Nikki Patterson had always been a huge animal person and knew one day she would work with animals full time. While she and her husband lived in Los Angeles, they had property in Buellton where they would vacation. When the pandemic hit, the two found themselves remaining in Buellton and decided to make the move […]
Taylor O'Connor
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Santa Barbara County has almost 3,000 votes left to count
Only 2,980 votes are left to be counted in Santa Barbara County after the Clerk-Recorder’s Office updated the election count on Nov. 18, bringing the county one step closer to finalizing the Nov. 8 midterm results—which have to be certified by Dec. 8. According to updated results, incumbent Gloria Soto is ahead of Steven […]
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Guadalupe passed two tax measures to finance the construction of a new school in the community
For a city with 37 percent of its population younger than 18, Guadalupe only has two schools to serve one of its largest demographics. Between the elementary and junior high schools, Guadalupe Union School District Superintendent Emilio Handall said there are a lot of portable classrooms to meet the needs of its students. “There’s a […]
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Santa Maria received two new zero-emissions buses, bringing the city closer to an all-electric fleet
Santa Maria recently gained its first two all-electric buses as part of an effort to fully electrify its fleet, which should be completed by early 2024. The push toward a zero-emission public transportation system comes after a 2018 state mandate that requires all public entities to make this change by 2035, Transit Service Manager Gamaliel […]
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Soto pulls ahead of Funkhouser in Santa Maria’s 3rd District
Editor’s note: This online version of the Santa Maria City Council races story was updated to reflect the most recent election results, which were released on Nov. 15. Incumbent Gloria Soto squeaked by challenger Steven Funkhouser in Santa Maria City Council’s 3rd District race, according to the Nov. 15 vote count update. Until then, Funkhouser […]
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Enviro groups join Exxon lawsuit as company sells offshore unit
A federal judge recently ruled that conservation and indigenous groups can help legally defend Santa Barbara County after oil giant ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against the county regarding the denial of an oil trucking proposal. The project—which was denied by the Board of Supervisors in March—proposed trucking crude oil along highways 101 and 166 from […]
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Santa Barbara County’s new program to help with climate change’s impact doesn’t have a North County location
Longer wildfire seasons and more extreme heat days are some of the current ways Santa Barbara County residents are already seeing climate change affect their everyday lives. To address these impacts, Santa Barbara County instituted the regional climate collaborative: a network of organizations working together to create climate mitigation and “resiliency” efforts, according to the […]
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Two Central Coast-based veterans organizations host second annual golf tournament fundraiser
In 2021, Welcome Home Military Heroes Founder Robert Tolan worked with Band of Brothers’ Founder Jeff Stone, creating a golf tournament in the span of five weeks. “We had quite a bit of mistakes last year; none of us had ever played in a golf tournament. None of us had even really played golf,” Tolan […]
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Santa Maria-Bonita test scores decline more than state, county average
Only 16 percent of Santa Maria-Bonita School District students met or exceed standard proficiency in math on the 2021-22 state assessments, and only 26 percent of students did the same for language arts. That’s a drop from 2018-19’s scores of 35 percent and 26 percent, respectively, district Instructional Services Director Laurie Graack said. “It’s in […]
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Doctored photos show up on Santa Maria’s District 3 mailers
One candidate running for Santa Maria City Council on Nov. 8 has been sending campaign mailers to voters that feature his opponent in altered photos that give an ominous message to residents. “Politician Gloria Soto has ignored our requests,” one of the mailers states in capital letters underlined in red. “And her irresponsible votes have […]
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St. Joseph High School student receives national academic recognition
St. Joseph High School student Paige Beal said she always wants to seize her moment and be present in life. “For me, I see so many people on electronics these days; some people close to me spend [a lot] of time on their electronics, and they regret it, and they say they wished they experienced […]
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New Santa Ynez airport board candidate added after elections debate
Christian Maurer is running for the Santa Ynez Valley Airport Authority board of directors after fellow airport authority members nominated him by petition and the agency rescheduled its elections, following some debate about the airport’s voting bylaws. “I thought it would be interesting to get more involved with day-to-day decision-making and future planning,” Maurer said. […]
