Spotlight

Before Santa Barbara County Deputy James Carovano reports for duty, he gets his partner ready for patrol by helping him put on his vest and opening the car door for him. His partner, Obi, is a 2-year-old German shepherd, trained in patrol, urban tracking, and narcotics detection. Carovano and Obi recently joined the Santa Barbara […]

California emergency rooms saw more than 21,000 visits related to opioid overdoses within the past year, according to the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard.  On the Central Coast, Dignity Health’s Substance Use Navigators (SUN) program is attempting to combat the issue. At Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, and French Hospital […]

After he relocated from Afghanistan to the Central Coast, Dr. Ahmad Nooristani was surprised by the lack of health care available for people without insurance. In an effort to change that, he founded the SLO Noor Foundation to offer free health care for the uninsured.  SLO Noor Foundation Practice Manager Barbara Alarcon said the company […]

There are emergencies where calling 911 isn’t possible.  “An example we had in 2021 was [a] passenger with a drunk driver,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick told the Sun. “They can’t just say, ‘Hey, this person is driving me down the San Marcos Pass and they’re drunk’ … situations where […]

Playing outside, practicing sports, riding bicycles, and hiking on trails are a few of the activities highlighted in artwork Santa Barbara County students submitted for the Air Pollution Control District’s inaugural art contest.  “It’s a way to bring awareness of the importance of clean air in our community and the progress we’ve made,” Air Pollution […]

More than 13 percent of students enrolled in Santa Barbara County K-12 schools are considered homeless, and more than 260 students were in foster care during the 2022-23 school year.  “In our county, the biggest issue that we face with our foster and homeless youth is that they are changing schools a lot, and so […]

Affordable books are hard to come by, let alone affordable books written in Spanish.  But Kathleen Gabel and the Friends of the Santa Maria Public Library are determined to make sure that families have access to books in their native language.  “Our mission is to also support literacy and reading,” said Gabel, president of the […]

The Allan Hancock Pride Center, a space dedicated to serving the LGBTQ-plus community and its allies on campus, opened its doors on Oct. 30.  “We were, gosh, thrilled to finally see that vision come to light. I know for decades there had been a dream to have it,” Hancock Director of Student Engagement and Community […]

Amid an epidemic of loneliness, recent Cal Poly graduates are working to combat social separation through a new app that promotes in-person human connection—Social Spark. Created by CEO Sam Moberly through the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Social Spark has helped to connect more than 3,000 members from the Bay Area to LA […]

By opening its doors in Guadalupe, Root One became the first cannabis dispensary to serve the Santa Maria Valley.  “It’s been great to see this multiyear mission come to fruition and for us to be so welcomed by the community, which has been the best part so far,” said Austen Connella, the owner and CEO […]