• Assembly Bill X2-1, co-written by Assemblymembers Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and Cecillia Aguiar-Curry (D-Davis), passed the Assembly floor with a 44-17 vote and will advance to the Senate, according to an Oct. 1 statement from Hart’s office. Designed to bring stability to California’s oil market, the bill requires refineries to maintain sufficient fuel reserves […]
Sun Staff
Posted inOpinion
Reelect Donald Trump, the champion of ‘we the people’
Having been American president No. 45, Donald Trump knows the swamp and the federal bureaucracy. He has years of experience as a worldwide businessman and employs thousands of people. He is for the people. As our president, he was and would be the “commander and chief” of the military. The bureaucracy reports to him. He […]
Posted inOpinion
Free elections need our protection from Trump
Every citizen of the United States of America has the right to participate in free elections in which they are allowed to vote according to their own beliefs and opinions. That idea is fundamental to our republic, but that right has been challenged all along. Legislation like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 shows that […]
Posted inOpinion
American reality is better than Trump claims
Donald Trump likes to portray the U.S. economy as being on life support as he attempts to claim only he can save us from economic, social, and political calamity. He does the same regarding immigration. He convinced his Republican faithful in Congress to not pass a bipartisan bill, which would have significantly reduced the flow […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: October 3, 2024
• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1866 into law during a signing ceremony in Inglewood, according to a Sept. 24 statement from Assemblymember Gregg Hart’s (D-Santa Barbara) office. The bill, written by Hart, mandates that oil companies meet targets to plug the estimated 40,000 idle oil wells in California. “The health of our communities […]
Posted inOpinion
Avoid the next catastrophic oil spill
Sable Offshore seeks to reopen the same failed oil pipeline that caused the catastrophic spill of May 2015. Almost 150,000 gallons of toxic and cancer-causing crude flooded our water and beaches, contaminating one of the most biologically diverse areas of the West Coast and leaving taxpayers with the economic consequences. The U.S. remains, by far, […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: September 26, 2024
• Bipartisan legislation to reduce wildfire risk, written by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), was unanimously approved by the House Natural Resources Committee, according to a Sept. 19 statement from Carbajal’s office. The Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act would reduce procedural steps for removing hazardous vegetation near power lines—cutting red tape to allow for […]
Posted inOpinion
The Sun’s North County coverage is appreciated
Thanks to the Santa Maria Sun for its continuing coverage of events germane to Lompoc. Your Sept. 19 issue alone has three pieces of import, not to mention the cover. Your reporting that encompasses the entire North Santa Barbara County is much appreciated. Keep it coming! Barry Marks Lompoc
Posted inNews
Political Watch: September 19, 2024
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) called on his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to act on legislation to avert a pay cut for federal wildland firefighters on Sept. 30, according to a Sept. 11 statement from Carbajal’s office. “As Californians have been baking this week in an extreme heat wave, our […]
Posted inOpinion
Be an advocate for truth
“The content of our consciousness is the product of our conditioning.” What we know is what we learned since we understood the spoken and written word, and from what we were told, experienced, observed at home, at school, at church, wherever we happened to be. This is who we are and how we become who […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: September 12, 2024
• U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), Juila Brownley (D-Ventura), and Jimmy Panetta (D-Monterey), along with U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) hailed the release of the Biden-Harris administration’s environmental impact study for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, the final step that puts the federal designation on track to be finalized by the end […]
Posted inOpinion
‘We the people’ are obligated to speak against genocide
A humanitarian crisis is underway. For months, residents of our county have appealed to the Board of Supervisors and local city councils to agendize and support a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. They refused, saying that it is not a local issue. The bombs and bullets raining down on Gaza are stamped “Made in […]
