Okay, I know it is Saturday, but I was busy yesterday, and didn’t plan ahead! Here are a couple I found in my inbox that were sent to me quite some time ago. Thanks, Seth!
Author: bigsurkate
Appointed appellate counsel for indigent defendants (retired.) I have lived in Big Sur since 1984, first on the north coast, and on the South Coast since 1989.
Elephant’s Trunk Update
NEWS RELEASE
Today’s Date: Thursday, May 28, 2015
District: 05–Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact: Susana Z. Cruz (Bilingual) or Jim Shivers
Phone: (805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*UPDATE #2*
HIGHWAY 1 RETAINING WALL PROJECT CONTINUES NEAR THE SAN LUIS OBISPO/MONTEREY COUNTY LINE
SAN LUIS OBISPO/MONTEREY COUNTIES – A project to construct a retaining wall on Highway 1 in northern San Luis Obispo/southern Monterey Counties is now underway. It will serve as a permanent restoration effort in this area known for major slides.
The next phase of the project consists of full overnight closures on Highway 1 from Gorda to Ragged Point and is scheduled to begin on Sunday night, June 7. Roadwork will take place Sunday nights through Friday mornings from 10 pm until 7 am.
Motorists traveling north/south of these closures are advised to reach their destinations before 10 pm. All local businesses along the coast will remain open during the roadwork.
Motorists will encounter one-way reversing traffic control via a temporary traffic signal 24/7 except during overnight full closures. Traffic delays during the one-way traffic control will be 5-10 minutes.
Electronic message signs will be activated at the following locations: 1) on northbound US Highway 101, just south of the Hwy. 46/Hwy. 1 intersection in Paso Robles; 2) at the westbound Hwy. 46/ Hwy. 101 intersection in Paso Robles; 3) on Hwy. 1 in Cambria/San Simeon and also 4) on Hwy. 1 at Coast Gallery up the coast to inform motorists of these highway closures.
The contractor for this $9.5 million project is John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo, CA. This project is expected to be completed in winter 2016-17.
Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway construction zones.
For traffic updates on other state highways in San Luis Obispo County, motorists can call Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/road_information.htm. Motorists can also contact the toll-free hotline from Cambria to Carmel at: 888-836-0866.
Prescribed burn at Camp SLO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2015
Media Advisory
Media Contacts:
Camp SLO CAL FIRE SLO Co Air Pollution Control District
Major Johnson Alan Peters Aeron Arlin Genet
(805) 594-6413 (805) 543-4244 (805) 781-5998
CAMP SLO PRESCRIBED BURN SCHEDULED TO OCCUR ON MAY 27, 2015
Burning will not occur if weather conditions do not permit burning
What: Prescribed burn of 150 acres of grasslands and near base’s firing ranges.
When: Wednesday, May 27, 2015. The burn is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. and conclude at 7:00 p.m. on a permissive burn day.
Where: Camp San Luis – Impact Area: The Impact Area sits on the east portion of the Camp and is east of the northbound Hwy 1 and south of Cuesta College campus in San Luis Obispo.
Why: The burn project is part of a Fire Hazard Abatement Burn at Camp San Luis Obispo to reduce the risk of a wildland fire during troop training activities. The burn will be conducted when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from potential population centers.
Who: Camp SLO, in cooperation with the CAL FIRE and San Luis Obispo County APCD, in order to minimize the smoke impacts on surrounding communities. Fire equipment assigned to this burn include six fire engines, two hand crews, one bulldozer and several supervisors; all from local fire stations.
The burn is dependent on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable for smoke dispersal.
If the conditions are not as desired, the burn will be rescheduled.
[Scanned @co.slo.ca.us]
Vehicle Fire at County Line
| 05/25/2015 15:49 | LPF-1368 |
. | Vehicle Fire | HWY 1 MRYCO LINE M | . | E16LPF 4X4 | . | . | . | 35.814 x 121.366 |
Memorial Day, 2015
Remember the fallen ..
Possible attempted abduction on Highway One
UPDATE: “A description of the perpetrator who attacked one of our [Esalen] staff members this past Friday and his vehicle is as follows: The vehicle is a silver-blue 1990’s Pathfinder. The attacker was male, with dark hair, medium complexion, approximately 6′ tall, his age was approximately 30’s-40’s, and was wearing a hoodie. It was recently reported that there was a similar incident this past February.”
ORIGINAL: “A woman was attacked by a man this morning while running. He grabbed the woman, who got away and then ran to his vehicle, a Silver Blue/grey Pathfinder, the lights were on. The Incident took place on HWY 1 South of Julia Pheifer Burns.”
This was sent to me by a concerned local. I was asked to delay reporting until it became “public,” by which I mean the police had been able to respond and take their report. But it should serve as an awakening that with the increased amount of people now traveling our highway, increased criminality cannot be far behind. Be situationally aware at all times, as this woman obviously was.
Official Cal Trans Notice re Elephant’s Trunk
Today’s Date: Thursday, May 21, 2015
District: 05–Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact: Susana Z. Cruz (Bilingual) or Jim Shivers
Phone: (805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*UPDATE #1*
HIGHWAY 1 RETAINING WALL PROJECT CONTINUES NEAR THE SAN LUIS OBISPO/MONTEREY COUNTY LINE
SAN LUIS OBISPO/MONTEREY COUNTIES – A project to construct a retaining wall on Highway 1 in northern San Luis Obispo/southern Monterey Counties is now underway. It is expected to serve as a permanent restoration effort in this area known for major slides.
The next phase of the project consists of full overnight closures on Highway 1 from Gorda to Ragged Point and is scheduled to begin on Sunday night, May 31. Roadwork will take place Sunday nights through Friday mornings from tentatively 10 pm until 7 am.
Motorists traveling north/south of these closures are advised to reach their destinations before 9 pm. All businesses along the coast will remain open during the roadwork.
Motorists will encounter one-way reversing traffic control via a temporary traffic signal 24/7 except during overnight full closures. Traffic delays during the one-way traffic control will be 5-10 minutes.
Electronic message signs will be activated on US Highway 101 in Paso Robles and Hwy. 1 in Carmel and Cambria to inform motorists of these highway closures. All local businesses will remain open during this project.
Note: The construction schedule may be adjusted to meet the needs of local businesses and the Pacific Valley School.
The contractor for this $9.5 million project is John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo, CA. This project is expected to be completed in winter of 2016.
Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway construction zones.
For traffic updates on other state highways in San Luis Obispo County, motorists can call Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/road_information.htm. Motorists can also contact the toll-free hotline from Cambria to Carmel at: 888-836-0866.
Elephant’s Trunk Construction, South Coast Big Sur
Yesterday, Cal -Trans held a community meeting at the Willow Springs Maintenace Yard regarding the 18-month long project at “Elephant’s Trunk” and “Cow Cliffs.” (I am going to work on getting Don Harlan’s paper on the various place-names for highway spots down here all on one page so that it will be easy to refer to.) It was well attended by both Cal Trans and the Community members. To accommodate businesses and locals, the times for the overnight closures have been changed to 10 pm-7am, Sunday nights through Friday mornings for a four month period which will begin on the first. The project will proceed well past that time, but like the Rocky Creek Viaduct, over night closures are necessary due to the narrowness of the road and the need to install the pilings.
Ever since the signals went in, even before they were operational, Rock Knocker expressed some misgivings about how well they would work, given the distance between them. Yesterday, just before 6 pm, we got a first hand demonstration of his concerns manifested. We were the 5th car in line when our signal turned green for us, the north-bound traffic, to proceed. We were all moving forward when a car came through toward us. We all stopped so he could wiggle through. We began to try to move forward, and again, another car came at us. Then another, and another, and another. All together, 12 cars proceeded south bound when the light was green for the north bound traffic to proceed. Either there was something wrong with the signals, or 12 different people decided to run the light. Given the length of this project, the length of the signaled area, and the curvy nature of the area, rendering oncoming traffic not visible until the last minute, it is only a matter a time before there will be an accident there, tying up traffic on Highway One for potentially a long time. I advise extreme caution when traveling through this area, north of Ragged Point. Even if your signal is green, proceed slowly and with caution.
Prescribed Burn at Camp Roberts
This one will be tomorrow, 5/20, and cover 8,000 acres, so will influence some areas within bigsurkate’ coverage areas.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2015
Media Contacts:
Camp Roberts SLO County Air Pollution Control District
Suzi Thomas Aeron Arlin Genet
Public Affairs Representative Manager, Planning, Monitoring & Outreach
(805) 238-8308 (805) 781-5998
CAMP ROBERTS PRESCRIBED BURN SCHEDULED TO OCCUR ON MAY 20, 2015
Burning will not occur if weather conditions do not permit burning
What: Prescribed burn of 8,000 acres of grasslands.
When: Wednesday, May 20, 2015. The burn is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 7:00 p.m. on a permissive burn day.
Where: Camp Roberts – Impact Area: The Impact Area sits on the northwest portion of the Camp and is west of the northbound Hwy 101 and south of the southbound Hwy 101 Rest Areas; approximately 4 miles northeast of San Miguel.
Why: The burn project is part of a Fire Hazard Abatement Burn at Camp Roberts to reduce the risk of a wildland fire during troop training activities. The burn will be conducted when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from potential population centers.
Who: California Army National Guard and Camp Roberts Fire Department, in cooperation with the Monterey Bay Unified APCD, San Luis Obispo County APCD, and the California Air Resources Board in order to minimize the smoke impacts on surrounding communities.
The burn is dependent on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable for smoke dispersal.
If the conditions are not as desired, the burn will be rescheduled.
[Scanned @co.slo.ca.us]
Oil Spill near Refugio Beach north of Santa Barbara
just before noon today, All American Pipeline, a 10 mile long, 24″ off shore pipeline began leaking oil, and it is affecting the beaches and wildlife in the area. They were able to control the leak by about 3 pm, but not before an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil leaked into the ocean. It is washing up on shore and affecting marine birds, fish, and mammals. Clean up is underway, but its impact is yet to be fully determined.