Letters To The Editor

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provides critical funding for California’s open spaces, parks, rivers, and wildlife habitats. Unfortunately, this vital program is set to expire at the end of September. Without congressional reauthorization, up to $900 million in annual spending for our environment and local communities will be lost. In a year of […]

I am responding to the letter “Too much Kool-Aid” (Aug. 16) by Justin Ruhge. There seems to be a pattern to his frequent letters and this one is no exception. First, he insults the person who wrote the commentary he is responding to (Ken McCalip’s “Misdeeds in La-La Land,” Aug. 9) and then proceeds to […]

Some opinions regarding politics or politicians in general never change among many individuals, even in view of the behavior of those politicians and their policies. Such is the case of a recent letter in the Sun‘s Aug. 16 Opinion section (“Too much Kool-Aid”) that still attempts to give some credit to the erratic performance of […]

Recent letters and articles in local papers have promoted more oil development over and through the Santa Maria groundwater basin. Who will profit and who will be hurt by these new high-pressure intrusions through our diminishing drinking water aquifers? Aera Energy and ERG Resources, two oil companies, have recently been flooding the media with promises […]

The late Sen. John McCain will be remembered for his integrity, most notably demonstrated by his penchant for straight talk. There was a great irony locally when Bruce Porter wrote a column in the Sept. 2 Santa Barbara News-Press, simultaneously praising Sen. McCain’s integrity while contorting the truth and assailing 3rd District County Supervisor Joan […]

California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman is calling for a boycott of In-N-Out because they donated $25,000 to the Republican party. What has California come to? I know that California is a Democratic “controlled” state, but to boycott a company because they donated a modest donation (for a national company) to an opposing party is […]

Catholic priests have for years abused children and are again in the headlines. I understand people believing in the traditions, liturgy, fellowship, and music of the church. I also know that pedophiles outside the church face court and jail time. What needs to be done is a total outing of these pedophile priests, bishops, and […]

Once again, Justin Ruhge demonstrated in his response to Ken McCalip’s excellent letter (“Misdeeds in La-La Land,” Aug. 9) that he’s been gulping the red Kool-Aid being brewed by the current administration and Fox News (“Too much Kool-Aid,” Aug. 16). There are so many mistruths in Ruhge’s homage to Donald Trump, one hardly knows where […]

Justin Ruhge’s recent letter “Too much Kool-Aid” (Aug. 16) is exhibit A in just how low the Republican Party has sunk under Donald Trump and how effectively Fox “News” has duped its adherents. President Trump is: (1) an impulsive liar (the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians was about adoption, size of his inauguration crowd, […]

Canary, some thoughts on “Frenemies” (Aug. 23). So let me get this straight, a nonprofit, the Friends of the Santa Maria Library, created to support a public entity, the Santa Maria Public Library, with a limited budget wants no oversight, a free space to conduct business, and use the credentials of the public entity to […]

I have been a volunteer in The Library Shop, which was built especially for the Friends of the Santa Maria Public Library, for 10 years. I do not support the city librarian, Mary Housel, or the city coming up with a requirement that was unnecessary until a control issue by the library arose. This librarian, […]

Voting was once a valued civic duty in American politics. Our democracy is built around opportunities that allow its citizens a voice in the structures that govern society. Voting is a way to make change; it’s our way to let the government know what we think would help our society. A lot of people don’t […]