Cover Story
The writing on the wall: Santa Maria City staffers stay vigilant in the daily battle against graffiti
The Santa Maria River bed holds a clear record of who’s been through recently. The tracks of deer, blue belly lizards, and mice wind through the gravely sand alongside footprints from walkers or joggers, sometimes with dogs. Underneath the bridge, sneaker prints reveal fewer athletic treads, and the towering concrete pillars that hold up the…
PCPA explores authenticity, art, and betrayal in ’36 Views’
Art is an illusion. What shimmers across the surface can barely evoke the roiling factors hidden beneath; thus, a piece comes to mean much more than it presents. The same can be said for people, always painting a certain picture, whistling a specific tune, or telling a slanted story. PCPA, now known as the Pacific…
Would you like a large, digital billboard along the freeway telling you what Santa Maria has to offer?
Shaka unemployed “What does Santa Maria have to offer?” Dezzy Boo mom “Yeah. I should be posted on it.” David Blaylocku unemployed “Sure.” Baily Hall student “No.”
Political Watch 9/25/14
• The League of Women Voters is holding one more forum in September regarding the 2014 election; it will be held at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. The forum will lay out the pros and cons of Measure P on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon. There will…
Standing Sun Winery celebrates the harvest, wine, food, and live music
Standing Sun Wines owner and winemaker John Wright is up past his feet in work right now, literally. The harvest season is nonstop work for local winemakers, and Wright’s outfit isn’t any different, despite his business’s boutique wine output. “You can’t give up, you can’t stop, you have to push through,” he said. “It’s like…
Gallery Los Olivos debuts new show
Gallery Los Olivos presents its featured artists for the month of October with the works of Jill Targer and Julie Fish showing in the gallery’s main room. Above, Below, and Beyond showcases both artists’ use of vibrant colors from Oct. 1 through 31. A chance to meet the artists at an opening reception is Oct.…
Lompoc Valley Art Association opens annual fall competition
The Lompoc Valley Art Association (LVAA) is preparing for the Cypress Gallery’s annual fall open competition show. The exhibition will show competing pieces from Sept. 30 through Oct. 26. The competition is open to all local artists. Anyone who wants to compete in the show is required to appear at an ingathering on Sept. 29…
Santa Barbara County Arts Commission is accepting grant applications
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission is currently accepting Community Arts Enrichment Grants for its fall cycle, with a deadline of Sept. 30. This is the Commission’s sixth grant cycle since the grants program was developed in 2012 through a partnership with the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation. Community Arts Enrichment (CAE) grants are allocated to…
Santa Maria Philharmonic Society offers an elegant evening event
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society is celebrating the start of its 15th season with a benefit kick-off event, An Elegant Evening of Dinner and Dancing, on Oct. 4. The fundraiser event is $100 per person, with table sponsorships available as well. The black-tie-optional event is taking place at the Santa Maria Country Club and will…
Unique perspectives of place are showcased in the Betteravia Gallery’s latest exhibit
The white tiles leading away from the back hallway of the Betteravia Government Building mimic the way colorful photos of Morro Bay are lined-up, hanging on the wall. The contrast is stark, and the blues, pinks, purples, and grays of David Passage’s twilight photos burst into the bland hallway. On the opposite wall, about five…
Doom at the dunes
Just so we are perfectly clear on this subject: I don’t want to die. That may seem like a pretty obvious statement to make, however, I was recently enjoying some slightly perilous motor sport hobbies, which made me question how much I valued my life. I was looking at balancing my continuing existence with my…
Casa Manana celebrates its golden anniversary, serving Mexican food to multiple generations in Santa Maria
It’s a rare business that survives 50 years, run by the same family, in the same location, no less. And when it happens, it’s worthy of acknowledgment. This month, Santa Maria restaurant Casa Mañana is quietly celebrating its 50th anniversary. Casa Mañana’s founders, Robert Ontiveros, now 84 years old, and his wife Lydia, 81, opened…
Spotlight on: Rooney’s Irish Pub
Tucked away in the back of Old Town Orcutt, in the middle of what was once pretty much nothing, rests Rooney’s Irish Pub. Rooney’s opened in the summer of 2010, mixing the Emerald Isle with Costal California. It’s no wonder they have grown to be one of the most widely recognized names in brewing and…
Discovery Corner: Get fit and raise funds for two important causes
Attention, super heroes big and small: The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum needs your help! Lace up your running shoes, put on your best mask or cape, and zip over on Sept. 28 to the first-ever Super Hero 5K Fun Run and 1-Mile Family Walk to help support the Discovery Museum and the Juvenile Diabetes…
Youth Making Change program starts a new grant cycle
The Fund for Santa Barbara is accepting applications for funding through the Youth Making Change program through 5 p.m. on Oct. 24. Youth Making Change is a year-long, youth-led, grant program that provides young people with the opportunity to engage in organized philanthropy. Youth ages 13 to 19 years old are recruited annually to join…
Computers for Families is looking for donations for the coming school year
Computers for Families is asking local businesses and individuals for donations of dual core or Pentium IV PCs capable of running Windows 7, as well as USB mice and keyboards and power cables. Donated computers are refurbished and distributed to local elementary students and their families who don’t have access to technology. The program is…
Righetti teacher presents to Royal Geographic Society
Ernest Righetti High School teacher David Preston recently became the first American high school teacher to present to the Royal Geographical Society since it was founded in 1830. Preston joined forces with Cal Poly architecture professor Mark Cabrinha and gave a lecture at the society’s annual meeting at the Imperial College in London on Learning…
Community Notebook 9/25/14-10/2/14
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1 • The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Planning Commission Hearing Room, 123 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The agenda is available at www.sbcountyplanning.org. • The Santa Maria Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall,…
Community Corner: Raising rescue resources
Wildlife rescue efforts take skill, volunteers, and cold hard cash, and this year, Solvang-based rescue workers are seeing a record-breaking number of animals that need help. The Animal Rescue Team Inc. will hold its sixth annual fundraiser on Oct. 3 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Santa Ynez Historical Society in Solvang. The nonprofit…
Buellton’s bitter digital billboard debate takes over its city council race
Rarely since Moses and the burning bush has a sign been more influential to a people than the sign that appears will be the deciding factor in the upcoming Buellton City Council election. To a certain degree, that’s how influential the candidates are making it sound, anyway. At least five of the town’s eight City…
Cyclists get a legal force field
Starting in mid-September, California’s bicyclists have been theoretically surrounded by a 3-foot bubble of legal protection. Under a new law called the Three Feet for Safety Act, it’s now illegal for a motor vehicle to pass within 3 feet of a moving bike. The bill, which amended the vehicle code to give cyclists added protection,…
Santa Maria City Council candidates talk issues
The candidates in this year’s Santa Maria City Council race each failed to answer at least one question in the time allotted at a Sept. 20 forum hosted by the League of Women Voters: all except for Amy Lopez, who had a conflict and couldn’t attend the event. Forum audience member Bob Morrison said he…
Visitors give Santa Maria revenue a bump
All the beans have been counted, and the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce and the Visitor and Convention Bureau say that transient occupancy tax collection is up 12.34 percent. That number means that during the 2013-2014 fiscal year, Santa Maria hotels collected $2.8 million in transient occupancy taxes from visitors passing through, according to a…
Guadalupe’s future as a city hangs in the balance
The three measures that Guadalupe residents will vote on in November need to pass in order for the city to stay financially afloat, but that outcome will only keep Guadalupe from drowning in budget deficits; it won’t save the city completely. “It’s grim. Sadly, even if those measures pass, the city still isn’t bringing in…
Sign them up! Or not …
So Buellton is all in a buzz about a sign. A digital sign. A big, flashy, billboard-sort- of sign to promote the city. The sign itself has become a major wedge of contention between the current City Council candidates, who have until November to convince locals who to vote for, and why, and what that vote…
One veteran’s final flight
My dad, Alexander Palos, formerly of Camarillo, enlisted in 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was assigned to the 9th Air Force, 50th Fighter Group in the Army Air Corps. He served in France, England, and Germany, supporting Patton’s forces from the air. Like most of the World War II vets, he returned…
What’s On Deck 9/25/14-10/2/14
Thursday, Sept. 25 Girls’ Tennis Nipomo vs. Templeton @ NHS, 3 p.m. RHS vs. St. Joseph @ SJHS, 3:30 p.m. SMHS vs. Santa Ynez @ Minami, 3:30 p.m. Girls’ Golf Lompoc Tournament @ La Purisma, 2 p.m. Arroyo Grande Tournament @ Cypress Ridge, 2 p.m. Girls’ Volleyball Nipomo vs.…
Soccer players will taste new healthy beverage and snack standards
The San Luis Obispo American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) will implement new beverage and snack standards in its 2014 fall season that encourage coaches and players to hydrate with water only. The new standards were released at the coaches meeting in August with the help of Healthy Eating Active Living San Luis Obispo. AYSO hopes…
New hunting opportunities are being offered on private properties
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is offering hunting opportunities on three different properties through its Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) program. SHARE is holding eight wild pig-hunting periods at Rush Ranch in Solano County from November to February, with two permits per period good for two hunters each. Hunters will have…
Kennedy Klusendorf
Kennedy Klusendorf tried a lot of sports before finding the right one. She gave everything a chance—basketball, tennis, softball, but none of them could satisfy her hunger. When she turned 11 years old, she found her passion and has committed 100 percent of her energy to it ever since. She has a voracious appetite for…
From the sidelines
I started writing for the Sun a month ago. Since then I’ve been very busy running around, talking to people, and attending sporting events. It’s crazy to think that I’ve only been here for a month, when it feels like so much longer. I’ve met coaches, trainers, players, and parents, and they’ve all told me…
