Two days before Lompoc City Councilmember Steve Bridge’s arraignment in late 2025, one of his peers on the dais asked him to step down from his role as an elected official. When Bridge—who pled not guilty to forgery, identity theft, and misusing city funds—showed no sign of resigning, Councilmember Jeremy Ball motioned for the council…
Established in 1987, Santa Barbara County’s emergency call box network once included more than 350 roadside phones across the region. With 47 of those phones remaining, the county continues defying a statewide trend of dismantling public call boxes and is on track to become “a call box island,” Transportation Planner Peter Williamson said. During the…
In another attempt to iron out parking regulations, the Lompoc City Council decided that RV owners with permits are exempt from a 72-hour parking ban. “It exempts RV owners with RV parking permits from the city’s ordinance that requires you to move your vehicle every 72 hours,” City Attorney Jeff Malawy said at the Aug.…
Ahead of submitting an official project proposal, the owner of a vacant 0.7-acre lot in Buellton gave city leaders a glimpse into his hopes for the property. Located north of Hotel Hygge and south of Farmhouse Motel, 560 Avenue of Flags was at the center of a conceptual review hearing, which took place during the…
From the outside, the one-story home at 1130 Grapevine Road in Santa Maria appears to be just that: a nice house neighboring others in a suburban neighborhood. Past the front door, there are six bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, and a living room stocked with board games, puzzles, magazines, and coloring books within the city’s newest…
Since last December, Lompoc City Councilmember Jeremy Ball has been asking his colleagues on the dais to join him in doing something about fellow Councilmember Steve Bridge’s predicament. No, not to help the guy. To slap him on the wrist. Ball finally got his wish, kind of. The council agreed 3-1, with Bridge abstaining and…
The same administration that is slashing funding for climate research and the Environmental Protection Agency, propping up the coal industry, gutting the Endangered Species Act and planning to open the entire California coast to offshore oil drilling is now taking aim at the California Coastal Commission. In 2016, Donald Trump began a decade-long fight with…
The California Coastal Commission approved a renovation plan for Oceano airport which will cost us more than $4 million. This decision underestimates the environmental injustice the presence of the airport does to Oceano. Dedicating 60 acres of prime coastal wetlands to a limited-use, recreational airport does a great injustice to Oceano, which is starved of…
Central Coast author Sharon Sheltzer’s new young adult romance and adventure novel, Lady of the Waves: Love in the Time of Climate Change, opens with a bang. Twelve-year-old protagonist Aallotar, on vacation with her Finnish family in Thailand, heads to the beach with her mother. “We only have another week in paradise,” her mom says.…
Inside the Grossman Gallery at the Lompoc Public Library, a retrospective show will honor the life of Alan Freeman. The painter, who passed away in March last year, was one of the founding members of The Lompoc Ten. The display of Freeman’s work will be up from Sept. 2 to 29. Visit 501 E. North…
The work of one of Denmark’s most treasured 20th century artists, Bjørn Wiinblad (1918-2006), is on display at the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art through Jan. 10 next year. Wiinblad crafted ceramics, porcelain, glass, textiles, wood, and theater designs, according to the museum. William Derrenbacher donated selections for the exhibit, titled Through the Eyes…
Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) directs this story about 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa), who in 1975 travels to Provincetown to follow his crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones), and winds up with his first kitchen job. (106 min.) TonyWhat’s it rated? RWhat’s it worth, Anna? MatineeWhat’s it worth, Glen? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Fair Oaks, Palm, Downtown Centre,…
NormalWhat’s it rated? RWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? HBO Max Directed by Ben Wheatley (Meg 2: The Trench, Free Fire, Kill List) from Derek Kolstad’s script based on a story co-written with star Bob Odenkirk, Normal follows an interim sheriff, Ulysses (Odenkirk), of the fictional town of Normal, Minnesota. After a botched bank robbery, Ulysses discovers…
The Idaho Murders: College NightmareWhat’s it rated? TV-MAWhen? 2026Where’s it showing? Netflix Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen were Idaho State students whose lives were cut short by a Washington State student in 2022 in an off-campus home while they slept. This series blends memories shared from those who loved them most,…
Playing in the kitchen always kept young Alicia Rubio happy. An only child for 15 years, some of her early memories are of bonding with her grandmother while baking. “I don’t know Spanish, but my grandma’s more of a Spanish speaker, so we had to figure out a way to understand each other more. Baking…
