Canary

It’s been raining. I’ve seen it! I’ve seen it spattering on sidewalks and running down gutters. I’ve seen it bending leaves on trees and blades of grass. I’ve heard it, too! I’ve heard it drumming on the rooftops of houses and cars. I’ve heard it patter on umbrellas and rain jackets. I’ve smelled it on […]

I usually don’t fly too far afield to find subjects for my columns, but today I wanted to let you know about an event that happened just a bit outside of our collective Northern Santa Barbara County backyard. On Nov. 20, a 24-year-old Paso Robles resident pleaded no contest—which is pretty much the equivalent of […]

The rumor was that there was going to be a shooting at Righetti High School. That’s what made it to my ears, anyway. And if it made it to my ears, it made it to other people’s ears, too. As far as I know, it was a totally bogus rumor, but that didn’t stop it […]

Congratulations, Guadalupe! You got the money you were hoping for! Now just don’t mess it up. We heard for months that the city of Guadalupe was ready to go as belly-up as a goldfish at a smorgasbord, mostly due to the fact that some long-running iffier-than-iffy accounting practices had painted a rosier financial picture than […]

Last week I wrote–not for the first time–about the bizarrely uphill battles the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians fight every time they want to do anything more than merely continue existing the way they currently do in the county. Of course locals are wary about any proposals that might make their pocket of paradise […]

I’m going to give Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf the benefit of the doubt, because it really was just a slip of the tongue. Many people might not have even noticed. But I heard it, there among a late-morning debate about the latest version of a sheriff’s services contract at the Nov. 4 Board […]

I know, I know. You’re sick of hearing about Measure P. You’ve been battered by the letter, over and over, like you were cast as a helpless Muppet in a particularly aggressive episode of Sesame Street and now you’ll never forget it. The letter will haunt your dreams: P … P … P … P […]

Way, way back a long time ago–all the way in May, which seems like it was practically a different decade at this point–I asked you whether you’d heard of a particular lawsuit. This wasn’t a salacious suit that involved sexy secrets or faulty products. This was a suit filed against the United States by a […]

First, let me say this: There are always sharks. For now, anyway. Our executive editor has been on a big anti-finning kick lately, complaining about how the state of our oceans is declining fast. He doesn’t hold out much hope for the ongoing overall survival of the big, bitey fish, but that’s not the point. […]

Pop quiz time. I know, I know. I didn’t give you any advance warning. But this is a pop quiz! They can happen at any time. You just have to be ready. A pop quiz is, of course, a favored tactic that’s been employed by teachers ever since teachers were first invented, which means it’s […]

So Buellton is all in a buzz about a sign. 
A digital sign. A big, flashy, billboard-sort-
of sign to promote the city. The sign itself has become a major wedge of contention between the current City Council candidates, who have until November to convince locals who to vote for, and why, and what that vote […]

First, locals started arguing about oil. Some folks, see, want to leave it in the ground, but other folks want to pull it up and out into the sunlight, where they can actually use it—and make money off it. Add to that the fact that some folks want to regulate how, whether, if, and when […]