Cover Story
After deportation: Agencies and community groups support local families after an undocumented family member gets taken away
It’s been a little more than a year since Susan Valerio left her friends, a job as a medical assistant, and her boyfriend behind in San Diego to take over as the head of the household after her mother, Neofita Valerio-Silva, was deported in January 2018. Her father, Carlos Bernal, was deported the year before…
Spotlight on: WALI
In 2012, the United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County embarked on a campaign to improve literacy skills in the region, while the Santa Maria-based nonprofit EconAlliance was working on a workforce development program. After noticing how connected the two issues are, the organizations combined their efforts to create the Workforce and Literacy Initiative (WALI).…
Watching The Great British Bake Off can get under your skin and into your oven
Freshly baked bread hits my nose as soon as I open the door to my house on April 9. It’s unusual considering I live alone, worked all day, and then went to class. But my cousin Parisa Amini has been staying with me for the last couple of weeks, and she’s become obsessed with baking.…
Eli Cook performs acoustic show at Santa Maria’s Radisson Hotel
Virginia-born artist Eli Cook grew up in Albemarle County, amid the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. If I was on Jeopardy and one of the Daily Double categories was “mountain ranges,” there’s very little chance I’d bet anything higher than zero—unless the question pertains to the Disneyland trinity (Space, Splash, and Thunder). That’s why…
Balloon race
I was thinking about pecking at Lompoc for its budget issue again this week—you know, the same one that some current Lompoc City Council members failed to address during the last budget cycle—but I’m moving on to more important things. Lompoc’s got an even bigger problem to deal with. Balloons. Some kid (probably) lost their…
What is their end game?
The Lompoc City Council had another discussion about what to do about the next two-year budget. To put it in plain language, they have a serious problem that is only going to get worse. City Manager Jim Throop, who has 30 years of budgeting experience, opened the meeting saying, “This is a very big budget…
Political Watch Apr. 25, 2019
• On April 16, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) unveiled Senate Bill 468, which would require the evaluation of certain California tax credits and exemptions for their effectiveness as well as economic, social, or another benefits to the state. A press release from Jackson’s office stated that many of California’s nearly 80 tax expenditures have…
Hobknobbing with Helen: Cowboy style in the valley
Two organizations that provide support for cancer patients—in one way or another—enjoyed astounding success at their annual fundraisers. I was dazzled by the sea of faces at the Teal Journey’s fourth annual fashion show and luncheon on Saturday afternoon, April 6, at the Radisson. My, how the Teal Journey has grown. About 250 people were…
Lompoc city staff, council fail to compromise on a budget plan
While staring down an estimated $3.6 million deficit for its 2019-21 fiscal years, the city of Lompoc is revisiting a conversation similar to one that City Council and city staff had two years ago. When Lompoc began drafting its budget for the 2017-19 fiscal years, then City Manager Patrick Wiemiller, who left his position in…
Guadalupe residents share ideas for improvements
A group of a dozen or so Guadalupe residents trailed slowly behind Josh Meyer and Michael Moule as they walked down Guadalupe Street on April 22. Moule, a traffic engineer, seemed to study every aspect of the street as he walked, peering over sidewalk curbs into gutters, pushing on street sign posts to check for…
CAUSE releases data from ‘hard to reach’ residents
Housing and access to higher education are the key issues addressed in a recently released report, the product of nearly a year of surveys and town halls to gather input from what CAUSE calls “hard to reach residents.” Leaders from CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy) called a press conference outside…
City approves road projects funding for next five years
Santa Maria is ready to spend about $26 million from a countywide sales tax measure on road maintenance and improvement projects over the next five years. At its April 16 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council approved a plan to spend this revenue generated through Measure A between fiscal years 2019-20 and 2023-24. Measure…
Bomb threat during county meeting under investigation
A planned one-hour break during a county Board of Supervisors’ budget workshop meeting in Santa Barbara was extended by more than an hour after an individual called in a bomb threat on the building where the meeting was taking place. During the noon break of the April 17 meeting, Santa Barbara Police officers notified…
The Sun sets on ‘Man Overboard’
On Sept. 8, 2000, during the principal year the Santa Maria Sun was published, the first installment of the Man Overboard column was printed. That initial 1,000-word article set the stage for what the column would be for many years. The column was about my kids—who were 1 and 4 years old at the time—a…
‘Sideways’ car display benefits local summer camp
The owners of the red Saab featured in the 2004 film Sideways are partnering with Summer in the Park to raise funds to support the latter’s free summer camp program for children ages 3 to 13 in Los Alamos. The car will be on display at the Foxen Vineyard and Winery’s tasting room in Santa…
The Art of Dress opens at Elverhoj Museum
The opening reception for The Art of Dress, a new group show at Elverhoj Museum of History and Art in Solvang, takes place on Saturday, April 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. The exhibit features works by 20 artists who will be present at the reception for the public to meet with. Artists were asked…
Local author Tony Piazza is out with his latest mystery novel, ‘Murder in the Cards’
Local writer Tony Piazza is the author of five mystery novels featuring private investigator Tom Logan, including Anything Short of Murder, A Murder Amongst Angels, Murder is Such Sweet Revenge, Murder Will Out, and his latest, Murder in the Cards. He is also the author of The Curse of the Crimson Dragon, as well as…
Botanical painting provides a way to have a closer relationship with nature and art
Artist Chris Chapman grew up in Southern California, where she formed a strong bond with the distinct regional elements of nature. Warm, wide-open spaces filled with seasonal highlights of the landscape formed the backbone of a career she would devote to art and preservation. “It’s just something I’ve always loved,” she said. “I’m someone who…
Isaac Hill
By the time the summer Olympics roll into Los Angeles in 2028, California’s own Isaac Hill could be in attendance as a taekwondo competitor, and some say Hill even has enough potential to strike gold. Hill, 13, has been training with coaches Cort Newby and Steve Sanders for the past three years at Santa Maria…
High school superintendent announces plans to retire
Santa Maria’s high school district will lose its superintendent at the end of this school year, and another longtime administrator plans to apply for the soon-to-be opened position. After seven years leading the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and 31 years in education, Superintendent Mark Richardson announced on April 12 that he plans…
Spotlight on: R&R Furniture Outlet
After operating a furniture store near Dallas for more than 15 years, Tuluh Rana and his family wanted to grow their company and open additional locations. Feeling the allure of the area’s weather and scenery, the family found a suitable site in the Central Coast. Under a name different from their store in Texas, the…
