Our state elected representatives are at it again. They produced a blizzard of new bills in the 2019 session. Just who of the everyday Joes on the streets are going to know anything about any of these? These bills are for the biggest paying supporters or the biggest attention getters. Most of these bills are […]
Justin Ruhge
Posted inOpinion
Without a sales tax increase, Lompoc will continue down a troubled road
Former Lompoc City Councilmember Jenelle Osborn was elected mayor in the November 2018 election. She has been supporting sound financial budgets for years. However, now the city of Lompoc is floating into financial oblivion with Jim Mosby, Dirk Starbuck, and Victor Vega as Lompoc City Council members. The triad has done untold damage to the […]
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc’s in trouble
The city needs to pass a sales tax increase to pay off its pension debt
Mayor Bob Lingl, the best mayor Lompoc had in the past 10 years, has retired. Lingl, who beat out ex-mayor John Linn, has been a blessing to Lompoc for the past four years. His well-attended Thursday get-togethers, “Coffee With Bob,” provided badly needed visibility on city issues. City Councilmember Jenelle Osborne was elected mayor in […]
Posted inOpinion
Theodore American
President Theodore Roosevelt’s thoughts in 1907 on being an American should be our motto for all newcomers today, as follows: “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone […]
Posted inOpinion
Vote ‘no’ on Lompoc Unified School District bond
Lightning does strike twice in the same place. Yes, it does at the Lompoc Unified School District’s (LUSD) board, which has placed on the June 5 ballot a requirement for a new school bond for the second time in two years. This bond, titled Measure Q2018, is designated for $79 million to be spent over […]
Posted inOpinion
Missing the mark
Lompoc
The Sun’s Opinion page allowed the latest ravings of Ken McCalip (“The time to act is now,” Oct. 12) to attack again our Second Amendment right to own and carry guns, as the reason for the sad, crazy attack in Las Vegas, instead of the person and reason for the attack. Without guns, the deranged […]
Posted inOpinion
Renewable power sources misleading
Those who oppose the use of nuclear power and think that solar, wind, and others will be substitutes do not understand that the real issue is in the numbers. Those nuclear power plants turn out 2 to 3 billion watt-hours of power every hour of every day, night and day! That is enough for 2 […]
Posted inOpinion
On how little can we live?
American taxpayers should be up in arms and madder than hell over the taxes they are paying every year. Our taxes are at 50 percent of our income per year. We must work until about May 15 (tax freedom day) each year just to pay our taxes. Most families must have two members working to […]
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc is at a very dangerous crossroads
With John Linn and Jim Mosby running for Lompoc City Council again we are faced with their plans to promote and impose the expensive motorsports speed racetrack business on Lompoc at the expense of all of us taxpayers. If you voters give them the votes, they, with their sidekicks City Councilmembers Dirk Starbuck and Victor […]
Posted inOpinion
Support California offshore oil production
Don’t let one group of liberal women undermine the economy
We strongly support continued oil development along the California coast. This must be considered a No. 1 priority for this country. There should be no limit to offshore drilling. We oppose the efforts of the Democrats such as Rep. Lois Capps, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Sen. Jackson, and the Environmental Defense Center, […]
Posted inOpinion
This is how to do immigration reform
Close up, crack down, and weed out
1. The United States must secure our borders from illegal immigration before we can reform our naturalization system. The United States must negotiate a strict treaty with Mexico to control their border with the United States. Mexico’s refusal or lack of interest in controlling their border with the United States deliberately violates our sovereignty and […]
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc at the movies
Learn the past–and future?–of a historic theater
Entertainment has been an integral part of the fabric of Lompoc culture from its beginning in 1874 when it was formed as a planned temperance city by the Lompoc Valley Land Company. The first venues were two dance halls on the second floors of the Swanton Stables on I Street and the Dinwiddie Store on […]