Spotlight

New kid on the block Located at 705 S. McClelland St. in Santa Maria, the new Children’s Resource and Referral Discovery Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit crrsbc.org  or smvdiscoverymuseum.org. The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum and Children’s Resource and Referral of Santa Barbara County […]

Hundreds of animals that have trotted across the Santa Maria Fairpark’s auction grounds over the past three years were raised by young participants of a local charity initiative. Elementary, middle, and high school students who take part in the annual Santa Barbara County Fair’s livestock exhibitions for 4-H, FFA, and Grange programs are eligible for […]

Tucked away along the Tularosa Road offramp of California Highway 246 lies a quaint purple slice of heaven. Buried deep within the greens of the Santa Rita Hills, a field of bushes showcases violet buds so densely packed that from a distance they look like an amethyst-colored sheet. Lizards scurry, bees buzz, and hummingbirds and […]

A side from dialing Veggie Rescue’s phone number, local growers don’t need to lift a finger to gift surplus food to community members in need of a helping hand. Based in Santa Ynez, Veggie Rescue travels via box truck to multiple farms and businesses across Santa Barbara County for pickups of excess fruits and vegetables […]

Walking along dirt paths in the Santa Maria Riverbed, there’s not much to see but dry brush and the occasional jackrabbit.  In the distance, a group of people appear among the bushes. A man in bright mint green scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck rips open a bag of plastic syringes and grabs a […]

 A white bear in a puffy chef’s hat and apron by the name of Osito Bimbo greeted the first customers to step foot in Orcutt’s newest grocery store the morning of its May 15 grand opening. Bringing Orcutt its first Grocery Outlet was a venture into uncharted territory for owner and operator Bryan Lutz, even […]

Samantha McDonald was 13 years old when the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm, forcing schools across the United States to pivot from in-person to virtual learning sessions. Then a seventh grader, Samantha suddenly discovered she had a lot of free time for the first time in her young life. Most kids that age […]

Wielding a giant pair of scissors is one skill Aeron Arlin Genet now has firsthand experience with. One of her recent duties as the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) executive director was cutting the ribbon at an open house event to celebrate the agency’s new Santa Maria office. “The scissors were a […]

Come on in The Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is located at 3500 Numancia St. and open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for teenagers, seniors 65 and older, and active duty military members with identification; and $10 for children ages 3 to 12. […]

Diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2023, Guadalupe resident Eileen Hongo underwent 20 rounds of chemotherapy, 35 rounds of radiation therapy, and other procedures as part of her treatment plan. Between her appointments at Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria, she formed strong bonds with fellow patients as well as physicians and other […]

Pull the pin. Aim the nozzle. Squeeze the handle. Sweep from side to side. During a fire emergency, PASS is a helpful acronym to keep in mind before using an extinguisher for the first time. Attendees of an upcoming wildfire evacuation and survival workshop in Lompoc will have access to a fire extinguisher training session, […]

The best dance moves occasionally come to light when someone falls out of sync with the rest. “I’m big on mistakes,” choreographer Suzy Miller told the Sun. “There’s no mistakes [really], only unexpected solos. … A lot of my stuff is: ‘You know what you did right there? Keep that.’” This approach is especially helpful […]