From the outside, Chow-Ya kind of resembles a struggling furniture store. But for the love of God, don’t let that stop you from going in. It’s an Asian fusion restaurant, thrown into the mix in Lompoc about a year and a half ago, and so far dominating its little corner of the city’s culinary market. […]
BRENNA SWANSTON
Posted inFood & Drink
Let’s taco ’bout it: Once a truck, Vaqueras flourishes as a sit-down restaurant
You know the place from its taco truck days, with its constant, frustratingly long lines and famous lime-spritzed Cali fries. It hasn’t even been two months since Vaqueras graduated to a brick-and-mortar establishment, but it seems to have stepped into the swing of things quite nicely—or so was my experience. It was 3 p.m. on […]
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Conservation groups sue federal agencies over fracking in Los Padres
Three environmental conservation groups are bringing a lawsuit against federal agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regarding oil drilling in Los Padres National Forest. The groups—comprising Los Padres ForestWatch, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife—filed a notice of […]
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The race for citizenship: Recent surge in naturalization applications won’t affect processing time, federal agency says
Olga Santos stood before a small crowd of farmworkers and their families—many of them Mexican immigrants—at a Santa Maria Domestic Workers Alliance event in mid-September. Following presentations by candidates for Santa Maria’s City Council, Santos addressed comments made last year by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “Maybe this candidate is saying we’re criminals,” Santos said […]
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State tightens restrictions on cancer-causing pesticide Telone
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) will enact new regulations on the cancer-causing pesticide 1,3-Dichloropropene—known by its brand name, Telone—starting Jan. 1, 2017. Telone is a fumigant pesticide used against insects, nematodes, and organisms that exist in the soil and threaten crops. In California, it’s used most often on the Central Coast and in […]
Posted inNews
SLO Planning commissioners stop Phillips 66 rail spur
You know those “Stop Oil Trains” picket signs you keep seeing around your neighborhood? Well, we’ve got some news. The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission voted on Oct. 5 to deny the Phillips 66 rail spur project—in other words, the commission voted to “stop oil trains.” Last week’s meeting was the eighth since the […]
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Overdue time: After decades of exemption from overtime laws, California farmworkers will receive equal protection
At 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in September, Eliseo Martinez was fresh off his shift. His jeans were covered in dust, his sweatshirt askew, and his sneakers caked in mud. When asked, “¿Cómo estás?” he smiled and said he was “cansado.” He was tired. Martinez wore the telltale signs of a 10-hour workday in the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The first Santa Maria Beer Fest happens Oct. 22
You may know by now that I consider beer to be a main food group, for which reason I’m super duper excited to share that Santa Maria is getting its first craft beer festival later this month. The first Santa Maria Beer Fest, slated for Oct. 22, will feature 22 breweries—most local, all Californian—and one […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Chill out: The best places in Santa Maria to satisfy your Indian-summer cravings
A few weeks ago, you may have opened up the Sun and flipped straight to the Eats column (as all our readers do, I imagine) and read my take on the start of fall and the Pumpkin Spice Latte-shaming that comes along with it. I wrote about rain and colorful leaves and boots and sweaters—apparently […]
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County receives federal grant to combat human trafficking
Last month, the Sun reported on the problem of human trafficking in Santa Barbara County, where two convictions in recent years have exposed the tip of an iceberg of issues surrounding the sex trafficking of minors. On Sept. 29, the county came a little closer to effectively tackling those issues when the U.S. Department of […]
Posted inNews
Register to vote, since we’re making it easy
Hey. You. Are you registered to vote yet? No? Well, you picked the perfect week to grab an issue of the Sun, because we’re making voter registration simple for you (and your unregistered friends and family members). Inside this week’s print edition of the Sun, you’ll find a voter registration card, anxiously waiting to be […]
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Santa Maria area housing among most expensive in country, study says
A housing affordability study named the Santa Maria metro area the second least affordable housing market in the United States, based on the median salaries for residents of various age groups. The study, conducted by finance publication MagnifyMoney, assessed housing market affordability in 380 metro areas across the nation. Executive Editor Mandi Woodruff said the […]