Today’s top stories: Ballot petition snafu, $6M hotel renovation and a skunk bite
The Tribune covered a range of news across San Luis Obispo County on April 29, 2026, from a wildlife encounter at a Cambria restaurant to a hotel reopening in San Luis Obispo.
Here’s a quick rundown of the day’s top stories:
• Animal bite: A Cambria restaurateur was bitten by a skunk that snuck into Linn’s restaurant after a cleaning crew left a back door open. General manager Aaron Linn now faces a four-day course of anti-rabies shots after trying to remove the animal himself.
• New recording studio: A lavender farmer and a Los Angeles musician launched Shiahma Recording Studio in a converted barn between San Luis Obispo and Avila Beach. Finney Smith and Hunter Nakazono, who met by chance at a Santa Monica blues club, also partner with a youth music nonprofit to offer tuition-free instruction.
• Oceano arrest: Oceano resident Joshua Castilleja, 25, was arrested on suspicion of possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material after the SLO County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at a home on Beach Street.
• Motorcycle crash: A motorcyclist suffered major injuries Wednesday afternoon after hitting a patch of gravel and crashing into a fence on Hog Canyon Road, northeast of San Miguel.
• Transportation tax mixup: Better Roads for All — SLO County abruptly suspended its half-cent sales tax campaign after discovering a technical petition error invalidated more than 12,000 signatures collected for transportation funding.
• Desalination plant study: SLO County is studying five potential sites for a desalination plant — in Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, near the South SLO Wastewater Treatment plant and at the former Nipomo Mesa Refinery — to create a drought-resilient water source. The earliest construction would begin in 2045.
• Hotel reopening: The Courtyard by Marriott San Luis Obispo celebrated its grand reopening April 22 after a year-long, $6 million renovation that updated all 135 guest rooms, the lobby, fitness center and outdoor lounge. It was the hotel’s first major overhaul in nearly two decades.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Today’s top stories: Ballot petition snafu, $6M hotel renovation and a skunk bite."