School is about to be back in session for the 2024-25 school year, which means summer is almost over—sad. But it also means a new school year for all of those students, new learning, new friends, new experiences—rad! For this year’s annual Education Today issue, Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor speaks with school districts that are…
Kindly allow me space in your paper to correct two flagrant fictions contained in Dan Dennis’s opinion piece of Aug. 1 (“The stakes are too high”). President Franklin Roosevelt’s Glass-Steagall law was passed in 1933; the Great Depression had been already raging since the collapse of the stock market in October 1929, four years earlier.…
In response to Ron Fink’s July 25 “What’s the fuss?” commentary about the Ten Commandments in public schools, I have a couple of points to make about the Constitution mandating a separation of church and state. He claims it was not to keep the church out of the state, but it was that, and to…
Fit check FitForever Gym in Arroyo Grande will hold its upcoming Artisan Market on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event’s featured artisans are Tina Doherty, Anne Kunzig, Myles Herman, Judy Wood, Craig Trapp, Cheryl Carlson, Rich Wilke, Lori Sherry, Adrian Luna, Lisa Ferson-Zavala, Maggie Pickering, Nancy Valentine, Melissa Walker-Scott, Jeanne…
Enjoy your stay Visit vinlandhotelandlounge.com for more info on the V Lounge, located inside the Vinland Hotel, at 1455 Mission Drive, Solvang. The lounge’s menu features appetizers, desserts, craft cocktails, beer, and wine, and is open to hotel guests and the public. A handful of luxury suites at the hotel are sponsored by local wineries…
Born in Santa Barbara and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley, Jasmine Guerrero Sevilla holds the prestigious title of youth poet laureate of Santa Barbara County. In early August, Sevilla led a free workshop in Solvang for young writers ranging from ages 9 to 12. On Saturday, Aug. 10, Sevilla and the workshop’s students will…
Santa Maria-Bonita In the 2023-24 school year, Santa Maria-Bonita School District had more than 17,000 students enrolled in its 17 elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one combined elementary and junior high. By 2029-30, the district expects more than 18,000 enrolled students, not accounting for students who might come from housing projects currently in…
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) presents its production of Cabaret at the Solvang Festival Theater, with performances through Aug. 25. This iteration of the iconic musical opened at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria where it ran in late July, and moved to Solvang in early August. Set in Berlin during the 1930s, Cabaret follows…
Help out CAPSLO is hiring 50 student ambassadors for both SLO and Santa Barbara counties for its Teen Wellness Program. Applicants must be 13 to 18 years old and have an eagerness to address the mental health crisis. Ambassadors will dedicate three hours per week to the program. To apply, visit forms.gle/rjs2Y63dqechTNC29. Since the COVID-19…
Trap What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Anna? Matinee What’s it worth, Glen? Matinee Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Lady in the Water) helms this psychological thriller about a serial killer called The Butcher, but even serial…
Silent Fallout What’s it rated? Not rated When? Monday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. (reserve a free ticket at eventbrite.com) Where’s it showing? Unitarian Universalists San Luis Obispo (2201 Lawson Ave.) SLO Mothers for Peace hosts a screening of Silent Fallout on Monday, Aug. 12, and director Hideaki Ito will attend the three-hour event and…
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest What’s it rated? G When? 1992 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11, at 1:30 p.m. My favorite troublemaking fairy is back on the big screen! Crysta (voiced by Samantha Mathis) is fixated on seeing what lies beyond the boundaries of FernGully and tales…
While cannabis odor has concerned John Parke in the past when it comes to project proposals, the Santa Barbara County 3rd District Planning Commissioner voted alongside his colleagues to approve a cannabis processing project near Buellton and deny an appeal from neighbors during the July 31 Planning Commission hearing. “We have several experienced commissioners who…
Bike maps help bicyclists identify and navigate routes throughout their region and understand a route’s classification—from multi-use trails to bike lanes on the street. However, Santa Barbara County’s mapping system is outdated by more than a decade, said Lauren Bianchi Klemann, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. “With roads and…
Several College School District portable classrooms are World War II surplus Army barracks that were brought onto campus decades ago, Superintendent Marlene Donner said. “Our old Army barrack buildings were brought to the site and put together as the original school and they need to be replaced with new modernized buildings so the students have…
I’m a little confused about a recent Santa Barbara County Planning Commission decision about cannabis—mostly I’m confounded about Commissioner John Parke and his support of a processing project, something I assume he’s against. You know, he’s always talking about that odor. Cannabis smells impacting quality of life seem to niggle Parke like no other, insinuating…
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced that he recently secured several top water infrastructure priorities for California through the unanimous U.S. Senate passage of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, according to an Aug. 2 statement from Padilla’s office. The legislation includes provisions Padilla fought for to address the Tijuana…
What is democracy? Merriam-Webster defines it this way: “rule of the majority; a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Earlier this year there was a primary election where registered voters of each political party…
