6/15/20

I took Penny for her run today. She had a good time chasing after a car after I let her back out after the car had passed. She almost caught up to it when she gave up after about a quarter of a mile. I did some work around the place and then took Penny down to Miners to run after they closed.

County Health announced today 23 new COVID-19 cases in the county. Saturday there were 14 new cases, Sunday 2 new cases, and today 7 new cases. This brings the county total to 347 cases of the coronavirus in the county. Officials reported 5 people are in the hospital with 3 in the ICU, 54 people are recovering at home, and 287 people have recovered from the virus. There has been one death in the county due to COVID-19.

The cities with the most cases are Paso Robles with 125, Atascadero with 51, Nipomo with 39 cases, and Arroyo Grande with 31. By regions in the county North County has 200 cases, South County with 88 cases, Central County with 39 cases, and the Coast with 20 cases.

The most common transmission of the virus is person to person contact with someone who has the virus, second is by community contact, and third by travel outside the county. There are currently 6 cases under investigation by county health

It is clear from her actions, Oceano Director Cynthia Replogle, has no business being in public office and that her thinking is delusional, self-righteous, has no understanding of the Constitution of this country, and lacks common decency.

Protests over the death of George Floyd have ignited a battle over freedom of speech and political correctness in Oceano, with one official claiming another is racist for hanging a flag supporting the four police officers who were shot last week in Paso Robles.

A few days ago, Oceano Community Services District Board of Directors President Linda Austin hung a blue line flag on a property she owns in the beachside community. A few days earlier, a gunman ambushed the police department in Paso Robles, injuring four officers and killing a homeless man.

On Sunday, Replogle said that the blue line flag is a sign of white supremacy, and that it is inappropriate for Austin to fly the flag.

“Whatever meaning the thin blue line flag may have had once, since Charlottesville, it’s a symbol of white supremacy,” Replogle wrote on Facebook “Now this flag has replaced the American flag at Oceano’s Triangle Park in the center of town. While it may look like a public space, the park is owned by Linda Austin. In a community that is half Latinx, it’s wholly inappropriate to fly such a flag”

Outraged community members left 238 comments on Replogle’s Facebook page, all except one, chastising Replogle.

Areleene Samá Ñiego questioned Replogle’s definition for Hispanic.

“Are you kidding me. I’m Hispanic, not latinx, which is the most ridiculous new label a$$hats like you are using,” Ñiego posted on Facebook. “I am not white and not affiliated with white supremacy groups and I proudly fly this flag to honor fallen officers. Your stupidity offends me.”

Another poster, Lisa Streator, accused Replogle of bullying.

“The fact you think this flag is a sign of racism, proves how ignorant you are.” Streator said. “The fact you’re bullying a constituent, shows how unfit for any public office you are. Your narrow mindedness and bigotry are not okay. Shame on you!”

On Monday morning, Replogle responded claiming that people who supported her opinion on Facebook were attacked. However, only one poster supported Replogle, and received no response.

“To those who posted a comment the haters didn’t like and were attacked for it: I’m sorry you were subjected to that,” Replogle wrote on Facebook showing her delusional thinking and hypocrisy. “Everyone should be allowed to express their opinion without fear of ad hominem attacks and intimidating, threatening, misogynistic or racist language. Informed, reasoned debate is welcome.”

Replogle went on to accuse her critics of being proponents of all-terrain vehicle recreation on the Oceano Dunes trying to deflect people away from why the people were criticizing her.

“To those posting hateful comments because you don’t like my stance on the Oceano Dunes SVRA: I won’t back down,” Replogle wrote. “I’m going to keep standing up for what’s right and calling out injustice when I see it. Instead of trying to intimidate people, your time would be better spent cleaning up the trash left in the dunes by off-roaders or removing graffiti unrelated to Black Lives Matter from our beach communities.

In her self-righteous rant Replogle wrote, “To those crying foul about free speech: Educate yourselves about the First Amendment, as your comments show a clear lack of understanding.”

Atascadero Unified School District is giving students more options when it comes to attending school in the upcoming school year.

The office of the superintendent sent out a letter to parents earlier this month saying students could continue in-classroom learning, blended learning, or distance learning and online education.

Chris Balogh, the principal for Alternative Education Academy, which is a homeschool program in the district, says in the last three weeks, he has had nearly 70 interviews with families interested in homeschooling in the 2020-2021 school year.

“At this point, anyone can join us because the future is pretty uncertain and we want to take care of our families,” Balogh said.

Balogh says some families are looking for alternative options for their students after summer break is over. He says, when speaking with families, there have been four different scenarios. After schools closed in March, students were forced to do distance learning, and that was a good fit for some students.

“Some families had been thinking for, it was in their values, like, we’re going to home school and this gave them an opportunity with COVID-19 and the shutdown and this gave them the opportunity to have this experience and they loved it,” Balogh said.

He says another reason families might consider homeschooling is for safety reasons related to Covid-19. Balogh says some families have expressed that they do not see a point in sending their student to school every day if their student can’t socialize and has to maintain social distance.

“They want some certainty about the future,” Balogh said. “There has been so much uncertainty, anxiety, and concern and they want to figure fall out. They don’t want to wait for individual schools, which are going to come up with great plans but they just don’t feel comfortable so they reach out to us and say, looks like you guys have been doing this for a while, what does this look like?”

Balogh says enrollment at ACE Academy has tripled in the last three weeks for elementary-aged students and doubled for middle school-aged students.

“If they come to ACE Academy, we’re totally experienced working with families like we will help you through, we will train you on how to deliver the materials, we will meet with you every week and work with your children,” Balogh said. “It’s not like we’re handing you a packet of work and saying, have a nice day, we are providing you with enrichment opportunities.”

He says as more students continue to enroll, the school will make plans and staffing shifts to make sure there are enough teachers for the influx of new students.

“Already just looking at our projections, I’m looking at 100 more students and we haven’t even gotten to school enrollment season yet,” Balogh said.

Aside from homeschooling, students can take advantage of blended learning, which is a combination of in-classroom learning and homeschooling.

“You’re still a part of that school, is there a part of that day you still want to attend?” Balogh said.

Liberal politicians are once again showing their hypocrisy and lying to the public with their demands toward police.

Police officers are being demanded to go above and beyond their typical call of duty to handle ongoing protests and unrest, even as political figures are calling for their departments to be defunded or abolished entirely.

In Chicago, officers were reportedly ordered to work 12-hour shifts with no days off until further notice. All the while, critics — including elected officials — want to strip them of funding.

“This police system in Chicago and in the country is beyond repair, and so it’s absolutely within reason for people to say that we should tear this system down and start over,” Democratic state Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago told reporters outside police headquarters earlier this month, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago order took effect as tension is still high in the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis after a white cop kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, and two days after Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a police officer in Atlanta on Friday — in what was ruled a homicide.

Officers were already working more demanding schedules in recent weeks in response to protests, violence, looting, and civil unrest in parts of the city, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and called in the National Guard for assistance, the Tribune reported.

Former Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a WGN radio appearance earlier this month that the city “got caught with our pants down,” saying police should have used a report created after protests at the 2012 NATO summit that is now “on the shelf somewhere in police headquarters.”

“You could implement it today, and it would help control what is happening today,” McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, demonstrators took over a portion of the city now referred to as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone after police boarded up and abandoned a precinct building amid protests. While Police Chief Carmen Best lamented to move to leave the precinct, saying it was “not my decision,” Mayor Jenny Durkan told CNN that it could result in a “summer of love.”

Britt London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, expressed frustration that what happened to Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked off widespread anti-police movements across the country.

Over the last two weeks, thousands of demonstrators have been gathering regularly in downtown Phoenix to protest police brutality, as the city has faced calls from critics to disband police or redirect funding from law enforcement operations to community development programs.

“Phoenix is not Minnesota,” London said. “We’re not Minneapolis. That incident occurred 1,200 miles away. You can’t blame everyone for that incident.”

Demonstrators were focused on an Arizona incident, but one with details different from Floyd’s death. Dion Johnson, a black man who was fatally shot during an encounter with an Arizona Department of Safety officer along a freeway on May 25, was accused of physically struggling with an officer.

Authorities said Johnson grabbed one officer, who then pulled his weapon and ordered Johnson to follow his commands. Johnson obeyed at first, investigators said, until the officer began putting his gun away. Johnson allegedly grabbed for the weapon before the officer fired.

Democratic state Rep. Reginald Bolding asked the Justice Department to take a look at the case for possible civil rights violations.

Calls to defund or disband police have reached Washington, D.C., with Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar saying the Minneapolis Police Department is “rotten to the root.” She told CNN the department is beyond reform and should be completely rebuilt because “the current infrastructure that exists as policing in our city should not exist anymore.”

Not all Democrats are in favor of such drastic measures. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign said he “does not believe that police should be defunded.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said that he did not support the movement and said that while he understands “the sentiment and the substance behind the slogan … it’s not a slogan I’ll use.”

Rep. Karen Bass, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, also came out against slashing police budgets.

“No, I don’t believe that we should defund police departments,” she said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoping to avoid negative exposure opted not to weigh in, simply calling it “a local decision.”