The Canary

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 […]

Guess what’s happening in Lompoc, again?  I know. You’re sick of hearing about that damn City Council and its bickering. But would you believe the 2019-21 budget debate that we thought was finally settled reared its stubborn little head again on Oct. 15? It’s the stupidity that just won’t quit. This time around, Mayor Jenelle […]

You know what the city of Lompoc is good at? Kicking the car down the road.  No, I don’t mean can. I mean car. As in motor vehicles that people park on the street and sleep in because they have nowhere else to go.  The city has grappled with the issue of giving those cars […]

When I hear the words “rent control,” I think about housing units. Apartments, studios, houses, mobile homes. What I don’t think about is the ground beneath them, but I guess I should.  Because in Santa Maria, members of the North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team (well, that’s a mouthful!) are dealing with a problem […]

Well guys, the local oil company everyone—even the righty-tighties—loves to hate tried to have its bankruptcy proceedings on the other side of the United States, but Santa Barbara County wasn’t having none of that!  When HVI Cat Canyon, better know ’round these parts as Greka Energy, filed for bankrupcty in a U.S. Bankruptcy  Court in […]

The city of Lompoc set the date! On Sept. 17, Lompoc City Council members voted unanimously (I know! I fell off my perch, too.) to hold a sales tax election (I know! I fell off my perch twice, too.) on March 3, 2020.  Who knew Santa Maria was such a trend setter? City residents voted […]

Who wants to talk about Community Choice Energy? I know, nobody’s hand went up. Because it’s freaking complicated. And who actually understands it, anyway?  But it’s here and it’s happening. PG&E is on the outs, while newly formed electric utility agencies such as Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) are in!  In fact, MBCP is so […]

Is it just me, or is it pretty ironic that after the weekend when Southern California Edison carried out one of its first public safety power shutoffs in Santa Barbara County, a fire broke out? OK. I’m convinced. It’s not just me!  Southern California Edison shut down the power to thousands of people in Gaviota […]

Lompoc is simply melting down over grease traps.  Apparently, the city stepped up its code enforcement of an ordinance that requires all food establishments to have a grease trap. Even the shops that don’t cook anything! And let me tell you, these food purveyors aren’t having it! Well, actually only four out of a few […]