Letters To The Editor

On March 16, Gov. Newsom issued an executive order directing local governments to halt evictions for renters and homeowners, slow foreclosures, and protect against utility shutoffs for Californians affected by COVID-19.  It would have been appropriate for the Santa Maria City Council to take up the issue on Tuesday, March 17, and move to meet […]

Let’s say you have a koi pond with 100 fish, and one day you go out and you find one of the fish belly up. You test it and find out it died of a viral infection. At that point you have a 1 percent fatality rate. If there were 1,000 fish and that was […]

On March 15, 2020, the Santa Maria Times published a column by Andy Caldwell who deliberately understated the effect of COVID-19 virus on the American public. The Republican candidate for the 24th Congressional District followed a long list of conservative lawmakers who have been gaslighting the public for weeks regarding the novel coronavirus. It started […]

California calls itself “green.” Closing Diablo Canyon speaks loudly that this is a very false notion.  Diablo Canyon, a plant supplying electricity to nearly 10 percent of the huge state of California, is our largest single carbon-free generator. It is a reliable “base load” energy supplier, meaning it runs all the time, while renewables make […]

We all want good jobs for ourselves and our neighbors, excellent schools, and a robust economy. Ditto for a clean and healthy environment in which our children and grandchildren can live, play, and thrive long into the future. These are not mutually exclusive possibilities. Nevertheless, those who stand to profit from fossil fuel production often […]

I have waited my whole life for someone like Bernie Sanders to run for president. A good person who has spent his life fighting for justice. Economic justice. Racial justice. Educational justice. Environmental justice. Bernie speaks clearly to me on all our major issues.  Health care is a human right, Medicare for all is our […]

Santa Barbara County’s 3rd District needs bold new leadership. Take a look around at our public spaces, roads, and bridges. The disrespect and disrepair is evident. Lackluster leadership has left us with conditions that resemble third world nations. Let’s put a person in charge with an engineering background and a backbone, to stand up and […]

Did you know that not “everybody has the right to live in Santa Barbara County”? That’s according to Karen Jones, candidate for the 3rd District county supervisor seat currently held by Joan Hartmann, contested by Jones and retired U.S. Army Col. Bruce Porter. Jones described her two opponents as out-of-state federal retirees in a pejorative […]

Please join me in voting for Joan Hartmann in the upcoming election for the 3rd District supervisor.  I have known Joan for several years and have found her to be a caring, compassionate, intelligent woman, willing to listen to all sides of an issue. Joan has reached out to residents here in Los Alamos to […]

Follow the money. We can all access official campaign contribution information by going online. It’s at sbcvote.com. When I did recently, it became clear that Joan Hartmann, our county supervisor, has received contributions from lots of average folks. Bruce Porter, however, is getting his contributions from a very small group, a handful of wealthy donors […]

As a daughter who took care of aging parents until their passing, I saw firsthand how dedicated Joan Hartmann is to our senior citizens. Joan worked closely with the staff of the Solvang Senior Center to secure a long-term lease so the center could stay in its present location. She is currently doing the same […]

What if you are a registered voter, but not registered with a political party? Can you still vote in the March 3 Democratic presidential primary? You can. If you signed up to vote by mail, you should have received your ballot by now. However, it may not have the list of Democratic presidential candidates printed […]