The Canary

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 […]

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 […]