The Canary

COVID-19’s such a little devil. As of Feb. 1, this thing ain’t over yet, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, which once again extended the indoor mask mandate for yet another month. Community transmission is still considered “high,” the department stated.  The county had 4,330 active cases with 108 in the hospital, […]

In a real shocker of a decision, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors sided with greenhouses in the political war over agriculturally zoned land in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Should it be for residential uses only or should agricultural activities still be allowed on agricultural land? Well, according to the Santa Ynez Valley Community […]

If the recent candidacy announcements for the Central Coast’s new Assembly districts are any indication of the areas that will feel unrepresented in the future, Santa Maria will be left out.  So far, in new Assembly District 37—which together with the 30th District is replacing the district that Republican Assemblymember Jordan “I’m Not Running Again” […]

Copenhagen Drive in Solvang is reopening to vehicle traffic on Feb. 2, according to the Santa Barbara-News Press.  According to the Sun’s reporting, it most certainly is not. In fact, the Solvang City Council is now considering potentially keeping the city’s main downtown drag closed to trucks, trailers, cars, and buses in perpetuity. Ooh. So […]

Well, kids, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but just in case you don’t pay attention to anything vaguely internet-related: COVID-19 is back!  The omicron variant is sweeping the country (Thanks, globalization! Thanks, anti-vaxxers!), including Santa Barbara County, and it’s more contagious than ever! Yahoo! So mask up, vax up, and keep […]

This year is over, man. And it almost feels like the only thing left to do is shake my little bird head.  My takeaway from 2021 is that everything would be much easier if we all just learned how to communicate with others and genuinely sought out reality rather than ideas that strengthen our existing […]

I almost felt bad for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 14 when they had to decide on yet another appeal of an approved cannabis cultivation project.  Only this time, the decision before them felt like it had higher stakes. Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado was on one side, and the Millers […]

Before I move to the dark side, I’m going to give a shoutout to the Alisal fire burn scar for making it through this last storm relatively intact!  According to Santa Barbara County Public Works rain gauges, areas of the county tallied between 1.3 and 7.5 inches of rain. Wowzers! And kudos to Santa Barbara […]

Well, I don’t like to say, “I told you so,” but it’s a a bit difficult to keep those words in my beak this week. Thanks to the Santa Barbara County Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission, change is in the air. The commission finalized its preferred map on Dec. 4, planned to make some tweaks early […]

What would the city of Lompoc give to have an extra $35,000 floating around in its general revenue fund just to spend on TV advertising? For one, it would mean the Lompoc Fire Department would have earthquake-retrofitted fire stations.  This year for the first time in more than a decade, Lompoc was able to balance […]

Do we actually think the Northern Branch Jail will open in December 2021?  I can’t even count then number of stories the Sun has run about when Santa Barbara County’s newest $110 million to $120 million detention facility is going to open. First it was September 2018, then it was August 2019, then May 2020, […]

How do we live well in reality while also dreaming about and moving toward a better future?  Well, some in authority don’t really do a great job of either, until they get caught or something gets broken. In the case of the Santa Barbara County Main Jail, both happened. The county got called out for […]