Broccoli contributed $86.7 million of Santa Barbara County’s $1.8 billion agriculture industry in 2023, sitting in fourth place among the county’s top 10 agricultural commodities, according to the 2023 Santa Barbara County Crop and Livestock Report. It’s also a crop that growers use dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) on for weed treatment—an herbicide that was…
Mouth foaming. Lethargic and erratic behavior. Muscle spasms. Seizures. Death. Up and down Central Coast beaches, sea lions are suffering the effects of domoic acid poisoning—a neurotoxin produced by a harmful algal bloom that comes around every few years, possibly because of climate change and runoff impacts, Dr. Sam Dover told the Sun. “Sea lions…
With an aim to entice more business developers to work within Buellton’s limits, city officials are hoping to spare some expenses for a long-running bowling alley project in flux. During its Aug. 8 meeting, the Buellton City Council directed staff to research ways to incentivize the project’s completion that could offset some fees associated with…
Lompoc City Council member Gilda Aiello (formerly Cordova) decided not to run for reelection this year after facing “a few unfair attacks on me brought on by a group of individuals who wanted to have me removed” during her last few years as a council member. “It really was with a heavy heart,” Aiello…
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) applauded the Biden-Harris administration for announcing a change in housing policy to benefit veterans, a policy that he proposed as part of the recently adopted Home for the Brave Act, according to an Aug. 8 statement from Carbajal’s office. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…
Julio Roman started his journey with LGBTQ-plus organizations as a client. “I was looking for a safe space,” Roman said. “I was dealing with my feelings around being attracted to other guys, and this was a safe space to really be yourself. I was able to find a community of young men who looked like…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to cancel DCPA—aka the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate; aka a weed-eating herbicide often used to treat broccoli and onion fields that’s associated with certain birth defects. But officially canceling DCPA ain’t easy. It’s not like a clarion call to boycott your neighborhood racist coffee shop on TikTok. Or the right-wing…
Last August, my commentary concluded with this observation: “One thing is certain: By next August, both parties will have completed their primary elections … and named their nominees. We already know the stakes in 2024: Nothing less than the future of our democracy, the security of our planet, and the conditions under which our nation…
In response to Mr. Ron Fink proposing that the Ten Commandments be displayed “in every school, library, courthouse, and city hall in the United States” (“What’s the fuss?” July 25): I can only reply that many citizens, myself included, resent being subjected to archaic and divisive Christian orthodoxy and dogma. How about a new set…
The editorial by Dan Dennis in the Aug. 1 Sun (“The stakes are too high”) was largely correct in its explanations of our national political situation. Good writing, Dan. Unfortunately, there was a factual error early on which may have kept knowledgeable readers from giving full credence to his opinions. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall…
Natural habitat Call (805) 688-1082 or visit calnatureartmuseum.org for more info on the California Nature Art Museum, located at 1511-B Mission Drive, Solvang. California, Quilted: Wild in the Oak Woodland opened in mid-July and will remain on display through January 2025. The California Nature Art Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on…
Two Festival Mozaic musicians helped christen Allan Hancock College’s newest addition to Boyd Concert Hall. Earlier this summer, the college purchased a new concert piano, valued at $175,000, with funds from the estate of late piano instructor Patricia “Patty” Boyd. In late July, pianist Susan Grace played the Steinway D concert piano during a Festival…
Prolific ceramicist Marianne Steenholdt Bork is the featured artist of the Elverhoj Museum’s new solo exhibition, titled The Lion Has to Be Happy: Contemporary Danish Ceramics. The exhibit opened on Aug. 10 and is scheduled to remain on display through Oct. 27. According to press materials, the featured ceramicist’s works “invite viewers to a world…
The Instigators What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Matinee What’s it worth, Glen? Matinee Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) directs this crime comedy about two hapless robbers—Rory (Matt Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck, who co-wrote the script with Chuck MacLean)—who find themselves on…
Land of Bad What’s it rated? R When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Netflix William Eubank (The Signal, Underwater) co-wrote and directs this action thriller about drone pilot Capt. Eddie Grimm “Reaper” (Russell Crowe), supporting a Delta Force team sent to rescue a CIA spy held by Abu Sayyaf terrorists. After a brutal firefight with the…
It’s Just a Lifetime: A Portrait of Craig Nuttycombe What’s it rated? Unrated When? Saturday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. ($33.98 at my805tix.com) Where’s it showing? The Cambria Center for the Arts (1350 Main St.) Tim Ursuliak and Carman Cookson-Hills co-direct this documentary about retired handyman, local musician, and irascible character Craig Nuttycombe, who in…
Smooth moves Visit hyggebobatands.com for more info on Hygge Boba Tea and Smoothies, located at 1665 Copenhagen Drive, Solvang. The shop is open Sunday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. One Las Vegas resident’s decision to shift careers and buy a boba shop…
