SARAH E. THIEN
Posted inNews

Want a car with that house?

Home sellers are seeing hope on the horizon, and are using sometimes unusual deals to sell new houses in a growing buyers’ market
by SARAH E. THIEN

Do you want a house? Then do it. Go buy a house. If you have any money at all—some savings, lotto winnings, an inheritance—then put down this paper and go get yourself a new dwelling. There may be some extras in it for you if you do. Michael Crews Development, a company in Escondido, made […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Running on the levee

The Guadalupe Half Marathon is held on the Santa Maria levee, unless it rains …
by SARAH E. THIEN

The Fields to Fair 10-mile run is no more. Instead, the annual race has been reinvented as the Guadalupe Half Marathon. It’s got a new name, a new distance, and a new beneficiary—the Guadalupe Sports Hall of Fame, Inc.  Savvy observers, or just hard-core runners, may have already heard of the Guadalupe Half Marathon. This […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

State parks are an endangered species

Chronic under funding and money woes have put the California State Park system on the edge of extinction
by SARAH E. THIEN

Each year, The National Trust for Historic Preservation comes out with a list of the most endangered historic places in the United States. Most years, this includes buildings, houses, and locations that are at risk for destruction or irreparable damage. This year’s list includes among other things, an airplane hanger built in 1932, an old-fashioned […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Athlete of the Week

by SARAH E. THIEN

Shea Herrera isn’t following in his brother’s footsteps; he’s following in his tracks instead. More specifically, the tracks left behind by the four tiny wheels on a skateboard. Shea is only 11, but he’s already got his first skateboarding contest behind him and he’s ready for the next one. His coach is his older brother […]

Posted inNews

County employees agree to mandatory vacation

Union members negotiate work furlough to save jobs
by SARAH E. THIEN

During the 2008 holiday season, while most workers will be counting down the hours until they get a few blissful uninterrupted vacation days, about 2,000 county employees will be off from work, spending a full two weeks away from their desks. It seems like a good deal, but first impressions can be deceiving. “It was […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Rain and hail can’t dampen out spirits – just our clothes

My trip to Yosemite was a success, and with minimal complaints on my part
by SARAH E. THIEN

“Hey, don’t downplay my achievement strange man,” I said to the portly, middle-aged tourist standing in front of me. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and I had just finished hiking up the Yosemite Falls trail to the top of the upper falls and then down again—all during a continuous drizzle and, at the […]

Posted inNews

Suicide ‘destination’ may soon be no more

Caltrans moves forward with plans to build a Cold Springs Canyon Bridge barrier
by SARAH E. THIEN

On June 13, a passerby who saw a man walking along the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge called for help. When California Highway Patrol officers got there, the man claimed to be out for a walk, but after further questioning, he made a break for the edge of the bridge, said Commander Dominick Palera with the […]

Gift this article