So where oh where is El Niño? The weather phenom was expected to be here, but maybe he’s suffering from a little California fever and being fashionably late. Divas. Whatever. The thing is, we were waiting El Niño! We gathered sandbags. We bought super cute umbrellas and rain boots that are still sitting there dry […]
Canary
Posted inOpinion
Let’s avoid being all chirp and no flap
This week presented a lot of flying days, wings-in-the-sun days, and a few step-away-from-the-desk-and-get-to-know-your-community days. A free fly day gives a bird time to think and see things in a new perspective. It was on one of those reflective flights that I spotted some strange words scrawled across a wall in an Orcutt neighborhood. It […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s celebrate youth
I like to think of myself as a forward-thinking bird. A bird of vision. Admittedly much of that vision is limited to planning out what I am going to do for summer vacation, but then again, I’m a journalist and vacation is what keeps me going. Apparently board members of the Santa Maria Joint Union […]
Posted inOpinion
Cry for youth
Tears and memories are all that’s left after someone close to you dies. And it’s always too soon. But dying at the hands of a knife or a gun just feels like such a waste. On Jan. 25, Santa Maria’s homicide toll for 2016 hit five victims, almost doubling total homicides for 2014, when there […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s our responsibility
BOOM! Did you hear it? That sound lasted forever on Jan. 17, complete with a “POP POP POP” trailing into the cloudy sky like a backfiring car. The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base was invisible, not invincible. But, here’s the good—according to Col. Shane Clark, 30th Space Wing vice commander, […]
Posted inOpinion
Trees, bees, and sleaze
Hear ye! Hear ye! The Santa Barbara County grand jury has spoken! And ye wee peasants need to listen. A county ordinance enacted in 2003 is declared a success. A success, I tell you! Deciduous oak trees have been saved in Santa Barbara County. Saved, I tell you! After this clown of a vintner cut […]
Posted inOpinion
Depends on your definition
What happens when you install artificial turf along Broadway Street in Santa Maria? The city freaks out! Well, eventually the city freaks out. The Jiffy Lube on Broadway got itself into a heap of trouble for apparently not continuing its communication with the city over some artificial turf that was installed at the location earlier […]
Posted inOpinion
Stuck in the middle
Welcome to the last week of 2015, everybody. I know, I don’t want to think about it either. But I’m excited for a little me time. Just my feathers and the wind. It’s getting chilly, so I’m heading south for the holidays and won’t be back until 2016. It’s so close I can smell the […]
Posted inOpinion
Something to talk about
I can hardly watch any political shenanigans these days without molting. My feathers just start falling off, and then I fly into a crazy tizzy and have to leave the room. It’s hard being me. I know. But rhetoric kills me. No—not literally. Figuratively, I die a little inside when I hear people speak passionately […]
Posted inOpinion
Compassion?
Santa Maria doesn’t like weed. Guadalupe doesn’t like weed. Arroyo Grande doesn’t like weed. Nobody likes weed. Everyone’s typecasting him as the guy that just likes to get people high. But he’s trying to get society to view him differently, and it’s so hard. I feel sorry for the guy. I mean all he wants […]
Posted inOpinion
Second chances
Apparently Dec. 1 was Giving Tuesday (#givingtuesday), at least according to all the emails in my inbox from places like the Surf Happens Foundation and CASA of Santa Barbara County asking for donations. #givingtuesday is a mighty bit better than #cybermonday and #blackfriday and #nationalsinglesday (China is GREAT at making single people feel fantastic, offering […]
Posted inOpinion
Exclusive plans
Black Friday. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. I’m definitely not flying the coup early on a day that I don’t have to get up for work just to save a little money. But, there are birdies that do, and I guess that’s their prerogative, especially if they’re shopping for my non-denominational holiday gift! Well, […]
