The Canary

As I understand it, humans have a great capacity for imagination, to envision what’s not yet happened, to dream about a potential occurrence. Bear with me—this bird brain is rather limited in its capacity to imagine much of a potential future. Am I wrong then in surmising that the ability to imagine also gives you […]

Have you ever stopped to think about the idioms attached to birdkind?  We’ve got some positive: as the crow flies (you know, direct), eagle-eyed, early bird gets the worm, birds of a feather flock together, like a duck to water.  And we’ve got some negative: burying one’s head in the sand (ostriches totally do not […]

You can tell that Solvang City Council members are obviously frustrated with their whole push to make the city a better, more tourist-filled, business-centric kind of town. Their disdain for the residents who are fighting against the change just falls out of their mouths. “Why doesn’t anyone understand us?” they whine from the dais. Mayor […]

I know the Santa Barbara County Animal Services shelter primarily deals with our four-legged and a few feathered friends, but something smells fishy in that department.  The good folks of the general public were sharing heartfelt testimony in favor of recently terminated Animal Services Director Tara Diller. She was fired Feb. 6, less than a […]

Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner Cathy Fisher has a good tip for solving problems that regular ol’ farmers have come up against with cannabis cultivation operations: Be a good neighbor. It’s an earth-shattering revelation in these modern times, I know.  Doing something to your crop that could affect your neighbor’s very different crop? Talk to […]

Give someone an inch and they’ll take four more inches. Or in the case of Lompoc: Give a city the beach access they want and they’ll take a few more little things.  OK. Maybe it’s not the perfect metaphor, but I can’t be on my tippy talons every week. I might be slightly hungover from […]

Good news everyone! Santa Maria City Council finally approved its public art master plan. The proposed plan divided the city in 2016/2017, pitting developers and conservatives against artists and liberals. Oh no!  Umm. Well, actually, I guess that’s just the same ol’, same ol’, when it comes to dividing lines. But, guys, it wasn’t the […]

Are you guys ready for the “systemized killing of an enormous number of birds”? Well, according to Mark Holmgren from the Santa Barbara Audobon Society, that’s exactly what a recent Santa Barbara County Planning Commission decision is going to enable. Not the birds! Those are my people. Is it a cell or radio tower? Because […]

Three cheers for vague, semi-specific press releases sent out by the state government! One particular choice piece of “news” released by the California Department of Conservation on Nov. 19 explains that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is placing a moratorium on “high pressure extraction practice” for oil wells.  Whatever that means. Sidenote: The aptly named Division […]

The fundraising race for November 2020 is off to a roaring start! You know elections, for the people, by the people, don’t really matter, right? It’s all about that money, baby!  If the last two cycles are any indication for what we should be expecting for the 24th Congressional District race, incumbent Salud Carbajal will […]

How much time do you think Santa Barbara County has to waste on appeals to cannabis projects?  If the county Planning Commission’s nine-hour hearing on Oct. 30 is any indication, apparently county staffers just have a ton of idle time to spend listening to people whine about cannabis. Yeah, guys. Nine hours. On one item.  […]

I’m not sure what’s weirder, the fact that CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy) is actually being CALM about a recent Santa Maria Police Department use-of-force incident or the fact that Solvang politics seems to be full of people who don’t know how to act their age.  Honestly, CAUSE Santa Maria organizer […]