Canary

I’m not going to make a big deal out of this, because I can’t even begin to pretend to understand the complexities of how governing laws work between Santa Barbara County and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. But I am going to boldly wade into the shallow surface of my understanding and say […]

Don’t be the last one to get out of a bad situation. That’s what I’ve learned from studying the hearing that’s been underway in Santa Maria recently, in which Dan Ast, formerly a lieutenant with the Santa Maria Police Department, is arguing that he should get his job back. Ast was a link in the […]

They’re all the same. The candidates are different—or at least they have different names—but the elections themselves are all the same. If you know me, you know that I love elections. Or I have loved elections. The bustle of the polling places, the volunteers and proud voters, the hopeful candidates, the tension, the promise, the […]

Canary’s note: My executive editor wanted to write this week, so I gave him the space usually reserved for my column: “I was giving the female gender one last chance to provide me with the pleasures I deserved from them.” This is the line that national media are attributing to Elliot Rodger, who recently wrote […]

We, as a country, had Teacher Appreciation Week at the beginning of May, which got me thinking: When is Journalist Appreciation Week? Not that I’m saying teachers don’t deserve a week of their own. Not at all! But when you think about it, journalists and teachers have a lot in common: We work long, hard […]

Everything’s great in Santa Barbara County!  Right?  The folks behind the North Santa Barbara County Economic Summit announced on May 9 that unemployment was down—hurray!—in the county, meaning only 6.3 percent of us are out of work. That’s the same rate as the nation as a whole! The numbers are certainly better now than they’ve […]

Toward the end of April, a David familiar to those of us who live on the Central Coast hurled the first stone at a Goliath who looks a lot like you and me. Sorry for that tortured metaphor. I couldn’t resist. Let me start again. Toward the end of April, the Marshall Islands—home of the […]

One line in particular leapt out at me from this week’s paper. I’m going to lift it straight from our news brief about a county supervisor bed tax vote, so you can see it here where I’m going to talk about it: “Lawnae Hunter of the Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County and Joe […]

I’m all about speaking my opinion. Obviously I am. I wouldn’t have this column if I didn’t. But. I’m also not voting on issues that impact the county. I write about that sort of stuff, sure, but I’m not the one this community’s population is looking to for leadership and guidance. And even if I […]

What’s one fish? I mean, what’s one measly, floppy, scaly, individual fish? That thought’s been on my mind ever since I first learned about what’s going on over at Bradbury Dam, as highlighted in this week’s cover story. Actually, it’s more like what’s not going on over at Bradbury Dam. Or, even more accurately—and to […]

My editor is fond of a quote from author Bill Buford, who, in writing about violence among British football hooligans, said, “The crowd is not us. It never is.” I’ve heard my editor say it around the office before, but it never really struck home until I started reading reports of what happened in Isla […]

Boy, am I glad I’m not a local elected official. Every once in a while I get an itch to consider public service, but then something happens—something like the March 27 Santa Maria City Council meeting—that scratches that itch away. That meeting scratched my itch so hard, I feel like, with God as my witness, […]