Cover Story
The cost of exposure
Creativity is a gift everyone possesses, though every person’s level is unique. Some people are truly gifted. Others? Not so much. Some people can create when they feel the urge or when they’re called upon to create, and others feel like they’re almost possessed with a spirit to compulsively make stuff. It’s something they have…
What does Santa Maria need?
Courtney Winder C.A.N. mentor “More for high school youth to do. Idle minds are dangerous.” Ernesto Gonzalez Music instructor “Places of entertainment.” Jessica Noller Student “More stuff for kids to do.” Noemi Madrigal Bilingual assistant “More things to do.”
Corrections
The name of Lompoc’s now-closed drive-in movie theater was misstated in the Oct. 6 “Sun Screen.” The correct name was Valley Drive-In Theatre. There was a mistake printed in the Sept. 28 School Scene. Mission Valley School is part of the Lompoc Unified School District. News Briefs is compiled by Sun writers from staff reporting…
Kai Brown
On a rainy Thursday afternoon, when most young teens would be inside texting, facebooking, and watching whatever passes for entertainment these days on TV, one young lady was outside. Kai Brown has been jumping horses since she was 9 years old. Her grandfather was a horse jumper. Her mother was a horse jumper. It’s not…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, Oct. 13 Boys’ Water Polo Paso Robles @ Pioneer Valley 4:30 p.m. Arroyo Grande @ Righetti 4:30 p.m. HS Cross Country Pac-7 Midseason Meet TBA Girls’ Golf Pac-7 Tournament @ Arroyo Grande 1 p.m. Los Padres League Tournament @ Cabrillo 2 p.m. Girls’ Tennis Pioneer Valley @ Arroyo…
On the roster
• Santa Barbara County Golf Championship: Entries are being accepted for the 36-hole championship tournament, held at the La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc Oct. 22 to 23. The tournament is open to amateur golfers 18 and older. The cost is $150 and includes green fees, a prize fund, and a barbecue. Carts are optional…
Youth roller derby league kicks off
The Rocketeer Rollerz, a new roller derby team based in Santa Maria, is looking for girls aged 11 to 17 to participate in their new junior roller derby league, the Model Rockets. The team will be holding signups at its booth at the Central Coast Motorsports Association’s car show in Old Town Orcutt on Oct.…
Heart Walk to raise money to fight heart disease
More than 300 Santa Maria area residents are expected to participate in the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk at Waller Park on Oct. 15. The three-mile walk, which raises funds to fight heart disease and stroke, begins at 9 a.m. and includes teams of employees from local companies, along with friends and family members…
Restoring hope
In 2003, while deployed in Iraq, Army captain Andrew Chavez of Santa Fe happened to be inside a Mosul building when it was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, trapping him in the rubble. He survived the attack, but months later, while skiing in Austria, Chavez fell, reopening an old appendix injury and causing his stomach…
Grapes rock
The 200-plus wineries in Santa Barbara County have names as diverse as the wine and the people who make it. There’s the winery that shares the name of a world-renowned tire company, the label founded by the beloved actor who portrayed American frontiersmen, and now a winery named after a British blues-rock band with multi-platinum…
Piano power
What the printing press was to literature, the piano was to music. The flourish of creativity known as the Neoclassical Period during the 1700s was when the piano came into its own, having very public love affairs with composers as renowned as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig von Beethoven. The Central Coast Music Teachers Association…
Parents behaving badly
What is it about juvenile amateur sporting events that makes parents lose their minds, as if their 6-year-old daughter’s soccer game was the final match in the World Cup? Parents scream from sidelines, curse at underpaid or volunteer referees, and throw chairs into playing fields, all because their little Jimmy was called off sides. I’m…
Drink wine for the Philharmonic
Enjoy an evening of wine tasting, music, and refreshments while supporting the Santa Maria Philharmonic from 5 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 at Costa de Oro, which will donate 20 percent of tasting room fees and tasting room sales to the Santa Maria Philharmonic during that time. Costa de Oro is also offering four…
See Ed Harvey books on display
The library collection of the late Ed Harvey, artist and Allan Hancock College fine arts instructor, can now be found on display at the school. The collection of more than 600 art and coffee table books will become part of the library’s permanent collection. Harvey’s wife, Mary Harvey, has donated the books collected by the…
Volunteer at the Wildling
The Wildling Art Museum will be host to an informational meeting for people interested in volunteering at 2 p.m. on Oct. 22 at the Wildling Art Museum, 2928 San Marcos Ave., in Los Olivos. The museum offers three major nature-related art exhibitions every year, plus six to eight smaller exhibitions and plenty of classes, workshops,…
Get set for Faeriefest
People who live and work in Solvang know the city has a special quality. There’s a little bit of magic scattered throughout its tree-lined streets. It didn’t take much convincing on anyone’s part to make Solvang the site of a new event: Faeriefest. Faeriefest coordinator and head Tinkerbell Clau Orona works with her family running…
A dimension of sight and sound and heart
The last faint notes of music are washed out by applause as the lights are killed. People onstage quietly rush off, making way for the next act. They are sweating, gulping air, already thinking about their next combination. They have been throwing themselves around the stage for several minutes, and they must be flawless for…
Illuminate the problem, illuminate hope
There are times when it takes a little light to show us how deep the darkness is around us. On Oct. 24, a memorial march will be held in the memory of people who have lost their lives to domestic violence. The candlelight march will be accompanied by several speeches and artistic tributes to the…
Learn Japanese with your child
Starting Oct. 14, the Santa Maria Japanese Community Center is once again offering Japanese language classes to children and their parents. The classes will cater to 3- to 5-year-olds—2-year-olds are welcome if accompanied by an adult—and parents are encouraged to learn with their children. In this preschool setting, children will learn customary greetings through song…
A local student assists with eye surgeries in Mexico
Earlier this month, St. Joseph High School senior Jessica Bonilla traveled to Tecate, Mexico, to assist Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) ophthalmologist Jeffrey Rutgard as he performed cataracts surgery on people living in the region. Members of the expedition were able to perform 12 sight-restoring surgeries. Bonilla recently volunteered at the fifth annual SEE International MSICS…
ASES keeps the lights on after school
On Oct. 20, the Santa Maria Valley ASES (After School Education & Safety) program will hold Lights On Afterschool open houses from 4 to 6 p.m. at each of the 19 ASES sites in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District and the program at Los Adobes de Maria. The events will highlight three of the significant…
Spotlight on: Sheltering Oak Sanctuary
With one whistle, Cody Rackley silences 26 barking dogs. And they aren’t just any dogs. They’re the stereotypically aggressive pit bulls everyone seems to be afraid of—except Rackley’s whistle isn’t angry, and neither are the barks. They’re more like 26 voices saying, “Me! Me! Pay attention to me!” Rackley and Jill Anderson, along with Jill’s…
‘It just happened’
Rene Rosas wants you to know he’s not perfect. But he also wants you to know he wasn’t drunk when a horrifying accident claimed the life of his friend, Ronald “Tuffy” Kelsey of San Luis Obispo. Police arrested Rosas, who lives in Santa Maria, on Aug. 24, while he was riding his bicycle. His arrest…
Impounds prohibited
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed off on a controversial bill that will greatly affect the lives of California’s immigrant population, though it might not appear to at first glance. Assembly Bill 353 prohibits cities and law enforcement from impounding the cars of sober, unlicensed drivers who are stopped at sobriety checkpoints. Under the new law,…
Gov. Brown expands the Dream Act to include state financial aid
After months of lobbying and debate, a bill that will qualify undocumented students for government financial aid in California is finally on the books. On Oct. 8, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 131, also referred to as the California Dream Act, into law. The bill allows academically successful students to apply for college financial…
A multi-million dollar lawsuit sheds light on LHCDC’s money woes
A local bank recently filed a hefty lawsuit against the soon-to-be-defunct Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation (LHCDC). The low-income housing nonprofit has been struggling financially since 2008. According to court documents filed on Sept. 28, Solvang-based Pacific Western Bank filed a temporary restraining order against LHCDC for failing to pay more than $5 million…
Supes propose ban on medical pot dispensaries
Hesitant to get involved in the conflict between state and federal law, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors recently voted to move ahead with a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. On Oct. 4, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr dissenting, against an ordinance to regulate medical marijuana dispensaires,…
Vandenberg announces Delta II rocket launch delay
The launch of a Delta II rocket has been pushed back to address some technical problems, NASA officials announced earlier this month. The rocket—which will propel an Earth Observing System satellite into orbit—has been rescheduled for Oct. 27 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. A hydraulic system leak was detected during systems testing, according to a…
We need a president who’s a leader, not a debater
Haven’t we had enough examples of candidates who can talk good and promise “change” but have no experience to back it up? We elected the Obamanation in the White House as a result! Let’s not make this mistake again in selecting a Republican candidate. We need a man in the White House who has years…
Your silence speaks volumes
If an average person sold automatic weapons to known drug cartels, notorious gang members, and assassins, federal law enforcements officials would be all over them with possible criminal charges, incarceration, and accomplice charges in the resulting crimes. Yet when that person is the attorney general of the United States, the media and our local Congresswoman…
Eliminate birthdates on job applications
Job discrimination against senior citizens is a real problem in California (“An age-old question,” Sept. 22). It should be illegal for employers to require a birthdate on the job application forms that are most common. What reason is there for such a request other than judging based on age? It is easy to look at…
Behold the next subprime loan crisis
In California, indeed throughout the nation, student loan debt surpasses credit card debt, and youth unemployment hovers between 14 and 17 percent. We are witnessing the next subprime crisis of the United States. Students have demanded relief, yet we hear only the same bromides about better times to come, how we’re the future, how investment…
