The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 for a single-use plastic bag ban in unincorporated areas of the county during its meeting on July 21. It’s an issue that’s gotten some play at the state level. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a statewide single-use bag ban already, Senate Bill 270, but the rollout […]
SEAN MCNULTY
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Lompoc moves toward affordable housing program
The Lompoc City Council didn’t meet before the Sun went to press, but on the docket for that July 21 night was a discussion to kick $42,500 toward the Lompoc Homebuyer Assistance Program from the Santa Barbara Affordable Housing Trust. The money is a fraction of the larger sums involved in the program. Ultimately, the […]
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Growing pains: Proposed changes to the county’s wine ordinance have the wine industry and residents up in arms
The spill On a recent clear summer afternoon, Ross J. Rankin wears a short-sleeved white button up and black slacks. He owns and operates a tasting room in Santa Ynez called Imagine Wine. The business, which was once a mechanic’s garage, is quiet and comfortable—a spacious room decorated in hardwood and flooded with natural light. […]
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Ethan Usher
In Wyoming for the 2015 National High School Finals Rodeo in mid-July, Ethan Usher of Santa Ynez shot 92 out of 100 clay pigeons with a .22 rifle. That put him in the top 11 for trap shooting in the nation. “I’ve been shooting and hunting my entire life,” Usher explained. “I started shooting trap […]
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House committee slams pipeline safety chief
The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee hammered Stacy Cummings, interim director of the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), during a July 14 hearing on federal pipeline safety efforts. The Refugio spill was a major focus, with Santa Barbara County Director of Planning and Development Dianne Black testifying and U.S. Rep. Lois […]
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The Pad crashes down: The Sun takes a tour of Santa Maria’s new climbing gym
Tucked away in a nondescript block of tan warehouses on the western edge of Santa Maria is a new business from the people behind SLO-Op climbing gym—The Pad. It’s a rock climbing gym with 10,000 square feet of space and 5,000 square feet of climbing wall, plus yoga, weightlifting, and the occasional climbing competition. Dustin […]
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Olive Grove program re-chartered after successful state appeal
Students, parents, and teachers of the Olive Grove Charter School program finally have the answer they were looking for. After months of agonizing decisions made by local school boards that pointed the program toward closure, persistence to keep the schools open paid off. The California State Board of Education voted to grant Olive Grove Charter […]
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Rijo Jackson
On July 8, Lompoc High School and Allan Hancock College alum Rijo Jackson signed to play basketball for Northland College in Wisconsin. Jackson, a Lompoc native, is part of the Jackson family. “My grandfather and Michael’s dad, Joseph, they’re brothers, so that’s how he’s in the picture,” he explained. He remembers the King of Pop […]
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Vandenberg brings in private experts, loses SpaceX launch
Vandenberg Air Force Base is bringing private companies into its Joint Space Operations Center. The program is the first of its kind, as reported by the Air Force Times, and it’s aimed at fostering cooperation between the military and private sector as spaceflight slowly becomes privatized. Base spokesperson Capt. Nicholas Mercurio said it’s the first […]
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Santa Barbara County looks at ban on e-cigs, steep-road skateboarding
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors looked at restricting e-cigarette use on July 7. It considered a ban on e-cigarette use in public spaces such as county offices, outdoor spaces, or car parks. Buellton, Goleta, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Solvang, and Carpenteria have already moved to restrict e-cigarette use in public spaces. The county’s tobacco […]
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Record algal bloom producing neurotoxin that affects ocean shellfish
There’s something in the water off the coast of Santa Barbara County: It’s a horde billions strong, breeding in numbers not seen in years, producing a neurotoxin that can cause seizures, memory loss, and death. It’s not oil. Beaches are reopening after the May pipeline rupture above Refugio State Beach; crude oil is sinking through […]
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Running ’til Reckage: Santa Ynez native Connor Reck travels to England for historic competition
Connor Reck, 2011 graduate of Santa Ynez High School, just finished his post-college trip to Europe. It wasn’t a vacation, exactly: Reck graduated this year from Harvard University with a degree in economics. Then he crossed the pond with 60 select track athletes from Harvard and Yale to face off against Oxford and Cambridge in […]
