So is desert hot the new normal now? As we all know now, it’s been a really hot year. With just one fan in our house, our family has been scrambling to find a way to cool off. When I was a kid it was all about popsicles and running through the lawn sprinklers. These […]
SHELLY CONE
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Young Learners Preschool opens in Lompoc
The Santa Barbara County Education Office announced the opening of a new preschool for the 2015-2016 school year. The Young Learners Preschool, located at La Canada Elementary in Lompoc, opened in August. The center’s teachers are Rosalinda Fletes and Sylvia Hernandez. Young Learners Preschool is established to serve income-eligible families with children who turned 3 […]
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Santa Maria high school students attend leadership training
More than 150 Santa Maria Joint Union High School District students were set to hone their leadership skills during a conference on Monday, Sept. 21. Presented by the California Association of Directors of Activities and the California Association of Student Leaders, the gathering was held inside the San Luis Obispo Adult School. Students from Pioneer […]
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Chumash presents grant to Santa Ynez Valley school
With schoolchildren, parents, and teachers in attendance, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians presented a $24,000 technology grant to Santa Ynez Valley Charter School on Wednesday, Sept. 16, during the school’s morning assembly on the playground. The grant is a portion of the eleventh annual Chumash Charity Golf Classic’s proceeds, which will help satisfy […]
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Orcutt Boy Scouts to feed the hungry
Orcutt-based Boy Scout Troop 95 wants to perform a really big good deed for the hungry and less fortunate in the Santa Maria Valley and wants the community to help. The nearly 20 scouts plan to hold a barbecue for the community, and later donate more than 300 chicken lunches with all the fixings to […]
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St. Mary’s students ‘hang out’ with archbishop
Students from St. Mary of the Assumption School participated in the first-ever LA Archdiocese back-to-school Google Hangout with Archbishop Jose H. Gomez on Sept. 16. As the class watched, fifth grader Jaylee Cantu and teacher Amy Iliff spoke to the archbishop on behalf of the school. The school’s principal, Michelle Cox, said that there are […]
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Spotlight on: Hunnyfly Yoga
Martena Wilson, owner
There is a sense of stillness and relaxation that fills the air of the Hunnyfly Yoga Studio. Curtains hang just outside the studio area separating it from the sunlit reception area. Earth-toned walls meet light wood flooring in the studio area, where yoga practitioners release tensions and refocus their minds on the moment. The atmosphere […]
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Righetti student faces long road to recovery
Righetti High School student Cassandra Quesada liked art and skateboarding and hoped to join her high school’s soccer team when the season started. Instead, she will spend the next few months learning to walk, talk, and eat, after getting hit by a car on her way to school, Sept. 9. The 14-year-old has been in […]
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Protect it or profit? The struggle continues over the future of Tranquillon Ridge
Miles of undeveloped coastline runs along the Central Coast creating a desirable place to live and recreate, but what isn’t immediately apparent is an ongoing struggle between preserving what we see and tapping what lies beneath that land. At the heart of the struggle is Tranquillon Ridge, an area that sits off the coast of […]
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Santa Maria high schools get bus cameras
A new student tracking system and cameras are being installed on Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s entire school bus fleet this year. The $200,000 monitoring system, called vMax Trac, will track students electronically—with an RFID reader (radio frequency identification)—when they swipe their ID cards as they get on and off the district’s 31 […]
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Allan Hancock College ranked in top 10 safest schools in the nation
If students feel confident walking the Allan Hancock College campus there is a reason why: It was listed the seventh safest campus in the U.S. by homeinsurance.com. The college got the ranking because of its zero instances of violent crimes and a walkability score of 48. Homeinsurance.com looked at more than 400 colleges and universities […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
It’s just a phase
Is the cosmos out of whack or is the world just becoming a stranger place?
Sometimes I wonder if it’s just me who goes through these little phases in life. Sometimes I feel like I’m on top of the world. I walk into a room and crowds part, men open doors, women ask for my ID when I try to buy a glass of wine. And usually I’m oblivious, chalking […]
