An unusual amount of time and money have been put toward efforts to adequately answer a question that has perplexed Solvang City Council members for months now: Where should the Honen park? The Honen, a horse-drawn trolley, is one of Solvang’s most popular and most photographed tourist attractions, according to Solvang City Councilmember Ryan Toussaint. […]
Kasey Bubnash
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Santa Maria men arrested in alleged human trafficking case
Three Santa Maria men were arrested at an unspecified motel in the city on Feb. 19 after a minor, who was allegedly being pimped out, escaped the motel and called the Santa Maria Police Department for help from another location. Santa Maria Police Sgt. Michael McGehee said officers immediately responded to the call. Gabriel Campos-Lopez, […]
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Meagan Stevens
Allan Hancock College sophomore Meagan Stevens learned to surf at a young age. As a Lompoc native, the ocean was always nearby, and competitive swimming, she said, only seemed a natural progression. “I liked being in the water,” Stevens said. Stevens, 20, is now one of Hancock’s top swimmers, according to Women’s Swimming and Diving […]
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Hancock takes steps to save students big money on textbooks
Allan Hancock College political science professor Jessica Scarffe has long been frustrated by the ridiculous prices of textbooks required for many college courses. The costs have been steadily rising for many years now, she said, and the increased rates are significantly outpacing that of inflation. “I just was disturbed to see students, especially in the […]
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Journalists, scholars to discuss issues surrounding ‘fake news’ at Feb. 20 forum
In October 2016, just before the most recent U.S. presidential election, an online news outlet, The Baltimore Gazette, reported that leaked copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns from 2013 showed that he had paid more than $40 million in federal income taxes that year. Another story published that same month by World News Daily Report […]
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Santa Maria’s School district and Education Association deadlocked in benefits negotiations
The Santa Maria Elementary Education Association and Santa Maria-Bonita School District failed to compromise on salary increases and other benefits at a negotiation session on Feb. 7, resulting in an official impasse. The entities will continue negotiations through a mediator, according to the Santa Maria-Bonita School District. “The district is hopeful that with the facilitation […]
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Wine grape production on Central Coast increases
The Central Coast saw a 6 percent increase in winegrape production from 2016 to 2017, according to the 2017 Preliminary Grape Crush Report, which was released by the California Department of Food and Agriculture on Feb. 9. About 540,727 tons of grapes from the Central Coast were crushed in 2017, nearly 40,000 tons more than […]
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Terminal descent? The Santa Maria Public Airport remains an economic force despite lowest commercial passenger numbers since 2009
The Santa Maria Public Airport terminal lobby is almost entirely empty on any given day, and it was on Thursday, Feb. 1. None of the airport’s three weekly commercial passenger flights were scheduled for departure or arrival that day, and still, the radio played ’80s hits at 9 a.m. The lobby, a single room, was […]
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Shy Kendrick
Valley Christian Academy high school junior Shy Kendrick is the leading scorer on the girls’ varsity basketball team, according to head coach Randy Stanford, with an average of 12.5 points a game. As point guard, Kendrick also averages 8.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 4.2 blocked shots each game, Stanford said. Kendrick has been selected as […]
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Buellton City Council to fill vacant seat at next meeting
Buellton City Council members will fill a recently emptied seat during their meeting on Feb. 8, where three applicants will be publicly interviewed before one is chosen. Council members agreed to begin taking applications at a meeting on Dec. 14 after former Councilmember Foster Reif announced his early resignation due to a job opportunity in […]
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Semi-official election results in favor of Los Olivos Community Services District
The semi-official election night results are in, and it appears Los Olivos will be using locally elected officials to oversee the handling of its notorious wastewater issues. Los Olivos residents cast their votes on Jan. 30 largely in favor of Measure P2018, which, if certified by the Santa Barbara County Elections Office, would form the […]
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High schoolers present solutions to gender discrimination at first annual AAUW Speech Trek
When Lompoc High School student Erin McCallon attended San Luis Obispo’s Jan. 20 Women’s March, a local take on the second nationwide rally for gender equality since President Donald Trump was sworn into office, she said it changed her life. “I realized that I’m not the only person who thinks the way I think,” McCallon […]