Since we opened our doors, the Sun has insisted that you, too, can become a published writer. In our annual 55 Fiction contest, we ask would-be authors to send us their tiny stories and cross their fingers. In 55 words or fewer, weave a tale full of emotion, description, and surprise. Give us characters and…
Alerted by more than a dozen 911 calls, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers were on the lookout for a northbound driver in the southbound lane of Highway 101 around 5:15 a.m., on Sept. 8, 2024. One caller described the driver—later identified as Santa Maria resident Kendra Lynn Cordova—as weaving between oncoming cars at 90 miles…
An accident at Vandenberg Space Force Base killed a 23-year-old airman on July 16. The heavy equipment that Airman 1st Class Cedric Eneluna was operating rolled down an embankment, Vandenberg reported in a news release on July 17. The Santa Barbara Coroner’s Office hasn’t yet determined Eneluna’s cause of death. There were no other personnel…
Discipline. Dismissal. Appointment of an interim city manager. A handful of business items on the table for the Lompoc City Council to discuss in closed session on July 14 were tied to City Manager Dean Albro’s performance evaluation. Although the council ultimately gave Albro “a satisfactory review” and “did not consider or conduct the discipline/dismissal/release…
• Awaiting consideration from the House of Representatives and Senate, the proposed Water Resources Development Act of 2026 would allocate $66 million in new federal funds for multiple Central Coast-based water projects, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced on July 14. “As a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I’m proud…
Career exploration, scholarship wins, and industry connections are some of the possible outcomes for young adults if they attend a free workshop put together by the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board. Operations Manager Alyssa Stovall and her team organized the board’s first youth career summit in years, which will be held in Santa Maria…
The news this week almost made me want to set down my feather pen and bury my head in the sand, à la my long-legged cousins. A Vandenberg Space Force Base airman died on base after the heavy equipment he was operating fell down an embankment. Airman 1st Class Cedric Eneluna was 23 years old. …
Imagine a world without fossil fuels; it would be dark, very few people, only foraged food, no houses, nothing but silence and emptiness. This is the world that the movers and shakers in Santa Barbara County and statewide would like to take you to. Their endless assault on the production and use of fossil fuel…
Was Dwight Eisenhower a communist? As a Republican president in 1956, he ran on a platform of expansion of Social Security; federal assistance for construction of hospitals; increased federal aid for medical care of the needy; and the creation of a Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. And an immigration policy that provided a haven…
At a Senate hearing in June, Marco Rubio claimed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) operated as “an independent State Department,” working contrary to U.S. interests. Despite Rubio’s previously claiming “no kids were dying under [his] watch,” former leading USAID administrator Atul Gawande told The New Yorker that according to recent studies, approximately…
Less than 1 percent of the global population is an Olympic athlete. Catalina Bertola often compares the achievement with life in the art world. Most people will never reach Olympic status—in athletics or art—but that shouldn’t stop people from giving it a go. In her opinion, physical activity and creativity are part of a balanced…
Join the Santa Ynez Valley community on Wednesday evenings for free summertime tunes at Solvang Park. The Susan Williams Summer Music Series, presented by the Solvang Chamber of Commerce, will continue through Aug. 26 featuring rock, blues, country, and jazz bands. “While enjoying the music, guests can also indulge in delicious food and beverages available…
Hear original pieces and old Broadway tunes from singer Gale McNeeley on his four-stop tour in August called My Life in Song. He’ll be joined by pianist Paul Marszalkowski, a musical director at the Pacific Conservatory Theatre. McNeeley will sing original songs and renditions of musical selections from his time on Broadway. He toured with…
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, Batman Begins) wrote and directed this action fantasy based on Homer’s epic poem about Odysseus (Matt Damon), king of Ithaca, who after the Trojan War faces a dangerous voyage home to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway). During the perilous journey, he encounters creatures such as the cyclops…
Ride or DieWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Prime Created by Tessa Coates (Massive Dad), this new miniseries set in the U.K. and other parts of Europe follows besties Debbie (Octavia Spencer) and Judith (Hannah Waddingham) as they go on the run from a mysterious enemy. Debbie is married to David (Jamie…
Big MistakesWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Netflix Nicky (Dan Levy) is a put-upon pastor whose mother, Linda (Laurie Metcalf); troublemaking sister, Morgan (Taylor Ortega); and suck-up sister, Natalie (Abby Quinn), keep him irritatingly busy alongside his congregation—a congregation happy to have a gay pastor as long as he is “non-practicing.” Morgan’s…
Omar Jimenez begins most days the same. “First thing I do? I pray. Thank God for another day,” Jimenez said. “Then I go to the gym for an hour, two hours. Get my little workout done. Unless I have orders. Business comes first.” He works part time at the Santa Maria Country Club, but when…
