Letters To The Editor

Vladimir Putin’s goal is to weaken the United States by using President Donald Trump. In order to propel Trump into the White House, Russian hackers infiltrated United States political organizations. The Kremlin used sensitive information to undermine Hillary Clinton. In addition, Russian hackers used American social media to influence the American electorate to vote for […]

This letter is in response to Lucia Casalinuovo: “The removal of Oceano Beach” (Jan. 10) and in response to Cheryl Bennet, “We don’t need to cram the beach in Oceano with Tourists.”   I agree with both Lucia and Cheryl, we are losing the beach to all those cars, and also just to Mother Nature. […]

I was impressed with the article by Lucia Casalinuovo (“The removal of Oceano beach”) in the Jan. 10 issue of the Sun. I also want to say that there are other factors—wind, storms, and sea tides—that can also effect the sand levels, too. I believe our beaches have become smaller in that they are areas […]

In my attempt to understand why some people think and act the way that they do, I have been reading on Wikipedia and various other sites about the occurrence of cognitive dissonance over the past few years. I discovered that one way cognitive dissonance (mental discomfort/psychological stress) can occur is when one’s beliefs, ideas, and […]

The city of Pismo Beach wants to build an advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (Central Coast Blue) in Oceano. This is a form of discriminatory land use that disproportionately overburdens Oceano, an underserved community, with inequitable distribution of environmental pollution. The state of California would call it a form of environmental injustice. Oceano has an excellent […]

I took time on Jan. 27 to travel to Santa Barbara and attend the 50 Years After the Santa Barbara Oil Spill: A Call to Action event at the Arlington Theater, thinking I might learn something. Sadly, I watched a spectacle that evolved into a We Hate President Trump Festival. Speaker after speaker condemned various […]

The primary election for 2020 is just 13 months from now in March of 2020; it’s time to start thinking about who the Santa Barbara County supervisor of the 4th District should be. The incumbent has announced that he doesn’t intend to run again, so the seat is open. The county, like almost every other […]

A UCSB-affiliated study purportedly estimates the economic impact on our county of Aera’s proposed oil project in Cat Canyon, between Santa Maria and Los Alamos. The study was paid for by the oil company’s public realtions firm. The report admits that it relied primarily on information provided by Aera itself. In the report, by UCSB’s […]

In the Santa Maria Times and Lompoc Record on Dec. 16 (“Aera Energy taps Cat Canyon project’s environmental stewardship”), Aera’s PR representative claims that development of oil wells in our county will bring major economic benefits, including millions to support schools and other vital services. His figures come from UCSB’s Economic Forecast Project, whose research […]

It’s taken two years for the media, Donald Trump voters, and the world to understand what a madman inhabits the White House. We, who saw him as harmful to our democracy from early on, have experienced anxiety, fear for “the others” of the country, future for children, and our future. Trump’s daily lies, Congressional Republicans’ […]

A proactive plan of action to protect our country from others crossing the borders illegally is crucial for the safety of Americans, and our economy. Our current policy of providing funding, food, and medical care for those entering illegally is destroying our economy for the citizens that have worked to earn the benefits to provide […]

At the Republican National Convention in 2016, Donald J. Trump claimed the nation was in crisis. Trump told the American people “I alone can fix it.” He pledged to repeal Obamacare, allow individuals to deduct health care insurance premiums from their taxes, defund Planned Parenthood, enact term limits, place a lifetime ban on foreign lobbyists […]