Garhett Carter was only 2 years old when he was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that most commonly affects the adrenal glands in young children. He was only 4 when the disease killed him in 2012. The months leading to Garhett’s death were filled with long hospital visits, astronomically expensive […]
Kasey Bubnash
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Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes campus abortion bill
California universities will not be required to offer medical abortions, according to one of the governor’s last ever vetoes. Gov. Jerry Brown signed and vetoed a slew of his last bills as California’s leader on Sept. 30, and Senate Bill 320 didn’t make the cut. The bill, which would have required each of the state’s […]
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Local priests named in California sexual abuse report
Several Catholic priests who worked at schools and churches throughout Santa Barbara County were named as accused sexual assailants in a report on clergy abuse that was released by a national law firm on Oct. 2. The report, which spans 125 pages and lists more than 300 clerics, religious employees, and volunteers who have been […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Angie Cruz
When the Santa Maria High School girls volleyball team is in need of a little help, senior Angie Cruz unleashes her secret weapon: versatility. It’s been a tough season for the Saints, according to head coach Stella Guild, who said her already young and inexperienced team is also facing a recent change in coaching, and […]
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U.S. Department of Justice to fight ban on chlorpyrifos
It’s been a chaotic few days for chlorpyrifos, and several state and federal agencies are taking totally different stances on the pesticide’s use. Just days after the California Department of Pesticide Regulation announced on Sept. 19 a proposed regulation that would further restrict the use of chlorpyrifos on California crops, the U.S. Department of Justice […]
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Mackenzie Webb
When it comes to running, Orcutt Academy High School senior Mackenzie Webb goes the distance. Webb’s natural athletic ability and competitive personality have led her to great achievements throughout her fruitful cross country career, according to head coach Frank Mata. She often leads the pack at meets, and Mata said she holds nearly every school […]
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City Council approves application for grant needed to fund field trips
At Los Flores Ranch Park, naturalists use the park’s native oak woodlands to show kids that science really does rule. “It’s just amazing how many of these kids never get out to an open space or to our forests,” said Susan Tuttle, education coordinator at Los Flores Ranch. “So they really don’t understand how important, […]
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Proposed Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives merger met with questions
Dignity Health may be aligning its services with Catholic Health Initiatives, and community members across California are worried about what that might mean for women and the LGBTQ community. The nonprofit health care providers announced plans to merge in December 2017. The move, if approved, would make the aligned organizations the second largest nonprofit hospital […]
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Local community organizer to run for Santa Maria-Bonita Board
Local community organizer to run for Santa Maria-Bonita board Surrounded by about 20 supporters, Abraham Melendrez formally announced his candidacy for the Santa Maria-Bonita School District governing board at Veterans’ Memorial Park on Sept. 24. Melendrez, a Santa Maria native and nonprofit community organizer for Central Coast United for A Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), said that […]
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Catherine Farley named Hancock’s newest police chief
At the beginning of this year, it was unclear whether the Allan Hancock College Police Department would continue to exist. Now, the department has a new permanent chief. Catherine Farley, who currently serves as UC Santa Barbara’s assistant police chief, was appointed to Hancock’s highest ranking public safety position on Sept. 11 at a Hancock […]
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Founder of Flutes Across the World indicted on child sex charges
The founder and leader of a music program that contracted for years with Santa Ynez Valley’s Circle V Ranch Camp was recently indicted and charged with several sexual crimes against children. John Zeretzke, a former Ventura-based music teacher who founded Flutes Across the World, an educational program he led for years at Circle V Ranch […]
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Mayley DiBernardi
On the volleyball court, Valley Christian Academy senior Mayley DiBernardi certainly knows how to dig deep. As her team’s main passer and digger, she gets roughly 85 percent of hits and serves to the setter, according to head coach Rebecca Maples. It’s not an easy job, but Maples said the 17-year-old’s never-give-up attitude keeps the […]
