No amount of medals or trophies could stack up against 12-time international triathlon winner Siri Lindley’s greatest victory: overcoming acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The average five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with AML is 29 percent, according to WebMD. The odds doctors gave Lindley after her diagnosis six years ago were much less, she said. […]
Caleb Wiseblood
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Santa Maria’s immigrant resolution stirs backlash from elected officials, advocacy groups
Of all the tangents Santa Maria leaders veered into while discussing a resolution to support immigrants, nostalgia for the 1950s was one of the most disheartening, an Oxnard official stated. “People need to really think more critically about romanticizing that era,” Oxnard City Council Member Gabe Teran said in a Facebook thread. Teran was referring […]
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County orders monthly audits of Sheriff’s Office overtime use
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will continue tracking overtime use at the Sheriff’s Office after a recent review showed that a few employees more than doubled their pay. “The current system really rewards overspending,” 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann said during the Feb. 10 board hearing. According to county staff, during the fiscal […]
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Political Watch: February 12, 2026
• California gubernatorial candidate and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco will visit Lompoc on March 15 for a meet-and-greet event. Free and open to the public, the program is scheduled to take place on March 15, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Lompoc Elks Lodge, located at 905 E. Ocean Ave., Lompoc. After the […]
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Vikings of Solvang holds biannual blood drive under new leadership
The price of a cup of coffee can be a real pain for someone who’s about to donate blood, Solvang local Kim Jensen explained. “Drink a lot of fluids before you come, but don’t be drinking coffee. It’s hard to find a vein when you drink too much coffee,” said Jensen, referring to caffeine’s tendency […]
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Life skills: Fighting Back Santa Maria is expanding its youth outreach, including focusing on life after incarceration
Looking at Santa Barbara County’s probation routine for formerly incarcerated youth with a fresh pair of eyes, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley is also providing those juvenile offenders with a new face. “I believe, and research shows, that young people thrive when they have adults who care about them in their lives. So, getting another […]
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Local high school students take part in nationwide walkouts to protest ICE
High school senior Addisynn Laliberte spent the night of Jan. 29 painting as many protest signs as her energy supply and CVS budget allowed. “I had some paint left over from projects that I was able to use but had to go buy some poster paper from our local CVS,” she said. “I encouraged people […]
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Gregg Hart leads state oversight hearings on federal child care budget
With 20 years of experience running a preschool behind him, Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) described the Trump administration’s recent push to freeze federal child care funds in five states as hitting close to home. “As that applies to California, it means we are kind of out of the business of helping parents, kids, and […]
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Political Watch: February 5, 2026
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) drafted a Jan. 29 letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in response to her letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urging him to surrender the state’s voter rolls as part of an exchange for the Trump administration calling off its deployment of Immigrant and […]
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Dollars dispute: Del Cielo Mobile Estates residents fight back against a rent increase tied to lawsuit expenses
Two attorneys. Seven witnesses. Eight hours of cross examination. Those with stakes in a recent arbitration hearing’s outcome will probably not hear Santa Barbara County’s verdict on a rent dispute between an Orcutt mobile home park’s ownership and residents until April. One consolation for attendees of the Jan. 21 proceeding was the arbitrator’s closing commentary, […]
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Santa Maria to formalize ‘a clear message that we do stand with immigrants’
With one hand holding onto a cardboard cutout of a silhouetted body, Jeanne Sparks told the Santa Maria City Council she doesn’t want to see local officials stand idly by while Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations escalate. “We can’t let them do to our community what they have done elsewhere,” Sparks said at the […]
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Solvang targets ‘derelict’ news racks with tighter code enforcement
Whether the perpetrators realized they were littering or not, too many people have treated Solvang’s newspaper racks like trash bins in recent years, City Manager Randy Murphy told elected officials. “They were attracting nuisance. People were leaving their garbage in them, and on them,” Murphy said at the Solvang City Council’s Jan. 26 meeting. “The […]