Lompoc officials, residents, and nonprofits are looking for ways to make the city safer after a historically violent 2019. A record seven homicides took place in the city of roughly 43,000 last year, while an understaffed police department struggled with budget constraints and the inability to fill vacant officer positions. During a meeting on Jan. […]
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County meets state ozone standards for first time
Despite continuous population growth and an increasing number of cars on the road, Santa Barbara County met state ozone standards for the first time. At its Dec. 12 meeting, the California Air Resources Board designated the county as attaining state ozone standards. This designation is pending final approval from the state Office of Administrative Law. […]
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Lompoc urges more public access at Surf Beach, Ocean Beach Park
A few months after the city of Lompoc announced that Vandenberg Air Force Base and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to end a policy that often resulted in Surf Beach closing, the city is pushing for more changes at nearby beaches. In one letter addressed to officials with the California Department of Fish […]
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Second annual women’s march in Santa Maria wants to ensure everybody’s voices are heard
Audy Macdonald doesn’t want people to get caught up in the idea that the upcoming second annual Women’s March Santa Maria Valley is strictly for women. Yes, the committee organizing the event has invited some organizations that primarily serve women, like Planned Parenthood, but the committee has also invited groups involved in a variety of […]
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Group challenges county’s approval of Orcutt shopping center in court
The Residents for Orcutt Sensible Growth took legal action against the county’s decision to approve plans for a new shopping center in Orcutt. The county Planning Commission approved permits for the 50,000-square-foot Orcutt Gateway Retail Commercial Center on Aug. 14. Located on Clark Avenue near Highway 101, the project includes space for a grocery store, […]
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County housing authority awarded grant to assist homeless veterans
The Santa Barbara County Housing Authority will soon receive federal grant funding that will allow the agency to help more homeless veterans find housing. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced on Dec. 17 that $10.5 million in grant funding will be awarded to 27 different housing authorities, cities, and counties across the state. Of this funding, […]
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The first cannabis testing lab in Santa Barbara County is opening in Lompoc
Despite the number of cannabis farms dotting hillsides throughout Santa Barbara County, there’s currently no local laboratory for farmers to take their plants for state-required testing or other cannabis-related scientific needs. But that’s set to change. Merso Labs, located on Laurel Avenue in Lompoc, should begin accepting samples within the next month or two, Director […]
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Buellton City Council asks county to tighten cannabis ordinance
Geographically located between northern and southern Santa Barbara County, the Santa Ynez Valley is also at the center of much of the area’s debate over cannabis cultivation. Some opponents of the plant point to what they see as a concentration of pending cannabis farms along Highway 246, just west of the city of Buellton, as […]
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Participation in county syringe exchange program increasing
The number of people that the Pacific Pride Foundation serves in a program designed to reduce the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases has nearly doubled over the last three years. Through the organization’s syringe exchange program, it collects used syringes from injection drug users and provides them with sterile syringes to use instead. […]
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Lompoc weighs commission, committee reductions
In its most recent response to its ongoing budget crisis, the Lompoc City Council is re-evaluating the role of the 11 commissions and committees that review city issues. These commissions and committees cover a variety of city interests, such as public safety, and are made up of volunteers appointed by council members. But due to […]
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Cannabis farm applicant presents cannabis terpenes study, county looks for additional information
Among the concerns Santa Barbara County residents have raised in opposition to cannabis is the fear that certain organic compounds released by the plant will taint nearby grapes, changing the flavor of the wine produced. Much of this fear is rooted in a 2012 study completed in Australia that found the organic compounds, or terpenes, […]
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Coastal Commission supports new Surf Beach plan
This past summer was the first time in almost two decades that Surf Beach was guaranteed to remain open throughout the Western snowy plover breeding season, regardless of the number of trespass violations recorded. Since 2000, Vandenberg Air Force Base officials have blocked off sections of Surf Beach to protect the bird—which is listed as […]