What SLO County is talking about: 5 stories that sparked conversation, May 25-May 31

If you scrolled Tribune comment threads last week, you already know — your neighbors had a lot to say. From a viral hotel confrontation in Cambria to a heated race for county clerk-recorder, here are the stories that drew the biggest conversations on sanluisobispo.com from May 25 to May 31.

A Cambria hotel confrontation goes viral

Last week’s most-talked-about story started at the front desk of Oceanpoint Ranch in Cambria, where a hotel clerk filmed himself confronting a couple checking in and asked the woman if she was “a baby killer” and whether either guest had served in the IDF. The clerk, who identified himself as Ryan Smith of San Francisco, posted the video to Instagram, resigned and launched a GoFundMe that had pulled in more than $15,597 from over 590 donors by June 2 — more than double his original $7,500 goal.

Oceanpoint Ranch, a Pacifica Hotels property, said the events in the video “do not reflect the professionalism and hospitality that our team members are trained to deliver.” Commenters had a lot of thoughts.

»» Read the story, see the comments

Local radio host says he was pushed off the air

After three years hosting “CeaseFire” on KVEC, Clive Pinder — also a Tribune columnist — announced he’s leaving the station, saying critics waged a “coordinated campaign” against him that included threats to file FCC complaints. Pinder is relaunching his independent nonprofit media venture “In Search of Sanity” with partner Mark Wilson, funded through a commercial coexistence agreement with C-SPAN.

“No more FCC rulebook to wave at us, no more letters to the station manager,” Pinder said. “Just broader, more spontaneous, more honest conversations.”

The first episode — featuring Pinder, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and Tribune editor Joe Tarica — dropped Friday. Readers had plenty to say about media, free speech and who gets to talk on the airwaves.

»» Read the story, see the comments

Clerk-recorder race heats up over poll workers

Days before Tuesday’s primary, challenger Vanessa Rozo called for the district attorney and secretary of state to investigate incumbent Elaina Cano, alleging incompetence and partisanship after eight polling places ran short on workers. Cano said her office had managed to fill the gaps and noted that the poll worker shortage is a statewide problem.

“She does not know how I vote, whether I vote Democratically, whether I vote Republican, whether I vote Libertarian, she has no idea,” Cano said. “So for her to make that accusation about me personally is offensive.”

Rozo countered: “I don’t represent the left wing or the right wing. I represent the whole bird.”

Commenters dug into everything from the Adopt-a-Poll program to whether candidates should be allowed to work the polls themselves.

»» Read the story, see the comments

Steve Hilton, a trans student and a SLO County campaign stop

A Tribune editorial took gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton to task for what the Editorial Board called the public shaming of Lily Norcross, a transgender track athlete at Arroyo Grande High School, during a recent campaign stop at Cal Poly. Hilton met with Assembly candidate Shannon Kessler and an Arroyo Grande student introduced as Audrey, who described a transgender classmate in the girls locker room and labeled the experience with words like “weird” and “perverted.”

The opinion article argued Hilton accepted the account uncritically — leaving out the private changing areas inside the locker room, the adult supervisor and Norcross’s own account. Her father Trevor Norcross said, “These are all false allegations that this student is communicating.” Norcross herself said her transition was a months-long process and that she timed her locker room visits: “I was never there longer than two minutes.”

This one drew the kind of comment thread you’d expect — long, passionate and still going.

»» Read the story, see the comments

Columnist takes on a California journalism heavyweight

Clive Pinder’s opinion column about his exchange with longtime Los Angeles Times political columnist George Skelton also lit up the comments. After Skelton “dismissed” Hilton over his evasiveness on the 2020 election, Pinder emailed asking why the same standard shouldn’t apply to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams, Barbara Boxer and Bennie Thompson, who he said have also questioned election results they lost.

Skelton’s full reply, according to Pinder: “You’ve got it wrong on those Dems. And no one has matched Trump’s psychopathic fantasy.”

Pinder cited Gallup numbers showing trust in newspapers, television and radio has fallen to 28% — the lowest in the poll’s history, with Republican trust at 8%, independents at 27% and Democrats at 51%. His argument: “Apply the same standard to your villains as you do to your saints. Ask straight questions. Let them answer. Let the audience decide.”

Readers had plenty to say about media trust and where journalism goes from here.

»» Read the story, see the comments

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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Whether you’ve been following one of these threads or you’re just catching up, the conversation is still going at the bottom of local stories. Jump in, share your perspective and see what your neighbors are thinking.

We’ll see you in the comments.