Cover Story
55 Fiction 2017
Tales of murder, intrigue, and scandal—short and sweet at 55 words each It’s here again, like clockwork. For the last 30 years, around July 4, the Sun and New Times has brought you reader-submitted short stories for the annual 55 Fiction contest. Death, love, disgust, and fear all make appearances, and 2016-17 even brought out…
What is your favorite piece of fiction?
Judy Carr retired “The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough because the story was great.” Kathy Sherwoord retired “The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah because it was so fast moving and had interesting characters.” Sandy Ricca retired “My favorite is the first book I read as a teenager, Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor.” Natasha Flores mom “Put…
Dave Dascomb seeks the perfectly grown grape for Dascomb Cellars wine
Walk into Dascomb Cellars’ tasting room in Solvang and you might be lucky enough to get a warm welcome from Sparky. Sparky, a beagle who belongs to winery owner David Dascomb, sits atop a wine barrel scoping out customers and accepting their generous pets. While Sparky and his dog sister Pippa greet and amuse guests,…
Richie Robles
The last Major League Baseball player to pitch a perfect game was Felix Hernandez—pitcher for the Seattle Mariners—in 2012. To pitch a victory in which no opposing player reaches a single base is a rare feat for minor league games as well, like those organized by the Santa Maria Westside Little League (SMWLL). But 12-year-old…
Gallery Los Olivos showcases the artwork of three women
The women featured in Women at Work: Three Artistic Visions each brings a lifetime of creativity to the exhibit showing at Gallery Los Olivos in July. Julie Fish spent most of her life living all over the world. Her father worked for the U.S. State Department and his work brought the family to places like…
Santa Maria Saints take home CIF baseball championship
The city of Santa Maria has cemented itself as a place for premier prep baseball talent. While Righetti was the high school that received most of the acclaim during the year with their 28-7 overall record and second round MLB draft pick, it was Santa Maria High School that finished the season the strongest. The…
Los Alamos gallery welcomes painter featured on ‘Mad Men’
For most painters, one of the greatest career thrills is seeing their work hanging on the walls of a prestigious gallery. But artist Lisa Gizara got to see hers prominently featured in one of the biggest hit television shows of all time. Gizara, a Santa Monica-based photographer and painter whose work is coveted by the…
Hancock forms committee to review possible solutions for Campus Police Department
Allan Hancock College formed a committee consisting of six members to review options for the Allan Hancock College Campus Police Department after Hancock College Police Chief Paul Grohowski found six areas in need of immediate attention. Grohowski conducted multiple assessment reports of the police department and found inadequacies in staffing, officer backup, outdated procedures and…
Lompoc youth graduate Junior Police Camp
Lompoc’s Junior Police Camp saw 23 7- to 10-year-olds graduate from the program’s 2017 session. The graduates received a certificate of completion from Lompoc Police Chief Patrick Walsh and were treated to a barbecue meal at the end of the camp. The camp consisted of three training days in which the children learned about local…
Boys and Girls Club holds art classes with artist Henry Asencio
The Boys and Girls Club of Santa Maria Valley held a special event on June 23 featuring artist Henry Asencio delivering an hour of art instruction for members with an interest in fine art. Asencio was born in Los Angeles, but was raised in the Santa Maria Valley. Art lovers seek out his portraiture works…
Spotlight on: Jessica Cooper Photography
In the era of smartphones and selfie sticks, anyone can be their own photographer. What once required film, chemicals, and a dark room—or a Polaroid at least—has evolved into something far more accessible. Professional natural light photographer Jessica Cooper doesn’t use her cell phone to take photos, of clients at least, but she doesn’t dismiss…
Where’s the beef?
While my daughter stared intently at her phone as she was sitting in class one day at public school, she finally looked up for the first time in four years and learned something. Was it the quadratic formula? No, she never looks up from her phone in math class. What got her to pull away…
Climate concerns are real
We are fortunate to have John Lindsey writing columns on weather in our local newspapers. Mr. Lindsey is PG&E’s and Diablo Canyon’s meteorologist and media relations person. He knows weather! In a recent op-ed, he explained the higher temperatures we’re seeing in our part of California. He discussed the relationship between the thickness of the…
Santa Barbara County Fair features local groups at the Sun Center Stage
The Santa Barbara County Fair is well known for the big-name acts that grace the Main Stage, and for good reason. The likes of LeAnne Rimes and John Michael Montgomery will be stars of the show on that stage, but it’s not the only one featuring live music at the fair. The Sun Center Stage…
Tickets now available for Lompoc Youth Theater production
Tickets are now on sale for the 2017 Lompoc Youth Theater summer production of Legally Blonde Jr—the Musical, based on the hit movie Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon. Performances are scheduled for July 21, July 22, July 28, and Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. There will also be a special matinee performance at 2 p.m.…
Makerspace at the Santa Maria Public Library
In collaboration with Allan Hancock College, the Santa Maria Public Library will host free maker activities in July and August on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Funding is provided through a grant from the California Community College Chancellor’s office. Library and college staff in the Edwin and Jeanne Woods Learning Center will lead…
Dunes Center receives funding for educational and archeological programs
Guadalupe’s Dunes Center will receive a $25,000 grant from Phillips 66 to fund nature and science education programs. The grant money will go toward educational opportunities to underserved students in programs such as science, technology, engineering, and math. Education programs that will benefit from funding include guided student field trips to Oso Flaco Lake, classroom…
Sticky issue …
You smell that? No, I don’t think it’s a pack of skunks, it’s something else… could it be, Santa Barbara County’s new recreational marijuana regulations? The County Board of Supervisors’ Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Cannabis Operations in Santa Barbara County announced how the cannabis industry will roll out in Santa Barbara County…
Hobnobbing with Helen: On team teal
Social life in Santa Maria often occurs in clumps. At some times of the year, there will be a flurry of happenings—so much going on that a hobnobber could be out every night and sometimes in the afternoons, too. April and May this year were like that. I was swept up in a swell of…
Buellton considers wildlife ordinance following resident complaints
The Ranch Club Estates in Buellton has open space as its backyard, but lately that wilderness has become more of a nuisance than something to peacefully coexist with. This spring, the mobile home park for residents aged 55 and older has seen “unprecedented destruction to residences by raccoons,” according to a letter the Ranch Club…
Hundreds register pot operations with Santa Barbara County
As a 5 p.m. deadline loomed on June 30 for marijuana growers in unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County to register their operations, residents packed a hearing room in Santa Maria to tell the county’s ad hoc committee on marijuana exactly what a future ordinance should regulate. When the hearing started at 2 p.m., 437…
Ambulance bill not good for anyone
Private ambulance companies put “lives before lunch” breaks. However, the State legislature is attempting to place more importance on making sure EMS workers get to finish their lunch, even if it will cost lives. This is totally unacceptable to private ambulance companies��”the EMS providers that transport 85 percent of the patients in California. AB 263…
Get facts straight on bail reform
As a former bail agent in California for 17 years, I believe there is misleading information given in the opinion “We need prison bail reform” (June 15). First, there is no bail schedule for California as a whole. Individual counties set bail schedules. Secondly, a bail of $50,000 is considered a high bail. The majority…
North County needs a 4-year college
The EconAlliance of Northern Santa Barbara County is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, supporting, and encouraging economic development. One major element of economic development is an educated and literate workforce. In cooperation with other nonprofit organizations like the United Way and People Self Help Housing, we are engaged in literacy programs at the…
Political Watch 7/6/17
• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) questioned former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns on June 28 as part of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, raising questions of the current administration and President Donald Trump’s response to the threat of Russian interference in the past election and possibly in the future. “I think the American…
Former Vandenberg airman indicted for traffic fatalities
A former airman with the United States Air Force who served at Vandenberg Air Force Base has been indicted on multiple charges relating to a traffic collision that occurred last summer near Vandenberg that left two dead. A statement from the United States Attorney’s Office named Shaquille Lindsey, 23, of Covington, Ga., as the subject…
Body of missing Pasadena boy found near Cachuma Lake
The body of a Los Angeles boy missing since April was found near Lake Cachuma on June 30. According to a press release issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the body was discovered after a search “based on additional leads developed in the Andressian case.” The boy’s father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., was arrested…
APCD working with Nipomo to address waste treatment odor
Dust from the Oceano Dunes isn’t the only issue giving SLO County air quality officials a headache in the county’s southern region. The SLO County Air Pollution Control District is trying to work with officials from the Nipomo Community Services District (CSD) to address complaints about a pungent odor emanating from the CSD’s Southland Wastewater…
Financial advisor gets 4 years for wire fraud
A financial planner and owner of a company that manages a Santa Barbara County winery and restaurant was sentenced to four years in prison by a federal judge in a San Antonio, Texas, courtroom on June 27. Charles Banks—founder and former CEO of Terroir Life, a company that manages wineries and restaurants including Qupé and…
Noah Scott dies after battle with leukemia
Noah Scott, a Lompoc teenager diagnosed with leukemia, died June 30 after days battling both the cancer and a fungal infection. On that day, Noah’s father and Lompoc police officer Charles Scott posted a message on the Team Noah Facebook page. “It’s with great sadness that Kristin and I say goodbye to our Noah,” Charles…
