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County News Briefs

Health Department releases annual report

The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department recently released the 2008 annual Health Status Report, which covers a variety of topics on the health of county residents.

The report includes information on population demographics, maternal and child health statistics, communicable disease summaries and chronic disease and mortality data, according to the Health Department.

Copies of the report are available online at www.slocounty.ca.gov/page8402.aspx. A limited number of copies are available from the Health Department on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Health Department is located at 2191 Johnson Ave. in San Luis Obispo. For more information, call 781-5500.

Early Warning System sirens tested successfully

All of the county’s 131 Early Warning System sirens operated successfully Saturday during the 24th annual full-scale test of the system, county officials said.

The sirens were activated at noon and 12:30 p.m. Saturday to test the primary and backup controls at the County Emergency Operations Center in San Luis Obispo.

Officials said there were 38 phone calls that came into various public agencies during and after the tests; 17 of the 38 calls were made to 9-1-1 to verify that the sirens were sounding as a test, officials said.

First installed in 1982, the sirens were part of the emergency response plan for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, but are now used for any major local emergency.

The coverage areas include the northern Nipomo Mesa, the Five Cities area, Avila Beach, Los Osos, Baywood Park, Morro Bay Cayucos and San Luis Obispo areas.

If residents in those areas hear the sirens at any time other than during tests, they should go indoors, turn on a radio or television and wait for information and instructions, officials said.

Cal Poly again named

top university in West

For the 16th year in a row, Cal Poly has been rated the best public-master’s university in the West by U.S. News & World Report in its 2009 America’s Best Colleges guidebook.

Cal Poly ranked 10th in the magazine’s overall list of the West’s best universities, including both public and private institutions, that provide “a full range of undergraduate and master’s-level programs but few, if any, doctoral programs.”

U.S. News ranks colleges that grant doctoral degrees, such as those in the University of California system, in a separate category.

Cal Poly’s College of Engineering was named the No. 1 public engineering program in the nation in the magazine’s Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs for schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s.

A number of College of Engineering programs also ranked high in their specialty categories, including the industrial/manufacturing program, named the No. 1 program in the nation.

The university’s civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering programs were each ranked as the top program at a public university in their respective specialty categories.

Cal Poly’s aerospace program was ranked the third-best program at a public university.

The U.S. News rankings are available at www.usnews.com and are included in the current issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Fire Department to host blood drive in September

A blood drive for United Blood Services, Central Coast, will be hosted by the Arroyo Grande Fire Department from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8.

The Bloodmobile will be parked at the Arroyo Grande Fire Station at 140 Traffic Way, where people 16 years old or older who weigh at least 110 pounds and are in good health, can donate a pint of blood.

All 16-year-olds and some 17-year-olds must have parent or guardian permission to donate.

Donors will go through a brief interview about their medical histories and current health, followed by temperature, blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin checks, before blood is drawn.

Those who donate blood at the Fire Department drive will be entered in a drawing for a gift certificate from F. McLintocks Saloon, said Capt. Paul Quinlan, blood drive coordinator.