When Santa Maria mother Nancy’s daughter, Sarah, was 9 years old, she told her mother something that would immediately turn their worlds upside down: Sarah’s paternal grandfather was sexually abusing her. (Nancy and Sarah’s names have been changed to protect their anonymity.) “I was obviously not prepared for that,” Nancy said. Nancy believed her daughter’s […]
MALEA MARTIN
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Vaccination disparities by race and ethnicity, region persist
Despite the Public Health Department’s ongoing outreach efforts, vaccination disparities in Santa Barbara County remain stark, public officials say. While about 48 percent of Santa Barbara County’s residents are Hispanic or Latino, this group makes up just 22 percent of those vaccinated as of March 19. White people make up 43 percent of the county’s […]
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Charges filed against tanker truck driver after crash caused oil spill
Nearly a year after a tanker truck overturned on Highway 166, causing thousands of gallons of crude oil to spill into the Cuyama River, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced on March 19 that it’s filing charges against the truck’s driver. But environmentalists say the root of the problem runs deeper than one […]
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Orcutt resident calls for change to logos that he says depict Columbus ship
A local man says there’s a shameful historical reference wrapped up in the city of Santa Maria and the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s (SMJUHSD) logos and is advocating for the emblems to be changed. Earlier this month, Orcutt resident Scott Fina sent separate public comment letters to the Santa Maria City Council […]
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Santa Barbara County moves into red tier, allowing for more reopening
Santa Barbara County is officially back in the red tier for the first time in five months, allowing more schools and businesses to reopen. The move up in California’s reopening system comes just a few days after the passage of the federal American Rescue Plan, which will bolster vaccination, school return, and business recovery efforts. […]
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Chumash Museum and Cultural Center will celebrate history of those who lived on local land for thousands of years
Construction of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is well underway, a project that Tribal Chairman Kenneth Kahn called a long-anticipated dream. But teaching others about the tribe’s culture and history, Kahn told the Sun, is nothing new for the Santa Ynez Chumash people. “The tribe had, in the 1970s, a traditional ‘tule […]
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Santa Maria considers new fee structure for city services
Santa Maria is considering a new fee structure for city services, and it wants to hear from residents and educate the public about what such a change would mean for the community. The city contracted with a third party consultant to prepare an objective, year-long, user fee study. It reveals how much Santa Maria would […]
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Supervisors vote to continue outreach, discussion on home kitchens
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has yet to decide whether to legalize home kitchen operations after hearing community feedback at its last meeting. The board voted March 9 to continue the discussion around a proposed ordinance that would legalize microenterprise home kitchen operations. While most board members spoke in support of the ordinance, […]
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Solvang-area residents continue clashing over greenhouse project, Board of Supervisors asks for environmental review
A battle between neighbors over whether one landowner should be allowed to build a greenhouse just north of Solvang rages on, despite the project being unanimously denied by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission in October 2020. Steve Decker, who wants to build a nearly 16,000-square-foot greenhouse on his agriculturally zoned land, was initially successful […]
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Marian Regional Medical Center acquires lung-healing technology that saved local COVID-19 patient’s life
Last April, Santa Maria resident Louis Meza was tasked with a harrowing decision: Whether or not to have his wife, Melissa Meza, transferred to an LA County hospital to treat her worsening complications from COVID-19. The treatment, being placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, was Melissa’s “last hope,” Louis told the Sun nearly […]
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As violent crime continues to fluctuate in Lompoc, the city and local organizations say being proactive is the way forward
Compared to 2019, 2020 was a relatively good year for crime in Lompoc. According to 2019 data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and 2020 data from the Lompoc Police Department, murders ticked down from seven in 2019 to four in 2020. While total assaults went up, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults all […]
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Restaurants and nonprofits partner to deliver meals to those in need, keep restaurant workers employed
When the pandemic forced Bell’s Restaurant, a French-inspired bistro in Los Alamos, to close its doors in March 2020, owners Daisy and Greg Ryan were certain of one thing: None of their employees would be losing their jobs. “We made the decision that we weren’t going to furlough any of our staff, we were going […]