Cover Story
Recent progress reports for Santa Maria Joint Union High School students reveal unusually low grades during distance learning
Joseph Graack, a parent and social science teacher at Righetti High School, estimates that over the past four years of teaching economics he’s given out maybe two failing grades. But so far this semester, he has “well over 30” students who are failing, despite this being “the most work I’ve ever put into a school…
The county’s newest AVA, Alisos Canyon, owes its existence largely to two local winemakers
Wes Hagen and Noah Rowles, two longtime area winemakers, figured Alisos Canyon had the wherewithal to be the newest designated American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Santa Barbara County. The two men liked the area’s location. They liked the soil. They believed in the workers who tilled the soil and harvested the grapes. So they labored…
Registration is open for new Youth ARTS Alive after-school classes in Santa Maria
A diverse selection of after-school performing and visual arts classes awaits participants of the Youth ARTS Alive fall program. While classes officially began on Nov. 2, registration is still open for those who wish to join. The program is open to ages 8 through 18 and runs through Nov. 20 at the Abel Maldonado Community…
Traveling duo Pricey Diggs releases new Americana album, Home Free, in lieu of a canceled countrywide tour
”We had 33 gigs booked when the pandemic hit. That was a low point,” musician Annie Boreson told the Sun. A singer and cajonist, Boreson is one half of a California-based traveling duo, Pricey Diggs. Her husband, Mark McMillen, is the duo’s keyboardist, and both partners provide vocals and compose their original songs together. The…
Los Alamos subdivision proposal leads to concerns about Shaw Street traffic
A proposed subdivision on an empty lot in Los Alamos is leading to concerns among some locals about the potential for traffic congestion on a narrow, private road. The Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department is currently reviewing an application for a tentative parcel map that would split a 1.53-acre lot at 774 Main…
Solvang business owners push back on branding guidelines
Several Solvang business owners took issue with the newly established Branding and Design Committee’s first recommendations to the city, which called on all businesses operating outdoors to have specific barriers, furniture, and umbrellas. During public comment of the Oct. 26 City Council meeting, Ingeborg’s Danish Chocolates’ owner Kim Jensen said the guidelines don’t fit with…
Cypress Gallery holds November duo show, Uniquely Yours
The Lompoc Valley Art Association presents Uniquely Yours, a new duo exhibition showcasing works from featured artists Toni Zybell and Joellen Chrones, at the Cypress Gallery. This multimedia exhibit features earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other handcrafted jewelry items and is scheduled to remain on display at the gallery through Sunday, Nov. 29. Zybell uses…
NatureTrack Film Festival announces award winners of 2020 competition
The NatureTrack Film Festival announced the award-winning entries of this year’s juried competition. The award for Best in Festival (Feature) was awarded to two feature-length films that tied for first place, Last Kings of Bioko (Oliver Goetzel) and Realm of the Robber (Moritz Katz and Braydon Moloney). Best in Festival (Short) was awarded to Kokoly…
Right to complain
It’s Election Day 2020. I’m swinging in my cage, pecking away at the keyboard as I anxiously await the results that you can’t read in this week’s paper. Why? Well, it’s our press schedule, you see. We hit the printer before the results get announced. I’m no prognosticator, but I think it’s going to be…
Our current dystopia
Dystopian. You’ve read the books and have seen the movies. Classics like Dark City or Road Warrior, The Matrix. Authors like Aldous Huxley, George Orwell. The themes are similar. Paranoia of our government and even our neighbor. “Newspeak” where the language becomes controlled by the enforcer. “Thought Police” where any expression can be a criminal…
Lompoc officials float ordinances that are out of touch
By time this is reaches newsstands, the election should be decided; some will celebrate, and others may complain that the process wasn’t fair. No matter the outcome, we are stuck with those elected for another couple of years. Press deadlines prevented any commentary on local elections until my next submission, but I thought you’d like…
CenCal Health distributes 2,000 pulse oximeters for health care providers to give to Central Coast patients
While many unknowns still remain about COVID-19, what’s well documented is that serious cases of the disease can impact a person’s oxygenation levels—sometimes rapidly and with little warning. Dr. Keith Emmons, medical director at CenCal Health, the local Medi-Cal health plan, called this “one of the cruelties of this disease.” “The normal oxygenation would be,…
Political Watch: November 5, 2020
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced Oct. 28 that the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District had been awarded a $13.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The grant will allow the county to purchase property along Randall Road in Montecito in order to construct a new debris basin near…
Dayspring can remain head of Natural Healing Center while lawsuit moves forward
A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge ruled on Oct. 21 that local cannabis businessman Helios Dayspring may stay at the helm of his Natural Healing Center brand while a fraud and misconduct lawsuit filed by his top investor plays out. Judge Tana Coates denied investor William Szymczak’s preliminary motion to install a neutral…
Political sign dispute in Santa Maria neighborhood continues past Election Day
In June, Santa Maria resident Stephen Siemsen decided to protest the White House by hanging an American flag upside down in his window, a choice that drew criticism from some residents of Quail Meadows East, the manufactured home park where Stephen and his wife, Lisa Casillas-Siemsen, reside. But the dispute didn’t end there. Now, the…
