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SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXII, NO. IV
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026
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Council bolsters Fire Department by authorizing new engine purchase Councilmembers also receive budget audit and city goals update, and approve budget amendments By MIKE CHALDU michael@atascaderonews.com
ATA S C A D E R O — Atascadero’s recent efforts to upgrade public safety facilities and equipment continued during the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27, as it authorized a contract to purchase a new fire engine. The purchase of a Pierce Type 1 Fire Engine, to cost the city $1,277,069, was one of four management reports on the night’s agenda. The council later went on to accept a budget audit, OK amendments to the current budget, and got an update on the progress of the recently stated city goals. The Type 1 engine, to be purchased from South Coast Fire Equipment, will take an estimated 31 to 33 months to complete and would be received by the budget year of 2027-28. It would be the second recent engine to be purchased, both of which would replace two current Type 1 engines purchased in 2005. The other new engine was ordered in 2023 and is expected to be received by the second quarter of this year. When completed, the two Type 1 engines would join a third engine, purchased in 2013, in the AFD fleet. Answering a question about features from Mayor Pro Tem Mark Dariz, Fire Chief Casey Bryson said the fire engine comes with newer, higher-tech features and is built a little differently. “The big feature is the new pump and chassis; with Type 1s now they build the engine around the pump to make it more user-friendly,” Bryson said. “We also will have a number of safety features, CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
Protestors stand outside the SLO County Courthouse on Tuesday, Jan. 27 chanting for ICE-free zones in SLO County while they await the TRUTH Act Forum inside SLO County Supervisor Chambers to begin. Photo by Rick Evans/ATN
Protests and policy collide at TRUTH Act Hearing Sheriff outlines jail policies and ICE interactions as public weighs in By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — On Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 27, community members from around the County gathered at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Chamber to hear the annual Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds (TRUTH) Act report. Over 100 people took to the podium to express their views on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to individuals in the county. A crowd of activists stood outside the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse on Tuesday, holding their signs up for those entering the SLO County Supervisors Chamber meeting across the street. They shouted disapproval of ICE, asking for the county to become an ICE-Free Zone, and making comparisons between ICE and the Gestapo. Inside the County Government Center, the Supervisors’ chamber was packed with community members filling the seats, lining the walls, and even filling an overflow room next door.
The forum provided the community a chance to hear from San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson on how the Sheriff ’s office has interacted with ICE regarding individuals in custody at the county jail. Parkinson provided data on his office’s interactions with ICE, the TRUTH Act, and the California Values Act (SB 54). The TRUTH Act requires a community forum to be held by a local governing body if a local law enforcement agency has returned notification responses to ICE during the prior calendar year. It was signed into law in 2016 by then-Governor Jerry Brown. Additionally, the TRUTH Act requires consent for ICE interviews with arrested illegal immigrants and gives the illegal immigrant the right to refuse interviews with ICE. Parkinson clarified that the Act means, “If we provided access [to ICE], this hearing is required.” Implemented in 2017, SB 54 restricts state and local law enforcement from assisting with federal immigration enforcement. However, there are exceptions to this in the case of serious and violent crimes. With SB 54, law enforcement is not allowed to ask about immigration status, make arrests for immigration violations, or share
data with ICE — unless that individual is involved with serious felonies like murder or violent sexual assault. Parkinson went through what his department does and does not do when it comes to illegal immigrants that come into their custody. The department does publicly provide all incarcerated persons release dates via Sheriff ’s website. He clarified that in state law, that if an agency is already publishing custody information, it is legal to continue. SLO County has been publishing custody data for decades, according to Parkinson. His department also allows due process rights under CA Law (SB54), complies with CA DOJ Reporting, informs the right to refuse an interview or have an attorney present, jail will provide a copy of ICE’s requests to the incarcerated person, any compliance or non-compliance will be provided on the copy of the request, and helps undocumented victims get U-Visas. Parkinson explained that his agency does not enforce Federal immigration law, deport anyone, have authority over ICE, ask about immigration status, conduct Immigration Sweeps, or detain anyone in jail for extra time due to immigration status. Parkinson then explained his department’s process upon receiving anyone
into the County Jail. First, the individual is identified — this can become complicated when false identification is given to arresting officers. Photographs are taken along with fingerprints to get the correct identification of the person being booked. When an individual is booked into county custody, their name may appear in federal records due to prior encounters, previous deportations, or documentation of unlawful presence in the country. This information can prompt ICE to issue a detainer to the Sheriff ’s Office. The Sheriff ’s Office then reviews the individual’s criminal history. “I have a duty and responsibility to the safety and security of the residents of this county,” Parkinson said. “If I am going to release somebody back into the community that has been convicted of a violent felony, I don’t think that is very safe, number 1. Number 2, I think the second concern that I had was that I am putting this person back into the neighborhood. ICE is well aware that they were in our jail; they have more information on them through obviously public records, and now I am going to send them into the neighborhoods to pick up these people. Extremely dangerous in my mind.” CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
Solving the Toby Tate cold case How forensic genealogist CeCe Moore unsolved, cold, “whodunit” case. This is part two of a two-part article covering and detectives identified suspects in the solved murder case of Dorothy “Toby” Tate. the 1983 Highway 1 murder Find the first part one of this article in last week’s By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff ’s Office announced on Tuesday, Jan. 20, that they have finally solved the Nov. 15, 1983, murder of Dorothy “Toby”Tate. Back in 1983, deputies responded to a report of a suspicious van parked at a turnout along Highway 1, approximately 3 miles north of Hearst Castle. Inside the van, detectives discovered the body of Toby, who had been fatally shot. The case initially yielded no known suspects and quickly became an
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issue or find the full article on atascaderonews.com Charley Sneed of Texas was the first suspect identified in Toby’s case. “Charley Sneed had an extensive criminal history,” Robasciotti explained. “Shortly before the homicide, he shot up a woman’s vehicle in Texas because he blamed her for his pending divorce. She was best friends with his wife.” Another charge came from a drunk night on the town when Sneed fired shots from his rifle — witnessed by some officers on the bluff above him. Investigators are shown in 1983 at the site of Highway 1, near Hearst Castle, where the body of shooting victime Dorothy CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
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“Toby” Tate was found. Contributed photo
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