A divided county Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay renewal of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s operating licenses for three years while additional earthquake studies are conducted.

The two businesses that escaped last week’s fire intact at Foothill Square in San Luis Obispo reopened Tuesday.

A funny thing happened at the county government center the other day: County leaders compared what one of their employees was being paid to what his counter-parts doing the same job in other counties were making and decided that they were paying too much.

Lingering uncertainty about the economy and financial distress were key reasons why Californians sold their homes last year, according to a recent California Association of Realtors’ survey that examined why homeowners put their houses on the market in 2009.