Commentaries
Posted inOpinion

Smoking is not a right

The arguments against tobacco-free Santa Maria parks were appalling
by DONNA BEAL

On April 23, the Santa Maria City Council voted 3-2 against tobacco-free parks. After hearing the majority of speakers in support of a tobacco-free parks ordinance, the Santa Maria City Council voted against the proposed policy, which would have limited smoking to designated areas in the parks. Two of the arguments against the policy focused […]

Posted inOpinion

Man alive, I’m 55!

One local gracefully reflects on aging
by ARIEL WATERMAN

My mother called a few days ago to sing “Happy Birthday,” then asked if I had applied for my AARP card yet. “You’re officially a senior citizen,” she said. Wow, thanks, Mom, you sweet old bat! I just had a birthday, my 55th, and suddenly I began to see things more clearly. Not literally. In […]

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Eureka! We’ve been selected for a re-zone!

The state-mandated housing system doesn’t actually help the people it’s intended to help
by KEN McCALIP

It’s hard to find examples of success in the State Housing Mandate program because there are not many. It’s a program that does not work, but rewards bureaucrats and developers. Those who favored or spoke in favor of high density rezoning in recent county meetings were mostly landowners and bureaucrats whose job depended on the […]

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Who will tell our stories?

A life without theater, without art, can’t be considered a life
by MARK BOOHER

“If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have plenty of doubts of my own.” —Goethe   We have tangible and financial needs, but more important than those is the essential and ineffable impact for good we aspire to have in this community. We believe the art of theater […]

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Local public transportation is socialism at work

Give future funds to projects that benefit cars
by Justin M. Ruhge

There was a time in the distant past when bus systems and rail systems were privately owned and could operate at a profit. The cost of labor, government regulations, equipment, and right-of-way has driven most of these out of business. The privately owned Greyhound Bus service has to operate on a for-profit basis. For this […]

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Essential for all

Forget frills��”arts help make up a complete education
by BILL CIRONE

March is Arts Education Month, which makes it fitting to point out that when school budgets get cut to the bone, as they are in this current budget crisis, art and music education are always among the first casualties. Because this crisis is unprecedented, so is the depth of the cuts being made. It’s clear […]

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Just say no to leapfrog developments

The La Purisima Resort Project decision is the key to Santa Barbara County’s future�
by KEN McCALIP

Driving home from Irvine recently, I noticed how nice it was to leave the Ventura/Los Angeles county areas and head into Santa Barbara County and the open areas of the Central Coast. No wonder tourists like to come here! The squeeze of the shoulder-to-shoulder impact of homes, asphalt, and cars was lifted from my head […]

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Let nurturing prevail

It’s taken us 40 years to get here
by TOM KNEPHER

Political wonks like to talk about transformative elections, ones in which more than the faces change, ones in which the temper of American politics shifts from the dominance of one party or ideology to another. This election may well have been truly transformative. George Lakoff, professor of linguistics at U.C. Berkeley, has based a model […]

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We need to change

‘Green’ or ‘sustainable’ – whatever you want to call the movement, it needs to continue for our survival
by Bill Denneen

Change is always difficult, but our culture must change if it is to continue. There is a movement that is coming from the people/citizens. It has been given a title of “green,” but I prefer “sustainable.” Basically, it is change from a high consumption rate to living within the capacity of our habitat. Resources are […]

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Lots of money in a little time

The building industry contributes its fair share
by JERRY BUNIN

The construction industry provides sanctuary and equity wealth to homeowners, shelter to renters, comfortable places to conduct business and shop, good salaries to workers, and revenues that help fund local government and pay for public improvements. Yet we often hear people question if the construction industry is paying its fair share. State law, known as […]

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Remember American Hoovervilles

It’s time for reasonable regulation
by KEN McCALIP

The Great Depression made a lasting impression on our family and many American families. Farming in middle America, my mother’s family had just lost my grandfather when bad times hit. Grandmother, unable to keep farming, and my mother, who was forced to quit school, went to work sewing in one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s make-work […]

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Armageddon it

Will the world end this year?
by PATRICK LIN

The idyllic city of Geneva, Switzerland, is about 5,700 miles from California’s Central Coast, an entire world away. But something in that European town may affect us all in upcoming months: It may cause the end of days. To explain, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider—the world’s largest particle accelerator at CERN, the research organization […]

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