Sunday, May 20, 2012     Volume: 13, Issue: 10
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Slideshow

A dash of the surreal

Weekly Poll
Should the owner of Knapp's Castle be able to make a house out of hemp onsite?

Yes; it's his land and he should be able to build what he wants.
Yes; but only if hikers can smoke it.
No; there are plenty of other building materials out there.
How does one build a house with hemp?

Vote! | Poll Results

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Search or post Santa Barbara County food and wine establishments

And they're off

Cover Story

And they're off

BY SHELLY CONE

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up, cast your vote and pick a winner. To help you with that decision, let us introduce you to the contenders. In the incumbent’s seat is Joni Gray, having served the 4th supervisorial district in Santa Barbara County for 14 years. The Orcutt native graduated from Cal Poly in SLO and took the state bar exam without going to law sch... [ Read More ]

Top 5 Articles

News: Welcome to hemp house?
Cover Story: And they're off
News: Foster a kitten, save a life
News: Surrender your pot ... and throw in the Kinkade paintings, too
Music: That swinging sound
 

Breaking News

Smith gets served

Glenn Goldin, a spokesman for Unity of Purpose for our Kids, served board member Will Smith with a notice of intent to recall at the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Board o...
Thursday, May 17, 3:14pm

 

News

Allan Hancock College says goodbye to Ortiz

BY KRISTINA SEWELL

On May 8, members of the board of trustees of the Peralta Community College District announced current Allan Hancock College President Jose M. Ortiz will be the newly appointe...

Marian's new hospital is ready for business

BY AMY ASMAN

Doctors, nurses, and other staff members are preparing for the grand opening of the new-and-improved Marian Regional Medical Center on May 22. Hospital President Chuck Cov...

Findings regarding a Santa Maria police officer's death are still to come

BY JEREMY THOMAS

It’s been nearly four months since the shooting death of Santa Maria police officer Albert Covarrubias, Jr., but people awaiting answers from investigations into the inc...

The Berns case continues

BY AMY ASMAN

On May 8, Santa Maria Assistant City Attorney Phil Sinco sent the Sun a follow-up letter to its public records requests regarding the death of local resident Jerry Berns. Ber...

Surrender your pot ... and throw in the Kinkade paintings, too

BY AMY ASMAN

Narcotics detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department recently arrested a Santa Maria man on suspicion of growing and selling marijuana out of an offic...

Welcome to hemp house?

BY JEREMY THOMAS

Yes, it’s green. No, you can’t smoke it. California’s first home made from industrial hemp materials could be coming to Santa Barbara County, if the owner o...

Total recall?

BY AMY ASMAN

More than 70 people crowded into Shepard Hall in the Santa Maria Public Library on May 8 to hear a local group’s proposal to recall a member of the Santa Maria-Bonita Sc...

Foster a kitten, save a life

BY KRISTINA SEWELL

Spring is coming to an end and summer is around the corner. As the temperatures start to rise, so does the number of orphaned kittens arriving at Santa Barbara County Animal S...

Hobnobbing With Helen

BY HELEN ANN THOMAS

The vivacious, slender blonde has been one busy lady for quite some time. But not to worry. Donna France had an army of volunteers eager to help her get it together for the 32...

Biz Briefs

Spotlight on: Santa Maria Gun Club

BY JASON BANANIA

If you’re looking for the biggest bang for your buck, you should head down Telephone Road in Santa Maria with some shotguns and a couple of pistols. The Santa Maria ...

Letters

I care about Santa Maria, so I'm voting yes on U

Dan A. Lopez

As a 50-year resident of Santa Maria, and as a retired businessman, I care deeply about this community and its future. That’s why I am voting yes on Measure U on June 5....

Support first responders in northeast Santa Maria

Maggie Pucillo

Santa Maria firefighters help in my neighborhood at least once a week. I live here in Casa del Rio on Suey Crossing Road, across the street from the new Station 5. Santa Mari...

Measure U is worth it

Debby Jordan

Santa Maria is my home, and I work with many people in this community through nonprofits. I have seen firsthand that Santa Maria has a huge need for more police officers and f...

I can live with this tax

Alan Sutterfield

I don’t like taxes any more than the next person, but I am voting for Measure U on June 5, and here’s why: It will save me $320 a year when it contributes to the ...

Obama is backing the states

Otis Page

There are a number of legal cases winding their way toward federal courts that address the issue of whether the equal protection clause of the Constitution guarantees gay men ...

Sports

Clowns to the rescue

BY JASON BANANIA

Imagine a clown.  Most people picture someone with a foam nose juggling tennis balls or balancing on a unicycle. Some think of the clown who twists squeaking balloons i...

Athlete of the Week: Caitlyn Voss

BY JASON BANANIA

Besides using her passion for softball to fuel the drive she needs to advance her game, Athlete of the Week Caitlin Voss has a motto to help keep her on track: Handle it. ...

School Scene

Crestview recognized as a distinguished school

BY AMY ASMAN

The Crestview Cougars have something to really roar about: The California Department of Education presented the elementary school’s educators with a California Distingui...

Local teachers win Crystal Apples

The Santa Barbara County Teachers Network will recognize the county’s outstanding educators at its 28th annual gala celebration May 17 at Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in B...

Give your kids a Head Start

Community Action Partnership is now recruiting children ages 3 to 5 years old for the Head Start program, as well as pregnant mothers and children younger than 3 for the Early...

Green classrooms come to New Tech High School

Specially designed “green” classrooms have been installed at the future site of Central Coast New Tech High School, a technology-focused school in the Lucia Mar Sc...

Canary

The right stuff

I usually try to be an optimistic bird, a Pollyanna with slightly cracked rose-colored glasses, but let me tell you, it’s getting harder and harder to keep those glasses...

Street Wise

What’s your favorite part of the rodeo?

Audrey Sewell Colin Hodges Camille Hernandez Ernesto Gonzalez

Arts

Past meets present

BY SHELLY CONE

Art comes in all shapes and forms. Sometimes it’s already artful, like a sunset splashed with orange, pinks, and gold. Other times it’s art waiting to become reali...

Leather up

BY SHELLY CONE

Sally Donaldson, owner of Nana Bandanas Leatherworks, grew up around her grandparents’ ranch. She loved the smell of leather. Sally had even taken a high school leatherw...

See sublimation in action

Artist Michael Corob will present a dye sublimation printing demonstration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 19, at Gold Coast Art n’ Frames, 613 East Main St. In dy...

Classes teaches women self-discovery

WonHeart will be presenting an extended version of “5 Ways to Complete Health” for women, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, at Shepard Hall at the Santa Maria ...

Find a sense of place at Hancock

Luis Ramirez and Jessica Lah will present their two-person show, A Sense of Place, through May 25 at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery on the Allan Hancock College Santa Maria campus....

Humor

It's all cool

BY SHELLY CONE

On a recent weekend, we took a short trip to experience a change of scenery and enjoy a break from our normal routine. Unfortunately, our “normal routine” followed...

Music

That swinging sound

BY JOE PAYNE

Jazz music lends itself to an almost infinite combination of instruments and uses of style. From a solo jazz guitar to a piano, bass, and drum trio, the elasticity of the genr...

Film

Wicked good

The late-’60s to early-’70s maudlin gothic soap opera Dark Shadows gets the Tim Burton treatment in this comedy-fantasy revolving around an imprisoned vampire name...

Eats

Orcutt has sushi

BY WENDY THIES SELL

Less than a year after Orcutt’s culinary icon, Chef Rick Manson, closed his revered restaurant after two decades in business, there is a new chef in town: Chef Steve. ...

Hot Stuff

Masters of music

The Lompoc Valley Master Chorale, directed by Kathleen Abrams Hacker, presents its annual spring concert, “America Voices,” featuring selections from an all-star c...

Demonstrating skill

Local artist Michael Corob is eager to share with you an art-styling process you might not have heard of. Sublimation printing involves some science, simple tools, and an arti...

All that glitters

The shimmer of gold can excite the senses, but so does the smell of the green! The National Coin Collectors Association welcomes all gold and silver items, whether they are co...