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The special setting: The Central Coast has many venues for couples looking to tie the knot somewhere unique
While marriage is making headlines the world round, locals are currently involved in every stage of planning and executing their special day. Weddings are one of the most personal and intimate events friends and family can experience. They require the concerted efforts of several parties. But before the planning can even begin, the question of…
LULAC files an appeal against the Santa Maria Planning Commission
Pedro Reyes and Gloria Acosta of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed an appeal Feb. 19 against the Santa Maria Planning Commission’s decision to approve a planned development permit for construction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Santa Maria. In the appeal, LULAC says the Planning Commission erred in…
What would your dream Valentine’s Day in Northern Santa Barbara County consist of?
Armando Nol highway patrolman “I would want to go on one of those wine and dinner cruises, watch the sunset, and then come home to a movie.” Gage Petersen sandwich artist at Jersey Mike’s “First, I’d need to have a girlfriend. We’d meet up for lunch and I’d buy, because that’s just how I am.…
Wild wedding: A match made in heaven meant getting married in nature for Craig and Linda Shafer
All it took was one look into the colorful meadow edged by rocky peaks and pine trees and former Sun Arts Editor Craig Shafer knew Cuyamaco Rancho State Park was where he was going to marry Linda. “It just kind of jumped out and said, ‘There it is!’ The valley was just so—when you saw…
On the sweeter side: Crafting events at Michaels
Michaels offers crafting events for kids ages 3 and up. A “Heart Painting” event is scheduled for Feb. 15 for 30-minute sessions from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the store. Cost is $2. A “Pinterest Party” shows customers how to create favorite Pinterest projects using products available for purchase in the store on Feb. 16…
LVAC offers update of Lompoc Theater Project
The Lompoc Valley Arts Council is holding a public meeting, which includes an informational session regarding the Lompoc Theater Project. The council, which meets Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. for a business meeting, will include a community update on the project at 7 p.m. at Stone Pine Hall, 210 South H St., Lompoc. The Lompoc…
Santa Barbara Arts Association announces juried winners
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, the Santa Barbara Art Association, and the County Art in Public Places Committee opened the juried exhibition Inside/Outside: Santa Barbara Art Association on Feb. 6 with an awards ceremony honoring the outstanding contributions. The exhibit, which shows through May 23 at the Channing Peake Gallery on the first floor…
Help PCPA house an actor
The Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts is raring up for its summer season, which often sees the company’s numbers double to meet the demands of productions at both the Marian and Solvang Festival theaters. Actors and technicians who will be arriving near May will need affordable housing in the area while working for PCPA…
Custom creations: Two local jewelers offer tips for couples who want to design their own wedding rings
The men and women on Bering Sea Gold are miners, but not in the stereotypical dusty, toothless, “panning for gold” sense. Instead, they quest for the precious metal by diving to the bottom of the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. One of those miners is a Santa Maria resident, albeit he only lives…
Tattoos are forever: Ditch the gold and silver for ink
Diamonds and gold might be the time-honored choices, but some couples opt for a more permanent ways of symbolizing their matrimonial bonds to one another. In a recent interview, tattoo artist Louie Campopiano said approximately four to five people inquire about wedding ring tattoos each month at Traditional Tattoos’ Foothill location in San Luis Obispo.…
What’s on Deck? 2/13 – 2/20
Thursday, Feb. 13 Boys’ Soccer Pioneer Valley vs. Atascadero @ PVHS, 3:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Paso Robles @ SJHS, 7 p.m. Cabrillo vs. Morro Bay @ MBHS, 3:30 p.m. Nipomo vs. Santa Ynez @ SYHS, 5:30 p.m. Santa Maria vs. Lompoc @ SMHS, 5:30 p.m. Girls’ Basketball Nipomo…
See for free! National Parks announces free admission days
The National Parks Service announced nine free admission days, including several holidays, at its 401 American parks coming up in 2014. “National Parks not only protect and preserve the places we most value; they also add enormous economic value to nearby communities and the entire nation,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in…
Panthers take first wrestling title
During the week of Feb. 3, Pioneer Valley High School wrestling faced off against elite wrestling rival, Righetti High School at the Warriors’ gym. With the pressure on, Pioneer Valley delivered a 39-32 win over Righetti. Panther wrestlers Dyriece Tell, Christian Ayala, and Mikey Ruiz all earned big points to take the match. Righetti was…
Free Wi-Fi for the Winter Olympics
Comcast recently announced it’s openining up free access to thousands of XFinity WiFi hotspots for the duration of the Sochi Olympic Games (until Feb. 23). Hotspots can be found at numerous locations, including shopping centers, parks, train platforms, and a number of small businesses. According to a press release, the hotspots will be open to…
Bulldogs going big
A press release from the Allan Hancock College Athletic Department on Feb. 6 announced that three of its football players have signed letters of intent. A ceremony was held at Joe White Memorial Gymnasium to honor Mershad Dillon, Demetrius Johnson, and Joshua Thornton. Dillon, a defensive tackle and former Santa Maria High School graduate, will…
Mikey Ruiz
The wrestling room at Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria is a humid, black-and-teal-padded alcove filled with grappling teenagers. To Mikey Ruiz, one of the senior captains, it’s like home. To the rest of his team, Ruiz is a leader with a reputation for staying calm and alleviating the stress of others. Coach Kevin…
Fitness for two: MisFit Training talks about the benefits of couples getting in shape together
As the saying goes, “Couples who sweat together, stay together.” Setting a workout date with someone helps maintain motivation and can even help you burn more calories—something many fitness fanatics crave. Recent research has shown that working out with a “special someone” leads not only to greater physical fitness, but a stronger relationship. “When a…
Get ready for the county spelling bee
Students from throughout Santa Barbara County will have to think very carefully before they act when they compete in the annual spelling bee on Feb. 20 in the auditorium of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The elementary school contest for fourth- through sixth-grade students is set to start at 9 a.m. Junior high school…
Guadalupe students will learn life-saving lessons on Valentine’s Day
This year’s Valentine’s Day isn’t just about the feelings of the heart for students at Kermit McKenzie Junior High School; it’s also about keeping it beating, too. Firefighters and first responders are running a series of CPR exercises for more than 360 students and staffers from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day to ensure…
A local student helps honor former U.S. poet laureate
Before completing a Los Prietos Boys Camp program earlier this year, Derek Young wrote such impressive poetry he was named Los Robles High School’s first poet laureate. On Jan. 25, Young, 16, took part in a ceremony near the camp to honor the 100th birthday of the late William Stafford, a former U.S. poet laureate.…
Spotlight on: Mission Animal Hospital
He lies in his bed in pain, unable to do the things you know he once loved. It’s finally gotten him. The arthritis. It is everywhere from his back to his hips, making him yelp from the constant pain. You want so badly to help him, to ease him of the unbearable agony that you…
Political Watch 2/13/14
• Assembly members Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo) and Adam Gray (D-Merced) responded to a recent bipartisan audit of the California Department of Justice by announcing they will introduce legislation to ensure that courts will report people determined to be a danger to themselves or others, as a result of a mental illness or disorder,…
Community Notebook 2/13-2/20
TUESDAY, FEB. 18 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. Agendas are available at http://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Guadalupe Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall,…
Marian gives to local nonprofits
On Jan. 29, Marian Regional Medical Center invited representatives from non-profit organizations around the county to breakfast. They each left with donations totaling $117, 492. These grants will aid in providing vital medical and human services to residents of Santa Barbara County. Dignity Health, the parent company for Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), established a…
Wedding by stealth:These local couples’ ‘secret’ weddings stuck it to the man
The exclamation point runs rampant through the forums of weddingwire.com. “Engagement pics!!!” one forum is titled. “100 Days and Counting!” squeals another. “What is your mother wearing!?” another is eager to know. The excitement is palpable, and so are the nerves. Finally, one user—bella628—spells it out: “anyone else tired of planning???!!” The question-mark-to-exclamation-point ratio means…
Something borrowed, something bruised: Injuries don’t stop, even for a wedding
A guy in San Luis Obispo—let’s call him Shawn—was getting married this past summer. And, as guys do, he decided to get his groomsmen gifts to show his appreciation for their standing with him during the wedding ceremony: pocketknives. His sister told the story: The morning of the wedding, he was messing around with one…
Corrections
• In the Feb. 6 Eats article “Pinot paradise: Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta welcomes the World of Pinot Noir,” the Sun printed a wrong date for the event. This year, it will be on Feb. 28 and March 1. • The Feb. 6 article on the Allan Hancock College Fine Arts Student Art…
Farm bill benefits Central Coast by boosting specialty crop funding
For the most part, Central Coast farmers aren’t really affected by the recent passage of the $500 billion 2014 Farm Bill, which Congress wrestled over for almost three years before passing it earlier this month. President Barack Obama signed it into law on Feb. 7. The bill does include more funding for specialty crops—fruits, nuts,…
Preliminary crush report shows a record 2013 grape harvest
For the second year in a row, California grape growers crushed previous harvest records, according to the Feb. 10 California Department of Food and Agriculture’s 2013 preliminary grape crush report. The final report will be published on March 10, but early numbers show 2013’s grape harvest was up 7 percent over 2012, which was also…
Judges extend deadline for reducing California’s prison population
California gets two more years to reduce the inmate population in state prisons. A panel of three federal judges released its decision on Feb. 10. The deadline for reducing the population to 37.5 percent above capacity was originally set for June 2013 and extended to February 2014. The court granted the extension based on the…
Santa Maria Planning Commission approves a development permit for an ICE facility
After 4-1/2 hours of public comment and discussion at its Feb. 5 meeting, the Santa Maria Planning Commission voted 3-1, with Commissioner Robert Dickerson dissenting, to approve a planned development permit for construction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility in Santa Maria. More than 2,000 people showed up to the meeting—the majority…
Photographers shoot the breeze
SUN How many years have you photographed weddings? BRITTANY APP Thirteen years now … my business anniversary is Jan. 1. SUN How many weddings have you photographed? APP At the start, I was doing 40 to 50 a year, but now it’s more like 20. I’d say a total of around 300 to 400. SUN…
Misguided criticism highlights the need for this law
Thank you for your informative article on this important issue (“Privacy and/or equality,” Feb. 6). People who identify with a gender that is different from the gender they were assigned at birth face many obstacles. As a result, they often need support from legislation that prevents discrimination based on their gender identity. The new law…
Water, water everywhere–right?
I thought love was in the air on a recent flight I took around Santa Maria until I realized it wasn’t love, it was water falling from the sky. Even if it wasn’t romance soaking into my feathers, my heart fluttered all the same. I honestly, truly, genuinely couldn’t recall the last time I felt…
Ministering music: Local guitarist, minister, and DJ Manny Mestas can provide music to make your day special
From the iconic first four notes of the wedding march, to Bach’s quintessential “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” music makes weddings complete. Every couple has “their song” that plays during the first dance, cementing a lifetime of memories whenever the familiar melody sounds. Many couples take the musical aspect of their special day so seriously…
That’s amore!
For this column, I posed the same question to about a dozen local chefs and restaurateurs: “What is your idea of a romantic meal on Valentine’s Day?” What surprised me was that their answers were quite revealing. These multigenerational chefs are as different as can be, and yet, they have something in common, other than…
The Wonder boob(s)
These days, with CGI and other special effects, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. A lot of things in society appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something else completely. Take my wife’s breasts for example. They look great, feel great, and cost me a great deal of money. …
