Spotlight

With more than 64 percent of Lompoc Unified School District’s population considered socioeconomically disadvantaged and students in historically marginalized communities scoring below state learning standards in test scores, Connie Alexander and Audrey Gamble saw a need for additional educational support and services.  Alexander and Gamble own and operate Gateway Educational Services, a tutoring center founded […]

There aren’t many options for child care in Lompoc once the school’s winter break starts, Samantha Scroggin told the Sun.  But parents can turn to the Lompoc Parks and Recreation Department for a helping hand during the holiday season through its winter camps for youth.  “Speaking as both a parent and in my role, this […]

In  rural Arroyo Grande, a mulit-generational family-owned farm specializes in selling native Central Coast trees for Christmas at a reduced price to help SLO County families have a budget-friendly holiday season.  Mesa Pines is run by Erin Riffle and his family who only plant and sell Monterey Pines to support California’s native plant life—and because […]

While Rescue Mission Alliance Central Coast has been running a men’s recovery program for the past several years, there wasn’t an option for women, said Director Chris Rutledge.  “Within our organization, we know there’s a demand for it, and we don’t currently have residential services for women,” Rutledge said. “During my time since 2017, we […]

As Santa Maria approves more housing as part of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, new creative spaces are bringing residents a unique set of experiences, including Flow: a co-working space where residents can rent out office space with the goal of bringing people together and forming a professional community, said Flow’s co-founder, Matt Ladin.  Individuals can […]

Buellton recently received $425,000 in state funding to take a big step in connecting the Santa Ynez Valley through outdoor recreation.  “We live in the valley in particular because we love the outdoors, but we’re not walking and biking because we don’t have the infrastructure to support that, and people really want that,” Santa Barbara […]

Shelley Klein embarked on a journey gathering stories from local Santa Marians about their personal or family history in World War II and received more than she expected for a new exhibit at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum.  “I told my board, ‘I think I bit off more than I could chew.’ It’s […]

Robby Hargreaves started skateboarding when he moved to the Central Coast. Landing in Vandenberg Space Force Base with his family, he had a skateboard but no place to skate, he said.  “We didn’t have a skate park and my parents didn’t feel comfortable with me at 14 going to Lompoc skate park and staying there,” […]

Five years after retiring from the Santa Barbara Unified School District, Mitch Torina got a call from the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District asking for a few extra hands on campus, he recalled.  During the turmoil the school district faced last spring semester, the district superintendent reached out to local administrators for administrative […]

Sheila Gibilisco grew up in the San Fernando Valley and was a massage therapist for the movie industry. She would work on movie sets to help the actors and crew members rejuvenate and recover after long days of filming.  When her son was in first grade, Gibilisco and her family moved up to Orcutt, and […]

Over the years, Santa Barbara County families have become more interested in enrolling their children into dual language immersion programs—where students split their day learning in two languages and eventually become bilingual, Dr. Carlos Pagán said.  “It just opens the door for more jobs, for more communities, to explore, and to travel. Learning a second […]

When you take a bite out of a sandwich or sip on a coffee, how often do you think about where that food comes from? It’s a question that served as the genesis for lauren Ornelas (Ornelas does not capitalize her first name) when she founded the Food Empowerment Project. “I founded the Food Empowerment […]