Cover Story
As Santa Maria debates an ordinance to help those displaced by H-2A conversions, locals compete with temporary workers for shelter
It’s just past 6 p.m. when Francisca Vargas walks down the stairs of her house and takes a seat on the edge of an ottoman in the living room. Kids scatter from the room as she reaches for the remote and turns off the TV. She takes a deep breath, and gathers herself after a…
Political Watch: August 8, 2019
• On July 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state and a group of automakers signed an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars and trucks. Newsom announced this plan as President Donald Trump and his administration prepare to reduce federal vehicle emission standards. Ford, Honda, BMW of North America, and the…
La Unica stands out by offering creative versions of classic Mexi-Cali comfort food
When two co-workers at two different jobs offer unsolicited recommendations of the same restaurant in the same week, the universe was trying to tell me something. The message was loud and clear: Time to go get a burrito. I had received an email from a sales rep at the Sun saying she’d been to La…
Melodrama regales audiences with comic tales of the Old West
Once upon a time, the Central Coast—and all of California, really—was a lawless wasteland. But not as much of a lawless wasteland as say, Arizona, if the Great American Melodrama’s hilarious farcical play, How the West Was Really Won, is anything to go off of. In a series of short stories that poke fun at…
Three Viewpoints features regional landscapes from three local artists at Gallery Los Olivos
From the desert terrain of Baja California to the rolling hills and pastures of the Santa Ynez Valley, landscape painter Carrie Givens has made a name for herself depicting areas close to home as well as afar. “The locations I like to capture are usually places where I live or visit,” the Goleta-based artist told…
Beatlemania strikes again with The Fab Four in Santa Ynez
Blue Meanies and Mr. Mustard affiliates best keep away from the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez come Friday, Aug. 2. The Fab Four may not be the real Beatles, but how many tribute bands can you name with bragging rights to performing at Tom Hanks’ birthday party? From the iconic mop-tops to each band…
Spotlight on: Santa Maria Valley Railroad Rob Himoto, president
For more than a century, the Santa Maria Valley Railroad has helped local businesses ship products across the country. The railroad company picks up produce, lumber, and other items from businesses within the city and transports the products across 14 miles of local tracks to the train station in Guadalupe. From there, the railcars are…
UC Davis releases disease-resistant strawberries
Researchers at UC Davis released new varieties of strawberries for the first time in several years in July—some that are specifically designed to flourish in the Santa Maria area while helping farmers manage diseases and cut production costs. The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at UC Davis has long been working to identify and produce strawberry…
County sues firm that bailed on North County jail project
Santa Barbara County filed a lawsuit against engineering and architecture firm Rosser International after the company told the county it can’t complete its work on the county’s Northern Branch Jail project. According to the lawsuit, on June 13 Rosser International informed the county that it’s going out of business and would “no longer be providing…
Crop values in Santa Barbara County decline, SLO sees record highs
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties both recently released their 2018 crop reports, and while Santa Barbara County’s farms and ranches saw a decrease in crop value from the year before, San Luis Obispo’s reached record highs. In 2018, strawberries still led the way as Santa Barbara County’s highest grossing crop by hundreds of…
Company formerly known as Greka files for bankruptcy
After years of compliance violations, oil spills, and state-imposed fines, HVI Cat Canyon filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York U.S. Bankruptcy Court on July 25. In the petition, the company’s president and chief operating officer, Alex Dimitrijevic, cites numerous factors contributing to the company’s moving into bankruptcy. “The circumstances leading to…
Wildling Museum juried exhibition award winners
Nathan Huff, George Rose, and Stacey Otte-Demangate, jurors of the Wildling Museum’s Celebrating the National Lands of California, distributed awards at the exhibit’s opening reception on Saturday, July 20. The first place prize of $2,500 was awarded to artist Alan Sonneman (pictured) for his oil painting, Foxtail Pine, Western Slope of Cirque Peak, Sequoia National…
Hancock holds auditions for Dimensions in Dance
Dancers of all skill levels and styles are invited to audition for Allan Hancock College’s Dimensions in Dance program on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The showcase, which traditionally features faculty and student works in ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and other genres, is scheduled to open Wednesday, Oct. 9, and will…
Civic Theatre presents ‘August: Osage County’
As part of its 61st season, the Santa Maria Civic Theatre presents its production of August: Osage County, which opens Friday, Aug. 9 and runs through Saturday, Aug. 24. Director Stuart Wenger helms this iteration of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner, from writer Tracy Letts, about a large family reuniting after the…
CANARY: Unstoppable
What do you think it’s actually going to take to put the company formerly know as Greka Oil and Gas out of business? Being sued by the United States of America, the state of California, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for a series of oil spills that occurred between 2005 and 2010?…
Power shutoffs will cost communities hundreds of millions of dollars–utilities should be held accountable
Who is held accountable when a major utility doesn’t maintain its distribution systems so that the places the conveyances (pipes and wires) run through are safe for the people living there, and who pays for their mistakes? The city of Lompoc has owned the electric utility serving city residents since 1923, however Pacific Gas and…
We expect more from you
I would like to know why the Sun failed to edit last week’s Ross Mayfield cartoon. It draws an ugly picture of Bernie Sanders, with yellow teeth and a yellow button calling himself crazy. It quotes Bernie as saying he won’t pay his staff the same $15 an hour he is fighting to get for…
Federal policy could limit the county’s increasing CalFresh participation rate
In 2014, fewer than half of all Santa Barbara County residents eligible for CalFresh, the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), were enrolled in the program. The county’s participation rate of 42 percent was one of the lowest rates of all counties in the state at the time. After three years and some program changes,…
Political Watch: August 1, 2019
• The Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act went through its first hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee on July 25, which moved the legislation closer to passage in the House. The bill, House Resolution 3541, was authored by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and would provide voluntary grants to coastal states in order…
