The Canary

Santa Maria City Council is at it again!  Giving the have-nots nothing and ensuring that they know nothing. It’s the Patino-Waterfield special! The ol’ one-two sucker punch.  City Councilmember Carlos Escobedo, who often sides with Mayor Alice Patino and Councilmember Etta Waterfield, was visibly miffed at the end of a June 21 budget discussion in […]

We need housing! Should we cut down 4,000-plus oak trees to make that happen?  That’s a tough question. There has to be a way to both build and not totally destroy, right? Maybe.  The largest residential development proposed in SLO County in a quarter of a century could make its way into Nipomo in the […]

You know what it takes for federal policy to change?  Prayer. At least if you’re a God-fearing American citizen! Right to Life of the Central Coast’s prayers were answered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding a Mississippi abortion law and overturning Roe v. Wade. “In a country founded on the truth that we […]

I can’t exactly get mad at Santa Barbara County voters for not feeling motivated to make their voices heard on June 7. Most of the candidates were running unopposed, and unless you felt strongly that the 16-year reign of Sheriff Bill Brown needed to end or that Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido needed to be […]

Benign, boring budget hearings usually snooze themselves into oblivion, but every now and then a little heat enters the building—as it did during the June 14 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors hearing.  What was the fight over? Extra dollars. Unallocated money. Up for grabs and ready for takers!  County staff recommended that the board […]

Santa Maria has some squeaky wheels, let me tell you. I can hear them all the way from my birdcage across town. These squeaks are coming from a group of people advocating for the city to step in and adopt an ordinance preventing mobile home park owners from jacking up their rents in an unreasonable […]

As fate would have it, our hands here at the Sun are kind of tied when it comes to election coverage. By fate, I mean deadlines. Our paper goes to press on Tuesday, so we don’t get to share with you all the newsy election coverage our reporters are working on as I type this. […]

What’s orange, green, and hairy all over with a penchant for gulping up water and a sweet crunch that’s satisfyingly healthy? Anyone? Carrots.  They like at least an inch of water per week during the growing season and will get misshapen or develop a bitter taste if the soil gets too dry, according to San […]

Lompoc City Counclimember Dirk Starbuck’s got flair—I won’t say what type of flair it is, but it’s flair nonetheless.  I’m not sure if he was trying to be funny or serious when he made this comment during the May 17 City Council meeting: “Some dogs are identifying as cats in town because of this.” Because […]

Maybe Buellton has it figured out. The city recently approved forward momentum on a project intended to bring more life into the town along Highway 101, and increase accessibility for residents who may not have it.  In order to give city residents who need it the option to garden, Buellton City Council approved plans to […]

What’s gotten into people these days? Just as I was about to zero in on Solvang, again, word of some words at Allan Hancock College nearly made me spit out my birdseed. An administrator at our local community college “said” some rather ageist and offensive things about a group of students via email to administration […]

Mayor Aristan Julian believes cannabis is the answer to Guadalupe’s long-running general fund revenue problems—4 to 6 percent of gross receipts from future dispensaries ought to do the trick, he said!  “If they make $3 million, we could get 6 percent of that into our general fund,” he said of the three cannabis businesses the […]