Cover Story
‘What’s your emergency?’: Santa Barbara County looks at changing the way its dispatch center operates to improve quality of service and inter-agency collaboration
If you called 911 from an unincorporated spot in Santa Barbara County after dark on Aug. 19, you most likely spoke with one of eight people. Sitting in semi-darkness, responding to crackling voices coming over their radios and basking in the glow of at least four computer monitors, their fingers clickity-clacked away on keyboards while…
Two years after the Refugio oil spill, Plains All American Pipeline seeks to replace the pipeline responsible
The company responsible for an oil spill near Refugio State Beach in 2015 recently announced its intent to rebuild corroded pipelines that have sat idle in the two years since the disaster. On Aug. 16, Plains All American Pipeline said it had filed permit applications with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to replace…
A Street Café is the spot for cheap breakfast in Santa Maria
During a busy Thursday afternoon lunch at the A Street Café in Santa Maria, as servers bused tables and diners chatted about politics or the weather, I noticed an older man ask to speak with the person who cooked his meal. He and his dining companion were working on stacks of pancakes along with bacon…
Where will you watch the solar eclipse on Aug. 21?
Jaclyn Vierra Santa Maria “In my backyard.” Mike Johnson Santa Maria “The top of the grade, going north of San Luis [Obispo] toward Atascadero. I’ve gone in the past for meteor showers. If the eclipse makes the tide super low, I’d go check out the tide pools.” Carlos Boquin Santa Maria “I’d like to see…
Theresa Gingras shares her photography from Myanmar at Allan Hancock College
Balancing on one foot, a fisherman in Myanmar holds a cone-shaped net and leans perilously close to the edge of his skiff, like a ballet dancer executing a delicate pirouette. What he’s doing may look strange, but the practice is rooted in hundreds of years of tradition and pure necessity. The technique, referred to as…
PCPA presents one of Shakespeare’s funniest comedies, ‘Twelfth Night’
I’ve heard some people say if William Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be a comedy writer working on a hit sitcom like Friends or Modern Family. If you don’t believe that, you’ve never seen his comedic masterpiece, Twelfth Night. The Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA) is currently presenting the production at the Solvang Festival Theater through…
Spotlight on: 805 Reviews
Robbie Shipman loves food. The 46-year-old founder and CEO of Arroyo Grande based Econcept Inc. says he travels the California coast constantly seeking new flavors and dishes to sample, usually with the help of a slew of social media review apps like Yelp and TripAdvisor. While the experiences are mostly positive, he said, one bad…
Santa Maria Eagles hosted Musician Appreciation Day benefit concert event
The band was loud, with ripping electric guitar, driving bass, and smashing drums. The long shotgun hall of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Santa Maria was filled with sound and people, all there to enjoy the work of more than 30 musicians who performed in bands and impromptu ensembles and jam sessions. The performance…
Elverhøj Museum launches new exhibit
Beyond the Windmills: The Barry Berkus & Family Collection debuts at the Elverhøj Museum of History and Art in Solvang on Aug. 26. The exhibit features painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media works. The new artworks will be displayed side by side with earlier work that is part of The Barry Berkus and Family Art…
Lompoc library to feature works of local artists
The Lompoc Public Library is calling for Central Coast artists to submit work samples and be considered as an exhibitor in the Grossman Gallery. To be considered, artists must provide a representative body of work of at least six exhibit-ready pieces that will be evaluated for technique, expression, and stylish achievement. The Lompoc Public Library’s…
Celebrity diet wars
Dieting is not for me. Meal planning is not for me. Keeping food in my fridge that doesn’t come with a spigot and an alcohol percentage content label is not for me. After 20 years of trying everything under the sun to force my body to eat something other than the slurpy syrupy greasy fried…
Noemi Mariscal
What separates the Color Vibe run from other 5K races is the color, of course—runners are blasted with colored powder just as often as they take water breaks. Noemi Mariscal, 22, has run nearly a dozen 5Ks, but somehow managed to miss Color Vibe every year. That finally changed on Aug. 12 when she ran…
The Benchwarmer: Three cheers for cheerleaders
I think junior high school is perhaps the most awkward time in one’s life, where we tend to look back on things we said, thought, believed, and did that make us say, “WTF?” I have a number of those moments in junior high, not limited to the fact that I wore men’s black Dickies pants…
Hancock appoints interim police chief
Ronald Schram, a veteran law enforcement officer with nearly 40 years of experience, was named interim police chief of the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District on Aug. 14 at a Hancock board of trustees meeting. The hire came less than a month after the district’s previous chief, Paul Grohowski, resigned after seven months on…
Buellton City Council to loosen its grip on recreational vehicle parking
Buellton resident Roger Ayala was left without a choice. After a city letter informed him earlier this year that a new addition to an old city ordinance would make it illegal for him to park his ’92 Winnebago Sunrise Itasca in his driveway, he thought he’d have to sell it. Without affordable storage options available…
Deputy shot and killed suspected robber in Orcutt
An unnamed Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and killed a suspected bank robber just before 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 22. The Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported robbery at CoastHills Credit Union on Clark Avenue in Orcutt at 9:14 a.m., according to a press release. The suspect had reportedly fled from the bank…
Correcting the record
Last week I welcomed Santa Maria Valley representatives to correct the record if I made any unfair assumptions about them after invites to Santa Maria’s first Pride event went unanswered but for a few. I didn’t hear back from any of them, but I did hear back from Sheriff Bill Brown. I had also gotten…
Trump is keeping his promises
Donald Trump is keeping his promises. The job market’s heating up, wages are rising, businesses are investing in the U.S., the stock market continues to break records, trade policies and agreements are improving, American citizens are safer and more secure, new technologies are coming to the forefront, and yes, the wall is still going to…
Government works best with trust
Water providers on the Central Coast should find ways to work together for the interests of their constituents. Most communities on the Central Coast have government agencies overseeing their water supplies. In this water-challenged time, people want the reassurance, security, and knowledge that the essential water services they depend on will be there when they…
Bill Cirone: Public education leader and champion
It was with much reflection that I read of the retirement of Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Bill Cirone. His retirement has made me reflect on our many years of service as the two of us started off in the county during a similar time frame. I had just started working in a small…
‘Hancock Promise’ offers high school graduates first year at AHC free
High school students graduating from the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District who immediately enroll to Allan Hancock College will receive a year of free tuition and fees starting with the Fall 2018 semester. The school’s newest program, known as the Hancock Promise, will save incoming students an estimated $1,200 in tuition and fees each…
Political Watch 8/24/17
• Local and state representatives signed a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging him and the Department of the Interior to protect and preserve California’s National Monuments at the behest of state residents and the business community. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), along with Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa…
County supervisors agree on response to grand jury report on water management
With the Lake Cachuma reservoir at less than 50 percent capacity and the county still in a declared state of emergency due to the five-year drought, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously directed staff to continue exploring alternative water sources on Aug. 22. The decision came in response to a June 13 grand…
Local businesses, representatives voice support for Carrizo Plain
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is expected to issue a recommendation on Aug. 24 that could possibly reduce the size of or rescind the designation of as many as 21 national monuments, including the Carrizo Plain, and the affected business community is making its voice heard. Last week, more than 130 businesses in San…
Amber Alert issued for child abducted after fatal shooting
The Santa Maria Police Department issued an Amber Alert for a child who was reportedly abducted on Aug. 21 after a fatal shooting at 230 North College Drive. The alert was issued just after 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 22. Daniel Morozov, 9, is 4-foot-5 with brown hair and eyes, according to the alert. He is…
Meeting shows correlation between childhood trauma and adult violence
A person who has experienced four or more traumatic events during childhood, also known as adverse childhood experiences, is seven times more likely to spend time in prison, according to Edwin Weaver, executive director of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley. Weaver was just one of several experts who spoke to an audience of 50 at…
Sustainable buzzwords
Don’t you love buzzwords? A word or phrase grabs hold of the lexicon and its use becomes ubiquitous in everyday life. Worse yet, it starts to creep into the barrage of advertising that we endure daily. At first they’re cute and as we try to show our hipness we try to incorporate them in our…
Become involved in fighting climate change
I just read the findings of a study called “Politics and Global Warming, May 2017,” that looked at party affiliation and how voters view climate policies. Here are a few findings: Over half of registered voters expect their leaders, including the president and Congress, to do more to address global warming. And 52 percent of…
