When Jessica Collier was in school, she didn’t attend sex ed. Her parents were conservative, and Collier said that along with a strict “no dating policy,” they didn’t want her learning about sex and puberty in school. They signed a contract opting Collier out of sex ed, and each day when health class turned to […]
Kasey Bubnash
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Guadalupe edits zoning ordinance after objections from community
A proposed ordinance that would update some of Guadalupe’s 38-year-old zoning regulations faced a few setbacks recently, after a developer and members of the agricultural community pushed back on added restrictions to facilities in multifamily zoning districts. Ordinance No. 2018-476, which would amend portions of the city’s municipal code that were adopted in 1980, was […]
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Hancock’s $75 million bond fails in Nov. 6 election
After an extensive campaign effort, several endorsements, and what appeared to be vast community support, Santa Barbara County residents took to the polls on Nov. 6 and voted down a $75 million bond that would have funded facility improvements at Allan Hancock College campuses. “We are disappointed in the early results,” Hancock President and Superintendent […]
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Soto and Waterfield take Santa Maria City Council race
Santa Maria’s first-ever district City Council election was one for the history books, and in a hard-fought, nail-biter of race, two polar opposite candidates both managed to land seats on the council. Despite hopes–and fears–that the city’s new district-based voting system would churn out high marks for left-leaning candidates, Santa Maria voters clutched tightly to […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Elizabeth Twomey
Lompoc High School senior Elizabeth Twomey is the “definition of hardworking.” That’s according to head cheer coach Kira Gonzalez, who said Twomey has been a leading force on the cheer squad for all four years of her high school career and team captain for two. Meanwhile, Twomey has consistently juggled a rigorous school course load, […]
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Santa Maria raising money for disability inclusive playground
With the help of community and corporate donations, Santa Maria–and all of Santa Barbara County–could soon have its first ever all-inclusive playground. The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department announced Oct. 28 plans to partner with the Santa Maria Kiwanis for Kids Foundation in an effort to build a playground that would be accessible and […]
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Righetti (almost) completes outdoor science classroom
Among Ernest Righetti High School’s boxy buildings, gated boundaries, and slabs of cold concrete that pave the way to and from each classroom, there lies a budding garden. Its plants are small and just beginning to grow, but the varying wildflowers are already adorned with red and purple blossoms, butterflies and hummingbirds and students frequent […]
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Time to transfer? County special needs teachers and staff face tough decisions amid transition to high school district
For more than a decade Barbara Fuston-King has worked as a paraprofessional in local special needs classes, providing health and educational services to Santa Maria’s lowest functioning high school students. She currently works in a classroom at Santa Maria High School, where she, two other paraprofessionals, and a teacher work with 10 special needs students. […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Karli Lundberg
Golf can be a psychologically draining game, but for committed athletes like Orcutt Academy High School junior Karli Lundberg, overcoming obstacles of all kinds is no problem. Although Lundberg had a slow start this season, head coach Jim McManus said she took it upon herself to be a leader, showing Orcutt’s younger golfers that hard […]
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Santa Maria-Bonita board candidates talk goals at debate
In a relatively low-energy forum on Oct. 26, Santa Maria-Bonita School District board of education candidates debated, and mostly agreed on, a variety of fiscal and educational topics. While the four candidates each had somewhat unique ideas on ways to improve the school district, they all shared similar goals for the district’s handling of Santa […]
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‘The Patch’ offers fall fun and education opportunities for local students
It was last school year in May when Hannah Limon first attended a work day devoted to developing Santa Maria’s first ever pumpkin patch. Limon, a student at Pioneer Valley High School, had heard a lot about the program from one of her agriculture teachers–about how participants would learn to grow and harvest pumpkins and […]
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Lompoc to spend nearly a half million on riverbed cleanup
The Lompoc City Council approved a $400,000 contract on Oct. 16 with a company tasked with cleaning the Santa Ynez Riverbed, which is filled with several tons of trash left by recently removed homeless encampments. The city has been working with Qwikresponse, a Southern California-based company that specializes in hazardous and biohazardous materials removal, since […]
