The Canary

I’m not sure what’s going on around here.  Maybe it’s the end of summer and the fact that the days are getting shorter, or maybe it’s the chemicals in the water, but the city of Santa Maria is making moves to join a community choice energy provider (gasp!) and the city of Lompoc is heading […]

My favorite high-pitched whine is making its way to the campaign trail. The squeaky wheel also known as Andy “I Know What’s Best” Caldwell announced his run for Congress on Aug. 12.  Oh goody! Now I don’t just have to tune into a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting to hear his screeds. He’s […]

I’m not sure what they put in the water down in Solvang, but whatever it is, it’s spicy!  A battle brewing over how the biggest little Danish tourist city in Santa Barbara County spends its tourism dollars reached a fever pitch in July after the City Council voted to slice its funding to two organizations […]

What do you think it’s actually going to take to put the company formerly know as Greka Oil and Gas out of business?  Being sued by the United States of America, the state of California, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for a series of oil spills that occurred between 2005 and 2010? […]

Lompoc’s excitement over a space-theme park is not quite electrifying. Since 2004, groups have tried to get their plans together on at least three separate occasions. And now, a fourth attempt has come before Lompoc’s giddy, pie-eyed City Council—like the forlorn, faraway answer to their budget prayers.    City Manager Jim Throop extolled the virtues […]

Here I am, talons to keyboard, at a loss for what to write about the age-old, drop-dead, knockout fight over the Oceano Dunes. That’s probably because everything there is to say has already been said (or shouted) thousands of times over literal generations.  The California Coastal Commission heard more of the same—much more than it […]

New Times and the Sun have brought you reader-submitted stories for the annual 55 Fiction contest. Each year, hundreds of entries come from all over the coast and world. This year I’m joining in on the fun, in hopes of pissing off the masses with fewer words than ever before.  Sex offenders’ advocates?  Here’s a […]

Who’s flipping out about the California Coastal Commission’s upcoming July 11 meeting concerning the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area? I know, I know. It’s everyone!  Environmentalists are beside themselves because commission staff is finally recommending that the state regulatory body quash those dangerous, oil-spewing, sand-spinning off-roaders from messing up an ecological paradise! It’s about […]

Don’t go on Facebook. It’s bad for your health and your faith in humanity.  Unfortunately, I’m really bad at taking the advice I spew in this column weekly. I’m addicted. I just can’t help it! I want to see the drama. I need it!  The other day I was just scrolling on the Facespace. And […]

Are you guys ready for the apocalypse? Because it’s coming. And you can thank your local electric utility company for its contribution to it. In our case, that would be PG&E, the Pacific Gas and Electric company!  OK, maybe I’m being dramatic, but I might have to go without internet this summer for days at […]

How often do you think Santa Maria City Councilmember Michael Moats brings up the house he lives in when discussing city issues?  I know it’s a weird question, but the best skin doctor in town is obsessed with his 3,500-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-bath home and how many H-2A workers could be housed in it. He’s brought […]