This began not as a Los Alamos NIMBY thing, but as an unfortunate example of much-less-than-best practices by government. Hundreds have signed petitions and sent letters requesting better plans for development of a lot. Why place 12 dwellings on an acre-and-a-half without safe and adequate access? The access road, a shoulderless fire lane, would remain […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Hoping for mutual respect and kindness
This is in response to a recent article featuring problems with the newly hired district manager, Ron Jacobs, at the Santa Maria Cemetery (“Residents and workers complain about oversight at the Santa Maria Cemetery, which is showing little sign of changing,” April 7). Our bereavement organization, Angel of Hope, which memorializes children who have passed […]
Posted inOpinion
Critical and blessed
Looks like Santa Barbara County is staying true to itself with the district attorney’s race in which nobody is running against current District Attorney Joyce Dudley’s handpicked replacement, Deputy District Attorney John Savrnoch. Savrnoch will sail on through the primary like fellow “campaigners” 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino and Laura Capps, who is walking into […]
Posted inOpinion
Local farmers oppose the proposed expansion of the Santa Maria River Levee Trail
Santa Maria Valley is undoubtedly a beautiful place that deserves to be enjoyed and explored by the entire community and beyond. The Santa Maria River Levee Trail expansion would offer stunning views and provide a recreational connection between the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe; however, the unintended consequences of this expansion will come at […]
Posted inOpinion
Very nice
To hear Mike Stoker tell it, campaigning for elected office is really about one thing: “How it really should work is to have two candidates with two different perspectives who are willing to own those perspectives. We can both be nice people but it’s a question of what direction you want for California.” Two candidates […]
Posted inOpinion
A cost history of how the Lompoc Aquatic Center has become a ‘money pit hidden from public view’
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. First let’s stipulate that a community needs a recreational venue like an aquatic center; in Lompoc the city’s aquatic center currently serves about 10,000 users each month. The second […]
Posted inOpinion
There is a way to keep mobile homes affordable
Reading about the problems homeowners in manufactured home parks have in Santa Maria (“A long haul,” March 31) reminds me of the issues with these associations all over the state. Some county district attorneys have even gotten involved. San Mateo County attorneys tried to step in when a water park of houseboats lost their berths […]
Posted inOpinion
Coastal Commission, State Parks need accountability now more than ever
On March 21, the SLO Superior Court denied our motion requesting to intervene as defendants in the suit brought forth by Friends of Oceano Dunes and EcoLogic against the California Coastal Commission challenging its 2021 decision to ban most vehicle use in the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. The Oceano Beach Community Association is […]
Posted inOpinion
The U.S. needs a fair, equitable overhaul of the income tax system
American taxpayers should be up in arms and madder than hell over the taxes they are paying every year. Our taxes are at 50 percent of our income per year. We must work until about May 15 (tax freedom day) each year just to pay our taxes. Most families must have two members working to […]
Posted inOpinion
Not good enough
What is the solution to homelessness? I can tell you that clearing out encampments isn’t a solution—it’s just temporary relief for the housed population that can’t deal with the problems that come with an unwanted gathering of people who have nowhere else to go. These include environmental issues that stem from trash and human waste, […]
Posted inOpinion
Call, response?
Empty liquor bottles, bullets, and Porta-Potties aren’t allowed on or near gravesites at the Santa Maria Cemetery. You’re not allowed to drink alcohol or have a barbecue there either. While that may sound like common sense, it apparently is not common knowledge—according to the Santa Maria Cemetery District, which posted a long PDF on its […]
Posted inOpinion
Is Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne really ‘glossing over’ the violence that’s happening in Lompoc, as the Canary says?
A recent headline in the Sun reported, “Lompoc officials, community organizations respond to violent crimes through investment in public safety and youth violence prevention” (“Pieces of the puzzle,” March 17), and a follow-up editorial opined that Mayor Jenelle “Osborne does a lot of glossing over of the violence that’s happening in Lompoc”; and claimed that […]
