Canary

Illegal alien. Illegal immigrant. Undocumented immigrant. These are all terms, politically correct or not, that refer to the same thing: people who have crossed the U.S. border in secret, undetected—without a green card, a work visa, a passport, or citizenship. These are the people who come to the United States of America in search of […]

Did you know that the Lompoc City Council officially lists invocation (also known as prayer) on its meeting agendas? So does the city of Santa Maria, by the way. It happens right before the Pledge of Allegiance.  I feel a little weird about that.  You know, the whole separation of church and state thing. As […]

Medical Cannabis is a combination of words that inspire hate, spittle, and venom in people.  It pushes people who need it for viable health reasons into a corner of the ring opposite those who absolutely refuse to believe it’s viable for medical purposes. The people in that opposing corner seem to include Santa Maria Mayor […]

Fallas. Did you shudder? Did you roll your eyes?  That word inspired many emotions two summers ago. A discount store. Ooooh. Mayor Alice Patino and City Councilmembers Bob Orach and Willie Green didn’t like that idea.  Eeewwwwww, gross, they said (I’m paraphrasing, of course) when it came up in June 2013. Discounts. Nope. Not in […]

Though attendance numbers to this year’s Santa Barbara County Fair were slightly less than last year’s, livestock numbers were up, generating more than $2.9 million in auction income.  Nice work 4-H and FFA students!  I hope you don’t go out and spend that on something smart like textbooks. Meanwhile, the Santa Maria Police Department is […]

This week is a depressing week for the oil industry and the federal agencies that govern it. I know, it seems like that’s all I talk about lately. But it’s a hot-button topic. It’s sexy, as long as you’re not covered in mucky, clumpy crude or toxic fracking chemicals.  Unfortunately, it also seems like there’s […]

I don’t skateboard. I really can’t. My scrawny stick-man legs can’t reach the ground for my talons to do the step-and-push work needed to move it. In order for the wheels to actually move, someone would have to push me, gently mind you, because I get a little freaked out if I go too fast on […]

The U.S. Supreme Court decided some big things this week. BIG THINGS. The same-sex marriage debate is finally over. News flash: It’s legal. The Obamacare debate is finally over. States that haven’t set up health care exchanges can eat their federal government defying words, because now that very same bureaucracy can officially, legally, even though […]

Let’s be honest: Reading about California’s “fourth year of unprecedented drought” is just depressing. Yes, the rain gods haven’t smiled on the Golden State in quite a while. And neither have the snow gods. Urban users point to agriculture as the devil. Agriculture (well some in agriculture) point to politicians as the culprit. Municipalities are […]

If you haven’t yet heard, then you definitely didn’t read Political Watch before you flipped to this tawdry little column’s page. That pesky little piece of legislation known as HR 1157—which would, if passed, transfer the 1,400 acres known as Camp 4 into trust with the federal government—was up for a subcommittee hearing on June […]

The news can be super depressing. Over the first weekend of June, my inbox filled with law enforcement press releases about homicides, officer-involved shootings, and overdoses—all in Santa Barbara County, not some far off place like Baltimore. Some weeks are like that, and it’s hard to wrap my puny bird brain around why. I know […]

Apparently, teacher morale is low in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD). At least that’s according to a survey the district’s faculty association told the Santa Maria Times about.  Union president Mark Goodman told the Times the association decided to poll its members because of an “unprecedented” 19 grievances the association has […]