Cover Story
The H-2A problem: Santa Maria growers struggle to house foreign farmworkers
It’s 4 p.m., and sunshine floods the parking lot at the motel on the corner of North Broadway and East Bunny streets in Santa Maria. Two men lie on their backs on the motel’s small lawn, unwinding after a long day of work in the fields. Behind them, a few guys lean against the second-floor…
A tragic dilemma: Could the Santa Maria Police Department have prevented an attempted suicide in the jail?
On the morning of Dec. 29, 2012, Shane Horton was arrested and briefly detained in a holding cell at the then-headquarters of the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) on Cook Street on suspicion of domestic battery. At the police station, Shane, who was 19 at the time, engaged in a 20-minute “polite conversation” with officer…
What do you think is the most pressing issue regarding housing in Santa Maria?
Gloria Dickey retired “Right now it’s the housing of the farmworkers. We really need it and we really need them. We have people without work, but they will not go out there into the fields and do the work these people do. So we should house them.” Julie Miller registered nurse “I think the immigrant…
Western Dinner and Dance supports Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum
The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Carriage House holds its annual Western Dinner and Dance fundraiser event, with a spaghetti and meatball dinner, this year on June 11. The event honors Old Santa Ynez Day Grand Marshals Marc and Laurie Owens, and a portion of the proceeds go toward the Old Santa Ynez Day…
Valley Art Gallery features Lee Volker-Cox
The Valley Art Gallery in Orcutt holds an opening reception for its latest featured artist show, Central Coast Celebration, by local photographer Lee Volker-Cox on June 17 at the gallery. Volker-Cox is a retired Air Force colonel and a prolific photographer who shares his collection of images captured around the Central Coast in the exhibit.…
PCPA Theaterfest will open ‘Shrek the Musical’
The Pacific Conservatory Foundation (PCPA) will open its production of Shrek The Musical on June 22, running the show through June 25 at the Marian Theatre at Allan Hancock College. The musical—based on the Oscar-winning computer animated film—will then continue to show June 30 through July 31 at the Solvang Festival Theater. With heavy influences…
Valley Art Gallery’s Beverly Johnson teaches silk painting and more
Local artist Beverly Johnson is a lifelong creative. She’s worked with classical media from childhood on, and oil paintings since high school. But it was not until about seven years ago that Johnson found the obsession she spends most of her creative time with today, silk painting. After an intro class to the medium by…
UCLA’s Hammer Museum to feature artifacts from DeMille’s ‘The Ten Commandments’ Guadalupe Dunes set
What may look like a mere heap of detritus in the Guadalupe Dunes is actually a historical site significant to local and California history. Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 production of The Ten Commandments was staged there. The massive set and camp used by the cast and crew were left behind, swallowed up by the sands…
Conflict resolution
As much as two people from the opposite sex can get along, my wife and I get along pretty well. I take absolutely all of the credit for this. You see, I attribute our marital success to the fact that I simply just do what I’m told. By immediately doing whatever I’m asked, without argument,…
Reverend Tall Tree brings jumpin’ blues rock to Presqu’ile Winery
Now that summer is officially upon us, so are the seasonal concert series we know and love. It’s hard to argue against the fact that one venue is particularly picturesque among local summer concert series. I’m talking about the grassy outdoor amphitheater at Presqu’ile Winery. The upcoming performer at the series, Reverend Tall Tree, remembers…
Blake Jaeckels
Recent St. Joe’s graduate Blake Jaeckels never would have guessed two years ago that track and field would be his sport of choice going into college. “My whole life, football was my favorite sport,” the St. Joe’s quarterback told the Sun. “I was waiting to see if something would happen for football.” Sometimes the best…
Keepin’ the dream alive: A scrappy group of Allan Hancock College baseball teammates will take their talents to four-year schools
Kyle King, an Allan Hancock College student, is not your typical college sophomore. A Bakersfield native, King left California after graduating high school and began his college journey in Mount Carmel, Ill., at a small community college. Why Mount Carmel? Simple. King was able to continue playing baseball there. Baseball was something he was dead-set…
Get happy: The best happy hours around Santa Maria
It’s 5 p.m. and you just got off work. You wish it was Friday but it’s not. This week just keeps on freaking going. And you know you should go to the gym and then go home and make dinner and maaaybe cap off the night with a glass of red wine and an episode…
Get out of the spotlight if you can’t take the heat
It’s tough being a public figure. I may be a journalist but I have a heart. It’s tough to have your every move scrutinized, every word you utter recorded, and sometimes, misconstrued. I feel for you politicians, celebrities, and others who choose the limelight. Often though, the reason it’s so hard to be in the…
Get some experience first, Justin
I live here, I work here, I vote here, and I, along with the Central Coast, deserve better than a silver-spooned millennial. I had higher hopes for the next generation. Twenty-something Justin Fareed has resorted to mudslinging, lacking any merits of his own to stand on. Close to $200,000 of Justin’s money has come from…
Justin Fareed has completely lost my respect
Aspiring politician Justin Fareed is off to a horrible start. What could have been an inspiring candidate is nothing more than a spoiled rich kid bypassing hard work to buy his way into a job. News flash: Congress isn’t for kids. And it’s becoming very apparent that Justin is absolutely unprepared for the responsibility. From…
Spotlight on: Ozzie’s Premium Frozen Yogurt and Gelato
Before the era of the internet and social media, a restaurant’s reputation was built on word-of-mouth reviews and established critics. But these days, with smartphones and websites like Yelp, it seems that everyone’s a critic and online reviews have no less of an impact than what’s traditionally been written by professionals in the past. Nobody…
Uncontrolled growth vs. a pleasant existence with H20
After both my wife and I completed graduate studies in the late ’70s in the Los Angeles area, the question became, “Where should we make our permanent home?” We looked around us in the LA area at the hubbub of traffic and the mass of individuals in close proximity to us in the LA suburbs…
Allan Hancock College SOAR Club gets grant
A movement led by Allan Hancock College students to impact educational opportunities available in the Lompoc Valley has received a significant financial boost. The Fund for Santa Barbara, a nonprofit community foundation, awarded a $4,800 grant to the college’s Students Organizing for Advocacy and Retention (SOAR) Club. “The grant provides us with the resources we…
Allan Hancock College Law Enforcement Training Academy graduates 21 recruits
In front of hundreds of friends, family, and members of Central Coast law enforcement agencies, the 110th class of Allan Hancock College’s Law Enforcement Training Academy graduated 21 recruits, including 17 who already have jobs lined up with area agencies. The ceremony took place at the same facility where the recruits had spent the previous…
Assistance League of SLO receives grant
Assistance League of San Luis Obispo County was among 30 recipients to receive a $5,000 grant from The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County (CFSLOCO). The grant will be used toward purchasing new school-appropriate clothing for kindergarten through 12th grade students in need, living and attending school in San Luis Obispo County. This year’s grant-making…
Oakley Park renovations complete
The community celebrated Oakley Park’s significant renovations at a rededication ceremony June 7 in Santa Maria. After eight months and more than $1 million—including Community Development Block Grant funds—the project has reinvigorated Oakley Park to be the focal point of family activities in the city’s northwest quadrant, according to a press release. The park features…
Political Watch 6/16/16
• On June 8, the House of Representatives unanimously approved bipartisan legislation to improve federal oil and gas pipeline safety regulations. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) was one of several House and Senate members who were directly responsible for co-authoring the final language, which was based on legislation that originated in the House Energy and…
Community Notebook 6/16/16 – 6/23/16
TUESDAY, JUNE 21 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Betteravia Government Center’s Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Ste. 141, Santa Maria. • The Santa Maria City Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City…
Nipomo to move forward with community park master plan
A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court ruled to deny a petition from the Nipomo Parks Conservancy challenging the county’s approval of the Nipomo Park Master Plan, which would construct additional recreation facilities at the park over a 20-year time frame. The plan had been held up by litigation since January 2013. In its petition,…
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District reaches faculty contract agreement
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) and its faculty association last week reached a final agreement on teacher contracts, following stalemated negotiations and a fact-finding process. On May 27, a fact-finding panel released a report siding with the tentative agreement reached by the district and association leaders earlier that month, though the…
Alleged axe-wielding suspect on drugs arrested by Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies
On June 11 at approximately 3:45 p.m. deputies responded to a report of an “out of control” camper who appeared to be under the influence of some sort of controlled substance and swinging two axes at campers at the Paradise Campground near Paradise Road and Highway 154, according to Kelly Hoover, a spokeswoman for the…
Federal inmate accuses Lompoc prison officials of medical negligence
On Jan. 10, 2015, federal prisoner Victor L. Curry was standing by an ice machine inside Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) when fellow inmate Kenyan “Kenneth” Payne punched Curry, knocking him unconscious, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court on May 20. Hours later, Curry woke to find that he had a…
