Cover Story
I, the People
Who’s in charge here? This is America, after all. Land of the free. Our ancestors fled life under a crown for the ability to pursue life, liberty, and happiness unfettered by tyranny among all those amber waves of grain and majestic purple mountains. We learn this in elementary school, tracing the curling script of the…
Playing a new game
Northern Santa Barbara County isn’t known as a hotbed for rugby, but if Central Coast Sharks league president James Gentry has his way, it someday will be. Gentry’s involvement in youth football spans nearly 20 years. He coached for the Nipomo Football League, winning several league championships, and later served as a line coach for…
What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you on vacation?
Colleen Beck librarian “Spending the whole day in the Vancouver airport while returning from a cruise.” Diana Aguilar student “Not seeing my boyfriend for three months.” Jaime Sherburne caregiver “Going fishing and not catching any fish.” Stephen Daily student “Oh God, where do I start? On the way to Las Vegas we were hit and…
On the roster
• West Coast Xtreme Fall Basketball League: Youth Basketball Academy’s fall basketball Central Coast League begins Aug. 28 at Cuesta College. Boys and girls in fourth grade to high school are eligible. The cost per team is $585 thereafter. To register, visit westcoastxtreme.org. For more information, contact coach Ron Barba at 714-0008 or coachrab@hotmail.com, or…
Play ball with the Boys and Girls Club
Boys and girls in first through sixth grade are invited to sign up for the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Maria’s 2011-12 youth basketball league. Registration will be held at the Boys & Girls Club on Sept. 10 and 17 from 9 a.m. to noon; Sept. 13 and 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.;…
Boxing event to honor fallen officer
Law enforcement officers from all ranks and branches, as well as firefighters and public safety volunteers, will be taking part in a boxing show in Santa Maria on Oct. 22. The event will be a fundraiser in remembrance of fallen peace officer Derrick Rush, whose body was found in Kern River on July 17. Proceeds…
Christina Blythe
Though the fair has ended, you can still smell the show animals. The reminder in the air doesn’t bother Queenie. She’s here to skate, and the only smell she’s worried about is the smell of victory. Christina “Queenie” Blythe is one of Calskate Roller Derby’s jammers and an original team member. Two years ago, she…
Piano in public
Each note reverberated, clearly, echoing in a way that carried the sound of the modestly sized baby grand piano far throughout the large halls of the Santa Maria Town Center. Passersby turned their heads toward the stage in front of Macy’s, where the pianist was weaving harmony like a tapestry. Some listeners sat at the…
Town Center Gallery offers free art lessons
The Town Center Gallery will offer free Saturday art classes once a month through December. The classes are made possible by a grant from the Santa Maria Altrusa International Foundation. The next class, “Drawing Trees with Pastels,” will be led by Michael Corob on Sept. 17. Classes are limited to 15 students, and pre-registration is…
Free books mark Literacy Day
Altrusa of the Central Coast will celebrate International Literacy Day on Thursday, from 5 to 7 p.m., on Sept. 8 at the Santa Maria Town Center. International Literacy Day is celebrated the world over, but in Santa Maria, Altrusa will offer an afternoon of board and card games and hand out as many books as…
Ruggles’ murals to be first fall exhibit at Foxworthy Gallery
An exhibit of mural-sized paintings and drawings by artist Joanne Beaule Ruggles, titled “Hanging by a Thread: Mother Earth in Peril,” will be the first exhibit of the fall semester at the Allan Hancock College Ann Foxworthy Gallery and will be on display through the end of September. The works came out of Ruggles’ experience…
Tour d’Art
It’s true that every piece of art has a story to tell, but there’s also a bigger story behind each piece. That story can only be told from the place inspiration happens: the artist’s studio. [image-2]Take a peek at such places with the Lompoc Valley Artists Studio Tour. This year, 11 local artists’ studios…
Loop by loop
Rosemary Morrison loves her craft. If you couldn’t tell by looking at her, you could see it in her boxes of craft supplies, or the bookshelves stacked floor to ceiling with a vivid collection of dyed wool and rug-hooking magazines. “This is a craft house,” she explained recently. On the table sat several patterns she…
From boys to men
It’s August, and in the Waterman house that means back-to-school preparations and the start of football season, by which I mean soccer. My British husband scoffs at the word, reminding me that American football is a poor copy of the English sport of rugby. I watched a rugby game once. The players wear no padding,…
Wonderful W.I.N.O.
Founded in 1994, Bedford Winery reigns not only as a producer of fine wines—from Gewürztraminer to Grenache—but also as an innovative cultural center. Located in the heart of Los Alamos, the winery’s tasting room plays host to a refreshing variety of events, including dramatic readings, rousing debates based on historical events, and a culinary series…
Plan ahead
My 87-year-old mother lived independently in a mobile home in Arroyo Grande until soon after a telephone call that changed my life. At 5 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2009, I pushed “mom” on my cell-phone contact list: There was no answer, except the pre-recorded greeting, though she always picked up one of the several extensions…
Learn the art of healing touch
The Lucia Mar Adult Education program has partnered with Heartwood Therapeutics to present a massage therapy certification program, including a 250-hour massage practitioner track and 500-hour massage therapist track. The classes offer foundational training and prepare graduates for employment in the workplace. According to a press release from the Lucia Mar Unified School District, the…
Agriculture takes center stage at Cuesta College
Central Coast locals interested in pursuing a career in the agriculture industry will get the chance to attend a free seminar featuring presentations by several federal agencies on Aug. 30 at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. Agencies at the event will include the U.S. Department of Commerce, two divisions of the U.S. Department of…
Allan Hancock College plans a bulldog welcome
Mandatory college orientations are usually long, boring, and packed with lots of bland speakers and awkward icebreakers. But thanks to Allan Hancock College’s Associated Student Body Government, Hancock’s Bulldog Bow-WOW! orientation will include free food, music, and even karaoke. Oh, there will also be some information on college programs and essential students resources, such as…
Get pumped up for law enforcement academy
Enrollment is now open for a 14-week course designed to help students successfully complete Allan Hancock College’s Law Enforcement Academy. Beginning Sept. 6, the Women in Public Safety Careers class will meet at the college’s Santa Maria campus Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 9:10 p.m. “If you’ve ever thought about starting a career in…
Hobnobbing with Helen
The Santa Maria Historical Society is making history. These local city boosters are actively fundraising to make up for a loss of income. Board president Jim Zemaitis e-mailed me with the reason the Historical Society is hustling: “We are not receiving the stipend we once did from the city,” he wrote. “We receive about half…
The new class
You’re supposed to wait 30 minutes after eating before you go swimming, or so the adage goes, but how long are you supposed to wait before going in the bounce house? People attending the Temple Beth El open house and picnic on Aug. 28 will face this dilemma. From 1 to 4 p.m., attendees will…
Casmalia General Store
Head out Black Road to a small town tucked away between windswept, cowhide-brown hills. Take a right on Point Sal road and head down past the Hitching Post to the tree with a tire swing. Just to your right is the Casmalia General Store, and it’s ready for business. The doors of the Casmalia General…
Burning through the sky
It travels at speeds in excess of 13,000 miles per hour, weathering extreme temperatures of more than 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Engineers and analysts expect this hypersonic glider to one day be capable of delivering a conventional warhead payload to a target anywhere around the globe within 60 minutes. It’s the fastest aircraft ever built, a…
It takes a village
Every workday, Guadalupe resident Jovita Garcia gets up at 3:40 a.m. to make lunch for herself and her three children. A little after 5 a.m., she drops the girls—Yubanely, 10; Bettsy, 6; and Julyazareth, 2—off at the babysitter, and then drives to the fields. For almost 12 hours, Jovita plants vegetables. She and the other…
RTA bus driver arrested after dropping off passengers
A San Luis Obispo Regional Transit bus driver was arrested Aug. 22 on suspicion driving under the influence of alcohol on a route from Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo. According to the San Luis Obispo Police Department, at approximately 2:40 p.m., dispatch received a call from a passenger, reporting that the driver of the…
Lompoc accepts completion of wastewater upgrade
Lompoc officials signed off on the completion of the city’s Regional Wastewater Reclamation Plant Upgrade project, which included a $5 million settlement over a critical design error. The private company responsible for the error—not the city and, therefore, local taxpayers—will be on the hook to pay for the overrun. On Aug. 16, the Lompoc City…
Chumash annexation continues to create controversy
A collection of Santa Ynez-area special interest groups is continuing efforts to protest a land annexation proposed by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. On Aug. 26, members of Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens, Women’s Environmental Watch, Preservation of Los Olivos, and Preservation of Santa Ynez will hold a town hall meeting called “Goodbye,…
Pappas must pay Farr $700,000 in attorney fees
After more than 2 1/2 years of legal squabbling, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge has decided Los Olivos business owner Steve Pappas must pay 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr’s $700,000 worth of legal fees. Pappas first took Farr, his opponent for the county’s swing seat, to court in 2008. The former Los Olivos…
