Cover Story
Staying at home can be a respite away from a pandemic-inflicted world, but for those quarantined with an abuser, it can be life threatening
Just days before a Lompoc man shot and killed his 18-year-old girlfriend on March 25, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley called a meeting with her entire staff. She wanted to talk about one of her greatest concerns amid the spread of COVID-19: domestic violence. “I said, ‘We’ve got to focus on in-home crime,’”…
Without toilet paper in stock, landlords and wastewater officials worry about what’s getting flushed
Unless you were involved in the early (and seemingly irrational) COVID-19 toilet paper stockpiling frenzy, you’ve probably noticed that the paper product we once took for granted has become nearly impossible to find. Grocery store shelves where hoards of toilet paper once sat are now empty, toilet paper vendors on Amazon and eBay are sold…
Uncertainty of the CalPERS debt plus loss of revenue equals a serious issue in Lompoc
Events of the last few weeks have created anxiety among city leaders all over the United States. The cities of Santa Barbara, Solvang, and Santa Maria have announced major layoffs, and all revenue projections in municipal budgets are no longer valid. It’s no different in Lompoc as our city government wrestles with another fly in…
Fuel your body with nutritious food for optimum immune support
It’s not the hand sanitizer, the E.T. hazmat suit, the sci-fi mask, or the fast-tracked frankenvaccine that’s going to be the super-forcefield to protect us from COVID-19. Most of the natural defenses we need are right at our fingertips. Besides, we always need to be on guard. According to the American Society for Microbiology, there…
Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department presents free online enrichment videos
The opportune moment to finally learn that new skill or pick up that new hobby you’ve been procrastinating on for who knows how long has finally arrived—at least, as long as said activity doesn’t break social-distance protocols. While the primary demographic for the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department’s online educational video series is the…
North County bookstores offer curbside pickup and local delivery options to stay afloat
Is COVID-19 just a bad dream? Or maybe the former world was the dream, and most of us just took the red pill this time around? For Book Loft manager Echo Molina, hearing the initial news of the sweeping pandemic sounded more like a plot device than history in the making. “It seemed so unreal…
Political Watch: April 9, 2020
• Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) and a coalition of 10 legislators sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter on April 1 asking the state to give counties the right of first refusal for those who sign up for the California Health Corps. The corps is a new option for doctors, nurses, and other critical…
SLOMA seeks local artists for upcoming statewide exhibition, Romancing the Adobes
Romancing the Adobes, an upcoming California-wide juried exhibition at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA), has extended its entry deadline (originally May 3) to May 31, at noon, in light of complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists throughout the state are welcome to submit artworks that celebrate the historic California Adobes, as…
Great American Melodrama offers Stay at Home Special package
The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano is currently offering its Stay at Home Special coupon online for a limited time (through April 12). The package adds up to more than a 30 percent discount on its featured items. For $100, buyers will receive four tickets to an upcoming show (once the theater reopens),…
Solvang School, Wildling Museum announce winners of student photo competition
Twenty-nine seventh and eighth grade students in Solvang School’s yearbook and media class participated in Inspired in Nature, a student photography exhibition hosted by the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature. Participants were asked to take exterior photos inspired by philosopher Henry David Thoreau’s quote, “All good things are wild and free.” “Natural beauty can…
CANARY: Pick me up
Stay-in-cage orders have me on a lockdown. I’m just swinging instead of singing, staring longingly out the rain-battered windows, looking for a sign of light and thinking about throwing my phone into the weather. I need a pick-me-up. A giant wall of fat, wiggly worms that I can eat my way through before flying out…
Coronavirus
Sitting around housebound during the first week of the countywide coronavirus shelter-in-place order, and inundated with relentless, depressing media accounts of the pandemic, I have had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the crisis, and on our reaction to it. It is likely that once this column is published, the situation will have clarified some,…
April Fool’s Day was no joke
Wednesday, April 1, 2020—more than 1,000 Americans died from coronavirus. That number doubles the previous one-day high of 504 from the pandemic, set one day previous. Total U.S. deaths from COVID-19 by one count are now at 5,116. News accounts include state governors and hospital officials across the nation continuing to plead for protective gear…
Santa Maria should protect renters
On March 16, Gov. Newsom issued an executive order directing local governments to halt evictions for renters and homeowners, slow foreclosures, and protect against utility shutoffs for Californians affected by COVID-19. It would have been appropriate for the Santa Maria City Council to take up the issue on Tuesday, March 17, and move to meet…
Lompoc couple livestreams a morning show to celebrate human spirit amid COVID-19 anxiety
To stay connected amid the physical distance we’re all supposed to be keeping, Lompoc residents Jeremy and Michelle Ball started a morning show to celebrate the city they live in and its residents. “We just thought it was too easy for people collectively to go to a dark place full of fear and panic, but…
Two Solvang residents are leading a campaign to establish an urban growth boundary for the city
When it came time to start knocking on doors to collect signatures for a hoped-for ballot measure, two Solvang residents have had to rethink their method. Susan Bott and Nancy Emerson are leading a campaign called Save Our Solvang, through which they’re gathering support for a November ballot measure to give residents a vote on…
Coronavirus-related scams pop up across Santa Barbara County
Scammers have followed the spread of COVID-19, taking advantage of a bad situation and targeting those who don’t know better. According to District Attorney Joyce Dudley, it’s not the first time Santa Barbara County has seen a public disaster lead to fraudulent activity. “During the fire, I did see specific ones that were geared toward…
PetroRock withdraws application for Cat Canyon oil project
After putting its plans to drill hundreds of oil wells in the Cat Canyon Oil Field on hold about a year ago, the oil and gas company PetroRock has abandoned the project. Errin Briggs, supervisor of the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department’s Energy, Minerals, and Compliance Division, said the company withdrew its application…
Local hospitals talk about their changing roles during the pandemic
In a matter of weeks, hospitals and public health departments have gone from organizations that rarely make the news to ones that are providing it. On top of that shift, the health care industry must also grapple with disseminating this information in a way that complies with social distancing, avoids inciting mass panic, and protects…
County health official outlines modeling, hospital surge plans for COVID-19
A recent presentation from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department that outlines different scenarios for how the county will fare during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes the importance of social distancing, but it raised concerns about how long these guidelines will continue to disrupt thousands of residents’ lives. According to the presentation that department Director…
Santa Maria teachers organize a car parade for their students
As teachers across the country adjust to a virtual classroom reality, some are getting creative with finding ways to see their students. First grade teacher Tami Williams, who works at Bruce Elementary School in Santa Maria, is no exception. With the help of fellow teacher Jillian Smith, Williams planned a car parade through their students’…
