Cover Story
The elusive medical Mary Jane: While mobile cannabis dispensaries dominate the local industry, one group is seeking to open a storefront in Nipomo
Beneath the icepack on a small black fabric cooler sits more than trim, smelly buds of cannabis. Botanical Elements Owner Justin Bonfield carries a slew of medical marijuana products, each one designed to serve a specific function. There are lotions and salves to sooth aching muscle pains and arthritic joints. There are pills and oil…
Do you think obtaining a medical marijuana license should be difficult or relatively easy?
Brenda Arcos student “I’m not sure. It should be accessible for those that need it, but not so easy that anyone can get it.” Karina Aguilar student “I don’t know. I prefer to stay neutral.” Chris Rodriguez recreation specialist “Harder. I believe it should be more difficult to obtain a medical marijuana license so that…
A memoir of mythic vines: Sean Christopher Weir’s ‘Mad Crush’ digs deep into ancient Arroyo Grande soil
Chapter three: “The first time Bill made wine, he was buck naked. Clothing wasn’t optional at the communal grape stompings on Mountain Drive above Santa Barbara …” Can I just say, it’s been a few years since I’ve lain in bed and highlighted full sentences in a book, cap in my mouth, pages dog-eared to…
Alec DeLeon
Alec DeLeon, a senior at Ernest Righetti High School, is a stalwart of the middle- and long-distance squads on the Warriors’ track team. He can run a mile in 4:26. His record for the 400-meter hovers slightly above 50 seconds. At the outset of his running career, however, DeLeon was not a distance runner. “I…
12-year-old video game prodigy preps for international Street Fighter tournament
One of the best Street Fighter IV players on the planet is a 12-year-old who lives in Lompoc. Noah Solis, who isn’t in middle school yet, will travel to Las Vegas this summer for an international tournament with thousands of dollars in prize money on the line. He plays for Empire Arcadia, celebrated by the…
Supporting change: Picketers in Santa Maria support strike against Driscoll’s
Picketers took to the corner of Main Street and Broadway in Santa Maria to support workers in Baja California on strike against Driscoll’s, a strawberry producer based in Oxnard. Pedro Reyes, a local social change advocate, said the American-based company exploits workers in another country, calling the system “crazy.” The strike, which started on March…
Santa Barbara County Public Health investigates potential hepatitis, HIV exposures
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is currently investigating the medical office of Dr. Allen Thomashefsky, where patients may have been exposed to blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and HIV. “It’s a single-practice medical office,” department spokesperson Susan Klein-Rothschild told the Sun. “We’re focusing on serving those patients first.” Klein-Rothschild said the department is…
Lois Capps announces 2015 Congressional Art Competition
Rep. Lois Capps announced that she is seeking entries for the 2015 annual Congressional Art Competition, open to all high school students in the 24th Congressional District. The winning work will hang in the U.S. Capitol for a year and compete with pieces from across the nation. “This annual art competition is a wonderful opportunity…
AAUW Santa Maria giving Tech Trek scholarships
The American Association of University Women’s (AAUW) Santa Maria Branch is granting full scholarships for eight local students to attend UC Santa Barbara’s Tech Trek, a weeklong science and math camp designed to develop interest and confidence in young women entering the eighth grade in the fall. The camp features hands-on activities in math, science,…
Santa Maria high school district art teachers collaborate on mural
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s (SMJUHSD) Professional Development Center just received a new mural painted by district art teachers. The 7-foot-tall mural stretches 40-feet along the boardroom wall and depicts an aerial view of Santa Maria. Ernest Righetti High School art teachers LeeAnne Del Rio and Melissa Johnson, Santa Maria High School…
Community invited to vote on Water Wise video contest
The Santa Barbara County Water Agency announced that voting is underway for a People’s Choice Award in the annual Water Wise High School Video Contest. Community members are invited to view the videos on the agency’s Facebook page and vote for their favorite via Facebook likes. The deadline for voting is Earth Day, April 22.…
Mexican Masterpieces Chalk Festival to benefit Los Alamos library
C Gallery owner Connie Rohde has more than a fair amount of experience producing and overseeing chalk festivals. The longtime arts educator organized the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School’s chalk festival for years, amassing as many as 200 student artists, all creating street art in a day. Rohde is now organizing what she calls…
Poetic Justice Project fundraiser features actor William Brown
The star of the new web series The wHOLE by Think Ten Media Group, actor William Brown, will speak at an upcoming fundraiser event for the Poetic Justice Project (PJP) on April 12. Brown is a longtime collaborator with the PJP and artistic director Deborah Tobola, who originally recommended Brown to Think Ten Media’s Ramon…
Riptide Big Band swings hits for senior Spring Fling
It’s been more than a year since Riptide Big Band musical director Judy Lindquist first moved to the Central Coast and assembled the 16-piece jazz ensemble. The group has enjoyed an artistic residency of sorts at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center thanks to the continued support of the Mussell Senior Club, which regularly sponsors dance…
The write stuff
I wrote an entire book in 40 days. Yes, just 40 days; I thought it was pretty impressive too. It was 130,000 words, super funny (in my opinion anyway), and it had a beginning and an end, resulting in what I assumed was a best seller. The book was titled Cadet Blues, and after 40…
Going green
Medical marijuana, huh? Hoo! Talk about a touchy subject! The green stuff is less controversial today than it’s been in years past, considering that it’s been decriminalized in several states—even for recreational use alone!—and is kinda sorta allowed in certain situations in California, as long as the right person is looking the wrong way and…
A ‘nut’ case
We get it: four years of drought, dried-up reservoirs, and no significant rain in sight. We’ve got a problem. A few reliable sources have come forward to publicly mention the facts about how our water is “shared.” Some have even pointed out the glaring inequity in distribution to residential, business, and governmental users (estimated as…
Really?
Are you Lucia Mar Unified School Board members for real? Are you really going to compliantly watch your superintendent treat your most vital resource, your teachers, as if they are adversaries? Are you really going to continue to watch and allow the compensation schedule for your teachers fall further and further behind that of other…
When ya gotta go, you gotta go!
“Mommy! I have to go potty, NOW!” What parent has not heard these words and frantically looked around for somewhere to take their child? No gas station handy or big store to run to. “Ah, we’ll just pop into (insert a food place or smaller retail store).” Hmmm, maybe not. Just recently, I was assisting…
The cost of closing Diablo Canyon
When Diablo Canyon is shut down, its electrical production will have to be replaced by another source of energy. It cannot be renewable resources, as the existing renewable resources are already accounted for in current production, so new renewable resources would have to be built to replace it, and resources like wind and solar are…
Hancock College hosts Student Success Summit
Allan Hancock College hosted its second annual Student Success Summit on April 3. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the summit gathered faculty, staff, students, and representatives from local high schools—as well as Cal Poly and CSU Channel Islands—to discuss new methods of promoting student success. Marla Allegre, English faculty and co-chair of the AHC…
Pioneer Valley High School student flutists attend flute boot camp
Three of Pioneer Valley High School’s top flute players accompanied 15 other budding flutists from the Central Coast for an all-day flute boot camp on March 28 at Allan Hancock College. Taught by world-renowned Yamaha performing artist and northern Santa Barbara County native Tracy Harris, the students learned a wide variety of flute fundamentals ranging…
Spotlight on: Sula Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar
Sally Elias never imagined she’d own a restaurant, but it makes sense given her history with food. She began college at UC Santa Barbara in the early 2000s studying computer science but ended up graduating with a degree in political science. To make money, she found herself making foot-long sandwiches at Subway. Her life shifted…
Political Watch 4/9/15
Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order on April 1 imposing the first-ever mandatory drought restrictions on the state. The governor directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory reductions in cities and towns across California to cut water usage by 25 percent. Last year, Brown asked that all the state’s residents voluntarily…
Community Notebook 4/9/15-4/16/15
MONDAY, APRIL 13 • The Santa Maria City Block Grants Advisory Committee has its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room, 110 E. Cook St., Santa Maria. • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. agendas are available at…
Ride along with a Santa Maria city ranger
You may have seen trucks driving around Santa Maria with “CITY RANGER” painted on the side. They look like police cruisers, but they’re not. So what the heck is a city ranger? Formally park rangers, Santa Maria changed their designation to city rangers on Jan. 6. The reason, according to Recreation and Parks Director Dennis…
Olive Grove’s charter struggles continue
The Santa Barbara County Board of Education unanimously voted on April 2 to block an appealed charter petition filed by a group of parents and teachers from Olive Grove Charter School. The vote aligned with with the county Office of Education’s staff recommendation that the Cuyama Unified School District’s Feb. 19 denial of the petition…
Haggen supermarket will move into Lompoc
Haggen, a grocery store chain based in Washington, was scheduled to take ownership of an Albertsons store in Lompoc in mid-April, but the swap is now pushed out until mid-June. The store at 1500 N. H Street in Lompoc is one of 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores located in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington…
Former Pioneer Valley teacher gets sentenced in sex with a minor case, and a Santa Maria High teacher pleads not guilty to possessing child porn
On April 1, Brian Hook—the former Pioneer Valley High School teacher and coach who pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor—was sentenced in a Santa Maria courtroom to serve one year in county jail. Hook, 54, was arrested in February 2014 on suspicion of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student at…
EPA reaches 10th settlement in Casmalia superfund site case
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on March 31 that it’s reached another settlement in the cleanup of the Casmalia Resources Superfund Site. The settlement requires 337 companies that formerly used the site for hazardous waste disposal to pay $1.4 million toward the estimated $284 million it will cost to clean up the site. In 1992,…
Jury finds all but one defendant guilty in U-Haul murder trial
On April 7, a Santa Maria jury in what’s become known as the U-Haul murder trial found five out of six defendants guilty of the March 2013 gang slaying of 28-year-old Anthony Ibarra. The court clerk read the guilty verdicts for defendants Ramon Maldonado, Reyes Gonzales, David Maldonado, Santos Sauceda, and Jason Castillo. The jury…
