At a Senate hearing in June, Marco Rubio claimed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) operated as “an independent State Department,” working contrary to U.S. interests. Despite Rubio’s previously claiming “no kids were dying under [his] watch,” former leading USAID administrator Atul Gawande told The New Yorker that according to recent studies, approximately […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Too far gone
The city of Buellton no longer considers Pea Soup Andersen’s an official city landmark. After hemming and hawing this spring over what exactly it was going to allow the current landowner to do to the building, the Buellton City Council came up with a solution to the problem it had inadvertently created: Pull the historic […]
Posted inOpinion
Salud Carbajal’s housing spin is why voters are tired of politics
Housing is one of the most pressing issues facing the Central Coast. So when Congress passes a bipartisan housing bill, it should be good news. But instead of simply telling the truth, politicians too often turn good news into campaign spin. That is what Congressman Salud Carbajal is doing through the 21st Century ROAD to […]
Posted inOpinion
Americans should be proud!
It’s finally happened: actual American athletes and American fans singing our National Anthem at the World Cup! From what I’ve observed, in every other country in the world other than the United States, fans sing their anthems with pride and gusto at sporting events! Maybe this might spur our nation’s fans to follow suit! Rather […]
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Trump’s dedication of Theodore Roosevelt Library highlights major contrasts
On July 1, Donald Trump flew to the Theodore Roosevelt Library in a jet gifted to him by the Qatari dictator, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. This is unprecedented. What was typical is that, once at the new library, Donald Trump spoke only about Donald Trump. A few contrasts between the two men: • […]
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Not too much!
Santa Maria’s mobile home park dwellers have been asking the city for rent control for years now, and recently, they again didn’t get what they asked for. But senior mobile home park residents may breathe a little easier if the Santa Maria City Council does what the Planning Commission recommended: pass an ordinance that would […]
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Sometimes change is good, but seemingly arbitrary changes to city government bring chaos
There may be a political renaissance in the making in Lompoc. Sometimes change is good, and other times it may bring only chaos to a community. For the last couple of City Council meetings, there seems to have been an organized effort to undermine the traditional way our City Council, current and past, has been […]
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County is poised to make good energy decisions
It will be a consequential summer for energy policy in Santa Barbara County. Currently, you can drill for oil, but you can’t put a solar farm in the same industrial site. That is set to reverse with an oil ordinance to prohibit new oil drilling to be considered in September and a solar ordinance to […]
Posted inOpinion
Reject, protect
When new ownership and management started making changes to their mobile home park’s policies and rent, residents of Del Cielo Mobile Estates in Orcutt spoke up. First, they went to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors with their concerns about the park becoming an all-ages community, and the board made changes to local policy. […]
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Angry boomers: Our generation remembers older generations’ hardships and we’re grateful for our lives of relative ease
In yet another generational skirmish, Generation Z is now characterizing us boomers as “angry” for unreasonably resisting their demands that we shuffle off to the graveyard and bequeath them our homes and assets. Perhaps they are just confusing the term “angry” with the word “no,” which they are apparently just now hearing for the first […]
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Standing up for offshore wind in California
Thank you, California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild and Attorney General Rob Bonta, for announcing the state’s intent to sue over the Trump administration’s offshore wind lease buybacks. It’s no secret that California needs more electricity. Diablo Canyon will not operate forever. We have a great opportunity to tap a new renewable and clean energy […]
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The state supersedes local control when it comes to ADUs and your quality of life
All you people out there who worked hard all your lives to live in a single-family neighborhood or think you’re safe from increased congestion in a homeowners association (HOA) managed development, get ready for a relatively new state law that can impact your quality of life. On June 10, the Lompoc Planning Commission debated a […]
