Canary

Benign, boring budget hearings usually snooze themselves into oblivion, but every now and then a little heat enters the building—as it did during the June 14 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors hearing.  What was the fight over? Extra dollars. Unallocated money. Up for grabs and ready for takers!  County staff recommended that the board […]

Santa Maria has some squeaky wheels, let me tell you. I can hear them all the way from my birdcage across town. These squeaks are coming from a group of people advocating for the city to step in and adopt an ordinance preventing mobile home park owners from jacking up their rents in an unreasonable […]

As fate would have it, our hands here at the Sun are kind of tied when it comes to election coverage. By fate, I mean deadlines. Our paper goes to press on Tuesday, so we don’t get to share with you all the newsy election coverage our reporters are working on as I type this. […]

What’s orange, green, and hairy all over with a penchant for gulping up water and a sweet crunch that’s satisfyingly healthy? Anyone? Carrots.  They like at least an inch of water per week during the growing season and will get misshapen or develop a bitter taste if the soil gets too dry, according to San […]

Lompoc City Counclimember Dirk Starbuck’s got flair—I won’t say what type of flair it is, but it’s flair nonetheless.  I’m not sure if he was trying to be funny or serious when he made this comment during the May 17 City Council meeting: “Some dogs are identifying as cats in town because of this.” Because […]

Maybe Buellton has it figured out. The city recently approved forward momentum on a project intended to bring more life into the town along Highway 101, and increase accessibility for residents who may not have it.  In order to give city residents who need it the option to garden, Buellton City Council approved plans to […]

What’s gotten into people these days? Just as I was about to zero in on Solvang, again, word of some words at Allan Hancock College nearly made me spit out my birdseed. An administrator at our local community college “said” some rather ageist and offensive things about a group of students via email to administration […]

Mayor Aristan Julian believes cannabis is the answer to Guadalupe’s long-running general fund revenue problems—4 to 6 percent of gross receipts from future dispensaries ought to do the trick, he said!  “If they make $3 million, we could get 6 percent of that into our general fund,” he said of the three cannabis businesses the […]

Looks like Santa Barbara County is staying true to itself with the district attorney’s race in which nobody is running against current District Attorney Joyce Dudley’s handpicked replacement, Deputy District Attorney John Savrnoch. Savrnoch will sail on through the primary like fellow “campaigners” 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino and Laura Capps, who is walking into […]

To hear Mike Stoker tell it, campaigning for elected office is really about one thing: “How it really should work is to have two candidates with two different perspectives who are willing to own those perspectives. We can both be nice people but it’s a question of what direction you want for California.” Two candidates […]

What is the solution to homelessness? I can tell you that clearing out encampments isn’t a solution—it’s just temporary relief for the housed population that can’t deal with the problems that come with an unwanted gathering of people who have nowhere else to go. These include environmental issues that stem from trash and human waste, […]

Empty liquor bottles, bullets, and Porta-Potties aren’t allowed on or near gravesites at the Santa Maria Cemetery. You’re not allowed to drink alcohol or have a barbecue there either.  While that may sound like common sense, it apparently is not common knowledge—according to the Santa Maria Cemetery District, which posted a long PDF on its […]