Cover Story
Be a super Santa
The world we live in is far from perfect: Economies continue to falter, people continue to go hungry, and crime continues to rear its ugly head. It’s enough to make you wish iconic comic book figures like Superman and Batman could jump out of their storybook pages and make everything better? While that might be…
What’s your least favorite thing about the holidays?
Erma Lawton retired librarian “The push to buy. Focusing on, ‘What does a teenager want?’ instead of Christ’s birth.” William Scott barber “Feeling rushed.” Larry Skahill writer “Anti-Christian sentiment. Freedom is freedom. It’s a Christian holiday, and this is America.” Shelley Reeger health benefit analyst “If you would’ve asked me last year, it would’ve been…
The singing season
The Christmas and holiday season is known as a time of festive merriment and reuniting with friends and family. Besides the steady flow of food, drink, and gifts, music making explodes during the holidays, yielding a cornucopia of performing ensembles. Bands add a couple of familiar holiday tunes to the repertoire, orchestras schedule holiday-inspired programs,…
The Laundry Monster
There has been some confusion at my house regarding these things people call closets. Rumor has it that these little windowless rooms are for storing things like clean clothes. We don’t subscribe to that voodoo hedonistic nonsense. At our house, we openly display all of our clothing on the couch. A couch is a place…
PCPA will present Little Women
PCPA Theaterfest may be finishing up A Christmas Carol, but another favorite is in the wings. PCPA will present a Broadway musical version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, which follows the adventures of the four March daughters as they grow up in Civil War America. Jo longs to publish a novel. Meg longs for…
Create and collage
Take a retreat, relax, eat, drink wine, and create with collage/assemblage guru Karen Browdy and the C Gallery Feb. 24, 25, and 26. Participants will be nestled into a quiet, secluded, 25-acre vineyard estate surrounded by redwood, oak, and cypress trees. After a Friday evening dinner and estate wine tasting, participants will enjoy a Saturday…
Historical Society highlights the Civil War
The Santa Maria Valley Historical Society recently announced its latest display on veterans of the Civil War in Santa Maria, which will be on display at the museum at 616 S. Broadway in Santa Maria. Many veterans of the American Civil War representing the north and south moved to Santa Maria. Between 1890 and 1925,…
Deck the halls
The unexpected e-mail that Cathy Gregg received in her inbox wasn’t telling her that some Nigerian prince needed her help transferring loads of money. Nonetheless, she didn’t believe it. “I thought it was a joke at first,” she said. The e-mail was from an art broker in Los Angeles asking if she could use Gregg’s…
Laughing and crying over family
Family is a funny thing, no matter what family you come from. That’s the basic premise of Polly Frost’s one-woman show Surviving Your Adult Relationship with Your Family, playing one night in mid-January at Casa Cassara Winery in Buellton—though Frost goes much deeper than witty quips in her humorous look at the family dynamic and…
Merry munchies
More than any other time of year, Christmas tends to tap into one’s desire for tradition. This weekend, hundreds of millions of people around the world will celebrate Christmas with their favorite family traditions. [image-2] For me, it’s a mix of old and new: sharing with my children the fond holiday traditions I remember as…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, Dec. 22 Boys’ Basketball National Prep Classic @ Hancock College Girls’ Soccer Central Coast Classic @ St. Joseph TBA Friday, Dec. 23 Boys’ Basketball National Prep Classic @ Hancock College Girls’ Soccer Central Coast Classic @ St. Joseph TBA Saturday, Dec. 24 No games scheduled Sunday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day;…
On the roster
• Winter Break Camp: The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department’s Winter Camp for children ages 6 to 12 will be held at the Minami Community Center, 600 W. Enos Dr., through Jan. 13, 2012. The fee is $75 per week for each child, based on a full day from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.…
Orcutt National needs Little Leaguers
The Orcutt National Little League, with teams from T-ball to majors, is holding regular registrations until Jan. 7 for children ages 4 to 12. Registrations will be held on Jan. 3 and Jan. 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rabobank-Oak Knolls Branch at 1110 E. Clark Ave in Orcutt. The final regular registration…
Hancock holds court
In his fifth year as head basketball coach at Allan Hancock College, Ralph Gorton is on a mission to change the culture of the program—and the philosophy is producing results. “We call it the new Allan Hancock,” Gorton said. “You can turn it around pretty quickly at a two-year school, and that’s what’s happening.” Hancock…
Jeremiah Morales
The Righetti Warriors enjoyed a stellar water polo season in 2011-12, winning the Pac-7 title outright and finishing 28-4 overall. Much of their success they owed to senior utility player Jeremiah Morales. For the second straight year, Morales was rewarded for his efforts at season’s end, winning the Pac-7 league MVP award on Dec. 12.…
Let’s take back Christmas
Over several years now, government, city, and private industries have robbed us of our Christian liberties and the freedom to celebrate Christmas. Removing nativity scenes from public places, referring to Christmas trees as “holiday trees,” Christmas vacation as “winter break,” and excessive use of “Happy Holidays” erode our freedoms to celebrate Christmas as we have…
We must protect the 14th Amendment
Do we have the appetite for change, or are we just going along for the ride? If we want to have equal representation, we are going to have to ask the Supreme Court to revisit the Buckley v. Valeo ruling upholding the ruling that holds money as personal property and the use of money as…
Santa Maria can’t afford more cuts
For six years, I have represented thousands of homecare workers. I am a Santa Maria resident and the Central California Coordinator for UDW: local 3930 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents about 900 homecare workers in Santa Maria who serve elderly and disabled clients through the In-Home Support…
Fit college in on the weekends
There’s a way for busy people to fit college into their schedules: Allan Hancock College’s Saturday-only credit classes. “We know our students are extremely busy. Many work and have other commitments. Saturday classes allow people more flexibility as they plan their college schedules,” Rebecca Alarcio, the college’s director of public affairs and publications, said in…
Hancock establishes a new endowment fund
Thanks to a generous donor, the Allan Hancock College Foundation has created a new, permanent endowment fund. According to foundation officials, the new fund is unique because its donations remain intact and are invested. Only the investment revenue is spent. The fund’s initial donor wanted to “establish a way for individuals or groups to give…
St. Mary school celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe
Nearly 300 St. Mary of the Assumption School students, family members, and faculty members gathered before sunrise on Dec. 12 to begin the school’s Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration. After praying, singing Las Mananitas, and honoring the Lady of Guadalupe with flowers, the students gathered for breakfast and enjoyed a performance by Righetti…
What Kids Are Reading
Four robots—red Blink, blue Zinc, green Blip, and yellow Zip—are busy all day long at their respective tasks: cooking, handiwork, gardening, and cleaning. Blink whips up a meal here; Zinc repairs some clocks there. Blip rakes and waters; Zip sweeps up and polishes. Everything hums along as it should until a freak thunderstorm sends rain…
A year of discovery at the Discovery Museum
As 2011 winds down and we gear up for the year ahead, the Discovery Museum wants to celebrate its accomplishments in 2011 and thank the community for your enthusiasm and support of the opportunities we bring to children and families every day. We started the year by responding to the needs and requests of families…
There’s a new grant in town
Know any nonprofits that would like some free advertising? The Sun and Hutton Parker Foundation have partnered to create a media grant program to benefit Santa Barbara County nonprofits by providing newspaper ad inserts specific to the selected organizations. Each grant recipient will receive a professionally produced four-page, center-spread insert—two pages in full color, two…
Spotlight on: Fortress-Secure Mini-Storage
When it comes to keeping your personal items safe, Fortress-Secure Mini-Storage in Santa Maria is one protector with staying power, celebrating its milestone 10th anniversary on Jan. 2. “I can’t believe it,” said managing general partner Todd Plastino. “It’s gone by fast.” Founded by Todd and his father Robert in 2002, the Santa Maria location…
Ringing in the holidays
It’s a little after 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, and Lt. Matthew Jensen is standing outside the Foods Co. on Broadway, talking to someone on his cell phone. “The bell’s already driving me nuts. I’m going to be dreaming of it,” he tells the person on the other end of the line, who presumably…
Blazing a new trail
A plan for a network of multi-use trails in Orcutt cleared a major hurdle on Dec. 13, when Santa Barbara County supervisors voted unanimously to accept an offer of more than 300 acres from a local housing developer. For Luis Escobar, a distance runner and cross-country coach who spearheaded the idea of building a recreational…
Animal Services rescues 450 birds and other animals from Santa Barbara property
Employees of Santa Barbara County Animal Services seized nearly 450 animals from a rural property on West Camino Cielo Road in Santa Barbara on Dec. 10. Animal Services Director Jan Glick said the seizure began at 8 a.m. and finished more than 12 hours later. Authorities were alerted to the situation through an anonymous tip.…
Golden State Water ordered to issue refunds
The state’s chief regulating agency for public utilities has levied fines on Golden State Water Co. and ordered the company to issue nearly $10 million in refunds to its customers. Customers in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties won’t see much of that sum, however. The California Public Utilities Commission announced on Dec. 15…
Strange pleads ‘no contest’ in death of Lompoc woman
Lacey Strange—the 18-year-old woman facing a vehicular manslaughter charge in the death of a Lompoc woman—changed her “not guilty” plea to “no contest” on Dec. 15. Strange’s attorney, Catherine Swynsen, entered the plea on the defendant’s behalf before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa, who is presiding over the case in Santa Barbara…
Threats loom while Santa Maria PD investigates officer shooting
Santa Maria Police Department officials, including Police Chief Danny Macagni, would not confirm to the Sun whether they have received threats of violence since an incident that left alleged Santa Maria gang member Samyr Ceballos, 24, dead in the street, citing an ongoing investigation into the shooting. But numerous sources have told the Sun that…
Cuyama community honors its first fallen solider
Cuyama Valley residents are mourning the death of Sgt. Christopher Muniz, who died Dec. 11 in Afghanistan. Muniz is the town’s first causality from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 24-year-old was one of two soldiers killed when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in the Kunar province. The community…
Temporary setback for Occupy Lompoc
On Dec. 17, police officers asked members of the grassroots group Occupy Lompoc to vacate Liberty Park at the corner of H Street and Ocean Avenue in response to a complaint from the public. The protesters left without incident and moved to a vacant lot nearby. Liberty Park was a project undertaken by the recently…
