Twelve-year-old Sadako Sasaki is training to become the fastest girl in Hiroshima. Her best friend, Kenji, and she run together every day in preparation for the big race. However, while training one day, Sadako becomes ill so her parents take her to the hospital. The diagnosis: Leukemia—or “The Atom Bomb Sickness.” Sadako, the audience learns, […]
AMY ASMAN
Posted inNews
Zuniga finishes first in race for Santa Maria City Council
Terri Zuniga was the top vote getter, with 9,728 votes, in the race for Santa Maria City Council. The Santa Barbara County Election’s Office posted finalized election results on Dec. 4. “My phone was blowing up with people saying, ‘It’s 5 o’clock. Why haven’t they posted it yet?’ I just kept refreshing my computer screen,” […]
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Santa Maria’s interim police chief Ralph Martin drops the ‘interim’
Ralph Martin is now the police chief of Santa Maria, city officials announced to the media on Dec. 10. The appointment of the man who’s been acting as interim chief ends a tumultuous year for the Santa Maria Police Department, which has been embroiled in controversy since the shooting death of officer Albert Covarrubias, Jr., […]
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Second chances
The Santa Maria Veterans Treatment Court helps troubled service men and women start fresh
If everything goes according to plan, Howard Hill, a former sailor with the U.S. Navy, is going to be one of the next graduates of the Santa Maria Veterans Treatment Court. Hill joined the Navy in 1995 in lieu of going to prison. He served his country for 13 years until being discharged in 2008. […]
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Santa Maria man in ‘ruse affidavit’ case convicted of home robbery
Jesus Quevado, the alleged West Park gang member who was featured in the December 2011 Sun cover story “Walking the Line,” was found guilty in a Santa Maria jury trial of committing a series of armed robberies and burglaries in the fall of 2010 in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Quevado claimed that […]
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Santa Marians had a long wait for results from the City Council race
The political battle for two spots on the Santa Maria City Council has proven to be one of the closest in recent memory. As of press time on Dec. 4, the Santa Barbara County Elections Office had yet to announced the certified voting results. The most recently available uncertified results showed Terri Zuniga—the candidate who […]
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Lompoc City Council digs into LHCDC’s finances
Nearly one year after the request for a report was first made, the Lompoc City Council received an analysis of the defunct Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation’s (LHCDC) finances. The draft report, which was compiled by Orange County-based Urban Futures Incorporated and presented on Nov. 20, included information on finances and low-income housing covenant […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Pump it up
A local woman goes from ‘Flab to Fab’ to win a national bodybuilding contest
Solvang resident Jennifer Santos was walking the floor at The Fit Expo in Los Angeles this past January went she stumbled upon a booth for SAN, a national nutrition supplement company. “They had fliers for a competition called ‘Flab to Fab,’” recalled Santos, who works as a trainer at Anytime Fitness in Orcutt and serves […]
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Want some cilantro with that?
A local produce company gets national exposure in a Youtube video promoting Taco Bell’s newest product line
The cilantro field on the corner of Bradley and Betteravia roads is hands down the best-smelling field in Santa Maria. The sparkling green shoots emit an aroma that conjures up visions of mouth-watering al pastor tacos or carne asada burritos. It smells so good you almost want to grab a handful and eat it on […]
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Primus Labs gets tangled in a bevy of wrongful death suits
A collection of wrongful death lawsuits filed against several agribusinesses, including Santa Maria-based Primus Labs, is currently making its way through bankruptcy court in Colorado. The litigation stems from a listeria outbreak in the summer of 2011, when 147 people in 28 different states became ill after eating bacteria-laced cantaloupe. According to an investigation conducted […]
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Cuesta College welders sweep new regional contest
A team of Cuesta College students recently won an Arizona regional competition for building one bear of a barbecue. The team’s ’cue featured steel cutouts of a bear and the words “Cuesta Welding,” as well as a chrome smoke stack. John Fiscalini of Cambria, Simon Rowe and Kyle Peterson of San Luis Obispo, and Steven […]
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Guard changes on Santa Maria school board
Santa Maria physical therapist John Hollinshead is replacing Ike Ochoa on the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Board of Education. Ochoa, a board member for 20 years, chose not to run for re-election this year. His last day serving the district will be Dec. 11. Hollinshead, who came in third in the November general election, will […]
