South County Beat

Joe Amaral of Arroyo Grande is a paramedic and father of a young daughter, Zelia.

Arroyo Grande paramedic spends his spare time writing

Joe Amaral of Arroyo Grande is a paramedic and father of a young daughter, but he is also more than a “moonlighter” writer and poet. After spending 48 hours straight on the job and hiking with daughter, Zelia, he sits down to pen poems, short stories...

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Cynthia Lambert

Cynthia Lambert writes about the South County for The Tribune. Reach her at 805-781-7929.

Gayle Cuddy

Gayle Cuddy writes South County Beat on alternating Wednesdays. Reach her at 805-489-1026.

Archive by category ''South County Beat

SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Volunteers still working to start farmer's market in Oceano

Plans for a farmer’s market in Oceano have not moved as quickly as hoped, but a group of volunteers is still doggedly pursuing the idea.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

AVID program helps AGHS students succeed

Kyla DeLeon, 17, wants to go to study business next year when she graduates high school – perhaps at San Diego State, Westmont College or Sonoma State. Triston Perez, 16, wants to go study computer engineering, perhaps at Chico State or Channel Islands.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Celebrate Oceano's colorful history during Dunite Days

Chester Alan Arthur III was an unlikely Dunite. Arthur, who changed his first name to Gavin, had money, a classical education and an aristocratic background — he was the grandson of President Chester A. Arthur, according to local historian Norm Hammond's “The Dunites.”
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Cafe Andreini in Arroyo Grande reopening after flood

Denise Andreini woke up Easter morning expecting to enjoy the day with her family. Instead she got a call from a passerby that her business, Cafe Andreini on East Branch Street in Arroyo Grande Village, was flooded inside.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Kids leave their mark on Dana Elementary School in Nipomo

One by one, some of the sixth-grade students at Dana Elementary in Nipomo stepped forward to have their right hands covered in light green or yellow paint.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

AGHS students get their education into gear

When 17-year-old Austin Greene got his first car he “didn’t know the distributor from the alternator.” He enrolled in the automotive technology program at Arroyo Grande High School as a junior, which gives him the chance to work on his car and learn.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Couple looking for Good Samaritan who saved their Pismo trip in 1991

Dana Nance was scanning old photos when he found a few that jogged his memory of an incident that could have ruined a trip to California but instead left him and his wife with enduring gratitude for the actions of a stranger.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Husband-and-wife musicians bring history of the blues to local schools

Valerie Johnson and Albert Ingram, aka Valerie Johnson and Al B Blue, sing and play around San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. They perform blues, jazz, Dixieland, gospel, swing, and rock ‘n’ roll.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

Arroyo Grande and SLO students pump funds into clean-water effort for Lifewater International

For a few moments Tuesday morning, 9-year-old Tessa Lewis balanced a 40-pound jug of dirty water in her arms and then tried to imagine carrying it for two miles or more.
SOUTH COUNTY BEAT

A.G. Woman’s Club has been supporting South County for 75 years

The Woman’s Club of Arroyo Grande began in the 1930s when local women began getting together in their living rooms, talking about their families, children and local happenings.