Cover Story
Not home for the holidays
This Christmas, 17-year-old Jennie* will spend the day at the same place she did last year: in a room surrounded by a few of her favorite possessions and with strangers who have become her new family. Like many of the other girls in the Changing Faces group home, she will never have another typical childhood…
If you could have anything for Christmas, what would it be?
Tina Kay retired “I’m at the point in my life where I’m giving things away, not getting things. The goal is to die broke because you can’t take it with you.” Lisa Gonzalez student “To go visit my family in Mexico and see how they’re doing.” Tom Baker retired “I would sure like a new…
How to Teach a Slug to Read
Teaching a slug to read requires some strategy, but it’s worth it. That’s the premise of this tale, which involves a human boy coaching a slug mother in her efforts to teach a young slug the way of books. Story selection is key, as are gentle steps—or easy, slimy glides?—along the path: learning new words,…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, Dec. 8 Boys’ Soccer Lompoc @ Atascadero 3:30 p.m. Santa Maria @ Righetti 5:30 p.m. Girls’ Basketball Lompoc @ SLO Tournament TBA Girls’ Soccer Santa Maria @ Righetti 5:30 p.m. Girls’ Water Polo Morro Bay @ Pioneer Valley 4 p.m. Nipomo @ Atascadero 4 p.m. Men’s Basketball…
Hayes Dunn, St. Joseph
To put it succinctly, Hayes Dunn loves to run. At the CIF State Cross Country Meet on Nov. 26, the St. Joseph senior finished the 5K course at Woodward Park in 16:17. While it was shy of his personal best, it was good enough for 14th place in the entire Division 5. “I wanted to…
On the roster
Hancock Holiday Clinic: Players ages 6 to 18 can sharpen their hitting, fielding, and pitching skills at the annual Allan Hancock College Holiday Baseball Clinic, Dec. 19 to 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Instructors include former major league player Bryn Smith, Santa Maria Valley Packers’ head coach Scott Nickason, and Hancock baseball coaches.…
Get ready for girls’ softball in Lompoc
Girls ages 5 to 16 are invited to sign up for the Lompoc Girls Softball Association. The fee is $90 and includes a jersey, pictures, and $20 worth of raffle tickets. There’s a $5 discount for siblings. Players must be 5 years old by May 1, 2012, and younger than 17 prior to Jan. 1.…
Swing into spring with Little League
The Santa Maria Little Leagues are looking for youth to fill out their rosters for next season. The Westside Little League will hold an early registration at the Boys & Girls Club, 901 N. Railroad Ave., on Dec. 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. The cost is $65 per child; and three proofs of residence…
Sign up for city softball
From now through Jan. 26, the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department will be taking registrations for their Adult Softball program. Leagues include men’s, co-ed, and men’s 40 years and up. Play begins Feb. 10, and all games will be held at the Hagerman Sports Complex, 3300 Skyway Dr. Fees are $394 for resident teams…
Winter football league kicks off
Big Picture Athletics, an organization providing athletic programs and amateur exposure events for youth on the Central Coast, will be holding an eight-week competitive seven-on-seven winter passing league. The league will be open to seventh and eighth grade combo teams from Ventura County to Northern Santa Barbara County. Coaches will organize their own team of…
Winter camp is back!
Winter break is nearly here, and so is the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department’s Winter Camp program for children ages 6 to 12. The camp is intended to promote positive self-image and enhance children’s physical, mental, and social growth. It will be held at the Minami Community Center, 600 W. Enos Dr., operating in…
Fighting for pride
Throwing jabs, landing kicks, and finally submitting his sparring partner in a session-ending chokehold, Ruben Perez was hard at work in the boxing ring at the Santa Maria Athletic Club, preparing for his first-ever main event fight. Perez and other local amateur mixed martial artists are heading to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville…
An eclectic quintet
The Eclectic5 is a quintet of local musicians who work together to meet a common goal: produce great music no matter what the genre or time period. The group’s upcoming holiday concert will feature a holiday theme that will still fit the “eclectic” moniker and, above all, be lots of fun. The concert, set for…
Back it up
The human race has males, and it has men. Not all males are considered “men” until they prove they have certain characteristics that make them manly. Males must perfect a certain skill set in order to own the ultimate title of “a man’s man.” During a male’s life, as he grows up from boyhood, he…
Get inspired
The Wildling Art Museum’s last “Get Inspired!” program for the year is inspired by the current exhibition “Island Encounters: The Art and Conservation of the Channel Islands.” Professional photographer Ines Roberts will offer two short inspirational shows from 7 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 9. Using slides of her work synched with music, Roberts will…
Learn how to act
Peter Frisch and the Frisch Studio recently announced the winter-spring line-up of professional classes for actors. Classes will be taught in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Solvang beginning on Jan. 22. Classes are 16-week terms and open by interview and audition only. Frisch, known in Santa Barbara as leader of the Granada Restoration, is also…
See Gallea at Town Center Gallery
Valinda Gallea will be the featured artist at the Town Center Gallery for December. An artist’s reception in her honor will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 16 at the gallery, 321 Town Center West, B6. The exhibit will be vivid acrylic paintings of architecture and street scenes she painted while on…
All grown up
What was once a small agricultural town has grown to become the largest city in Santa Barbara County. Now peppered with big box stores and skirted by a multi-lane highway, Santa Maria’s past is evident in the traditions it’s kept and the names of the streets and landmarks. How the city got that way is…
Compatibly unique
Whether it’s working with collage or in acrylics, seeking meaning from within or inspiration from nature, two Central Coast artists find that their work often has similar themes. See how they link as part of a joint show this month in the Shepard Hall Gallery at the Santa Maria Public Library, featuring the works of…
Forty Buck Chuck?
The intoxicating aroma of concentrated black cherry hangs in the air at a local winery—almost as much as does the anticipation as the priciest wine grapes Dave Potter has ever purchased hibernate in barrels. Usually passionate about Rhone varietals—Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre—Potter is trying his purple-stained hand at Pinot Noir as well this year. “I’ve…
Who wants Nipomo urbanized?
“There you go again” was an often-used quote of Ronald Reagan every time Jimmy (Misery Index) Carter abused the truth about Reagan’s policy. Anyone who is delusional enough to believe the NCSD’s bureaucratic reality TV, snap out of it. Their Kardashian-style bull gas will pollute what’s left of our rural environment and result in the…
Get ready to shop local with me
I would love to see an article encouraging people to spend some of their dollars locally, and to specifically buy Made in America products. The average person spends about $700 for Christmas, and if we spent $64 of that on Made in America products, we could create 200,000 jobs. (That is according to the ABC…
Don’t focus on a bad apple
I, like former Corporal Kanady (“‘Like a pawn on a chessboard,’” Oct. 20), am a veteran of multiple combat tours. I don’t believe that we were just “numbers,” and my time in-country did serve a purpose. All this is is the whining of a bad soldier; besides, he joined for the wrong purpose. Jail time…
Renew the true holiday spirit
The question most often asked during the holidays when gifts are exchanged is, “What did you get?” Much less frequently asked is, “What did you give?” Invariably, the inquiries regard material gifts. Purchasing a gift certainly can be a thoughtful, wonderful gesture, especially when it’s reinforced by other actions. But the most valuable presents are…
Hancock offers classes for caregivers of children with special needs
This spring, Allan Hancock College’s early childhood studies program is offering two classes for people who care for children with special needs. Infant Intervention (ECS 113, CRN 42922) is designed as an introductory overview for working with infants and toddlers at risk for special needs and their families. Students will examine risk factors, learn how…
More winter break camp options
The Santa Maria Valley YMCA is currently working with local elementary school principals to develop curriculum for a winter break camp that’s both educational and fun. Several camps will be offered Dec. 19 through Jan. 13 for children ages 4 through 12. The cost is $100 per week for YMCA members and $115 non-members. Weekly…
Study science over winter break
Think you have what it takes to work in crime scene investigation? The Guadalupe Dunes Center is planning a forensics winter day camp for children in fifth through ninth grades. The camp will run Dec. 19 through 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dunes Center at 1055 Guadalupe St., in Guadalupe. The…
Museum memories
Having always loved children’s museums, taking my kids (now 30, 27, 24, 16, and 15) to one whenever we went to a town that had one, imagine my elation when the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum opened its doors in 1996. I became one of the first members, and a year later when I asked…
Neighbors helping neighbors
One of the best parts about the holidays is being able to share a delicious meal with loved ones. Unfortunately for some Santa Barbara County residents, purchasing and preparing meals can be a big challenge. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, 18 percent of the county’s residents—nearly 74,000 people—now live below the poverty line. Children…
Spotlight on: Magnolia Home Care
With its spacious, neatly manicured grounds and farmhouse-style architecture, Magnolia Home Care in Orcutt doesn’t look like your typical assisted-living center. Co-owners Chuck and Margie Halsell, with their respective backgrounds in construction and home care, decided to turn their country barn into a residence for seniors with memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease after seeing a…
Dirty laundry
On the surface, it seemed like a run-of-the-mill DUI case, just one of many heard in the Santa Maria courthouse on any given day. Except The People vs. Parker James O’Sullivan was different, not so much for the defendant involved, but because of the key witness for the prosecution, a Santa Barbara police officer named…
If you’ll permit me
Tony Vincent wants to provide a legacy for his family. He’s already built a house on the land he bought in the Los Olivos area. It took eight months. When he started the house, he also began a winery and tasting room. Two years have passed, and Vincent is still trying to wade his way…
Nicholas Bendle is sentenced to life in a state mental hospital
The Santa Maria resident convicted of murdering an elderly man with a hatchet two years ago has been sentenced to life in a state mental health institution. On Nov. 28, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Edward Bullard sentenced Nicholas Bendle, 22, to Patton State Hospital, where he could remain for the rest of his…
Lompoc Chamber seeks stakeholder input on tourism
Attracting non-resident pleasure seekers to the Lompoc Valley for a day’s worth of recreational activities isn’t a particularly hard thing to do, by most accounts. The hard part—and an integral piece in the puzzle of Lompoc’s revitalization efforts—is encouraging those tourism dollars to stick around for that second, or even third day, according to some…
Judge considers alternate release sites for a sex offender
A Placer County Superior Court judge is reconsidering his plan to release a soon-to-be-paroled sex offender into Santa Maria, after a sustained fight by city officials. On Dec. 5, Judge James D. Garbolino found that “extraordinary circumstances” existed in the case of Tibor Karsai, 58, who was convicted in 1980 of kidnapping and raping a…
City officials mull a quarter-cent tax to pay for public safety improvements
Over the next few weeks, Santa Maria city staff members—including Police Chief Dan Macagni and Fire Chief Jeff Jones—are expected to hold a series of community presentations to discuss potential funding options for the city’s public safety departments. Officials want to hear more from residents before recommending the City Council vote to place a quarter-cent…
