Spotlight

It took a freak dance floor accident for Haley Pavone, 22, to look down at her high-heeled shoes and wonder if there was a better way. Working her way through college at Cal Poly SLO as a business major with a focus on entrepreneurship, Pavone attended a formal event in spring of 2016. Like she […]

Hold on to your cowboy hats, the fair is back in town.  The annual event, now celebrating its 127th year, features the state’s largest junior livestock auction, big-name musical artists, and an assortment of local goods ranging from jams, jellies, pies, homemade quilts, floriculture, and photography at the Santa Maria Fairpark.  “It’s going to be […]

The hot dogs have been be grilled, the fireworks launched, and holiday parties–at least for the time being–complete, but there’s still plenty of goings-on in and near Northern Santa Barbara County. So many, in fact, we thought it might be fun to highlight a few that caught our attention. Speaking of parties, this 4th of […]

The long-arm sewing machine gives off a high-pitched whine as Janie Walker adjusts her nearly completed quilt beneath a two-inch steel needle.  “What I’m doing is pretty much putting together a sandwich,” she says. Walker’s fingers deftly glide across the quilt’s surface, below is a layer of padding, which is protected by two sides of […]

On June 14, Santa Maria public information officer Mark van de Kamp sent out an email explaining that some city departments would begin closing every Friday starting on June 29. He said the decision was made due to budget cuts. “The Friday closures are in an effort to aid staff in completing job duties during […]

There’s a new manager in town for Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT). RATP Dev USA, an international transportation systems company, will manage transportation services in Santa Maria beginning July 1. Santa Maria officials announced they had awarded a contract to RATP Dev on June 7 and said the agreement would run for three years with […]

A new Atascadero-based company says it has a solution to a lot of issues for small-scale vegetable and flower growing operations. While not specifically designed for it, Kush Cottage‘s custom greenhouses seem to alleviate a lot of issues that come hand-in-hand with growing cannabis. “What we do basically is kind of a newer genre in […]

It’s not often that someone starts a business primarily to save money on common household items. But that’s exactly what motivated Ellowyn Isaacson to jump feet first into the world of soapmaking.  “I wanted to replace our soap with a more natural alternative, and after seeing the prices on the market, decided it was more […]

A new association of business owners and activists in the the cannabis community say they want to help improve relations with skeptics and opponents of the plant in general. According to its founders, the Lompoc Valley Cannabis Association aims to be both a voice for a nascent industry and an intermediary between business owners, governments, […]

The reach of one of California’s most powerful wine firms extended further into the Central Coast region in early May when it purchased nearly 1,000 acres of vineyard property in the Santa Maria Valley. Modesto-based E&J Gallo Winery, which boasts that it’s the world’s largest family-owned winery, made the announcements on two separate occasions, almost […]

Santa Maria’s favorite wine trolley is coming back to the valley. The Santa Maria Valley Wine Trolley‘s official second season begins Memorial Day weekend. The public transportation is the product of a collaborative effort between the Santa Maria Valley Visitors Bureau and Santa Maria. The 28-passenger trolley is an extension of the city’s downtown trolley […]

The Santa Maria Historical Society holds an annual meeting for members to gather, eat, drink, and catch up with what the organization is doing. This year’s meeting on April 28 was unlike any that had come before because the Santa Maria Valley Historical Museum itself has never looked so good. The museum is newly reopened […]