Cathy Ahearn at Laguna Middle School is named SLO County's Teacher of the Year

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• SLO teacher Elaine Rosenfield is finalist for statewide teaching honor

  SLO teacher Elaine Rosenfield is finalist for statewide teaching honor

  San Luis Obispo teacher Elaine Rosenfield was named one of seven finalists for California's Teachers of the Year.

  Rosenfield, who teaches second grade at Bishop’s Peak Elementary School, became eligible for the statewide honor after she was named San Luis Obispo County's Teacher of the Year.

  She will be honored in February by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson alongside the five winners of California's 2012 Teachers of the Year award, which were announced today.

• San Luis Coastal to lose 39 teachers

  San Luis Coastal to lose 39 teachers

  Thirty-nine of the longest-tenured teachers in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District will end their careers there at year’s end to take an early retirement incentive.

  The district offered the deal, agreed to by the teachers union, as a way to reduce payroll costs.

  Elementary schools are the most affected, with 16 teachers retiring. Seven high school teachers and four middle school teachers also took the deal.

• Woman killed in shooting was a teacher in Lompoc

  Woman killed in shooting was a teacher in Lompoc

  The woman who was shot and killed Saturday in San Luis Obispo — allegedly by her son — was a longtime teacher with the Lompoc Unified School District.

  Karen Shumey, 65, was an eighth-grade teacher at Vandenberg Middle School, where she taught U.S. history and served as the department chair, according to the school’s website.

  Shumey — who lived on the Nipomo Mesa with her husband, Bob — wrote on her faculty page on the school’s website that she had taught in the district for more than 20 years. She and her husband have two grown sons, Shumey wrote, including a younger son who lives nearby.

• Top teacher: Woman to vie for state honor

  Top teacher: Woman to vie for state honor

  Elaine Rosenfield’s second-grade class sits clustered around her squirming in anticipation of being called on.

  They are talking about grasshoppers.

  Thoughtfully, the students pass around a bug box filled with a sprig of lettuce and a five-legged grasshopper someone brought in to class to share.

• Man accused of killing mother said he knew it was wrong, police say

  Man accused of killing mother said he knew it was wrong, police say

  UPDATE 4 p.m. The San Luis Obispo man suspected in the shooting death of his mother Saturday gave a statement to police that indicated he knew what he’d done and knew that what he was doing was wrong, Lt. Jeff Smith told The Tribune today.

  Smith did not want to reveal additional information about the details of the statement that 34-year-old Christopher Shumey gave to police after his arrest, including any possible motive.

  Police are still investigating the incident, Smith said, and trying to gather information about what led to the shooting.