The Canary

Ground squirrels closed down Beattie Park’s asphalt-covered parking lot in Lompoc.  Those ferocious little demons have burrowed and tunneled beneath that hard surface so much, holes are starting to appear. And why did they choose that lot, you ask?  Well, turns out, people are feeding them. Feeding them! As if they can’t feed themselves—as if […]

I don’t know whether I’m surprised or not, but the owner of Stadium805—aka the Santa Maria Raceway—announced the impending closure of the landmark of Highway 101.  Owner Nick Duggan posted his long rant about why and when via Facebook on Aug. 9. Apparently, it’s all San Luis Obispo County’s fault—well, big, bad SLO County and […]

Man. You guys. If it wasn’t for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Santa Maria would still be racist against agricultural workers.  Thank God that federal agency found out about the city’s “discriminatory” housing ordinance and threatened a $400,000 fine for noncompliance. If the city hadn’t repealed its employee housing ordinance, agricultural […]

If I could point out one thing that’s wrong with our health care system right now, it’s this: A health care system that essentially has a monopoly on providing services in Santa Maria just terminated its contract with one of the largest health insurance providers in California—and it’s legal.  In fact, it happens all the […]

Looking for a new neighborhood to call home?  I would avoid the Skytt Mesa area of Solvang, if I were you.  Sounds like it’s a neighborhood where neighbors snitch on neighbors and there’s almost nowhere to put a shed. If sheds are your thing, I guess. And if you live in Skytt Mesa, sheds are […]

You know whose heads aren’t quite screwed on straight? The folks over at Central Coast Community Energy (also known as 3CE), which pulled a little bait-and-switch on all the people who were promised PG&E rate discounts when the electric utility traveled up and down the coast marketing itself to local cities and counties.  At the […]

You know what the big bad U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency does when it wants local law enforcement to had over information about a criminal in custody? It sends a fax.  A fax! The inmates can hear that little fax coming in from down the hall. No notification needed.   But really, what […]

What’s better than a cop with little to no mental health training responding to someone in crisis? That same cop rolling up in a random, unmarked sedan!  During a June 15 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council approved mid-cycle budget amendments that will tack on an extra $2 million to the Police Department’s nearly $30 […]

Wake up, you sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed. Wake up, the confusing Blueprint For a Safer Economy is dead! The Blueprint is dead. Dead!  And California Gov. Gavin Newsom is singing it high, singing it low to let everyone know how well the state did to get the COVID-19 pandemic to […]

If a federal agency told you one of your policies was discriminatory, would you keep it? Well, if you’re Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino, the answer is, “Hell yes!” “For the feds to say we’re being discriminatory really, really bothers me,” she said. Yeah, it totally sucks when your city passes an ordinance that potentially […]

One Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge isn’t taking any of the Santa Barbara County Coalition for Responsible Cannabis’ guff.  Judge Thomas P. Anderle was the one giving the guff in a May 25 ruling on the coalition’s lawsuit against the Busy Bee’s Organics cannabis project, which the county approved in early 2020. Among the […]