Paso Robles to buy a new 30-passenger bus for city route

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• Paso Robles school district to get four new school buses

  Paso Robles school district to get four new school buses

  With the help of a state program aimed at reducing pollution, the Paso Robles school district will receive four new, low-emission school buses worth $660,000, the district announced.

  Most of the funding — $560,000 — was provided by the state’s low-emission state bus replacement program, which seeks to replace aging and polluting buses. The program was authorized by voters in 2006, when they approved the passage of Proposition 1B, the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Bond Act. The rest of the funds will come from a legacy grant from the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control Board.

  In order to receive the new buses, the district was required to retire any buses built before 1989.

• Calling for ideas on the youth prison

  Calling for ideas on the youth prison

  Paso Robles City Councilmember Fred Strong sent an email to several people last Saturday about the vacant youth prison in Paso Robles. He suggested the state sell it to the city for $1.

  He sent that email after state officials indicated they may abandon their plan to turn the youth prison into an adult prison that could house up to 1,000 inmates. As I reported last Friday, the governor’s proposed 2012-13 budget calls for canceling the launch of that project.

  Shortly after the youth prison was closed in 2008, it was also chosen as the location for a planned re-entry prison able to house 500. Adult inmates nearing their release date would be prepared there to re-enter society. Several re-entry prisons are planned around the state, but the governor’s proposed budget allots them nothing.

• Paso Robles has a rough road ahead

  Paso Robles has a rough road ahead

  A loss of revenue has forced the city to severely cut back on its street maintenance — and there’s little chance for a solution in the near future

• Paso Robles ponders raising sales tax by half-cent

  Paso Robles ponders raising sales tax by half-cent

  Paso Robles voters in November will decide whether they want a half-cent sales tax increase to raise additional money for road repairs and public safety.

  The City Council on Saturday held its second public study session this year detailing how to rebuild services after years of cuts.

  If the economy recovers as expected, that would add only about $1.3 million total revenue over the next five years, without the tax increase. But the city has cut more than $7 million in annual spending since 2009.

• Flamson Middle School rebuilding questioned by federal auditors

  Flamson Middle School rebuilding questioned by federal auditors

  Despite the significant damage to Flamson Middle School after the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake, federal auditors said it was a mistake to tear it down and build a new $17 million building.

  But officials from Paso Robles Public Schools and the Federal Emergency Management Agency maintain that damage to the old school was sufficient to warrant replacement.

  “You could not repair that building,” said Patrick Sayne, who was superintendent when the earthquake occurred. “That kind of decision is typical of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., not having seen anything outside the Beltway.”