North County

At 7 a.m. Thursday, there are still quite a few empty seats at the Country Diner in San Miguel, but the diner is full of conversation. Carl is talking about his wife seeking alternative medicine. John discusses horses with Carl. Millie is chatting with Cliff about life in general and how nice the new downtown sidewalks are.

Work crews are busy this week on the Lewis Avenue Bridge in Atascadero. The $6.2 million suspension bridge will link downtown to the planned Colony Square retail center at El Camino Real and Morro Road. Supporters say the bridge and retail center are key to transforming the city’s dormant downtown into a regional shopping and entertainment hub.

Zenaida Lagunas sat barefoot in her Atascadero living room Wednesday, folding her hands around a protruding belly as she wondered why her unborn baby’s father was being accused of killing his 20-month-old daughter by another woman.

This week’s National Reined Cow Horse Association Derby, taking place through Sunday at the Paso Robles Event Center, is the first cow horse competition JoAnne Carollo has missed in nearly 20 years.

A local conservation group has hit a potentially costly roadblock in its plans to complete a network of walking trails along one of Atascadero’s busiest thoroughfares.

SACRAMENTO — Nicolle Miller could handle the overcrowded classrooms, the lack of supplies and even the shortage of books for her seventh- and eighth-grade students at an Anaheim middle school.

Tracey Hockett will succeed Ron George as principal of Bauer-Speck Elementary School in Paso Robles, it was announced Wednesday.