Spotlight

Tea parties are given a whole new meaning for hosts who take a leaf or two from Jennifer de Tréglodé’s book.  Through her company, Inari Tea & Art Experiences, the San Luis Obispo local is frequently hired to lead ceremonial tea meditations at public and private events alike, including bridal showers, birthday parties, mindfulness workshops, […]

Barbareno Chumash Tribal Council; 805UndocuFund; Collective Cultures Creating Change Lompoc; Gateway Educational Services; Healing Justice Santa Barbara; Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, Santa Barbara; NAACP Santa Maria-Lompoc; and the Regents of the University of California, Santa Barbara. These are the organizations the Fund for Santa Barbara’s Racial Equity Grant (REG) committee chose to receive money […]

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR) has been in operation for 114 years and survived both the Great Depression and World War II under Capt. G. Allan Hancock’s ownership.  After struggling with the rise of trucking, the railroad remained under Hancock’s descendants until the Himoto family acquired it in 2006. According to Rob Himoto, president […]

Just 7 percent of children ages 0 to 2 and 62 percent of children ages 3 to 5 have access to licensed early childhood education in Lompoc, according to data from the Lompoc Early Learning Project.  To help bridge this early education gap, LEAP opened the Lompoc Children’s Center at the Trinity Church of the […]

Every time a Santa Barbara County resident books a ride through a transportation network company (TNC) like Uber or Lyft, a 10 cent fee is collected to support the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments’ (SBCAG) Access for All program, which aims to enhance reliable, on-demand transportation for people with disabilities and mobility challenges. Care […]

Out of more than 360 chapters across California, Santa Maria High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) was ranked No. 1 in the state for 2024.  According to Santa Maria High School FFA Chapter President Kayce Van Horn, students involved in the high school’s FFA chapter build a variety of life and leadership skills through […]

It takes about nine months for a lemon to go from a flower to a harvestable fruit.  That’s one of Caitlin Paulus-Case’s favorite lessons to teach students, helping them put into perspective how much time and effort goes into the food they consume. “By the time that it reaches your fridge, just the amount of […]

Two baskets; a steatite stone model of a Chumash tomol, or plank canoe; and an early 1900s photograph of Santa Ynez Chumash ancestors.  These four culturally significant items were recently returned to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians by the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and […]

In the past, health care practitioners advised patients with concussions to “rest and wait.” Now, research suggests this might not be the most effective approach after all.  According to Stacey Ritter, a certified athletic trainer and founder of Concussion Navigation Services, patients recover faster and more fully by participating in physical, cognitive, balance, and visual […]

 A little more than 70 students from Guadalupe go hiking somewhere in the local community every Wednesday.  As part of its after-school program, the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center takes up to 80 children from Kermit McKenzie Intermediate School and Mary Buren Elementary School on hikes each week. According to Joey Nichols, Dunes Center director of education, […]

Enrollment in Allan Hancock College’s new classes in Guadalupe more than doubled in just one week, as word quickly spread about the chance to earn college credit closer to home.  The community college partnered with the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District to offer classes in Guadalupe, allowing local high school students the opportunity […]

Training a dog is 70 percent about teaching the human and 30 percent about teaching the canine, Ember Leash Dog Training owner Skylar McClellan said.  “It’s about consistency and bringing everybody together so that they are all being as consistent as possible with the way that they’re responding to their dog’s behaviors,” McClellan noted. “When […]