The May 18, 2024, issue of The Economist reflected upon the vulnerability of the United States to becoming a dictatorship. But while the writer’s focus was on another Donald Trump presidency, I think our closest encounter with dictatorship was in our not-so-distant past. A “dictator” is defined as a leader who has absolute power, […]
Opinion
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Big bucks
After almost getting shut down by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District last year for noncompliance, one cannabis company agreed to pay more than $1.3 million for its polluting ways. Central Coast Agriculture will now hold the incredible title of paying more than any other for violating air pollution regulations in the county—even […]
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Has your family’s standard of living improved in the last four years?
Your standard of living is defined as the degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person or community. Your quality of life is similar, the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual or group: the things that are needed for a good quality of life. Inflation is a general increase […]
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Pay to stay
Is there a limit to how high we can raise taxes, even on tourists? Every four years, it seems like local municipalities devise a way to increase sales tax or transient occupancy tax (TOT). Boy, public safety sure could use a boost, or the roads sure could use an influx of funding, or it’s not […]
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Santa Maria High teacher and coach Bill Yanez deserves to be inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame
I recently came across the list of second year inductees to the Santa Maria High School Athletics Hall of Fame and was, once again, disappointed to find that longtime Saints’ baseball and basketball coach Bill Yanez was not included. When he was left out last year, I assumed he was simply overlooked by the committee, […]
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Arguments against wind help fossil fuel
Yes, it is semantics and spin, and the fossil fuel industry and groups like the Charles Koch Foundation must be delighted to have people like Mandy Davis and the REACT Alliance parroting the propaganda they have been feeding them (“Semantics and spin,” May 30). A recent piece in [the Sun’s sister paper] New Times (“Environmental […]
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‘Donald Trump has shown us who he is’
Trump’s conviction in New York reaffirms the principle that no one—not even a former president—is above the law in the United States of America. The evidence presented to the jury was damning, including numerous falsified documents with Trump’s signature on them. Falsification of business records is a serious crime, and Trump is finally being held […]
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Trump still poses a danger to our democracy
It’s official: After making secret hush money payments to an adult film star 11 days before the 2016 election and falsifying official filings to hide the truth from the public, Donald Trump has been found guilty by a New York jury. Trump’s conviction in New York should remind us all that no one—including a former […]
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More dollars than sense
At the end of the piece titled “EVs are practical” (May 23), the author states, “… and they can help save the environment at the same time.” I wonder if Charles stopped to consider the damage to the environment caused in manufacturing two vehicles for Charles to choose from stacked in Charles’ driveway, or the […]
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Semantics and spin
When it comes right down to it folks, we are living in a most confusing time. It’s next to impossible to discern the truth of a matter and get credible sources of info on anything you may be interested in. Media sources are sometimes biased and bought, the government is all over the map, and […]
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Risky revenue?
Is Lompoc a place that you associate with “Earth-based lodging”? Seems a little targeted toward luxurious hippies, doesn’t it? Like some place someone would pay thousands of dollars a night to stay in the Brazilian Amazon or along the Big Sur coast, where they could zip-line through the forest, get massages under trees, eat all […]
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City clarifies that it won’t implement the grand jury’s recommendations for Visit Lompoc Inc.
Earlier this year, a few local citizens created great concern when they tried to imply that something sinister was happening concerning the finances of Visit Lompoc Incorporated (VLI). According to a May 21 staff report, “Between the months of March and June 2023, three individuals made public comments during the regularly held City Council meetings […]
