Tribune Drops to Printing 2-Days a Week
The county’s longest standing newspaper is decreasing print edition production from six to two days a week with plans to embrace a digital product.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune announced Feb. 9 that the “sustainability” of the newspaper depended on bolstering its digital presence in favor of print.
“This transition will also allow us to invest in making our digital experiences better, including a big update to the eEdition that I’m excited to share with you soon,” wrote Tribune Editor, Joe Tarcia, on the paper’s website. “This is another key move for us within the digital transition of the news industry — and a vital step toward the sustainability of The Tribune. Increasingly, San Luis Obispo County residents get their news from their phones, tablets and computers. With that trend in mind, we’ve become much more digitally focused and have intensified that approach to the point that readers at sanluisobispo.com or our eEdition will nearly always see our best work before our print readers.”
The Tribune was created in 1939 from a combination of three newspapers founded between 1869 and 1905, and was later acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company.
The change is slated for April 15. Print editions will publish Wednesdays and Sundays and continue to be delivered via regular mail.
Addis Authors Student Privacy Protection Act
New legislation could bar some operators of websites and apps from selling student data.
Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) recently introduced Assembly Bill 1971, the Student Privacy Protection Act.
“There is a clear and concerning lack of protections for California’s students when it comes to their data privacy,” said Addis. “Advances like those in artificial intelligence have surpassed our state’s privacy laws, leaving our students vulnerable to irresponsible uses of their personal data. As technology continues to progress, so should the protections provided to Californians.”
The Student Online Personal Information Act (SOPIPA), established in 2014, prohibits organizations that deal primarily with K-12 education data from selling student data or using a student’s information to amass a personal profile. SOPIPA was a groundbreaking piece of legislation that provided unprecedented protections to students across California but requires modernization to keep up with exponential growth in the technology sector, Bill supporters said.
AB 1971 adds education-adjacent institutions, including those that assemble and administer standardized tests, into the existing list of organizations that must abide by SOPIPA. Many of these entities deal almost exclusively with K-12 education data and, under AB 1971, will be held to the same standard of privacy.
AB 1971 now awaits referral to policy committee.
Rotary Drive-Thru BBQ — Order Now
Members of the Rotary Club of Morro Bay headed up by Mike Gerson, will fire up their BBQs again on March 13, 2024 in support of the community.
Take home a full-size Spencer’s Premium Tri-Tip Roast along with ranch-style beans, garden salad with ranch dressing, hot sourdough garlic bread loaf and salsa. This is a complete meal that will serve six.
Tickets are $60 and are available at morrobayrotary.org. All proceeds go to the club’s “Help Us Help Others” Campaign which provides services to Morro Bay.
Pick-up is from 5 – 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13th at Carla’s Country Kitchen at 213 Beach St. Morro Bay.
SLO’s Buy Local Program a Success
Buy local programs within cities have become a way to increase local spending while helping the business community.
The City of San Luis Obispo’s Buy Local Bonus program channeled $943,547 directly into the local economy this holiday season, said Hollie West with the San Luis Obispo Chamber in a news release.
For the fourth year in a row, the City of San Luis Obispo partnered with the SLO Chamber of Commerce on the Buy Local Bonus program to incentivize local shopping and support of small businesses during the holiday season. This year, the City increased their initial investment to $125,000, purchasing twenty-five $25 gift cards from qualified local businesses. The gift cards were offered from November 24 through December 23, 2023 to shoppers as a reward for supporting local retailers in the city of SLO.
“At a time when online shopping is the easier choice, we are thrilled to see such a significant number of community members make the intentional choice to spend their money at local retailers,” said Molly Cano, Economic Development & Tourism Manager for the City of SLO. “Every dollar spent locally matters, and the Buy Local Bonus program stretches those dollars even further for businesses and shoppers alike.”
Even with the additional City investment, the program sold out earlier than expected this season, exhausting the City’s funding and generating just under a million dollars in local spending,” west reported. “A total of 5,000 shoppers were able to qualify for the promotion, up 23% from 2022, receiving a gift card from one of 170 different local businesses.”
Nearly 8,000 qualified receipts were submitted by shoppers during the program, totaling $818,547 in local spending, reflecting significant increases from the 2022 program that brought in $780,633.
Are you or a neighbor Taking Care of Business. Is your business, including non-profits, supporting our community? Maybe you’re launching a new business, or you’re making updates to your current business model, or re-opening. Perhaps you have a job opportunity, or have been doing some volunteer work, or are collaborating with another business or a non-profit. Or maybe you know someone who is. Submit your awesome local efforts for publication to Editor@EsteroBayNews.com.
