GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXV, NO. III
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2024
pasoroblespress.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
Trustees say goodbye to PRJUSD Superintendent Curt Dubost as he enters retirement
Former Bearcat Jennifer Loftus will officially begin her role as the new superintendent on July 1 By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
A participant feeds one of the four-legged creatures at the FARMstead ED Open Farm Days on June 21-23. Photo by Brittany App
PA S O RO B LES — Community connects with local agriculture at FARMstead District staff and the Board of Trustees took a moment ED Open Farm Days and Kickoff Marketplace to recognize and thank Paso
Over 20 farms open their gates for tours, tastings, and educational experiences
By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — Over 20 farms opened their gates to the community this past weekend for the FARMstead ED Open Farm Days. The weekend-long event kicked off with the second annual Open Farm
Days Kickoff Marketplace in Paso Robles City Park. Founded in 2014, FARMstead ED is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the community closer to our local farms. Open Farm Days is their largest fundraising event of the year. The weekend was a chance for farms to open their gates and welcome visitors to participate in tours, demonstrations, tastings, and educational classes. On Friday night, locals and tourists filtered into
the park to learn about the week-long event and speak to local farmers and makers firsthand. FARMstead ED founder Lynette Sonne said of this year’s event, “We were excited to welcome more vendors and guests at this year’s Open Farm Days Kick-off, the Friday Night Marketplace. It was a very diversified representation of our locally grown and made.” Throughout the weekend,
Planning Commission rejects ‘humorous’ street names in Olsen South Chandler Plan
June 21-23, the community visited several participating farms learning about bees, wandered through lavender fields, sipped local wines and mocktails, grazed on locally grown groceries, tasted olive oils, learned about hand-crafting aromatic and creative takeaways to remember the day by, toured fields their lunches were harvested from, cuddled with newborn lambs, and more. Member of FARMstead ED and Hambly Farms owner
Gina Hambly enjoyed the second annual Friday Night Marketplace and welcomed guests to the U-Pick experience at her lavender farm. “I loved the Friday night Marketplace,” she said. “We got to see so many visitors, share our story, introduce them to our products and visit with my fellow FARMstead ED members. We are in our second year of offering the Lavender U-Pick and had over 120 CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
Robles Joint Unified School District Superintendent Curt Dubost during his last board meeting (Tuesday, June 25) before retirement. Trustee President Nathan Williams said to Dubost, “I know that from me to you, over the last year and a half seated alongside you here, working with you day in and day out, it has been an absolute honor and privilege to have served alongside you.” CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
Commissioners call for more thoughtful naming By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — It’s back to the drawing board to come up with some new street names for portions of the Olsen South Chandler Specific Plan. Some names were proposed for Planning Areas (PA) 9, 4, and 5 of the Olsen South Chandler Specific Plan area, East of Creston Road, North of Meadowlark Road, along Linne Road, during the Tuesday, June 25 Planning Commission meeting — however, some of those names received disapproval from the commissioners and public. Street names are provided by the developer and then approved by Planning Commission before final approval by City Council. Before presenting to commissioners, staff reviewed the proposed list of street names and reportedly removed about
AGRICULTURE
Feedback from attendees at the Atascadero Lakeside Wine Fest was overwhelmingly positive this year. Photo by Rick Evans
Atascadero Lakeside Wine Fest brings in $10,000 for Charles Paddock Zoo Over 60 adult beverage providers participated this year
five names due to conflicts with PA-9: existing streets in the city or • Pinot Place county. • Cork Tree Place Proposed Street names for CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
NORTH COUNTY — Lovers of wine and other adult beverages headed out to Atascadero Lake Park on Saturday, June 22, for the 27th
Annual Atascadero Lakeside Wine Festival. Festivities kicked off at 4 p.m. and lasted until 8 p.m., during which time patrons had 69 wineries, breweries, and cideries pouring for them. “ We [The Atascadero Chamber of. Commerce] hosted an incredible festival with 1,451 enthusiastic participants, making it
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By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@pasoroblespress.com Map showing Planning Areas (PA) 9, 4, and 5 of the Olsen South Chandler Specific Plan area where Street names were proposed. Photo provided by City of Paso Robles
NORTH COUNTY NEWS
our largest gathering since 2018. The feedback I’ve received from both vendors and attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with many proclaiming it the best wine festival on the Central Coast,” said Atascadero Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Josh Cross. “The vibrant atmosphere CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
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DAN DURHEIM Driven to Motivate, Inspire | A3
CERT COURSE Offered for Teens | A4
EBERLE WINERY Winery of the Year | B1
FRONTIER STAGE Concerts Line Up | B8
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