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State funding helps Santa Barbara County build affordable housing units to address homelessness
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara County hasn’t really fluctuated all that much over the last six years. It’s hovered between 1,900 and 1,800 since 2013, with the latest homeless point-in-time count tallying up 1,803 on one night in January 2019. While volunteers counted 670 individuals living in emergency shelters or transitional…
Santa Maria arson suspect nabbed on scene
When deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office rolled up to a fire at the Winepress Church on Aug. 23, they found 19-year-old Gage Rowdy Tuttle. According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, while speaking with Tuttle “[deputies] learned that the man actually started the fire.” Heavy smoke was billowing from a structure…
Santa Barbara County opioid abuse higher than state average
Recent state data shows Santa Barbara County continues to struggle with opioid abuse rates and deaths higher than the state average. Over the last decade, the county has had a higher rate of non-fatal emergency room visits linked with drug usage compared to the state average. This trend continued in 2018, during which the county…
Santa Maria proposing water, sewer rate increases
Water users in Santa Maria may have to pay higher rates over the next four years if the City Council approves water and sewer rate increases proposed by the city’s Utilities Department. According to a public notice announcing the increases, the current rate charge for the lowest tier of water consumption—up to five units monthly—is…
Solvang shops around for better deal on waste water
The city of Solvang is looking to upgrade its waste water system, but it wants the best deal. With a handful of alternatives available, it’s seeking out another one with the Santa Ynez Community Services District (CSD). Solvang City Council was scheduled to vote on a plan Aug. 26 but pushed the date until it…
LA-based Holy Crow Jazz Band brings vintage blues and jazz to Solvang Festival Theater
The Solvang Festival Theater might not look like a Prohibition-era speakeasy, but it’s sure gonna sound like one come Sunday, Sept. 8, when Holy Crow Jazz Band takes the stage at 3 p.m. (doors open at 2:30 p.m.). This jazz and blues ensemble strives to transport listeners back to a time when music was used…
Orcutt’s Blast 825 Brewery ushers in new era with self-pour wall of taps
The wonder of self-pour taps might be common knowledge in some circles, but they’re all brand spanking new to me. On a recent Friday, I explored these space-age contraptions at the vaguely corporate but also thoroughly enjoyable Blast 825 Brewery in Old Orcutt. This new way to serve beer works like this: Patrons prove their…
Your go-to guide to new outdoor sculptures scattered throughout Guadalupe
It’s 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29, and my eyes are fixated on a giant pair of scissors. It’s not exactly the artwork I came here for, but it’s aesthetically fascinating nonetheless, inviting active participation from the viewer (“Are these scissors really big? Or am I just really small?”). I’m standing outside Guadalupe City Hall…
Filmmaker Benedicte Schoyen discusses new documentary, The Old Spanish Trail, screening in Santa Ynez
Hollywood aspiration wasn’t what brought filmmaker Benedicte Schoyen, born and raised in Oslo, Norway, to relocate to Los Angeles in her early 20s. The big move was to study ballet and eventually open her own dance studio, a dream she accomplished far before developing an interest in filmmaking. While working as a choreographer on the…
Valley Art Gallery showcases art at Santa Maria Airport
Metal Fusion, a new exhibition of metallic art by Shamrock Acosta, opened at the Santa Maria Airport on Thursday, Sept. 4 and will run through Sunday Nov. 3. The exhibit is presented by Valley Art Gallery in Orcutt and showcases a variety of Acosta’s metallic sculptures. The airport is located at 3217 Terminal Drive, Santa…
Grossman Gallery and Village Library seek new artists
The city of Lompoc Public Library is seeking new art exhibitors for both the Village Library and the Lompoc Library’s Grossman Gallery. Artists are encouraged to apply for consideration during a call for artists event on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m., at Grossman Gallery, located at 501 E. North Ave., Lompoc. Applicants…
Keith Batcheller hosts painting demo in Solvang
Oil painter and illustrator Keith Batcheller will host an art demonstration at Solvang Antiques Fine Art Gallery on Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 2 to 6 p.m. The event also includes a champagne reception. Batcheller’s art will also be on display through Sunday, Oct. 13, as the final featured artist in the gallery’s Summer Art Series.…
Boat fire near Channel Islands under investigation
Around 3 a.m. on Sept. 2, a 75-foot commercial diving boat with 39 people onboard became engulfed in flames before sinking to the ocean floor off the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. The Santa Barbara-based boat Conception was being chartered for a Labor Day weekend diving trip near the Channel Islands. Five people managed…
Political Watch: September 5, 2019
• On Aug. 28 Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment 18, which would allow nuclear power to qualify as a renewable energy source based on state standards. The amendment would allow the state to including nuclear energy as part of its climate goals, which could potentially allow the Diablo Canyon Power…
CANARY: Meltdown mode
Lompoc is simply melting down over grease traps. Apparently, the city stepped up its code enforcement of an ordinance that requires all food establishments to have a grease trap. Even the shops that don’t cook anything! And let me tell you, these food purveyors aren’t having it! Well, actually only four out of a few…
Solvang looks for new options after separating from its tourism and conference bureau
Talks between the city of Solvang and its tourism nonprofit have failed. Again. And both parties say discussions are done for good. With negotiations dead, the city insists that the Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has gone dark while the people who run the bureau are under a different impression. “We’re not going to…
Lompoc City Council, city staff disagree over implementation of the city’s grease-trap ordinance
Three times in as many months, the Lompoc City Council voted against city staff’s recommendations and upheld appeals from local business owners protesting the need to install grease traps in their restaurants. During the appeal hearings, the majority of City Council members raised concerns about staff’s recent approach to implementing the city’s grease trap ordinance.…
From house-made seasonal sausages to the high-demand hanger steak, Woody’s Butcher Block sells it all
”Come in and I’ll give you a taste of something fun.” The invitation came from Tim Woodbury, the owner, or as his business card reads, “Head Honcho” of Woody’s Butcher Block. He followed it up with a wave of a meaty hand. Toothpick between his fingers, he speared a piece of sausage, an experiment he…
More information is needed about ERG’s postponed project
The third postponement of ERG’s Planning Commission hearing on the West Cat Canyon Oil Project (“West Cat Canyon oil project decision delayed indefinitely,” Aug. 22) takes place in a larger context that needs clarification. ERG is one of three oil companies to declare bankruptcy in our county in the last five years. Oil prices and…
I am not illegal. I am not a criminal. I am a human being who yearns to be free.
In the shadows of the growing hate and immigrant bashing that is engulfing the United States, I quietly celebrated my 40th birthday in August. I, like so many of my immigrant brothers and sisters, live in constant dread and panic, fearing that today, in this current black-hearted hole that we call America, our day will…
