Cover Story
Culinary creator: Chef Steven Snook brings Michelin star skills to Solvang at First and Oak
On the day I meet Chef Steven Snook, he’s trying to manage a serious crisis in the kitchen. The refrigerator, undoubtedly one of the most vital tools in a restaurant, “decided to stop working,” according to Snook, who is settling in across the table from me, wiping away tiny beads of sweat as he gracefully…
Blueprint for the future: Santa Barbara County nonprofits unveil data trove to promote conservation, responsible development
A new report released by several nonprofits in Santa Barbara County aims to help establish conservation, biodiversity, and economic guidelines for future growth and development. Its authors say that the accompanying data “atlas” should help facilitate collaboration between wide-ranging groups and parties. “Often times people come to the negotiating table with their opinions on things but…
Santa Maria residents complete Peoples’ Self-Help Housing’s Neighborhood Child Care Licensing Project
Elvia Salazar and Guadalupe Mendoza sat at a small table inside the Los Adobes de Maria II Education Center and smiled as they discussed their future plans. They’d both love to own houses one day—they currently rent Los Adobes apartments in Santa Maria through Peoples’ Self-Help Housing—but Salazar laughed as she said a vacation would…
Pantry pride: Stock your kitchen with the right spices
I have so many spice-related puns at the ready for this column. One of the secrets to being a successful home cook is having a well-stocked pantry ready at a moment’s notice to whip up something impressive for yourself or whatever friends you are trying to cajole into helping you move heavy furniture that weekend.…
Lompoc seeks sculptors
The Lompoc Valley Sculptors Guild, in association with the Lompoc Valley Arts Council, is seeking to install four outdoor public garden sized sculptures in Lompoc’s Centennial Square. Each sculpture may be in place for at least one year and will be replaced by new sculptures for the following year on an ongoing basis. The goal…
Orcutt Community Theater unveils new production
Orcutt Community Theater will present a new production, Mama Won’t Fly, a comedy written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten in April. The show runs April 13, 14, 20, and 22 at 7 p.m. and on April 15 and 22 at 2 p.m. The fast paced comedy is billed as a “race against…
PCPA explores humanity and technology with ‘Watson Intelligence’
If you’re expecting to see Sherlock Holmes in The Pacific Conservatory Theatre PCPA production of The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, don’t hold your breath. That’s because the play really isn’t about him, but rather Dr. John Watson, his longtime sidekick. Well, the play really isn’t about just that Watson either. The script is…
A pair of travel photographers show their work in Santa Maria
Lee-Volker Cox always had a love affair with photography, from as far back as he can remember. Even when he was in the U.S. Air Force, he tinkered with the hobby. In 2007, he had the opportunity to take an assignment as installation commander at Thule Air Base, a remote location in Greenland. Cox used…
Country music royalty Carlene Carter says goodbye to her Santa Ynez Valley home
It’s not everyday that country music royalty comes to town to perform a show, but for Santa Ynez Valley residents, it’s all in the neighborhood. Carlene Carter has called Santa Ynez her home for a decade now, but all good things must come to an end. The daughter of June Carter Cash by her first…
Spotlight on: Chick-fil-A
Another new restaurant has opened its doors at the Enos Ranch shopping center in Santa Maria. On March 15, the Southern fried chicken restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, officially began serving up order upon order of comfort food. “My team members and I can’t wait to serve our guests in the surrounding communities as we’re not just…
Santa Barbara County braces for massive winter storm
Emergency responders and planners in Santa Barbara County braced themselves for the worst as the largest storm of the year slowly made landfall beginning on March 20. That day, a mandatory evacuation order went out for the Thomas, Whittier, and Sherpa fires burn areas. As much as 10 inches of rain was expected to fall…
Dreaded deluge
You can’t predict the weather, they say. But the proverbial “they” could always be wrong, and I like to think we’ve come a ways when it comes to meteorology. I’ve seen the satellite images of the “atmospheric river” churning its way into California, and we all know the risks that poses to areas ravaged by…
Political Watch 3/22/18
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) wrote a letter to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo and Deputy Director Gina Haspel on March 15, calling on the agency to release documents on Haspel, who is President Donald Trump’s hopeful to serve as CIA Director after Pompeo leaves to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.…
Jennifer Ballesteros
Despite several serious injuries to her forearm and shoulder, Santa Maria High School senior Jennifer Ballesteros battled her way to this season’s California Interscholastic Federation Girls Wrestling Championships. There, according to Jose Torres, head coach of Santa Maria High School’s girls wrestling team, Ballesteros took first in her league and second at regionals. Ballesteros fought…
Local students participate in National School Walkout despite weapon scare
Tears welled up in Gretchen Harrelson’s eyes as she watched 16-year-old Jenna Santana belt out an emotional rendition of “Rise Up” by Andra Day. A technology issue had caused Santana’s accompanying music to unexpectedly stop, but she continued on—singing acapella—despite the glaring musical halt. The audience, mostly made up of Santana’s classmates and teachers, gave…
Lompoc to public: Stop setting dumpsters on fire
What’s that smell? It’s burning garbage, according to a statement issued by Lompoc’s public information officer, Samantha Scroggin, on March 19. “Five dumpster fires have been reported across the city to emergency dispatch since 2:30 a.m. Monday morning,” she wrote later that afternoon in an email. Scroggin said the city’s police and fire departments were…
Guadalupe Union School District Superintendent Ed Cora announces resignation
The decision to leave Guadalupe Union School District wasn’t an easy one to make. “Any time you have strong relationships, it’s always hard,” Ed Cora, superintendent of the Guadalupe Union School District, said. “But then you think about new opportunities and the opportunity to make a difference for a larger group of students.” That possibility…
Five-year contract between Dignity Health and workers expected to protect jobs
Roughly 15,000 healthcare workers in California ratified a five-year contract on March 16 with Dignity Health, a nonprofit health care corporation that announced plans to merge with another nonprofit, Catholic Health Initiatives, in December 2017. The agreement, which will apply to 708 workers at Marian Medical and Marian Extended Care centers in Santa Maria, will…
Revisionism at work
I had to wonder why you went to such trouble to compose your article “Time of Tumult” (March 15). It has been told many times. It was revisionism at its worst. Apparently you were using the Chumash Indians as your shill to promote your anti-oil agenda. The mission system did not harm the Indians, politics…
Stop the sand trap
The sand trap at Oceano’s Pier Avenue ramp proposed by the settlement between State Parks and SLO County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) is going to make our beach and community even uglier and noisier than it already is. The ramp itself should not even be there. It is illegal. It has been illegal for…
Think twice on Measure T
The proponents of Measure T2018 say Santa Barbara County embarked on a yearlong process to review issues surrounding countywide marijuana grows. The two cities most impacted by the marijuana operators in our county, Carpinteria and Goleta, oppose the regulatory framework the county adopted to mitigate impacts from marijuana grows. Opposing Measure T isn’t about opposing…
More of the same in Lompoc
Six weeks after 57 percent of Lompoc voters passed Prop 64, city staff, including then City Manager Patrick Wiemiller, City Attorney Joe Pannone, and both the police chief and former fire chief initiated, drafted, or supported a city ordinance to ban adult-use recreational cannabis businesses in opposition to the voters directive. Ultimately, the Lompoc City…
