The Canary

Why does it always feel surprising when budgets dry up? We go a year or two without having to think too hard about money on the municipal level, and then, bam! Your city’s gotta start pinching those pennies again. Santa Maria’s currently moving forward with a solution for its $21.3 million budget deficit. Sort of.  […]

Before putting tax measures on the ballot, most cities get the word out and gauge public sentiment. But that didn’t happen in Guadalupe.  The City Council recently voted to put a bond measure on the ballot to raise funds that will help pay to revitalize Guadalupe’s historic theater. And while the city may have had […]

After almost getting shut down by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District last year for noncompliance, one cannabis company agreed to pay more than $1.3 million for its polluting ways. Central Coast Agriculture will now hold the incredible title of paying more than any other for violating air pollution regulations in the county—even […]

Is there a limit to how high we can raise taxes, even on tourists?  Every four years, it seems like local municipalities devise a way to increase sales tax or transient occupancy tax (TOT). Boy, public safety sure could use a boost, or the roads sure could use an influx of funding, or it’s not […]

Is Lompoc a place that you associate with “Earth-based lodging”? Seems a little targeted toward luxurious hippies, doesn’t it? Like some place someone would pay thousands of dollars a night to stay in the Brazilian Amazon or along the Big Sur coast, where they could zip-line through the forest, get massages under trees, eat all […]

Can we odor abate outdoor anything? Like sewage plants with open-air treatment ponds, for instance—Nipomo, I’m talking to you. Who doesn’t love the smell of poo on the fresh morning air? We arguably should be doing something about that smell—but can we really?  “In the north, we have many complaints of odors particularly with … […]

Did you know that every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion? Did you also know that until recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had rules regarding collecting “gay” blood? As if homosexuality isn’t stigmatized enough, amirite? Well, presto-chango, because now, like magic, the FDA has decided that gay and bisexual […]

Orcutt, don’t act so surprised. The county’s had its eye on your lovely open spaces for a while now, and all the Board of Supervisors did on May 3 was to approve what’s already been in the works.  That’s part of the message from 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson as the supes were about to […]

The United States is getting $80 million from Southern California Edison for the 2017 Thomas Fire, which burned through more than 280,000 acres. That’s cash money.  Why? To recoup the damages and cost of fighting said fire on 150,000 acres of Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Los Padres is getting […]

The dominos are finally beginning to visibly fall for Big Oil on the Central Coast. Dinosaurs like the Phillips 66 refinery in Nipomo are on their last legs—thanks in part to massive environmental outcry over the projects proposed to keep them humming.  SLO County’s 2017 decision to deny P66 a rail spur extension on its […]

 I never understood the point of the California Coastal Commission’s attempt to regulate federal agencies. Who reigns supreme?  Well, if it’s the Coastal Commission vs. the U.S. Department of Defense, I’ll let you guess the agency that gets to call the shots. If you think the commission is more powerful than the largest taxpayer-funded agency […]

Every time the Santa Barbara County jails get critiqued, Sheriff Bill Brown is ready with one of his classics: We need more money.  He’s uttered an iteration of that line more times than I can count. With any whiff of constructive criticism, Brown’s armed and ready with his defenses. The county jail is short-staffed, has […]