About every four minutes of every day, at nearly all controlled traffic signals in Santa Maria, two and sometimes four vehicles traveling toward each other nervously swerve to avoid a collision. This game of automobile chicken plays out in all controlled traffic signal left turn lanes. This is neither safe nor sane. You and your […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Complaints all around
I’d almost rather pay for a wedding than vote in the primary election. I might not be the only person who feels that way. There isn’t a lot of exciting stuff on the ballot. The choices are almost predetermined. But, hey, at least no one is running unopposed! You’ve got incumbent conservative 4th District Santa […]
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Does ‘social justice’ really require that poor people be given the same bragging rights as the wealthy?
Whoever knew that equity and social justice requires that folks be able to live in Beverly Hills regardless of their financial means? This may the biggest lifestyle boost since the Beverly Hillbillies struck crude and rolled into town. The legendarily swank enclave of Beverly Hills is in a real lather. The enlightened social engineers in […]
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The Oceano beach death is on the ODSVRA
On Jan. 10, 2024, a man was found dead on the beach at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA) by State Parks rangers. The next day his car was found in the ocean. On Jan. 18, the Sun published a letter by Oceano resident Mary Martin: “Too many risks in Oceano.” What else […]
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There is only one promising, nonpartisan candidate for 3rd District supervisor
Voters have received vote-by-mail ballots. All three incumbent county Supervisors running for reelection need to be replaced, but I want to focus on the 3rd District because that’s where I live. The 3rd District supervisor’s seat is being contested by two people: One is widely known in the Lompoc Valley, and the other is relatively […]
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America doesn’t need to start over; it just needs tweaks
I have never understood the MAGA movement. Make America great again? America has always been great. I should know. I have been to at least 50 countries and all 50 states. While America may need to be tweaked once in a while, as democracy is dynamic, she does not need to be destroyed, as Trump […]
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The bond and the baby
What can I say about Proposition 1? It’s hard to know how to vote—unless you’re adamantly against the state taking out a $6.4 billion bond to build more places where people can get mental health care and substance abuse treatment and more housing for people with health and substance abuse challenges. Sounds like a problem […]
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Hartmann gets Santa Ynez
I love calling the Santa Ynez Valley home because residents show up to support each other. But it is evident that much of our workforce can’t be part of that because of the high cost of living here. At the College Elementary School District in Santa Ynez, our school board and superintendent continually ask, “How […]
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Biden vs. Trump
I am responding to John Donegan’s letter in the opinion section of Feb. 1 (“Ruling Donald Trump stricken from the ballot is a big deal, so don’t take it lightly”). It seems he has been confused by MAGA Republican propaganda. He said inflation had been running rampant the last three years. Not true. After COVID, […]
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What a racket!
Tennis players and pickleball players are frenemies who simply cannot share a court—and the battle over volleying space is getting tense in Solvang. Hans Christian Andersen Park hosts the city’s only two pickleball courts but they’re on the verge of closure with cracking and drainage issues. “The current courts are getting to the point where […]
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Costco should cut ties with Citibank
I worry about the climate. Lots of folks do these days. So I was really disappointed to learn that Citibank is one of the biggest lenders to fossil fuel companies. Since 2016 Citi has invested a whopping $332 billion in this industry, ever worsening the livability of our planet as we fight a barrage of […]
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Reelect Joan Hartmann
In my 11 years as an administrator with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, I had the opportunity to work with many members of the county Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Joan Hartmann is among the very best. As a county administrator in the past and as a current 3rd District resident, I find that […]
