Volunteers contacted nearly 1,500 homeless individuals and families while conducting the Common Ground Santa Barbara County vulnerability index survey in late January, public health officials announced at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 5. Of the 1,445 people surveyed, most live on their own in Santa Barbara (927), Santa Maria (300), Lompoc (101), or […]
AMY ASMAN
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Spotlight on: Penfield and Smith Engineers, Inc.
Employee-owned
Employee-owners of the Santa Barbara County firm Penfield and Smith Engineers, Inc. overcame snakes, poison oak, undependable government documents, and more to complete a four-year survey of 900 acres in the Tepusquet Canyon area. In recognition of its efforts, Penfield and Smith recently received an honor award from the California Chapter of the American Council […]
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Santa Maria police officers called in at Pioneer Valley and Fesler schools
Santa Maria police officers responded on Jan. 29 to reports of a man allegedly exposing himself to Pioneer Valley High School students as they walked to school. According to department officials, officers searched a housing complex where the man was said to be located and the nearby area, but came up empty handed. The victims […]
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On common ground
A Sun writer shares her experience volunteering for Common Ground Santa Barbara County’s vulnerability survey
I am not a morning person. Well, at least not an early morning person. If I have to get up before 7 a.m., I’m a grump and a half (just ask my co-workers, or better yet, ask my husband). So when my alarm clock went off at 5 a.m. on Jan. 23, I naturally questioned […]
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Celebrate cupid with crab
Eating crab can be both decadent and messy. There’s nothing quite like tying on a plastic bib, cracking open a crab leg, extracting the pink meat, and dipping it in clarified butter. Locals who love eating crab will get their chance to chow down on the delicious crustacean at the fifth annual Cruzin for Life […]
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Safe schools, healthy kids
The Sun talks to local experts about Obama’s proposal to improve mental health services
It’s been about a month and a half since Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 kindergartners and seven adults. It still remains unclear what motivated the 20-year-old to first fatally shoot his mother, Nancy, at their Newtown home and then turn his gun on the students and […]
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DA’s office looks into a possible foreclosure scam
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a case of alleged loan modification/foreclosure consultant fraud in the Santa Maria area. According to a press release sent out on Jan. 25, the business in question operates primarily out of Los Angeles County, but has allegedly victimized many homeowners in Northern Santa Barbara County. The […]
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Hello world!
After three months in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), newborn Ellie Moomey is finally home from the hospital. She is Marian Medical Regional Center’s lowest birth-weight baby to date. Ellie came into the world on Aug. 11, 2012, after just 25 weeks of gestation and weighing only 1 pound, 15 ounces. Prior to delivery, […]
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A to Zuniga
The Sun presents the second half of its interview with Santa Maria City Council freshman Terri Zuniga
As of press time, the Santa Maria City Council remained in a stalemate over what to do about mayor Alice Patino’s vacant council seat. Prior to the Jan. 15 meeting, the Sun sat down with Terri Zuniga, the top vote getter in the November election, to get her perspective on matters most pressing to the […]
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‘Rape is rape’
Local officials are the impetus behind efforts to change the legal definition of rape in California
In February 2009, a Los Angeles County woman returned home from a party with her boyfriend, her brother, and his friends. The couple went to bed; the woman soon fell asleep and the boyfriend left the bedroom. After he left, one of the brother’s friends snuck into the room and initiated sex with the woman. […]
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DA fights the release of a sexually violent predator to Santa Maria
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley traveled to Sacramento the week of Jan. 21 to testify in a California Court of Appeals case against Tiber Karsai, a sexually violent predator who could be released in Santa Maria as a transient. Karsai was found guilty of rape in Santa Barbara County in 1974, and of […]
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New face, new thoughts
Terri Zuniga talks about her role on the Santa Maria City Council
Terri Zuniga made headlines this year as the top vote-getter in the race for Santa Maria City Council—after coming in third on election night. She’s worked in the nonprofit and social justice sector for nearly three decades. Now she’s trying her hand at city government. At her first meeting in December, Zuniga and fellow council […]
