Farmers, ranchers, and growers on the Central Coast all seem to want one thing from the federal government: support for specialty crops. Dozens of locals affiliated with California’s agricultural industry attended a listening session on Feb. 1 at the Santa Maria Fairpark, where Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) listened to what […]
Kasey Bubnash
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Mother knows best: Local schools celebrate National School Choice Week
Valley Christian Academy’s elementary students dressed in gold and held posters that read, “Parents know best,” at a rally on Jan. 22, where they showed support for the right to choose an education. The local private school was just one of thousands across the U.S. that celebrated National School Choice Week from Jan. 21 to […]
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Full dental services restored to adults covered by Medi-Cal
Full dental services were officially restored for adults covered by Medi-Cal on Jan. 1, but according to local health care providers, many individuals who qualify still don’t know about the recently expanded benefits. “They’re automatically covered if they have Medi-Cal,” said John Luther, chief dental officer at Western Dental. “So in California, this is a […]
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Santa Maria begins installation of high-speed gigabit internet service
Santa Maria residents, businesses, and government agencies will soon have the fastest internet speeds on the Central Coast. The city of Santa Maria announced on Jan. 25 its agreement with Wave Broadband, an internet broadband and cable services company, allowing for the construction of a fiber-optic network ring that will bring high-speed, fiber-based, gigabit internet […]
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Clark Kringel
It’s Santa Maria High School senior Clark Kringel’s third year on the boys’ varsity basketball team, and as a captain, he’s helped lead the team to a second place ranking so far this season. “He’s an extremely hard worker,” coach David Yamate said, “on the court and in the classroom as well.” Kringle, a shooting […]
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Guadalupe City Council approves affordable housing project only open to farmworkers
Low-income farmworkers and their families will soon have another affordable housing option in Guadalupe, where a lack of adequate lodging has long troubled the community at large, especially employees of the farming industry. The Guadalupe City Council approved a change to an existing development agreement after a public hearing on Jan. 9 with Peoples’ Self-Help […]
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Santa Maria approves four-story mixed-use development downtown
A four-story mixed-use development project proposed for the center of downtown Santa Maria was approved by the City Council after a public hearing on Jan. 16. The project, which will be built on an existing lot at 101 North Broadway, will include a 3,300 square-foot ground floor for commercial uses, with storefronts facing Broadway, and […]
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Community Health Centers promote oral hygiene for kids with Brush! Brush! Brush! program
An alligator may seem like an unlikely role model for immaculate oral hygiene. But many local children receive their first dental cleanings at school, where an alligator, also known as Dr. Joseph Mercardante, teaches them to “open wide” through the Community Health Centers’ (CHC) Brush! Brush! Brush! program. The program, according to CHC Director of […]
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Trustees approve funding and improvements to Allan Hancock College Police Department
The Allan Hancock College Police Department dodged a major blow on Jan. 16, when the Hancock Community College District board of trustees voted unanimously to fund much-needed improvements to the troubled department. After several assessments of the police department’s practices, various meetings, and a thorough look into possible funding and systematic solutions, board members voted […]
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Former Church for Life pastors facing sexual battery and harassment lawsuit
A Santa Maria church and two of its former senior pastors are facing a sexual battery, harassment, assault, and gender violence civil lawsuit that was filed anonymously by a churchgoer in July 2017. The plaintiff, listed as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges that Robert and Cindy Litzinger, who left Church For Life in 2016 […]
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Local Boy Scout leads fundraiser for children’s library in Santa Maria
It’s not every day a teenager devotes his free time to raising thousands of dollars for a community project, but 15-year-old Joseph Andrade isn’t your average teen—he’s a Boy Scout. Andrade, a freshman at Ernest Righetti High School and member of Orcutt Troop 95, has high hopes of becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest and […]
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SMPD enforces city codes for mobile car washes following complaint
Several individuals running mobile car washing businesses while parked along West Morrison and South Western avenues were told to leave on Jan. 14 after the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) received an anonymous noise complaint that morning. The streets, located near the La Vista Apartments, are frequented by dozens of mobile washing business owners every […]