Opinion

Since taking office in January, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar has made renewable energy a priority, putting the brakes on the preceding administration’s full-steam-ahead approach to destructive oil-shale development and canceling oil and gas leases on the edge of Utah national parks as well as in historic sites on nearby public land.   […]

Only when property rights are protected do average people have a shot at both liberty and prosperity. The question of property ownership goes far back into human history. The right to private property evolved out of a basic moral notion: Private property rights are the hallmark of liberty.
 According to the Property Rights Alliance, which publishes the annual International […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold two public meetings in San Luis Obispo on May 28, four days before PG&E plans to begin removing spent fuel from densely-packed pools and loading the first dry cask at Diablo Canyon. This is an opportunity for the public to ask questions and state opinions.
 The San Luis […]

It is clear that some investments really pay off but not yours and mine, currently. The banks have been investing in politicians, and they are getting their money’s worth. Banks get bailed out, and we don’t. What if we invested our money in politicians and what if banks, corporations, and lobbyists were prevented from doing so? What if we […]

I am a member of the Town Center Gallery and the Los Padres Art Guild in Santa Maria. I would like to thank and commend Shelly Cone for her continued support and appreciation in print of the many artists in and around our area. These two groups are avenues for artists to not only develop […]

A recent issue of the Pediatrics journal found that teens who take virginity pledges are just as likely to have sex as those who do not take the pledge. Also, they are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, thus resulting in unwanted teen pregnancy, which is an epidemic in Santa Maria. […]

The time is deliciously ripe for genuine political unity and perhaps even a shot at reasonable equity for the tattered, beleaguered, ever-shrinking, working middle class. First, the large segment of the populace that has apparently been living in monastic seclusion on an eight-year camping trip in remote Absurdistan needs to be welcomed back into the […]

In honor of the “Day of the Teacher,” the California Retired Teachers Association, Division 17, has donated to the Lompoc Public Library $200 to purchase books for their children’s section. The local organization of the CRTA honors all teachers, but especially those teaching in Northern Santa Barbara County. We are proud of the teachers and […]

On Friday, May 1, approximately 70 students from both Pioneer Valley and Santa Maria high schools decided to cut school so they could protest America’s current stand on illegal immigration. All of the students held Mexican flags as they marched from Main Street to City Hall, where they finally congregated on the corner of Broadway […]

It seems that in California’s current/annual budget debacle, it’s one public employee union against another. “Guns or butter?” we are asked, each side having valid points. What we really need is a healthy private sector that can provide a robust tax return to an inclusive and functioning government and at the same time can provide […]