The Cessna’s engine is a faint drone in the distance. The plane itself is a tiny speck against the blue sky. Then, so small you’d miss them if you weren’t looking for them, two black flecks separate from the plane. They’re people, falling at 120 miles per hour. A minute later, and colorful canopies slowly […]
Californians have a love-hate relationship with rain: Too much, and we’re taking bets on which McMansion will fall down a cliff. Too little, and we’re worrying which golden hillside will burst into flames next. With recent reports of a statewide drought and Los Angeles facing water rationing for the first time in its history, it’s […]
It doesn’t matter where on the soccer field 17-year-old Nestor Alvarez plays: offense, defense, even goalkeeper. Alvarez is, according to Santa Maria High School soccer coach Al Garcia, “tearing it up.” “He’s our second-most productive offensive player, but he can play just about anywhere,” Garcia said. The coach recounted a recent match in which Alvarez […]
Three years ago, Pioneer Valley High School didn’t have a girls’ wrestling team. If a girl wanted to wrestle, she had to compete with the boys. Last month, Coach Justin Magdaleno and the Pioneer Valley girls’ wrestling team won the state championship. Well, technically, they won the California Girls Invitational. Girls’ wrestling hasn’t been certified […]
Guadalupe resident Maggie Espinoza took top honors from the California Head Start association at an awards dinner on Jan. 29, when she was named Administrator of the Year for 2008. Espinoza literally worked her way up from the bottom, joining Head Start back in 1974 as a bus driver. Now, she’s program manager for Children’s […]
Cambria Morales is a soft-spoken eighth-grader who, according to her mom, likes tea parties. Get her in the water, though, and it’s a whole different story. Morales is one of Santa Maria’s most promising up-and-coming water polo players. Morales was selected last year to attend a water polo training clinic at the Olympic Training Center […]
Basketball, admitted Dorson Boyce, was the sport everyone played while growing up in Queens and Brooklyn. Boyce, however, has been playing football since he was 7. He said he played both sports in high school, but ultimately bucking tradition by just playing football seems to have been a smart move: Come March, Boyce will be […]
Kyle Shea knew there was some sort of surprise coming—he just had no idea how big it would be. The 15-year-old Pioneer Valley freshman who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease saw his wish come true, thanks to the Make-a-Wish foundation. “It was very shocking,” Kyle said. “I had an idea [there was something planned], but […]
Coach Charlie Bell walks around the Olympic-sized pool, doing three things at once and loving every minute of it. Normally he has twice as many players and coaches, but today they’re in Bakersfield defending the honor of the One Way Water Polo club. “In fact, I’m kind of bummed I’m not playing with them today,” […]
Sonny Martinez is a soft-spoken guy with an easy smile, but don’t let that fool you—he’s one of the best wrestlers in the area. The Pioneer Valley junior is 37-1 this year. Martinez knew from early on that he wanted to get into sports. So early, in fact, that “wrestling was the only sport that […]
On Jan. 22, the Santa Maria City Recreation and Parks department held its Meritorious Community Service Awards dinner at the Abel Maldonado Youth Center in Santa Maria. According to Dennis Smitherman, recreation supervisor with the city, the awards, which are handed out every two years, recognize community members who have a history of helping improve […]
January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness month, and the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is reminding women about the important role of regular screening in detecting cervical cancer. According to the department, cervical cancer can be caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. The HPV virus is also responsible for […]
Our weekly Events Wire newsletter is your guide to Northern Santa Barbara County concerts, arts, and local happenings—delivered every Friday.
