dismissed. The Tribune looked into the matter as part of its Reality Check series. Cano told The Tribune that her office provided Marx with the information he was looking for and explained why it fell outside the parameters of the Public Records Act. 'While the initial inquiry received from Mr. Shiloh Marx in March 2025 did not constitute a formal request under the California Public Records Act, our office nonetheless compiled and provided the voter registration data he requested as a professional courtesy,' Cano told The Tribune. In its response, the SLO County Counsel's Office explained to Marx that his initial inquiry was not treated as a public records request 'due to both the subject matter, which made no reference to the (California Public Records Act) and, more significantly, because your request did not make any request for inspection or copying of a 'record' or 'records,' but instead posed a series of questions to the (Registrar of Voters).' In other words, Marx did not frame his initial inquiry as a request for records, but rather a request for 'information.' He asked for various statistics on inactive voter registrations, which are not considered records. Cano said that Velie did not attempt to reach her for comment before publishing her story on Cal Coast News on Tuesday. After seeing the story, Cano gave Velie what she called a 'courtesy email' to clarify the county's position and provide its formal response to Marx. 'Given these facts, the article's implication that records were 'withheld' or that no response was provided is inaccurate,' Cano told Velie over email. 'As always, I'm happy to provide information that ensures public confidence in our elections process.' As of Thursday morning, Velie updated her story to include Cano's response to Marx that there was no public records request made. She did not include the fact that the case had been dismissed. The headline remains 'SLO County clerk-recorder accused of violating Public Records Act.' Velie did not immediately respond to The Tribune's request for comment. The California Public Records Act grants the public the right to access and obtain copies of public records held by state and local agencies. This law ensures transparency and allows the public to monitor government activities. The Public Records Act requires government agencies to respond to requests within 10 days to confirm the request's receipt, though it does not necessarily require documents to be produced by then, especially if the request is voluminous. If Marx's request were made under the Public Records Act, the county's failure to respond within 10 days may have put it in violation of the law. However, Marx never mentioned the Public Records Act in his initial request, which he instead framed as a 'formal request for information.' He asked Cano four questions about SLO County's voter registrar, including the number of active and inactive registered voters, how many voters were labeled as inactive in the past year and how many voters hadn't voted in the last two, three, four and five or more elections. Marx, an 'election integrity' advocate according to his website, said he made similar requests to all California counties except for Los Angeles County. He has also filed nearly identical lawsuits in many. He posted on X that he used Grok, Elon Musk's AI chatbot, to draft his lawsuits. 'I am not a lawyer,' he wrote on X and told The Tribune. The Tribune spoke to Marx on June 27. When asked about the county's position that his initial request was not a formal records request, Marx said he 'can see the interpretation of that.' He also told The Tribune that if he received a response from Cano, it would be satisfactory to end his complaint. The county responded later that day, and Marx filed to dismiss his lawsuit that same day, too. 'The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder's Office is committed to transparency, accuracy and compliance with both state and federal election laws,' Cano told The Tribune. 'We encourage all members of the public and the press to review the full context of such matters and to reach out directly with questions. As always, maintaining public trust in our elections is, and will always be, one of our highest priorities.'
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Illegal migrant who let son, 6, melt to death in 99F car was out on BAIL
An illegal migrant who was out on bail after being arrested two weeks earlier has been charged with murder for leaving his young son in a hot car. Briant Reyes Estrada, 27, is accused of leaving his six-year-old son to melt inside a hot car under the sweltering California sun. The father allegedly left the boy in the vehicle in the parking lot of the Paso Robles Inn on Saturday. The temperature there reached a peak of 99 degrees that day, reported San Luis Obispo Tribune meteorologist John Lindsey. Reyes Estrada brought the boy to Twin Cities Hospital in Templeton ,where he was pronounced dead, and the father was arrested, according to Paso Robles Police. The U.S. Attorney's Office shared that Reyes Estrada is an undocumented migrant who had been arrested two weeks before his son's death. An ICE detainer had been issued after his first arrest, but he was out on bail because of California state law. 'I'm angry that this young boy needlessly died,' San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow told KSBY. Dow posted on X that SB 54, or the 'California values act,' is the reason Reyes Estrada was allowed out on bail. 'Reyes Estrada had been arrested and booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on April 29, 2025, after which United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an order to detain the inmate at the county jail,' Dow said. 'However, California's state 'sanctuary' law prohibited our county jail from detaining the individual on that detainer. 'Had Mr. Reyes Estrada been properly detained, he would not have been free and able to do what he is alleged to have done to his child on May 10th. This child's death would very likely not have happened.' He was arrested in April and charged with false impersonation, forging a driver's license and embezzlement for a February incident. 'The prior arrest for this individual was for a property crime where he was taken to County Jail and later was legally eligible to make bail and was released from custody,' SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson told the local news station. 'This is an example of the complete failure of SB 54 in the state of California. SB 54 prohibits California Sheriff's from turning over somebody to ICE on a detainer. 'We also cannot speak with ICE unless the arrestee has a conviction for a qualifying offense.' Reyes Estrada was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse for his son's death. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to be back in court on May 22 for a pre-preliminary hearing. 'To charge him with murder under the circumstances that I'm aware of [is] very ambitious of this district attorney's office,' Reyes Estrada's attorney, Patrick Fisher, told KSBY. 'So, they have a lot that they're going to have to prove, and you know, it's my job to test their evidence. Can they prove it? And they've really set the bar high for themselves here.' The Tribune reported that this is not the first time Reyes Estrada had left his child in the car. Matt Griffith, his former supervisor at the Fireside Inn on Moonstone Beach in Cambria, said Reyes Estrada left his son in a car multiple times and Child Welfare Services was called at least twice. 'Supposedly, he didn't have a babysitter and he needed to work, so he left his kid in the car while he worked,' Griffith said.
