It is my prayer that the slayers of the “Dana Reserve” native oaks at least allow a ceremony to be performed by the native Chumash and kindred spirits to bid farewell to the 3,000-plus Native Oaks that are to be sacrificed so that nonnatives can now reside on stolen Chumash land. In sympathy with our […]
Sun Staff
Posted inOpinion
Democrats, take this opportunity to engage!
We’ve all seen the many viral videos of town hall meetings during which Republican voters are haranguing their elected Republican officials over the gutting of federal programs crucial to American families. As a result, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has been advising Republicans to stop holding town hall meetings for their […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: March 20, 2025
• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a group of 31 senators demanding a reversal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cancellation of food purchase programs across the country, according to a March 17 statement from Schiff’s office. The senators warned that the cancellations would have far-reaching negative […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: March 13, 2024
• U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla (D-California) sent a letter to the Department of the Interior on March 6 asking it to ensure that there are no more cuts to the Bureau of Reclamation, which is set to lose about 100 employees in California. That’s about 10 percent of its regional staff, according […]
Posted inOpinion
A coastal assault
Here are some questions that probably aren’t keeping you up at night: Why isn’t the Hearst Ranch a golf resort? Why aren’t we still arguing about whether Los Osos should have a sewer system and how it should work? Why wasn’t a seismic survey allowed to devastate our local fisheries and marine wildlife with underwater […]
Posted inOpinion
Questions about Nipomo battery storage
Upgrades better than Moss Landing is not good enough (“Nipomo residents express concerns about battery energy storage plant safety,” Feb. 27). If the Nipomo battery energy storage facility needed upgrades, it was not perfect, and safety is still an issue. Can we do better? Can we even trust that the safety measures and standards are […]
Posted inOpinion
Responses to recent Sun articles
Regarding “Don’t Palestinians have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” (Feb. 27): Unfortunately, the short answer to your question is … no. At least, not until the so-called right-wing Christian Nationalists, who ignore the teachings of the Christ and follow the edicts of an Israelite war god, wake up and realize […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: March 6, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) joined congressmen from Washington state, Texas, and New Mexico in introducing the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act to improve the nation’s aerial firefighting capabilities through expanded use of excess military aircrafts and parts, according to a Feb. 20 press release from Carbajal’s office. The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize military […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: February 27, 2025
• On Feb. 20, Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) led a budget subcommittee hearing over federal funding in California. “America’s hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and diversity, California is the fifth largest economy in the world. California subsidizes the rest of the country, contributing $80 billion more in federal tax dollars than we receive back […]
Posted inOpinion
Food for thought
How do you create a lasting peace when you do not include in negotiations the people who need to be involved to make it work (Ukraine and Gaza)? How does someone who considers himself a shrewd negotiator sacrifice his trump cards (NATO, Donbas) before negotiations even begin? How do you believe and trust people who […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t Palestinians have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
No matter who is in our White House, Israel rules our country. Three hundred and twenty-nine members of our House of Representatives are supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) political action committee. In the last congressional elections, AIPAC spent millions of dollars to defeat candidates who would not do their bidding. A […]
Posted inOpinion
County supervisors deserve the pay raise
I can already hear the howls of outrage about the proposed pay hike for our Board of Supervisors. What I don’t hear is an understanding of how hard they work, and how grossly underpaid they have been for far too long. Consider this: According to a recent survey of comparable counties, Santa Barbara County Supervisors […]
