Here’s what SLO County was talking about, May 11-17
From a Shell Beach dream four decades in the making to a Cal Poly research guide pulled from the library website, here are the stories that had SLO Tribune readers interacting in the comment sections last week.
A Shell Beach dream, 46 years in the making
Tribune readers couldn’t get enough of the McNeal family’s story. Forty-six years after brothers Tom and Fred McNeal bought a large plot of land running the length of Beachcomber Drive, construction has officially begun on Solemar — a 20-home development that includes two homes for the McNeal family closest to the ocean.
The groundbreaking came after Fred McNeal died of pancreatic cancer in November at 81, leaving Tom, 78, to carry the project across the finish line with Tricamo Construction and 10 Over Studios.
“I couldn’t be more excited, but also couldn’t be more regretful that my brother’s not standing here right now to do this too,” Tom McNeal said.
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Cal Poly librarian says his research was censored
A Cal Poly research guide was pulled from the library’s website — and readers had plenty to say about it.
Kyle Tanaka, Cal Poly’s student success and outcomes librarian, published research in late January cataloguing the history of student protests and activism at the university. About a month later, the guide — along with 18 others — was abruptly removed from the library’s website.
The ADL said the guide was antisemitic — an accusation Tanaka denies — and Cal Poly says the guide was pulled because it was improperly labeled and required institutional review. Tanaka worries the removal signals trouble for academic freedom.
“It creates a very strong disincentive for me, or I think, for any other faculty, to undertake this kind of work,” he said.
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Fire on an offshore oil platform reignites a local debate
When Platform Habitat caught fire in the Santa Barbara Channel on May 11, all 26 crew members evacuated safely — but the conversation about offshore drilling was just heating up.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, used the moment to renew his opposition to expanding offshore drilling, calling the fire “a sobering reminder of the inherent risks that offshore drilling poses to our coast.”
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A ‘street taco’ and a governor’s race
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton got roasted online for calling a hard-shelled Del Taco taco a “street taco” during a Barstow campaign stop.
But our opinion columnist argued the taco flap is the least of voters’ worries — pointing to Hilton’s positions on abortion, offshore drilling and cooperation with ICE as the bigger story. Readers had thoughts. Lots of them.
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Letters: Local races, offshore wind and Gaza
The letters page lit up with endorsements and arguments. Readers weighed in on SLO County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano’s reelection bid, the District 4 Supervisor race between incumbent Jimmy Paulding and challenger Adam Verdin, the federal government’s decision to pay wind energy companies to abandon offshore projects, and calls for Rep. Carbajal to cosponsor H.R. 3565 to restrict arms transfers to Israel.
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This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.
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