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Last Minute Gift Guide 2023
Central Coast pet stores offer gifts and treats for locals’ furry friends or scaly babies this holiday season By Taylor O’Connor Stocking stuffers for the music lover in your life By Adrian Vincent Rosas Read the entire issue here!
12th annual Jingle Jazz Holiday Party features local bands, lunch festivities
The Basin Street Regulars presents its 12th annual Jingle Jazz Holiday Party at the Pismo Beach Veterans Hall on Sunday, Dec. 17, from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets to this holiday event—which features live music from the Riptide Big Band and the Jingle Belles, lunch, and Champagne—are available to purchase in advance at my805tix.com. Thanks…
Lompoc’s recent General Plan Housing Element update is little more than a ‘paperwork drill’
Like all local governments in the state, Lompoc has been in the process of completing an eight-year update of the General Plan Housing Element; but this time it’s different. As the consulting firm made its presentation to the City Council on Nov. 21, its representatives informed the council that “the state’s big push, because of…
America’s on a dark path
So now the Biden administration has bypassed Congress to provide military support to a religious state in a street fight with the terrorists of Hamas, who are funded by a religious republic, but that same administration is somehow unable in a similar manner to provide military support to the democratic secular state of Ukraine in…
County’s pilot farmworker resource program looking for new funding sources
In the first five months of operating, Santa Barbara County’s pilot Farmworker Resource Program connected with more than 3,500 farmworkers. “This could now be the model for the state, getting boots on the ground, connecting people with needs to … our resources. It’s not fiscally conservative to have a bunch of programs and have nobody…
County Planning Commission OKs Los Alamos cannabis shop
With an address across the street from a popular bar, an upcoming dispensary in Los Alamos raised more concerns about jaywalking than smoking from one member of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission. “Bell’s a wide street and it doesn’t have much lighting, and I think you’re going to get a lot of jaywalking back…
Political Watch: December 14, 2023
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced on Dec. 8 $1 million in investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support improved passenger rail options for Central Coast residents. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed in November 2021, authorized the creation of a new rail program to support development of improved intercity passenger rail.…
Santa Maria adopts hybrid land use alternative for general plan
The Santa Maria City Council voted 3-2 (with Councilmembers Gloria Soto and Carlos Escobedo dissenting) to adopt a land use alternative for the city’s general plan that will look at 985 acres east of the city for potential annexation, identify infill development within city limits, and provide direction to study a new area to the…
Mesa Pines in Arroyo Grande grows affordable, native Christmas trees
In rural Arroyo Grande, a mulit-generational family-owned farm specializes in selling native Central Coast trees for Christmas at a reduced price to help SLO County families have a budget-friendly holiday season. Mesa Pines is run by Erin Riffle and his family who only plant and sell Monterey Pines to support California’s native plant life—and because…
Leave the World Behind drips with tension and dread
Leave the World Behind What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Netflix Co-writer and director Sam Esmail (Comet, Homecoming, Mr. Robot) helms this thriller about a cyberattack. The story focuses on the Sandfords—mom Amanda (Julia Roberts), dad Clay (Ethan Hawke), and kids Rose…
NEW FLICKS: May December
May December What’s it rated? R When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Netflix This is showing up on many critics’ best picture list, and for good reason: The performances are absolutely mesmerizing. The story focuses on a couple—Gracie Atherton (Julianne Moore) and Joe Yoo (Charles Melton)—whose notorious romance was tabloid fodder in 1992 when Gracie was…
BINGEABLE: Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence What’s it rated? Not rated When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Hulu When you send your kids off to college, you worry about the normal things: Will they eat anything besides candy and french fries for the next four years? Was that a beer bong you saw the…
A Santa Barbara County-based project aims to research the native plant and its local economic prospects
With the help of nearly $5 million in federal funding, a Santa Barbara County elderberry farming experiment kicked off in November, aiming to make the locally grown medicinal plant more widely available on the West Coast. Spearheaded by the White Buffalo Land Trust, a regenerative farming-focused nonprofit founded in Summerland five years ago, the project…
Central Coast pet stores offer gifts and treats for locals’ furry friends or scaly babies this holiday season
Go pet shopping Tails has two locations: 317 Town Center East in Santa Maria and 745 Higuera St. in downtown San Luis Obispo. Get more info at tailsinslo.com. Find That’s FETCH! At 3564 Skyway Drive in Santa Maria, reach the store at (805) 361-0802, or visit online at thatsfetch805.com. Tropics Aquarium Professionals is located at…
Stocking stuffers for the music lover in your life
If you’re like me and have friends who play the guitar or bass, shopping for the perfect gift can sometimes be overwhelming and beyond budget. But you don’t have to get them the instrument they’ve always wanted: There are easier (cheaper) ways to give. Here are some recommendations and places to get practical stocking stuffers…
Local Boys & Girls Clubs juror art contest, select regional qualifiers
National treasures In conjunction with the 2023-24 Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Arts Contest, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is currently hosting a kids art showcase at the Santa Maria Town Center. The exhibit will be on display through Dec. 19. A reception to celebrate the Mid Central Coast…
Good news, bad news
Great news, everyone! Santa Barbara County’s farmworker resource pilot program is a success! Why? Well, according to a Dec. 14 presentation, it connected with more than 3,500 farmworkers from July to November—helping them fill out forms for CalFresh and Medi-Cal, get school supplies, and learn financial literacy. “This could now be the model for the…






