Opinion
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Santa Maria can’t afford more cuts

We need legislators to focus on increasing state revenue instead of cutting vital social programs to compensate for the budget shortfall
by YESENIA DECASAUS

For six years, I have represented thousands of homecare workers. I am a Santa Maria resident and the Central California Coordinator for UDW: local 3930 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents about 900 homecare workers in Santa Maria who serve elderly and disabled clients through the In-Home Support […]

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A new hope

Share Star Wars with a girl in your life, because she can be geeky, too
by RYAN MILLER

So I was at my friends’ house, and their young daughter was playing with a toy that consisted of simple metal locks mounted on a wooden board. She spent quite a while—especially for a toddler—manipulating the various chains and fasteners to open doors that revealed images of cheerful farm animals. Having successfully figured out how […]

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Who wants Nipomo urbanized?

Nipomo
by Daniel Diaz

“There you go again” was an often-used quote of Ronald Reagan every time Jimmy (Misery Index) Carter abused the truth about Reagan’s policy. Anyone who is delusional enough to believe the NCSD’s bureaucratic reality TV, snap out of it. Their Kardashian-style bull gas will pollute what’s left of our rural environment and result in the […]

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Don’t focus on a bad apple

Santa Maria
by Christian Ochoa

I, like former Corporal Kanady (“‘Like a pawn on a chessboard,’” Oct. 20), am a veteran of multiple combat tours. I don’t believe that we were just “numbers,” and my time in-country did serve a purpose. All this is is the whining of a bad soldier; besides, he joined for the wrong purpose. Jail time […]

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Renew the true holiday spirit

The best gift you can receive is the joy of making someone happy: Being unselfish is the only way to really live
by BRYAN GOLDEN

The question most often asked during the holidays when gifts are exchanged is, “What did you get?” Much less frequently asked is, “What did you give?” Invariably, the inquiries regard material gifts. Purchasing a gift certainly can be a thoughtful, wonderful gesture, especially when it’s reinforced by other actions. But the most valuable presents are […]

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Preventing AIDS is not complicated

Simple precautions prevent HIV infection, but 30 years after the discovery of the disease, people younger than 30 have increasingly failed to act
by SAM HO

People who weren’t yet born when AIDS first emerged are now most at risk for becoming HIV positive, an alarming development that underscores the urgent need for education about this terrible disease—as Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, must remind us. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the HIV incidence rate for […]

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If you could “occupy” anything to raise awareness, what would you occupy?

by Sun Staff

Elias Soto processing team “A church. I’d say, help the poor people.” Emily Dill site director “Grade schools, to change the way people look at education.” Mya White radiology technologist “Schools—all of them—[for] race relations.” David Rutherford student “A large school, [to] take responsibility, own up to the things we have to do and the […]

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