Special Issues
Posted inSpecial Issues
Cuteness ahead: Our annual pet photo contest winners are bound to ease your mind
Warning: The photos on the following pages will bring a smile to your face. They’re adorable! Readers from Santa Ynez to Lompoc to Paso Robles submitted more than 300 images of their non-human companions as part of this year’s competition. A panel of in-house judges narrowed them down to the top three in each of […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Homeward, westbound: Nipomo native’s Army tour in Kuwait ends with adopting the stray dog he befriended
Despite having a soft spot for animals, U.S. Army service member Matthew Petersen said he rarely approached the stray dogs he observed while recently deployed in Kuwait. But something about the dog he’d eventually name Turkey stood out to him as a invitation to make an exception. “Dogs on the base, and even around the […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Fowl play: Generations of peacocks have made Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards their home
Keith Kelsey never intended to become the caretaker of 300 peacocks. He just wanted to bring a few birds home. About 45 years ago, Kelsey and his brother rounded up seven peacocks from a ranch near Highway 101 south of Pismo Beach and transported them to their family’s property in See Canyon. The birds settled […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Best of NSBC 2026
A tribute to the winners of our annual readers poll
The tribe—that’s you, dear readers—has made its final decision about the businesses, organizations, and people who make the community shine. Only those who have outserved, outshone, and outsmarted the rest to become the best are included in this issue. As part of the season 26 finale, take a gander at the sole survivors of our […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Education Today 2026
A new after-school program for some Santa Maria-Bonita schools and the state’s new on-campus cellphone rules
Aug. 13 is the first day of school for Santa Maria Valley students, which can mean so many things—a new school, new friends, new subjects to be interested in. For some local youth, it will also mean the chance to participate in a new after-school program with Think Together. For our annual Education Today issue, […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Think Together marks county debut with revamped after-schooling on 13 campuses
When mid-August rolls around, a new group will lead after-school activities at 13 schools—nine elementary schools and four middle schools—in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District (SMBSD). The new arrangement for the 2026-27 school year marks Think Together’s first time serving schools in Santa Barbara County. But the statewide nonprofit’s local ties don’t start there. Longtime […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
California’s Phone-Free School Act took effect in July, but local parents want uniform enforcement
Two years after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Phone-Free School Act, kids in California are about to find out the effects of the bill once they return from summer break. By July 1, 2026, every school district, county office of education, and charter school had to develop and adopt policies to limit on-campus smartphone use. […]
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55 Fiction: Winners of our annual contest tell tiny tales of marriage, mayhem, madness, and more
Since we opened our doors, the Sun has insisted that you, too, can become a published writer. In our annual 55 Fiction contest, we ask would-be authors to send us their tiny stories and cross their fingers. In 55 words or fewer, weave a tale full of emotion, description, and surprise. Give us characters and […]
Posted inGet Outside
Central Coast Women for Fisheries spreads the word about life at sea
FEATURE Overboard, and troublesome heavy deck machinery in unpredictable maritime settings. The lives of the women close to them are no less marked by sacrifice. “Some of the women in this group have raised their kids when their husbands were gone for weeks at a time, and all they could do was talk to them […]
Posted inGet Outside
Achieve ‘beach karma’ with the Central Coast Treasure Hunters Association
TRAILBLAZING Whether it falls around sunrise or closer to the witching hour, low tide is when you’ll find Los Osos resident Matt Andrews out on a beach looking for treasure, armed with his metal detector. While drawing lines in the sand, Andrews grids the ground he covers to avoid missing a spot or scanning the […]
Posted inGet Outside
Astronomy buffs share their knowledge of the night sky during monthly star parties
FEATURE faraway galaxies appearing in the lens may no longer be the same. Starry objects can be tens of millions of light years away. So far out that light spent millions of years traveling to Earth, making the objects visible to humans. “I just want to know more,” Lipper said. “The longer you look, the […]
