When it comes to getting fit, Christy TaJalle says, “One cannot rely on a single routine.” “Fitness is a lifestyle,” said TaJalle, who is now a newly certified spinning instructor at In-Shape gym on Broadway in Santa Maria. “You can be your own mad scientist.” What exactly is spinning? It’s an exercise that involves peddling […]
DAVID MINSKY
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Shark season: Surf Beach has been the scene of several shark attacks in recent years–could one shark link them all?
It was hot, sunny, and the water was relatively calm when Ryan Howell and his friends took their kayaks out for a little rock fishing about 5 miles south of Surf Beach on Oct. 3, 2014. The fishing was good that day. An avid kayak fisherman, Howell has fished the waters off the coast of […]
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Spotlight on: A Street Cafe
L. Erika Weber, marketing and development director
Within one of Santa Maria’s industrial business parks hides a little known secret for breakfast lovers. The A Street Café, which is actually a part of nonprofit VTC Enterprises, opened on June 15, serving lunch and all-day breakfast. As is the case with VTC Enterprises, A Street Café employs adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. […]
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Santa Maria Police Department investigates shooting on S. Bradley Road
The Santa Maria Police Department is investigating a shooting in the city that left one person injured in the early morning hours of Oct. 24. According to SMPD Sgt. Woody Vega, police were notified around 2:26 a.m. of a 29-year-old man who was admitted to Marian Regional Medical Center with a single gunshot wound to […]
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Santa Maria Police nab suspected Habitat for Humanity truck thief
On Oct. 22, officers from the Santa Maria Police Department arrested a suspect tied to a theft of a work truck that was stolen from the Goleta Habitat for Humanity more than a week ago. Kelly Hoover, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, said 44-year-old Matt Crandall of Santa Maria is […]
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U.S. Bureau of Reclamation settles steelhead lawsuit
A settlement was reached in a federal lawsuit that accused the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation of violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing endangered steelhead trout to die in Hilton Creek. Specifically, nonprofit California Trout said the bureau was liable for the deaths of at least 393 juvenile steelheads in 2013 and 2014 when the […]
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Daytripper: Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon in Del Mar Beach
I never knew how seriously Californians regarded dogs and the sport of surfing until I went to a dog surfing competition near San Diego. On Sept. 13, my wife and I took a small road trip down to San Diego. We left early in the morning and took our 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier mix with […]
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Spotlight on: REC Solar
Ryan Park, director of business development
Solar panels aren’t cheap. The cost for a typical 5-kilowatt setup for a house can easily run $10,000 or more. But it may pay off in the long run, at least according to REC Solar Director of Business Development Ryan Park. “That $10,000 system will produce somewhere in the range of $1,500 to $2,000 […]
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Spotlight on: Central Coast Future Leaders
Patricia Solorio, program director
As the saying goes: If you love your job, then you’ll never work again. As the program director for Central Coast Future Leaders (CCFL) in Santa Maria, Patricia Solorio loves her job because she knows she’s making a positive impact on the future of her community. How exactly? By empowering youth and creating future leaders. […]
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Guadalupe’s budget crisis leaves Jack O’Connell Park football field unmaintained
“How can we charge the people for the use of our park when it is clearly in such bad shape?” Estorga asked in a letter he wrote to the Sun dated Oct. 2. There’s also an issue with the bleachers. With only one set, Estorga doesn’t think it’s enough. And there’s the $171,000 barbecue pit […]
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Orcutt rapper may face retrial
Even in a country that’s revered for having one of the strongest freedoms of speech on the planet, there is a line that sometimes gets crossed. For instance, courts have ruled that freedom of speech doesn’t include threats of physical harm, charges that Orcutt resident Anthony Murillo has been facing for the past two years […]
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Lawsuit alleges St. Joseph High School officials failed to report convicted student’s sexual misconduct
The criminal case against Shane Villalpando concluded in 2013, but now officials at St. Joseph High School—Villalpando’s former high school—are the targets of a lawsuit surrounding the former student’s behavior at the time. Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in November 2014, the lawsuit alleges that administrators at the high school failed to report […]
