One of Santa Maria’s 2024 mayoral candidates is taking a critic to small claims court for a letter published in Noozhawk last October. Diana Perez, who lost her bid for mayor to Alice Patino, filed the claim in January, alleging that Yvette Valadez-Andrade owes $12,500 for defaming “my campaign for mayor of Santa Maria 2024 […]
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Political Watch: March 20, 2025
• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a group of 31 senators demanding a reversal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cancellation of food purchase programs across the country, according to a March 17 statement from Schiff’s office. The senators warned that the cancellations would have far-reaching negative […]
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Santa Barbara County boosts transportation access for wheelchair users
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 […]
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Road to nowhere: Residents remain unable to access Los Padres Forest via Colson Canyon Road after 2023 storms
Multiple signs note Colson Canyon Road’s closure: a big red one along Tepusquet Road a few miles from its intersection and at least three at the dirt road’s entrance. “Colson Canyon Road closed to all traffic including foot traffic,” a green and yellow U.S. Forest Service sign states. The road has been closed since January […]
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LAFCO supports water connection between Santa Maria and Bonita Elementary School
Potable water at Bonita Elementary School is strictly of the bottled variety, at least until a newly county-greenlit plan to connect with a municipal utility comes to fruition. Elevated levels of groundwater nitrates are at the fountainhead of the issue, evaluated by the Santa Barbara Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) in December 2024, and again […]
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Lompoc moves to ban homeless encampments, keeping personal belongings on public property
Leaving personal belongings or camping on public property will soon be a no-no in Lompoc, thanks to a unanimous decision by the City Council on March 4. A 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision paved the way for the city to enforce against those kinds of things, according to City Attorney Jeff Malawy. Last year, the […]
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North County supervisors say renewable projects should get same treatment as oil and gas
From 2018 to 2023, incidents at battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities dropped by 97 percent. That’s not just for fire. It’s for all emergency responses to BESS facilities, Central Coast Community Energy CEO Robert Shaw told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on March 11. The number came from a 2024 Electric Power […]
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Political Watch: March 13, 2024
• U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla (D-California) sent a letter to the Department of the Interior on March 6 asking it to ensure that there are no more cuts to the Bureau of Reclamation, which is set to lose about 100 employees in California. That’s about 10 percent of its regional staff, according […]
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Santa Maria High School’s Future Farmers of America chapter ranked No. 1 in California
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 […]
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Solvang seeks input on design standards amid housing mandates
Maintaining the look and feel of a quaint fairy tale village without clashing with state housing directives is among the goals leading Solvang officials down a regulations rabbit hole. The Solvang Planning Commission and Design Review Committee (DRC) are inviting the public to provide input or seek clarity on the topic at a joint workshop […]
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Santa Barbara County forms task force to address illegal street vendors
Since January, Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services has issued 137 citations to illegal food vendors who operate on sidewalks or the side of the road. But the citations don’t do much, according to Gina Fischer, 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann’s chief of staff. “They can legally refuse to sign civil citations,” Fischer told the […]
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Political Watch: March 6, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) joined congressmen from Washington state, Texas, and New Mexico in introducing the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act to improve the nation’s aerial firefighting capabilities through expanded use of excess military aircrafts and parts, according to a Feb. 20 press release from Carbajal’s office. The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize military […]
