As we roll into national Pride Month, celebrating the LGBTQ-plus community seems especially poignant following a year of anti-trans legislation across the country, attempts to ban gender identity and sexual orientation from sex education, and fights in local schools and cities over rainbow flags and crosswalks. In 2023, SLO and Santa Barbara counties are hosting…
A cannabis retailer’s plan to open a new storefront in Guadalupe is moving forward with a conditional use permit. Members of the Guadalupe City Council voted unanimously to grant Element 7, a California-based dispensary chain with shops in eight cities across the state, the permit during a public hearing on May 23. The only condition…
Santa Maria purchased 16 new electric buses, and the City Council approved a new plan that analyzes its approach to achieving a 100 percent renewable energy fleet—putting it well ahead of the state’s 2040 deadline for local transportation agencies to transition to renewable energy, Transit Manager Gamaliel Anguiano said. The California Air Resources Board is…
The Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) prevailed in its attempt to negotiate an interim emergency fire and medical services contract with the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA). In a unanimous vote on May 24, the Arroyo Grande City Council accepted the changes the OCSD wanted to a proposal the city had drafted with its neighbor…
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) co-led two bills aimed at strengthening U.S. supply chains, alleviating congestion, and improving efficiency in U.S. transportation corridors, according to a May 24 statement from the congressman’s office. The House Committee on Transportation advanced legislation that allows a variance of up to 10 percent weight between axles of…
Educational opportunies Visit fbsmv.com, like Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley’s Facebook page, or follow them on Instagram @fbsmv to stay up to date with the nonprofit’s parent and youth education and substance use prevention programs. Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley formed in 2003 as the Drug and Alcohol Coalition to educate the community’s youth on…
When customers approach the front counter of French Fries in Arroyo Grande, they’ll find a list of 10 different french fry styles to choose from: shoestring, crinkle, wedge, sidewinder, waffle, curly, seashore, steak, sweet potato, and tater tots. There are also dozens of topping options to pick from, including chili, pulled pork, carne asada, cheese…
Anyone living near a cannabis operation is familiar with the horrendous stink that lingers in the air 24 hours a day for months at a time. Some of these operations are close to Lompoc, and being someone who lives in the odor path, I can tell you that these operations have a serious impact on…
I wonder if we have been asking the wrong questions regarding Richards Ranch LLC and its application to annex county key site 26 into the city of Santa Maria. The two questions we might consider: 1) Who are the members of the Richards Ranch LLC, and 2) What is their goal? Over a year ago,…
As Pride Month raises its fantastic colors on the Central Coast, it feels extra prescient. History feels omnipresent, rather than in the not-too-distant past, when it comes to discrimination—both outright and under-the-radar—against the LGBTQ-plus community. The outrage against what rainbow flags symbolize for some people isn’t unique to the Santa Ynez Valley. And the irony…
See for yourself Experience the exhibit We Are Family at The Bunker (810 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo) until the end of June. For more information on other Central Coast Pride events, visit slopride.com or follow them on Instagram @centralcoastpride. For Laura Albers, a family photo is a powerful thing. Sometimes it’s a window into…
Students from Ernest Righetti High School, San Luis Obispo High School, Morro Bay High School, and Central Coast New Tech High School were among the winners of a recent film competition. The Central Coast Film Society announced the award winners of the 2023 Student Film and Media Arts Competition during its Student Showcase event, held…
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) will offer three separate sessions of week-long youth camps in Santa Maria during the summer. The first week of programming, for ages 8 through 12, will be held between Monday, June 19, and Saturday, June 24. The second iteration, for ages 13 to 18, will start on Monday, June 26,…
THE LITTLE MERMAID What’s it rated? PG What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) directs this live-action version of the beloved 1989…
High Desert What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Luckily for us, it seems everything Patricia Arquette touches is gold these days, and High Desert is no exception. Reminiscent a bit of Poker Face, Peggy is someone with mysteries to solve. She’s flawed, and her brother and sister are sick…
Silo What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Creator Graham Yost (Band of Brothers, Justified) runs this show based on novelist Hugh Howey’s Wool series about a dystopian future where 10,000 people exist in an underground bunker called the Silo. They’ve been told the outside world is poisonous and uninhabitable,…
