Cover Story
Prescribed veggies: Local researchers want to know why diabetes impacts Latinos at disproportionately high rates and whether a healthy diet is the best treatment
The sharp smell of apple cider vinegar wafted through the air as Christine Bisson poured some into a small stainless steel bowl. She threw in a dash of salt and a helping of black pepper, squeezed in half a lemon, and whisked them all together. Several attendees had gathered in seats around the table where…
Chef and owner Gustavo Nunez opens Souvla Cafe in Santa Maria
Santa Maria has a new Greek restaurant, and don’t worry, I promise not to make any tired jokes about Olympian gods or whatever while I tell you about it. Souvla had a soft opening on Feb. 23 in Santa Maria, and the first day was pretty much an epic success. Crowds filtered in throughout the…
Marilyn Benson brings her colorful work to the Santa Maria Public Library
It’s almost impossible to not immediately recognize a Marilyn Benson painting. Benson, an active member of the local arts scene whose work frequents many exhibits and public displays, is currently the featured solo artist at Shepard Hall in the Santa Maria Public Library. The exhibit of her charming and radiant acrylic paintings runs through March…
Melodrama celebrates female performers with ‘Steel Magnolias,’ vaudeville revue
“Women just aren’t that funny,” says every wannabe comedian bro on Twitter. But you know what, y’all? It’s 2019, and election time is just a mere 21 months away. So extend some benevolence to your nearest bro and take them out for a heart- and mind-changing night of theater to see Steel Magnolias (followed by…
Temple Beth El hosts intimate concert with scat singer Inga Swearingen
Pretty much everyone’s familiar with the British Invasion (the Beatles not the redcoats), but only those keeping tabs on the Santa Maria music scene lately may have heard whispers of a more local invasion currently on the rise—the Prairie Home Companion Invasion. That’s right, hear me out. Two frequent guests of the beloved radio program…
Shoes for Students rushes to use Payless gift cards
Payless ShoeSource announced on Feb. 18 that it would be closing all its U.S. stores by the end of May, leaving some local organizations scrambling to use up swaths of pre-purchased and donated Payless gift cards while they still can. Shoes for Students, a decades-old nonprofit that provides families throughout the Santa Maria Valley with…
Spotlight on: Jeffrey San Juan Photography
If you visit photographer Jeffrey San Juan’s website, you’ll notice there isn’t an “about me” page. There is an “about us” page, however. The “us” doesn’t refer to San Juan’s colleagues or collaborators. It actually refers to his family. Rather than try to sell you on what makes him the right guy for your photography…
Santa Maria Fairpark cancels fair poultry shows
There won’t be any chickens or turkeys at the Santa Barbara County Fair this summer, and the kids who typically show those animals will likely be absent, too. The Santa Maria Fairpark board of directors voted on Feb. 19 to cancel the poultry shows scheduled for this year’s fair. The decision, which was based on…
Mental illness pilot program shows good results, report states
A recent report touts the promising results of a pilot program to connect Santa Barbara County’s mentally ill population with critical outpatient treatment services. Created under the auspices of California’s Laura’s Law, Santa Barbra County’s Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program helps identify mentally ill individuals who are not engaged in treatment and get them to…
Construction to begin on much-needed elementary school
The Santa Maria-Bonita School District planned to break ground on a new elementary school on Feb. 28, a first for the district since it started work on Roberto and Dr. Francisco Jiménez Elementary School in 2013. The new school, a 10.76-acre campus that will sit on a portion of Enos Ranch property, is expected to…
Nickolas Equihua
The boys’ volleyball season has only just begun, and Pioneer Valley High School senior Nickolas Equihua is already “killing” it. The past two years have been seasons of total transformation for Equihua, who has worked tirelessly to improve his blocking and hitting skills. Coach Ralph Quintana said Equihua gathered up about 71 kills—well above average—and…
Hobnobbing with Helen: A whole lot to love
Wow! What a lovefest. It seemed like everyone at the Orcutt Children’s Arts Foundation’s (OCAF) 16th annual gala was totally enamored of country music singer Pryor Baird. The young man—who was raised in Orcutt, attended Orcutt schools, and had been a contestant on The Voice—flew in from Nashville with his band to perform at the…
Political Watch 2/28/19
• State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced legislation on Feb. 22 in response to the Trump administration’s rollbacks and proposed changes to Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools. The changes to Title IX haven’t taken effect yet, but would involve requiring schools to dismiss reports of off-campus incidents of…
Santa Barbara County’s cannabis tax nets $3.1 million
Santa Barbara County’s tax on legal cannabis businesses has already raked in millions of dollars, leaving county officials to figure out just how to spend it. A recent staff report stated that the county has received $3.1 million as of January 2019. That number represents more than half of the $5.5 million in cannabis tax…
Program to house homeless hits one-year mark but still faces challenges
It’s been less than a month since volunteers fanned out across Santa Barbara County to attempt to count the homeless population. While local governments, nonprofits, and others dedicated to addressing homelessness await the results, one countywide program announced some promising data from its initial efforts. But the year-old Home for Good program in Santa Barbara…
Green machine
Santa Barbara County is feeling so fresh and so green, green. So fresh and so green, green. And the reason why is about $3.1 million from a fresh new revenue stream! That particular emerald goose is supposed to add at least another $2.4 million before the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year. With all this…
It’s our fault
Sometimes you just have to agree with the accusations that the immigration problems we face are our own fault. In fact the whole damn bunch of us should be sued for providing an “attractive nuisance.” It’s not the fault of the people who drag children to our borders with the hope of falsifying asylum claims…
The changing public mood (or Rosey and me)
Recently a publication chose to print an opinion piece that was critical of me personally. My name was used several times in a disparaging manner. I fully support the First Amendment. In this instance, there may have been an assumption that such an ad hominem attack might dissuade others from speaking openly and forthrightly about…
Three strategic risks we don’t want!
Of the three new oil projects under consideration in our county, ERG’s is the furthest along in the permitting process, creating three unwanted risks: financial loss, drinking/irrigation water contamination, and hazardous air quality. Financially, ERG is insolvent and operating under a bankruptcy reorganization that requires the sale of all California assets to partially pay a…
Unintended costs: You can have chickens in Lompoc, but there are rules
The Sun correctly reported that the Lompoc City Council was allowing chickens, rabbits, and pot-bellied pigs to join households in the city (“Lompoc to allow residents to keep chickens as pets,” Feb. 14). But before you run out and build up your livestock herd, you should know that there are a lot of rules that…
Orcutt Community Theater presents ‘The Elephant Man’
The Orcutt Community Theater’s latest production is The Elephant Man, which runs through March 10. The show, written by Bernard Pomerance, tells the story of John Merrick, a man with a physical deformity who lived during the 19th century in London. Merrick had several rare skin and bone diseases and eventually became part of a…
Gallery Los Olivos hosts Artistic Paths exhibit
Gallery Los Olivos presents its latest exhibit, featuring the work of Peggy Fletcher and Patricia Watkins. Fletcher is a soft touch realistic watercolorist whose subject matter often includes florals, animals, landscape, and many other scenes from nature. She merges realism with an impressionistic style in order to convey complexities in nature. According to her artist’s…
