The Canary

If there’s been one thing that COVID-19 is good for, it’s an influx of funding to tackle homelessness—kind of. It’s more like an influx of funding to make us feel temporarily better about not spreading a contagious virus among a population we’ve failed for decades.  Homeless advocates like Good Samaritan Shelter Executive Director Sylvia Barnard […]

Who knew building a greenhouse on agriculturally zoned land could be so controversial?  Ooh, pick me! Pick me!  It’s definitely not surprising that the same county that brought you years of discussion over whether or not hoop houses should be allowed over a nice view from Highway 101 is the same county in which a […]

Great news, everyone! California residents eligible for the next phase of vaccines can now make appointments to get vaccinated!  Well, actually, just kidding!  According to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s top peeps—Dr. Van Do-Reynoso and Dr. Henning Ansorg—only part of that phase (aka 1B) is actually eligible for vaccines, and they’re only eligible […]

How long does it take to build something?  In the case of the the Santa Barbara County Jail under construction in Santa Maria, at least eight years, maybe longer. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown has touted the facility as the future savior of the county’s justice system woes since at least 2013.  Every malady […]

Did you guys hear the good news? Blue Shield of California, a health insurance company, is going to handle COVID-19 vaccine distributions in the state moving forward. What about Kaiser Permanente or Anthem Blue Cross customers? Will they get access to the vaccines?  Well, I’m covered by Blue Shield, so that’s good news for me. […]

What’s up with COVID-19 vaccine distribution in this state? It would appear that nobody knows. Not Gov. Gavin Newsom, not the counties, not the general public—nobody.  According to Newsom, the federal government sends vaccine doses directly to county public health departments. The state, he said, doesn’t have warehouses of vaccines ready to ship to counties. […]

 I know I’m the most opinionated yellow-feathered fiend you know, but it’s so hard to know how to feel sometimes. The nuance of life is lost in political debate and the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. Details glossed over. Rush to judgment solidified. The virus is spreading faster in Santa Barbara County than it […]

I hope you all had a Merry MAGA Christmas! And a Happy Trump New Year! And after last week’s mess at the U.S. Capitol where five people died, and another extremely “unprecedented” thing happened, I’m thinking about flying south for more than just the winter. Are we really “surprised”? And did we really need U.S. […]

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown dropped some jaws on Dec. 1 when he pronounced that most serious violent crimes were up by 10 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, reports of forcible rape were up by 14 percent, robberies by 30 percent, and arson by 41 percent, he told the county Board of […]

As our cases climb and our ICUs fill, I wonder if our elected officials are still oozing with desire to be separated from the Southern California region on the state’s regional COVID-19 map for stay-at-home orders.  Because either way, it looks like Santa Barbara County hospitals are heading for a showdown with the pandemic. Cottage […]

By now Santa’s long finished with making and double-checking his naughty and nice list, and though the Big Guy and I go way back, I don’t have access to those confidential papers. So, I’m making my own list. The not-nice list. Complete with North County’s naughtiest naysayers and nincompoops. This biggest bad boy isn’t confined […]

How would you like to be laughed at by a sitting Santa Barbara County supervisor? No, not in private, silly. In the middle of a public meeting. Sounds awesome, right? Wrong. Santa Barbara County Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg certainly didn’t like it when 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam laughed at him on Dec. […]