Cover Story
Don’t eat the fish
The story of Oso Flaco Lake starts with liquefied fish—as in fish caught via electro-shock and thrown into a blender. The resulting mush is tested for pollutants. These aren’t just any old worth-fishing-for fish; they’re goldfish the size of largemouth bass. And these goldfish have levels of DDT in them that beat out any other…
What do you do to save energy?
David Holmes lab technician “We keep our lights off during the day. And we got a newer fridge because our old one was ancient and taking up too much power.” David Holmes lab technician “We keep our lights off during the day. And we got a newer fridge because our old one was ancient and…
Right where I belong
With so much going on in the world, it’s amazing how we sometimes worry most about the smallest things. I was reminded of this recently. As Ron and I discussed politics and the likelihood of a psycho’s missile trajectory reaching the mainland United States, my kids had more important things on their minds. I’ll change…
All paths lead to music
When musicians find themselves in harmony in a certain place and time, the instinct is to make more music and more harmony, which requires more musicians. Bent Myggen is a Danish-born musician and singer-songwriter. He comes from a family of musicians who have included conductors, concert pianists, and singers. He first came to America performing…
Art Briefs
Get a ‘Clue’ Was it Professor Plum with the candlestick, or Colonel Mustard with the revolver? You will have to catch one of the Righetti Actors Guild’s upcoming productions to solve this mystery. The Righetti Actors Guild is presenting a production of CLUE: The Musical, which features characters based off of the famous board game…
The coin connection
With standardization of coinage in ancient Rome, there came a tradition we still use today: Printing the faces of politicians into often precious metal. Although our coins circulating today aren’t forged with precious metals such as gold and silver, coin collectors still pass around precious metal coins as well as coins that are purely collectibles.…
Voices of the past
The Santa Maria Valley Historical Societies’ archive is brimming with artifacts galore from Santa Maria, the surrounding areas, and beyond; and the recent discovery of three large scrapbooks filled with letters from the Civil War era has put the small nonprofit museum in contact with presidential libraries and other historical organizations across the country. The…
Wine wonderland
This is it! April 19 through 21 is one of the best weekends of the year to visit Santa Barbara County’s more than 100 wineries because it’s Vintners’ Festival weekend, a time for wineries to open their doors, debut new releases, and make their winemakers available to the public. This year, the main event, Saturday…
Get ready for the Orcutt Track Classic
Patterson Road Elementary School will be host to the Orcutt Track Classic this year. Scheduled for April 21 at Pioneer Valley High School, the track meet will kick off at 9 a.m. The event is open to all boys and girls (grades 3 through 8) in Santa Barbara County. The registration fee is $10 per…
Remembering Eric
Help combat distracted driving and honor Eric Okerblom at this year’s Eric’s Run. Scheduled for April 21, the event will be held at Orcutt Community Park. Events include the 5K run/walk and the 10K run/walk. Runner check in and race-day registration starts at 7 a.m. with the first race beginning at 8 a.m. The 5K…
Kiwanis All-Star basketball
Join the Santa Maria Valley Evening Kiwanis for their 23rd annual Central Coast All-Star basketball tournament to be held at Allan Hancock College on April 20. The tournament will feature the best of local basketball talent with San Luis Obispo County facing off against Santa Barbara County. There will be a girls’ game and boys’…
Wrestler makes history
Righetti wrestler Luke Wilson has just returned from the high-school wrestling nationals tournament in Virginia. A senior this season, Wilson placed third nationally in his weight class (152 lbs). Wilson is the third All-American in Righetti High School history and the first-ever two-time All-American in school history. He placed eighth last year. Congratulations to Luke…
Athlete of the Week: Courtney Tompkins
Pioneer Valley wrestler Courtney Tompkins is her own toughest critic. Despite having just returned home from the wrestling nationals in Oklahoma City, Okla.—where the junior took third place and earned All-American honors for the second year in a row—Tompkins wasn’t as thrilled as would be expected. “Third place was my goal but I made a…
The ‘Dogs are going swimming
The Allan Hancock College swimming pool is empty—no swimmers, no water—while it awaits some needed repairs. But soon enough, the light blue liquid will return, and come spring 2014, the pool will become home to the Hancock swim team. A press release distributed earlier this month announced that the local community college would be adding…
Heat wave
I’m not ready to talk about the bombing at the Boston marathon. Not yet. And I don’t want to talk about DDT-saturated fish swimming—though it sounds to me they should be floating belly up—in Oso Flaco Lake. But I will talk about how I felt like a fish out of water (a bird out of…
Auf wiedersehen
Americans continue to feel economic hunger pangs even though the recession, as a cold statistical anomaly, ended a while ago. Indisputable evidence in key sectors tells us that the economy is expanding at accelerating rates. Even the single-family housing market—the industry that seemed as still as a stuffed bobcat just a year ago—started showing signs…
Taylor Elementary to perform Alice in Wonderland
The Ethel Pope Auditorium stage will fill with fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students on April 18 and 19, when they perform the musical version of Alice in Wonderland. Students from Taylor Elementary School have rehearsed the play since fall. What’s different about this particular elementary school production is its length, said Nedina Asencio, Taylor fourth-grade…
Delta students need new equipment to finish their video game
Math students at Delta High School need to raise $10,000 by April 26. It’s money that could upgrade the computers and software they’re using to create their own video game. They need the upgrade to help finish the project, which math teacher Justin Fraser started as an experiment with the purchase of game-making software called…
Spotlight on: The Rock Seafood and Grill
Due to popular demand, The Rock Seafood and Grill in Nipomo will soon open its second location in Santa Maria. And expectations for its success are nothing but high. Inspiration for the opening sprouted from customer demand, said owner Daniel Rivas, since many Orcutt and Santa Maria residents personally requested another location for the Christian-based…
Hobnobbing With Helen
It was your basic, old-fashioned, old-time variety show. There were singers, dancers, harmonica players, keyboard players, guitarists, and violinists from all age groups. These locals performed with pizzazz when they were on stage at the Rotary Club’s annual “Santa Maria Has Talent” show on April 11, 12, and 13. This event grows in popularity each…
Super seniors
Do you know someone over 65 years old who’s doing a great job helping others? Residents throughout California are encouraged to cast their vote for the state’s Outstanding Senior Volunteer as part of the Salute to Senior Service program, which honors seniors who give at least 15 hours a month of volunteer service to their…
Back to biology
Scientists, farmers, and regulators across California are working on a plan to significantly reduce the use of toxic fumigants, such as methyl bromide, in the state’s strawberry fields. Earlier this month, the Department of Pesticide Regulation released a list of goals for the industry to pursue that includes recommendations to expand breeding programs for plants…
Vandenberg missile test postponed
News broke on April 6 that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had ordered a planned missile launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base be postponed in light of the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. The decision to postpone the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) test that was planned for April 9 came as part of…
Final phase of levee repairs to finish in 2013
By next winter, Santa Maria residents won’t have to worry about being flood victims anymore—at least not because of the Santa Maria River. The fourth and final section of the Bradley Canyon Levee is scheduled for repair construction to begin in May and finish before the end of the year, said Tawny Tran, the Santa…
Murder case judge admonishes attorneys
With 10 suspects clothed in orange or blue and cuffed with padlocks, 10 defense attorneys milling around with nowhere to sit, four sheriff’s deputies, and the metallic echo of voices coming through a too-loud speaker, the Department 9 in Santa Maria courtroom felt small on April 10. The arraignment hearing for suspects allegedly involved in…
Summit highlights Santa Barbara County’s energy sector
The California Energy Action Summit held April 12 in the dining room of the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott Hotel offered a diverse sampling of speakers, including experts from Texas and North Dakota—two of the highest-ranked states in the nation when it comes to employment in the oil and gas industry. Delore Zimmerman kicked off the…
Citrus are quarantined from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border
The discovery of the ninth Asian citrus psyllid in Santa Barbara County since last November prompted the California Department of Food and Agriculture to put the county’s citrus trees and fruit under quarantine as of April 8. Three of those teeny bugs were found in a relatively small area near the public library in Santa…
What’s that smell?
Ah, there’s nothing like the smell of legislation. Yes, legislation actually has a smell—many different smells, to be exact. Some bills, like AB65, local Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian’s proposal to extend rape-by-fraud protections to unmarried women, smell like justice and morality. I’m honestly not sure what that smells like, but you’d recognize it if you got…
