Regarding the opinion piece, “Help keep Oceano Dunes SVRA free of vehicles forever” (April 23), I have serious concerns. As a local who supports keeping access to the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area open, I’m curious who exactly the “local” residents and businesses behind the Oceano Beach Community Association are. A visit to their […]
Letters To The Editor
Posted inOpinion
If vehicles go away from Oceano dunes, no one but plovers will have access
If vehicles go away, the off-highway vehicle funds that actively protect the plover go away. If these funds disappear, State Parks will manage the plovers and other threatened birds as they do at other beaches: build a massive enclosure that is completely free of people. No vehicles. No pedestrians. No fishing. No surfing. No dog […]
Posted inOpinion
Working Families Party support of Ricardo Valencia for supervisor is troubling
As the race to fill Steve Lavagnino’s soon-to-be vacant 5th District supervisorial seat heats up, a particularly troubling fact has emerged regarding one of the candidates. In a previous piece I characterized Santa Maria High School teacher Ricardo Valencia as a “puppet” of local activist organizations. I have also, on occasion, referred to his ever-present […]
Posted inLetters To The Editor
It’s not wise to cut the Sheriff’s Office’s budget
First let’s stipulate that the primary duty of government is to ensure the safety of the public and provide a robust utility infrastructure and a serviceable road system. Public safety includes a police function, district attorney, jails to house those convicted of violating the laws, fire protection, and emergency medical service. Everything else government does […]
Posted inOpinion
Ricardo Valencia is best for supervisor
I’ve studied all the candidates running for Steve Lavagnino’s seat on the Board of Supervisors. I am voting for Ricardo Valencia in the June 2 primary. Ricardo’s campaign is powered by dozens of energetic volunteers, and like Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, he is funded by hundreds of small donations […]
Posted inOpinion
Help keep Oceano Dunes free of vehicles forever
A federal court recently ruled that the California Department of Parks and Recreation violates the Endangered Species Act by allowing motorized vehicle use that harms shorebirds at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. The ruling also restricts that use. Since Tuesday, April 14, big signs at the Oceano beach vehicle ramp alert beach drivers […]
Posted inOpinion
Claims of voter fraud are fraud
The June 2 election is fast approaching. All eligible California voters will receive a mail-in ballot the first week in May. Now is the time to make sure you will receive your ballot in a timely fashion. To make sure your voter registration is up to date, to change your registration information, or, if you […]
Posted inOpinion
The surprising freedom of an electric car
As a mother of two young kids, I didn’t expect my first electric car purchase to bring me this much joy—or this much peace and quiet. But our new Hyundai IONIQ 5 has done exactly that. First, the silence. No engine roar, no rattling—just smooth, almost magical acceleration. My kids actually asked if the car […]
Posted inOpinion
We still have more work to do to protect the Earth
When I attended the very first Earth Day in 1970 as a college student, the air was choked with smog, Rachel Carson had alerted us to the harms caused by DDT, and the heartbreaking massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara polluted miles of ocean and killed thousands of birds. Environmental consciousness was […]
Posted inOpinion
The beauty of protest and finding community
She was small, thin, elderly, and perhaps not in the best of health. And yet she was standing in a crush of people waiting to join the protest march. I was wearing my yellow day-glo traffic vest and feeling a bit like the maître d at a wildly overbooked restaurant: “Watch your step, thank you […]
Posted inOpinion
Community organizations’ actions may vary from mission statements
I read, with no small degree of amusement, Shirlee Heitman’s letter (“Get educated about local community organizations,” March 26) in response to my commentary published in the March 12 edition of the Sun (“Know before you vote”). Ms. Heitman takes me to task for my characterization of local nonprofits Indivisible Santa Maria, MICOP, CAUSE, and […]
Posted inOpinion
The case for renewable energy
Trump’s war on Iran inadvertently makes a case for renewable energy. Without the free flow of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, we have a crisis. Twenty percent of the world’s oil and gas passes through this strait. This exposes the depth of our dependence on fossil fuel. Since the Industrial Revolution in the late […]