How will Buellton’s 4th District voters choose between their two candidates in August’s special election? Former Mayor Dave King and newcomer Carla Mead seem pretty similar when it comes to policy—and they both seem to think they’ve got what it takes to get Caltrans to pay attention to some of Highway 246’s biggest safety issues, […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
A look at the perils facing our liberties and freedoms: the California doom loop vs. the original No Kings movement
I have written previously about California’s war on energy, which is destroying our economy. Yet, the war on energy is but one facet of the war on our liberties and freedoms. I sat in on a meeting decades ago with members of the Santa Barbara County Cattlemen’s Association as they listened to a warden of […]
Posted inOpinion
Easy-peasy?
Fire season is here, y’all. With more than 80,000 acres burned in the Cuyama Valley and on the Carrizo Plain National Monument since before July 2, and a number of other starts since summer began, now is the time to be careful. That means: Be done with the fireworks, people. I can still hear the […]
Posted inOpinion
Start assisting in immigration issues—and urge Congress to make better laws
I am discouraged by Democrats’ disregard for the oath they took when they were elected to serve in Congress. That oath states in part that “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article 1 of the Constitution established how the government would be run. […]
Posted inOpinion
The majority of us aren’t in the American Dream club
George Carlin once suggested that the concept of the American Dream is a tool used by “the owners” to keep people placid and focused on trivial things, preventing them from realizing how rigged the system is against them. “It’s a big club, and you and me ain’t in it.” This concept has never proved to […]
Posted inOpinion
The ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will destroy us
I am a lifelong Republican. I have developed a new reason to hate getting older. It means I will have only a few more opportunities to vote against all of the elected buffoons from the top down who voted for this “Big, Beautiful Bill” that will destroy our country. The only reason for anyone to […]
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Trump’s all about instilling fear so he can gain power
“Los Angeles is under siege,” the president exclaimed. Don’t be fooled. The demonstrations are a microcosm of Trump’s strategy to usurp more power. His divisive demagoguery is not about law and order. It’s about instilling fear in the minds of Americans so he could wield more power. Jim Huchthausen Nipomo
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Swapping dollars
Santa Barbara County is losing its cannabis enforcement team. That’s one way to save $3 million! Apparently illegal cannabis activities in the county have declined significantly since 2018, when the Sheriff’s Office Cannabis Compliance Team first started ripping through illegal grows, weed whacking, bagging, and confiscating all things pot. I remember the images that the […]
Posted inOpinion
This administration threatens our land, sea, and air
It is all too clear that California’s communities and environment are not immune to the Trump administration—and that state and local leaders’ pushback is powerful and necessary. Having already moved to open public lands to mining and drilling, the Trump administration is now making its presence known off the Central Coast. On April 30, the […]
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Letter-writer’s assumption went a bit too far
I am writing in response to Steve Pepe’s letter in the June 26 issue of the Sun (“Some protest signs have gone too far”) wherein he claims that “86 47” is calling for the assassination of the current president. He is obviously misinformed or unfamiliar with the term “86.” To “86” someone from a bar […]
Posted inOpinion
Insane fireworks
Fireworks are already popping off in northern Santa Barbara County, and we’re still a couple of weeks away from the Fourth of July. Surprised? Nope. Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Lompoc—not to be dramatic, but the city streets turn into a bit of a war zone as darkness descends on Independence Day. You have to be careful […]
Posted inOpinion
Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 6 is on the cusp of being repurposed to better support Falcon 9 launches
Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) on south Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) was first developed in the early 1960s to support the manned orbiting laboratory program. According to the National Museum of the Air Force, the manned orbiting laboratory “never reached fruition, but a great deal of developmental work was accomplished before it too was […]
