Cover Story
Central Coast hospitals are increasing telehealth services amid COVID-19 pandemic
While health care providers have a heightened focus on screening, testing, and treating people infected with COVID-19, there are people who doctors and nurses are treating for reasons not related to the virus. For some patients who don’t want to risk catching or spreading the highly infectious virus during a visit to a clinic or…
Planning Commission continues hearing over controversial cannabis project
During its meeting on April 7, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission picked up a discussion it had started in early December 2019 over a cannabis operation in Cebada Canyon near Lompoc by a corporation called Herbal Angels. Despite not issuing permits for the project during this first discussion, commissioners praised some aspects of the…
Orcutt musician and podcaster Chris Lambert’s new album showcases original soundtrack from Your Own Backyard
Most of Chris Lambert’s inbox is flooded with questions regarding Kristin Smart—whose 1996 disappearance he documented in the popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, which currently sits at more than 4 million downloads worldwide. Aside from the case itself, another aspect of the podcast people frequently email Lambert about is the music. For anyone who’s…
Local high school freshman sews coronavirus cloth masks for loved ones and staff of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
Fourteen-year-old Madi Curran chooses a cloth from an assortment of colorful, themed fabrics—ranging from checkered patterns to different shapes and even animals. With help from a Brother sewing machine and a few elastic straps, Curran converts the fabric into a custom, viable cloth mask. Although these cloth masks aren’t CDC approved in the fight against…
Gallery Los Olivos showcases more than 40 featured artists online
Visitors of Gallery Los Olivos’ website can find artworks of various media from more than 40 of the gallery’s featured artists. Examples of works include mosaic art from Michele Knecht, acrylic pieces from Karin Aggeler, oil landscapes from Sheryl Knight, and watercolor paintings from Karen McLean McGaw. The website also includes a directory of the…
Wine and Design offers take-home painting kits, virtual studio classes
Although Wine and Design in Orcutt is closed to the public, the studio is currently offering special take-home painting kits, which patrons can either pick up or receive by mail or delivery. The kits include paint, brushes, and other materials, which were all sanitized before being wrapped. Pickup hours at the studio are Monday through…
Elverhoj Museum launches This Day in History series
The Elverhoj Museum of History and Art recently launched a new informative email series to share unique bits of Solvang’s history with the community during the museum’s indefinite closure. The series is titled This Day in History and premiered on April 7 with an insightful flashback to Danish royalty visiting Solvang on April 7, 1939.…
Santa Barbara County vintners talk wine while you drink and listen from your home
You miss perusing the grocery store aisles at a leisurely pace. You miss eating out. You miss being served. You miss curling up on a friend’s couch to gossip, drink a glass of wine, and eat some snacks. You miss freedom—the freedom that comes with being able to do whatever you want, when you want. …
Political Watch: April 16, 2020
• The California Fish and Game Commission will consider taking initial steps toward listing certain mountain lion populations as endangered species during its meeting on April 16. This follows the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) determination in February that there is scientific evidence that indicates the species may warrant this elevated protection status.…
While Lompoc’s prison deals with the county’s worst COVID-19 outbreak, the county jail remains relatively unscathed, but some warn it may be next
Between the Santa Barbara County Jail and the Lompoc federal prison, starkly different situations are unfolding. While the Lompoc prison suffers from the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the county—67 inmates and 24 staff members tested positive as of April 14—the county jail had no confirmed inmate cases as of April 10. But according to Aaron…
County moves forward with preliminary budget amid COVID-19 unknowns
Because government budgets are based on projections and estimations, there’s always a degree of uncertainty involved with preparing them. But this is even more so the case during a global pandemic. Santa Barbara County officials held a budget workshop on April 13 for the county’s 2020-21 fiscal year. During the meeting, Assistant County Executive Officer…
Good Samaritan takes over temporary homeless shelter at Santa Maria High
Since the school district agreed to share the Santa Maria High School gym as a temporary homeless shelter a little more than three weeks ago, usage of the satellite shelter has only gone up. The shelter was established in late March under the county’s Unified Command, including the Office of Emergency Services as well as…
Driscoll’s donation to Santa Barbara Foodbank came when community needed it most
Residents of Santa Barbara County are no strangers to overcoming disasters—but as reflected by statistics from the Foodbank, what the county faces now is unprecedented. “We served healthy, nutritious food—from January to March of this year—to 85,000 individuals,” Judith Smith-Meyer, marketing communications manager at the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, told the Sun. “As opposed…
Lompoc City Council meetings remain open to the public amid COVID-19
As most local governments in Santa Barbara County continue to block in-person attendance to their meetings, this isn’t the case in Lompoc. On March 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that allows local and state governments to hold public meetings via conference calls and live video. Following this, local city councils and the…
No matter your fitness level, the Santa Maria Valley YMCA has a virtual class for you
Before COVID-19 orders forced the Santa Maria Valley YMCA to temporarily close its doors, it was more than just a gym. “The Y,” as it’s often dubbed, was a place for people of all fitness levels to gather and get to know one another. “It’s a community at the Y,” said Julie Cruse, fitness director…
CANARY: Keep it up
Well the COVID-19 count in the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary is up to more than 90 as of April 14—and lord knows it’s probably higher now. As as far as we know, 67 of those are inmates. It kind of makes you wonder what they are doing over there. Because we do know what they aren’t…
Oceano dunes crust now has time to heal
Over the years there have been holiday periods with many thousands of vehicles disturbing the dune crust at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. On those high-usage days, unless there was wind, there was no plume of air pollution. But the next time the wind blew, the dust went into the air and dangerous…
The addiction trap
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is serious business. Every responsible citizen ought to inform themselves about that seriousness and do everything possible to protect themselves and others. That being said, I fear that our country is falling into a trap out of which it may never recover. That trap is the addiction to negativity and fear.…
Devin Nunes has dangerous views
U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of the Fresno district is one of the GOP’s top leaders in the House and is regrettably a Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, graduate. He thinks it is more dangerous for people to shelter at home from the coronavirus than be exposed to the virus itself. He has also encouraged Americans…
Government money should help citizens only
The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused me, my family, friends, neighbors, and countless American citizens to lose our jobs and our livelihood. Hopefully with aid from the federal government we can pay our bills and buy food and necessities. This is help we earned and deserve because we paid taxes and are law-abiding American citizens.…
Deny Cat Canyon oil expansion
For those of us who have been opposing the three proposed Cat Canyon oil projects, the announcement that PetroRock has withdrawn its application to drill 231 wells between Sisquoc and Orcutt is welcome news. Meanwhile, the fight continues against the two other Cat Canyon projects. Aera and TerraCore’s projects will add nearly 500 new wells,…
There’s more we can do to stop the virus
I was a local teenager during the 1980s AIDS health crisis. I do not remember being told that there were too few condoms on the market so we should give all the condoms to the health care professionals! Of course there is a difference between the AIDS virus and COVID-19 virus. The comparison is far-fetched.…
