California’s community colleges, including Allan Hancock College and Cuesta College, rely on bond measures to help fund campus enhancements—anything from adding new buildings to renovating existing structures. In the Nov. 5 election, voters approved Proposition 2, a statewide $10 billion bond intended for public schools and community colleges. Public schools would receive $8.5 billion for…
Four North County school districts placed bond measures on the ballot this year to make site improvements or build a new school—with two passing the 55 percent voter approval threshold. The Santa Barbara County Elections Office certified elections on Dec. 3, with more than 187,000 voters casting their ballots for the general election—which is nearly…
Sidewalks outside a handful of city-owned properties in Guadalupe will undergo a crucial makeover, thanks to a joint effort between the city and Caltrans. During the Guadalupe City Council’s last meeting of November, City Attorney Philip F. Sinco described this project to upgrade some pedestrian paths and bring others up to current ADA standards as…
Santa Barbara County’s visitors will soon see a higher bill at the end of their stay as local voters approved hotel bed tax increases throughout the region. In the face of slowed budget growth at the county level and high impacts from tourism in the Santa Ynez Valley region, Buellton, Solvang, and Santa Barbara County…
Tourism is the answer to all of our budget woes! Even if the economy tanks, tourists will still be here—oh wait, probably not. But still, they should be paying for our needs! At least according to voters in the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara County, who voted to increase bed taxes in Solvang, Buellton,…
Book it Copies of Life at the Dumpling are currently available locally at Alisal Ranch in Solvang and Field Day Coffee in San Luis Obispo. Cuyama Buckhorn in New Cuyama and A Satellite of Love in San Luis Obispo and additional venues slated to carry the book in the near future, author Trisha Cole told…
Selling fast Get tickets to the Great American Melodrama’s Holiday Extravaganza show running until Dec. 31 at americanmelodrama.com. Changing leaves, crisp mornings, and Christmas music on the radio all mark the holiday season’s approach. For theater lovers on the Central Coast, the Great American Melodrama’s annual Holiday Extravaganza is another holiday harbinger. Playing until Dec.…
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) celebrated the official designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, which took place on Nov. 30, according to a Dec. 2 statement from Carbajal’s office. “Nearly a decade after the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary was first proposed to the federal government, the Biden-Harris administration has now…
More than 13 percent of students enrolled in Santa Barbara County K-12 schools are considered homeless, and more than 260 students were in foster care during the 2022-23 school year. “In our county, the biggest issue that we face with our foster and homeless youth is that they are changing schools a lot, and so…
It’s drizzling as I write this, just before Thanksgiving. Maybe we’ll have a “normal” rainfall year! Maybe we can set aside our perpetual worries about another drought cycle. As the hills “green up,” we can worry less about wildfires erupting in our hillsides and destroying us, as we saw in the Mountain Fire in Ventura…
The Dana “Reserve” is an oxymoron, since it reserves nothing. More than 3,000 native California quercus agrifolia, which have lived free in the land of their ancestors for millennia, are to be sacrificed on the altar of lucre. Take a deep breath, and it is air they have filtered. Walk beneath their canopy, take a…
Performances of Turkey Boy: A Christmas Carol Addendum will be held in the San Luis Obispo Library’s Community Room on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m. on both evenings. Written by Orcutt local Weston Eric Scott, this original play follows a child actor who has played Tiny Tim in his local…
Holiday music fans can look forward to two upcoming Christmas-centric performances in Nipomo from the Friendly Neighborhood Big Band—one outdoors and the other indoors. The group will hold a free outdoor concert in a residential area, on the driveway of 755 Honey Groove Lane, Nipomo, on Sunday, Dec. 8, from noon to 2 p.m. Attendees…
Gladiator II What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down) directs this sword-and-sandal sequel to his Oscar-winning Gladiator (2000) set 16 years…
A Man on the Inside What’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Netflix Mike Schur is back doing what he does best, giving his audience loveable, quirky characters in deliciously bite-sized episodes. The Parks and Rec and The Good Place creator has brought Ted Danson back in the leading role of Charles in…
Blitz What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Written and directed by Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows), this World War II film does something films about this war rarely do, which is to look beyond the good-versus-evil trope of the Allied Forces versus the Nazis and examine another…
