This is to thank Gary Freiberg for his opinion piece in the Sun reminding us of the power of the people (“The price is wrong,” Jan. 30). Yes! Let’s start with having fewer eggs (or none at all until prices come down). Buy some nuts at the farmers market. Walnuts are shaped like our brains, […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Hot and bothered
If things weren’t spicy in Buellton before the November election—with a sitting City Council member running against the sitting mayor—they are now. The council is split down the middle, with two council members on one side and the newly elected mayor and another council member on the other. They couldn’t decide on who to appoint […]
Posted inOpinion
Speak out against the supervisors’ plan to change the county’s wireless ordinance
We are all mourning the devastating fires in Los Angeles. The opportunity and responsibility to prevent and stop wireless facility-caused fires in Santa Barbara County is missing in the proposed wireless ordinance. On Feb. 4, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors are planning to vote on amendments to the county wireless ordinance that will […]
Posted inOpinion
The state’s largest egg distributor raises prices, makes record profits though its costs are down
Cal-Maine Foods is the largest egg distributor in California. It recently released its financial statement 2024. Max Bowman, vice president and chief financial officer of Cal-Maine Foods, said, “For the second quarter of fiscal 2025, our net sales were $954.7 million compared with $523.2 million for the same period last year. The higher sales were […]
Posted inOpinion
Slow claps all around
The Santa Barbara County jails’ health care contractor has paid the county back $1 million since 2017. Why? Well. The California Forensic Medical Group—aka Wellpath—hadn’t employed all the staffers it was contracted to employ and was paid for it anyway. That $1 million in credits is Wellpath’s way of reimbursing the county for unfilled positions. […]
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Incompetent political leaders led to the challenges LA firefighters are facing
There is a lot of criticism in the media concerning the response to the catastrophic fires in LA County in mid-January, but is it all justified? Was it the fire department’s response or the result of politicians making bad decisions? First there was the water supply. A retired Orange County fire chief correctly pointed out […]
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Are we prepared?
As wildfires rage across Southern California, it’s impossible not to think about how vulnerable our own Santa Ynez Valley could be in a similar scenario. Fires are unpredictable, devastating, and increasingly common in drought-prone areas like ours. Add to that the overgrowth, high winds, and the growing number of high-density developments here, and it’s clear […]
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Our Pyrocene era
We live in the “Pyrocene” era … the age of fire. Supercharged Santa Ana winds, record high temperatures, and drought have fueled the current wildfire crisis. There is death in Los Angeles County, tens of thousands have been displaced, and countless homes are reduced to ashes. In the far north of our state, massive fires […]
Posted inOpinion
Green with anger
Santa Barbara County is finally doing something about an issue that’s garnered 3,700 complaints since 2018, and zero enforcement. Can you guess what got residents so fired up that they sent what amounts to almost two complaints a day to their elected officials over the past six years? Here’s a hint: It’s green. It’s legal. […]
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Can growth and preservation coexist in the Santa Ynez Valley?
The Santa Ynez Valley, long celebrated for its rolling hills, picturesque vineyards, and historic small towns, is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Across Buellton, Solvang, and neighboring communities, development is accelerating at a pace unseen in decades. More than 630 new residential units and more than 245,000 square feet of commercial and institutional projects are in […]
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Protect the ocean from industrial development
A proposal from the federal government to industrialize the ocean along the Central Coast and Humboldt coastlines with hundreds of 700-foot-tall floating wind turbines would set a precedent that ocean industrialization is acceptable, destroy the character of the Central Coast, and kill ocean wildlife. The Pacific Ocean is home to mammals, birds, and countless varieties […]
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We prefer to be entertained rather than learn from history
The movie Gladiator II entertains hugely. However, it does not educate people about how vengeance came to be the ruling principle of civic and international life in ancient Rome. That rogue philosophy resulted from the drying up of Rome’s system of civics education and from the unregulated accumulation of money and power. Yes, characters in […]
