The Canary

After all else failed, Santa Barbara County stepped up for Guadalupe in a way that moved 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino to tears for the resilient community he represents and the board on which he serves. “Today you were public servants,” Lavagnino told fellow supervisors after they unanimously voted on Sept. 12 to allocate $8 […]

Who should pay to clean up the hazardous facilities that bankrupt oil companies leave behind? It shouldn’t be taxpayers, but that’s what’s happening. And Santa Barbara County shouldn’t be on the hook to facilitate that cleanup either, but that’s what’s happening.  Venoco filed for bankruptcy in 2017, blaming the shutdown of the Plains All American […]

Do food trucks have an unfair advantage over restaurants?  I’m guessing that food truck owners would say no. After all, it’s not like a thief can just steal a brick-and-mortar restaurant. They can and do steal food trucks. It’s happening all over the U.S.  Can you imagine waking up one morning and your entire business […]

Let the record show that Leah Braitman from “beautiful Lompoc” flipped 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino off during an extremely entertaining hearing about valves on an oil pipeline.  In what may have been a first for the longest-serving supervisor on the dais, Braitman was over her time limit during the public comment period, took her […]

The eagle has landed. Actually, the eagle may get chopped to bits by a big blade before it lands, and BayWa doesn’t have a permit for that yet, but it’s just a little hiccup. A little baby bump in the road that’s definitely not stopping a Lompoc wind project from moving forward. Planning Commissioners gave […]

Santa Maria City Council member Gloria Soto is extremely concerned about the school-to-prison pipeline.  It was in full swing between 1997 and 2021 in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, if you take her comments at a recent board meeting at face value.  “The last thing I want to do is perpetuate the […]

Who wants to reduce their groundwater pumping by 60 percent?  I guess that question only works if you rely on a well pumping water out of the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin. And I’m sure absolutely nobody really wants to pump 60 percent less water out of the ground every year, because that’s a lot!  But […]

I’m more bird-brained than usual this week because instead of our typical in-depth news, we’re running our annual 55 Fiction contest winners. It’s a highlight of the year for our publication, to be sure, and it gets me all inspired to be shorter and more to the point in this column. So bear with me. […]

In 2020, the county approved a wind energy project that was supposed to be constructed by the end of that year. In 2023, the company responsible for the project, BayWa, still doesn’t have its ducks quacking all in one row.  In fact, BayWa is begging the county to give it the go-ahead before all its […]

Southern Santa Barbara County’s supervisors like to get a little catty with one another. The once tight-knit liberal caucus has noticeably frayed since 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps took her space up on the dais—with Capps and 1st District Supervisor Das Williams taking tiny, little jabs at one another during elongated board discussions. A great […]

“You’re in good hands.” “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” “Let Prudential be your rock.” “Nationwide is on your side.” Man, all of these insurance company slogans are so reassuring. They really care! Do they, though? Capitalism says they only care as far as their bet to make a dollar rather than lose […]