My horse, Dude, and I amble along the dusty trail, the large oak trees shading us from the late-afternoon sun. It’s a quiet, temperate day, and there’s a light breeze blowing in from the Santa Ynez Mountains. Ahead of us on the trail, standing in a sun-dappled clearing, are four canvas-covered wagons looped around a […]
AMY ASMAN
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A generous donation helps fight domestic violence
A recent charitable donation of more than $1 million to Domestic Violence Solutions of Santa Barbara County will help the nonprofit organization protect women and children from violence and abuse. Santa Barbara resident Susan Trescher left Domestic Violence Solutions the bequest upon her death last year. It’s the largest donation from an individual in the […]
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AIDS/LifeCycle riders make a pit stop in Santa Maria
Little Orphan Annies, Minnie Mouses, and taproom wenches cycled through the streets of Santa Maria on June 6 as part of the annual AIDS/LifeCycle ride. The 545-mile journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles raises money to pay for essential services for people living with HIV/AIDS, and includes participants from all over the world who […]
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Marian to the rescue?
A proposed mental-health facility could provide county residents with much-needed services
At first glance, the preliminary floor plan for Marian Regional Medical Center’s proposed behavior health facility looks like a spaceship made of multi-colored Lego blocks. But closer inspection reveals that the pastel blues, yellows, oranges, and reds represent what could become Northern Santa Barbara County’s most state-of-the-art treatment center for residents experiencing mental-health crises. The […]
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Spotlight on Best Kept Treasures
Rose Arzate, owner
Shopping for secondhand treasures can be a mixed bag; for every fantastic find, there’s a conversely questionable piece of junk. That’s not the case at Best Kept Treasures, a new upscale resale store in Santa Maria’s Mission Creek Plaza. A recent perusal of the shop’s clean and charmingly cluttered shelves revealed an assortment of beaded […]
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Vandenberg Hot Shots are on the chopping block
The Central Coast’s fire season started early and in full force this year with the 25,000-acre Spring Fire in Ventura and the 2,000-acre White Fire in the Santa Ynez Valley. With firefighters in such high demand, it came as an unpleasant surprise when Vandenberg Professional Firefighters Local F-116 announced on May 30 that its decades-old […]
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‘God, I hope I get it’
The County Farm Bureau argues its case to keep 4-H and the U.C. Cooperative Extension alive
As June–the month of financial reckoning for Santa Barbara County-funded programs and services—draws closer, many organizations have already started pleading their cases to the Board of Supervisors and the public at large to save their programs from the chopping block. Faced with an increasing deficit, the county has steadily cut funding to a multitude of […]
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DA won’t seek death penalty in Ibarra murder trial
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced on May 23 that a criminal grand jury indicted nine defendants for the torture and murder of 28-year-old Santa Maria resident Anthony Ibarra, whose body was found in a U-Haul truck in Orcutt on March 19. The grand jury indicted Ramon Maldonado, Reyes Gonzales, Jr., Santos Sauceda, […]
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Spotlight on: InSPArations
Sheila Gibilisco, owner
The reception room at the InSPArations full-service salon and spa in Old Town Orcutt is warm and relaxing. Its European-inspired décor, comfortable chairs, and complimentary strawberry-infused water make the room a cheery cocoon from the stress of the outside world. These thoughtful touches were all part of owner Sheila Gibilisco’s plan when she opened the […]
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Abel Maldonado is striving to repeal A.B. 109
Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado recently made a stop in his hometown of Santa Maria to ask Californians to help him “end this crazy thing called A.B. 109.” Enacted in October 2011, Assembly Bill 109, or the prison realignment act, aims to solve overcrowding problems at the state’s prisons by releasing low-level offenders to county […]
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Good, clean fun
Nothing can stop a fun day of playing in the sandbox faster than finding a used cigarette butt or some other form of refuse mixed in with your kid’s toys. That’s why the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department needs locals’ help in keeping city parks clean and playgrounds free from second-hand smoke. Picking up […]
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And Smith makes three running for sheriff
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown will have another challenger going up against him in the June 2014 election: UCSB police officer Ryan Smith has tossed his badge in the ring, joining the Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Sandra Brown. In an interview with the Sun, Smith said he’s running for sheriff because he has “the energy, […]
