Virginia Perry Souza joined the league to better educate herself on elections and items on the ballot. “I sat there as ignorant as a post and let everyone do the work, and therefore I didn’t learn or do anything, but now what I’m doing is important,” Souza told the Sun. “When I retired and my […]
Taylor O'Connor
Posted inNews
Shifting services
Santa Barbara and SLO counties’ behavioral health departments could see changes to programs if Proposition 1 passes
California voters will vote on Proposition 1 in March, which could change local behavioral wellness program funding and structure. The multi-pronged legislation attempts to modernize the 2004 Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)—a personal income tax measure that established the current structure of county behavioral wellness programs—and add a $6.4 billion bond measure to build 10,000 […]
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Mildew levels, lower demand affected local grapes in 2023
Spear Vineyards lost more than half its chardonnay crop and just under a quarter of its pinot noir crop to mildew, grower and owner Ofer Shepher told the Sun. “Unfortunately, with the weather patterns we had, not so much the rain but the lack of wind, we had a lot of mildew pressure,” Shepher said. […]
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State gives Guadalupe flood protection baskets
Guadalupe has new tools at its disposal to help prevent flooding during winter storms, thanks to its partnership with Santa Barbara County. In 2023, historic rainfall caused the Santa Maria River to veer off its natural course—flooding Guadalupe’s Pioneer Street, the wastewater treatment plant, and farmland. After a months-long effort to get federal and state […]
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Cost of living
Santa Maria city employees, firefighters want more money than the city is bargaining for
Santa Maria firefighter Shea Weidler has lived in a van since October because he can’t afford housing costs with the salary he makes. “As a 30-year-old, you see yourself owning a home and more stable, but when you’re living in a van, living paycheck to paycheck, it kind of wears on you,” Weidler said. “While […]
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Board of Supervisors unanimously approve funding new CalFresh positions
Facing a 69 percent increase in CalFresh caseloads from 2016 to 2023 while staffing increased just 28 percent, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved 86 new CalFresh positions for the county’s Social Services Department. “For years our funding in the CalFresh program has been constrained by policies in the early 2000s, which […]
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Bob Nelson leads fundraising in 4th District race
Krishna Flores is going up against Bob Nelson in the Santa Barbara County 4th District supervisorial race with a little more than $2,000—$44,000 less than incumbent Nelson. “As a challenger running a true grassroots campaign, we never expected large sums of money, but we had a great plan to spend the money wisely and strategically,” […]
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Santa Barbara County’s Partners in Education is looking for Santa Maria professionals to help with job readiness program
Erika Terrazas participated in Partners in Education’s Job Readiness Training and Internship Program when she was in high school in 2010. And now, as the nonprofit’s program services manager, she’s recruiting professionals in Santa Maria to volunteer for the same job readiness program she did 14 years ago, she told the Sun. “From experience, it’s […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Health & Wellness 2024
Music therapy as medicine and the benefits of being around horses
For this year’s issue of Health and Wellness, we decided to focus on therapy—not traditional therapy, though. We explored a couple of outside-the-box approaches. Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas from the Sun’s sister paper, New Times, chatted with a certified music practitioner about how she uses her tunes to help individuals going through difficult medical […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Healing through horsemanship
Central Coast nonprofits offer equine therapy as a way to work through trauma and mental illness and to manage disabilities
More than a ride Visit heroeshorses.org, call (805) 868-7634 or email info@heroeshorses.org for more information about Healing Horses Through Horsemanship. Visit syvtherapeuticriding.org, call (805) 350-2280, or email info@syvtherapeuticriding.org for more information about the Santa Ynez Therapeutic Riding Program. Keenan Hartig struggled with substance abuse and lost his employment a month and a half before finding […]
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Northern Santa Barbara County receives minimal damage in storms
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara, SLO, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties, among others, after an atmospheric river slowly made its way through the California. Storms began on Jan. 31. As of Feb. 6, parts of Santa Barbara County had received between 1 and 15 inches of rain total in […]
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County Planning Commission approves Cuyama oil well testing project
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted 4-1 (with 3rd District Commissioner John Parke dissenting) during its Jan. 31 meeting to approve a proposal to drill a single oil and gas “exploration well” in the Cuyama Valley. Michigan-based oil and gas company West Bay Exploration Company proposed the Hidden Canyon Test Well, which would be […]
