Think pink: SLO firefighters don pink shirts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month

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• San Luis Obispo group helps fight against kids’ cancer

  San Luis Obispo group helps fight against kids’ cancer

  Now here’s some day-brightening news: The San Luis Obispo-based Kids’ Cancer Research Foundation recently raised and donated $35,000 to the Texas Children’s Cancer Center at the Baylor College of Medicine. The money was raised through the generous offerings of more than 160 local individuals, businesses and the Hind, Hearst and Amgen foundations.

  What makes this news even sweeter is that a Houston resident matched the amount for a total of $70,000 to go toward finding a cure for neuroblastoma, a mostly childhood-related form of cancer.

  Frank Kalman, who set up the nonprofit research foundation after his daughter, Calli, was diagnosed with the disease some 12 years ago, says the grant will buttress research that’s showing some remarkable results: relapse of the disease among a group of 19 kids has been reduced by 30 percent.

• County/Cal Fire to hold open house Saturday in Avila Beach

  County/Cal Fire to hold open house Saturday in Avila Beach

  County/Cal Fire is scheduled to host an open house Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

  Firefighters will host a free barbecue lunch, and educational activities are planned throughout the Avila Valley Fire Station, including an interactive fire-safety house.

  Company 62 is sponsoring a food drive. All canned food and monetary donations will be made to the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County, according to a news release.

• Letters to the Editor 12/23

  Letters to the Editor 12/23

  A complex world

  Few people seem to read beyond the headline or think critically about what they read. As a consequence, fewer people understand our increasingly complex world.

  The recent PPIC study that found that less than 50 percent of Californians are now middle income is a perfect example of this. Most people reacted in horror that the percentage of middle-income Californians had dropped from 60.5 percent in 1980 to only 49.7 percent in 2010. Some blamed the super wealthy for their greed. Others blamed high taxes for driving productive people out of this state. Many blamed an influx of illegal immigrants.

• Firefighter injured battling restaurant fire

  Firefighter injured battling restaurant fire

  Authorities say a firefighter has been injured in a blaze that gutted a Wendy's restaurant in Lancaster.

• Fire grant money to the rescue

  Fire grant money to the rescue

  Firefighters at seven fire departments in the county have new tools to help them retrieve people trapped in cars thanks to $150,000 in gear handed out Saturday at the Cambria Fire Department.

  A federal grant awarded through the California Office of Traffic Safety purchased the rescue tools distributed Saturday to fire departments in Cambria, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Santa Margarita, Atascadero and Paso Robles, plus the Paso station of County Fire, which houses the North County Rescue.

  It looked a bit like a firefighters’ garage sale at the fire station as participants divvied up Jaws of Life, extrication systems, stabilization struts, rescue airbags capable of lifting up to 70 tons, and portable scene lighting, all of which help first responders get people out of severely damaged vehicles.