Jennifer Christensen is the county’s chief investment officer and an experienced financial professional. It is no secret that Santa Barbara County is heading into some serious financial budget and fiscal issues. We need an experienced and well-qualified individual as our auditor-controller. That is why a number of past and current local mayors and the county […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Strange days indeed
Did you ever think you’d live to see days quite like these? I know I didn’t, and I’m counting time in bird years! Some of the stories are astounding and inspiring, like the recent NASA launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, which is sending the InSight probe to our neighbor planet, Mars. It’s pretty cool […]
Posted inOpinion
The Founding Fathers and guns
In the last few days I have seen letters to the editor referring to our Founding Fathers. In my opinion they had more smarts than the total combined assembly of both houses of Congress today. John Kennedy had this to say at a dinner in Washington back when he was president: “I think this is […]
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc faces serious issues
Another month and another attempted murder in Lompoc; what the in the world is going on? Lompoc has always been a relatively quiet place to live crime-wise. Sure, there were petty thefts or home and business burglaries, but the level of violent crime was always low. Domestic violence was the exception. Disputes were settled with […]
Posted inOpinion
Anatomy of a conspiro-nut
Oh boy, I can already hear the conspiracy theorists creeping out of the woodwork. This week’s cover story (see page 10) is about cloud seeding, and if you didn’t know, spraying stuff out of airplanes is like catnip for idiots. Take whoever keeps responding to the Sun‘s Twitter posts, warning us about all the chemtrails, […]
Posted inOpinion
Thank you, Beverly Scofield
Thank you Beverly Scofield for your kind words about my April letter in the Sun, “Capitalism needs your help!” (“Gloege hit the nail on its head,” April 12). My point is that capitalism, ourselves, and especially our sons and daughters need government action to immediately do all we can to slow the onrushing threat of […]
Posted inOpinion
Lynn Compton listens
This is an election season has that has been a bit hard to understand since we have experienced first-hand support from our 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton. We need to do everything we can to procure and save our water resources, so as to make them available to all of us who live and work […]
Posted inOpinion
If you run, we’ll support you
If you feel the leaders of Santa Maria do not represent the needs and concerns of all of the people in your community, then run for City Council. November 2018 begins our first district elections. If you are a registered voter and at least 18 years old and you live in the southeast or southwest […]
Posted inOpinion
Time for a new sheriff in Santa Barbara County
The men and women of the Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriffs Association spoke loud and clear when they chose to endorse another candidate for sheriff. The men and women of the Santa Maria Police Officers’ Association spoke loud and clear when they endorsed another candidate for sheriff. The County Firefighters union spoke loudly when they […]
Posted inOpinion
The whole picture
Some problems are so big, you need a wide-angle lens to see them. That’s how bad conditions are at the Central Coast’s county jails. The Sun and New Times examined both the Santa Barbara County Jail and the SLO County Jail for this week’s cover story. New Times Staff Writer Chris McGuinness landed the 2017 […]
Posted inOpinion
Feds should enact gun control
A recent opinion article in the Sun‘s March 29 issue (“Not the NRA”) blamed those “liberal Democrats” for the recent protests and opposition against gun violence and the NRA. The rhetoric in the letter is similar to what we’ve read or heard before. The NRA is in the business of making money, especially from gun […]
Posted inOpinion
Reply to Canary
The Yellow Canary seemed to be very concerned about housing for farmworkers in Santa Maria in its April 12 column (“Making it Worse“). Yes, we need the workers. Our experience in Lompoc is worth noting. In the past year we have had two visits from Mexican workers who work in our fields. They come in […]