Canary

Back in May 2014, the Lucia Mar Unified School District and Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association began talking. Actually, they were talking before that, I’m sure, but these talks were official—like, “let’s make sure everyone at the table here keeps working and our children continue to learn about math and reading and science and stuff” […]

First of all, let me point out that I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist, nor a clinical researcher, nor a nurse practitioner, nor any sort of professional who could write you a prescription or prep you for surgery should you need pills in you or an inflamed appendix out of you. […]

I can’t see the ballot from here Remember when our elected officials weren’t always campaigning? That had to have been a thing. The cycle can’t have always been so get-in-office focused. Or am I looking at the past through glasses that have a bit of a rosy tint to them? I’m not against campaigning. I […]

What time is it? I’m glad you asked! It’s time for the next edition of Adventures in Nuclear Non-Proliferation! When we last checked in with our heroes, known as the Republic of the Marshall Islands, they had filed lawsuits against the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations, including the 
United States. Since their home was the site […]

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Peter Adam is not known for quietly mumbling softball opinions to himself and then sitting quietly while twiddling his thumbs. When he has something to say, he says it. Some of his critics—and probably more than a few of his friends—might go so far as to describe him as someone who […]

There are a lot of layers to this country. It’s like a pungent vegetable waiting to be peeled and browned in butter—maybe even caramelized. Maybe I shouldn’t write this column right before lunch. My co-worker to my left just brought in some Thai food to eat at her desk, while the guy to my right […]

What else could the Santa Barbara News-Press have done? Of course, you know by now that Santa Barbara County’s daily paper of record stirred up a lot of outrage when it printed a headline to float over its story about the influx of new applicants to the DMV at the start of the year. These […]

Did you hear the rumbling? Feel the ground shake? On Jan. 2, the doors to the Hall of Officially Licensed Drivers opened for the first time to undocumented immigrants in the state of California. I don’t think that our leaders intended the first day for new applications to be on a Friday, but that’s how […]

I don’t know about you, but I went back and re-read my last column of 2014, and it was downright maudlin. Seems like I was in a bit of a funk as the year petered out—and maybe in that phrasing is the key to my mood. The last year didn’t close strong. It didn’t end […]

This is my last column of the year. A quirk of the calendar puts the Sun’s annual year in review issue pretty much smack dab on Christmas, and then 2015 will be here, along with that distinct new year smell I always enjoy inhaling, even if it does make me dizzy. As I look back […]