The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission is asking the public for insight on the county’s Recreation Master Plan at its Sept. 27 hearing. The plan is a collaborative effort between county Parks and the Planning and Development Department to make changes to the county’s general plan policies and land use zoning codes to support recreation […]
Taylor O'Connor
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SYV Pride members reflect on their trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the European city’s Pride celebrations
Walking in Copenhagen’s Pride parade and attending its weeklong celebration felt surreal, said Santa Ynez Valley Pride President Lauren Lastra. “I think in many ways we’re still digesting the trip because there were so many takeaways, so many perspectives—life-changing moments that you still need to digest and be intentional and mindful for what that means […]
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Santa Barbara County successfully decommissions a Venoco oil pipeline
After receiving a $550,000 grant from the California Department of Toxic Substances and removing infrastructure on private properties, Santa Barbara County decommissioned Venoco’s Crude Oil Line 96. The 6-inch diameter pipeline was approximately 9 miles in length and extended from the Ellwood Onshore Facility near the Bacara hotel in Goleta to a tie-in point at […]
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Lompoc Valley Medical Center will pay $5 million for alleged false claims
To resolve allegations that Lompoc Valley Medical Center knowingly submitted false insurance claims to Medi-Cal—violating the federal False Claims Act and the California False Claims Act—the health care provider agreed to pay $5 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. “Medi-Cal supports millions of Californians by providing for the critical health care they rely […]
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The Santa Maria Valley Youth and Family Center celebrates 50 years of providing services to students, families, and the community
The Santa Maria Valley Youth and Family Center started in 1972 as Social Advocates for Youth in Santa Barbara, former Executive Director Judi Nishimori told the Sun. “It’s been such a long-standing program; it’s evolved into different areas and it’s changed over the years. … I began in 1978; this would be my 45th year […]
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Jail alternative
Santa Barbara County DA’s Office pilots restorative justice program for adults
Volunteer opportunity Call (805) 346-1774 or email edwin@fbsmv.org for more information about training and volunteering on a restorative justice panel. There are no specific qualifications or requirements for people to participate. When people get convicted of a crime, it follows them throughout their life, but that conviction rarely invokes change. “As time has gone on […]
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Santa Maria home explodes, injuring four and destroying the building
Santa Maria Fire Chief Brad Dandridge has never seen anything like the Aug. 23 house explosion before. “I’ve been a firefighter for 17 years and the majority of the time was in Fresno. At Fresno, we’ve run into quite a bit of calls and I’ve seen quite a bit of incidents,” Dandridge said. “I’ve seen […]
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Escalante Meadows to bring more affordable housing to Guadalupe
After five to six years of work and gathering funding, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara will start construction on an 80-unit affordable housing project in Guadalupe. The project will also include a community services hub and a child development center, Executive Director John Polanskey told the Sun. “Escalante Meadows was a […]
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Retired music teacher launches Young Voices of Santa Maria, a new children’s choir program
Eileen Boyd considered herself a singer from an early age and always dreamt of a professional career. The Sacramento native ended up studying music in college and then decided to get a teaching credential to support herself while chasing her dreams. “I ended up teaching for 40 years, and I kept my hand in the […]
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Sheriff’s Project Opioid continues as overdose deaths increase
There were 118 opioid overdose deaths from Jan. 1 to July 31 in Santa Barbara County this year, with 63 related to fentanyl—an opiate 50 times more potent than heroin—according to the Sheriff’s Office. This compares to 105 overdose deaths during the same period in 2022, with 70 related to fentanyl. “These numbers reflect the […]
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Supervisors unable to take action on ExxonMobil valve project
Three rounds of presentations, 41 public comments, and an hour of deliberation led to inaction from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on a proposal to install safety valves on the pipeline that caused the 2015 Refugio oil spill. With only four supervisors on the dais, the board voted 2-2 twice on the issue […]
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Santa Barbara and Ventura nonprofit SEEAG hosts annual Farm Day for residents to meet farmers in their backyard
Growing up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Mary Maranville said she always felt a deep connection to farming and saw value in understanding where our food comes from. “When I moved to California 24 years ago, that connection continued and led me to want to educate students on where our food comes […]
