This yearās Weddings Issue celebrates the couples who say āI doā to current trends and their own sense of style as they prepare to say āI doā to each other. Staff Writer Emma Montalbano gathers insights on floral styles, including organic designs and āgrounded meadowsā [6]; New Times Staff Writer Libbey Hanson, from our sister […]
Sun Staff
Until Palestine is free
Since Oct. 7, 2023, all of us have experienced continuing, intense grief. Many of us are mourning cousins, siblings, classmates, parents ⦠all of us are grieving the astounding loss of Palestinian lives as well as the very structure of Gazan life. There is nothing left of Gaza, yet its people rush backāon footāto sift […]
Local leaders must protect our immigrants
In one of Donald Trumpās first acts in office, he stripped away protections for schools, hospitals, and places of worship from immigration enforcement. These were once safe spaces where people could learn, receive health care, and pray without fear. Now they have been turned into targets for ICE raids. This is unconscionable. As the worldās […]
Political Watch: February 20, 2025
⢠U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) helped introduce legislation that would restore guardrails on federal enforcement activities to protect immigrant communities at sensitive locations, according to a press release from his office. Since 2011, the Department of Homeland Securityās sensitive locations policy prohibited immigration enforcement actions in places that provided vital services such as […]
Political Watch: February 13, 2025
⢠U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) is spending a lot of time pushing back on the Trump administrationās policy pushes. Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January and began signing a flurry of executive orders, Carbajalās office has put out several press releases about what the congressman is doing and saying about it, […]
Nipomo needed more info earlier for battery facility
San Luis Obispo County residents deserve consistent and transparent leadership. Yet, when it comes to the controversial Caballero battery storage project in Nipomo, the response from San Luis Obispo County 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding tells a different story. If this project were next to Trilogy, an area where Paulding has historically focused much of […]
Health & Wellness 2025
For this yearās issue of Health and Wellness, our writers delve into a deep state of relaxation, which can help set the stage for healing from trauma, anxiety, and more. That relaxation, called the theta state, can be achieved in a psychotherapistās office or in a specialized pool of water and Epsom salt. Staff Writer […]
Political Watch: February 6, 2025
⢠On Jan. 29, one day after President Donald Trump moved to freeze funding for a range of federal programs, the presidentās budget office rescinded the order, according to the Associated Press (AP). Trumpās move had prompted āwidespread confusion and legal challenges across the country,ā AP News reported. Locally, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) issued […]
All people deserve dignity
In response to āEncampments return to Santa Maria Riverbedā (Jan. 30): I understand that Japan removes homeless people from the street, provides a livable detention area with basic needs. Basically, they are incarcerated. They are cleaned up (from addiction) and given an opportunity to improve their ability to thrive and return back into society. If […]
A small group of us could change a lot of things
This is to thank Gary Freiberg for his opinion piece in the Sun reminding us of the power of the people (āThe price is wrong,ā Jan. 30).Ā Yes! Letās start with having fewer eggs (or none at all until prices come down). Buy some nuts at the farmers market. Walnuts are shaped like our brains, […]
Safer wind farms for all
Whether you are for or against wind farms off our coast, or on land for that matter, we all want them safer for the planet. With the idea of minimizing bird mortality, I have a couple of suggestions. To minimize deaths during the day, the blades as well as their support structure could be painted […]
Political Watch: January 30, 2025
⢠U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) responded to the executive actions that President Donald Trump made on his first day in office by calling some of them illegal and unconstitutional. This includes orders to pause funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan […]

