Receipts for fixing leaky pipes and installing lights are at the heart of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s investigation into Lompoc Councilmember Steve Bridge’s invoices. In late 2025, Bridge was arraigned in Santa Maria Superior Court for eight felony counts, including forgery, identity theft, grand theft, and fraudulent use of a contractor’s license. A […]
News
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The Return of Downtown? Santa Maria’s aim for a more pedestrian-friendly downtown and other stories that have been around since the Sun’s first issue
Some stories stick. They unfold slowly over time and are a constant source of news. We’ve been covering some of those in the Santa Maria Valley since this paper was founded in 2000. For 26 years, Sun reporters have watched and written about Santa Maria’s downtown—complaints about how the mall killed it, how the city […]
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Some of the Sun’s earliest story subjects are still making headlines
Within its first year of publication, the Sun shined a light on local issues, leaders, and lore that continue to make headlines 26 years later. Santa Maria’s desire to make its downtown core more walkable and attractive to pedestrians, for example, graced the cover of the Sun’s premiere issue, which hit stands on March 31, 2000. Today, […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
For 26 years, the Sun has pursued thoughtful coverage, welcoming and including all voices
Since 2000, the Santa Maria Valley’s population has grown by more than 30,000 people. It’s gained school campuses, a county jail, and more box stores and chain restaurants than it probably needed to. Cannabis is now legal. Politics is über-polarized. Ideology, more entrenched. Social media has changed the way we interact with one another. The […]
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Santa Maria high schools implement first set of AI guidelines
When ChatGPT was publicly released in 2022, students in public Santa Maria high schools weren’t allowed to use it on school-issued devices. The artificial intelligence ban created a discrepancy because students with cellphones or technology at home could still access the chatbot, but others couldn’t. Since 2023, the Santa Maria Joint Union High Schol District […]
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Solvang debates perceived conflicts about a new phone app
Before stepping out of the Solvang City Council’s March 23 meeting, Mayor David Brown playfully handed his gavel to Councilmember Louise Smith. “We’re going to need it,” Smith joked, followed by some laughs on the dais, including from Brown. As the council’s mayor pro tem, Smith didn’t resort to gavel-slamming at the hearing—which Brown recused […]
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California sues Trump administration over Santa Ynez Unit restart
On March 23, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy for ordering a restart of oil operations at the Santa Ynez Unit. “In a breathtaking power grab,” Bonta stated, “the federal executive branch has asserted that [it] may preempt and supersede all state laws governing hazardous pipelines … […]
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Empty seat: Board of Supervisors’ 5th District candidates race toward June’s primary election
With 2026 marking Santa Barbara County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino’s last year in the role, his chief of staff, Cory Bantilan, threw his hat into the ring to take the soon-to-be vacant 5th District seat, along with two others: Santa Maria City Councilmember Maribel Aguilera and Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member Ricardo Valencia. All three […]
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Trump administration resurrects Las Flores oil pipeline
On March 14, Sable Offshore Oil Corp. began transporting oil produced at the Santa Ynez Unit through the Las Flores pipeline system, which ruptured in 2015 and spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil in Refugio, to Pentland Station in Kern County. According to U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, a new executive order […]
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Santa Barbara County adopts first environmental justice element
Water quality, air pollution, and safe open spaces are concerns shared by all county residents. However, the county’s unincorporated, rural towns need help making policies to protect residents from environmental risks. With an addition to the county’s general plan, the Board of Supervisors seeks to shield seven vulnerable regions. On March 10, supervisors unanimously approved […]
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Buellton moves motel conversion rules forward
Restricting long-term housing at motel properties along the Avenue of Flags would help maximize Buellton’s efforts in revitalizing the corridor, according to city staff. In local attorney Mack Carlson’s eyes, the proposed ordinance amounts to “gentrification by policy,” he said during the Buellton City Council’s March 12 meeting. “Let’s be clear about the decision before […]
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Justice delayed: Jury finds a Georgia man guilty of a Santa Maria resident’s murder 37 years later
On a trip from California to Georgia in 2024, Julia Tatarian brought a photo of a woman she knew a lot about but had never met. It was a portrait of Ofelia Sandoval, who was found dead at age 30 in her Santa Maria residence on Sept. 18, 1988. Authorities ruled her death a homicide […]
