CANARY: Bird’s eye view
As I understand it, humans have a great capacity for imagination, to envision what’s not yet happened, to dream about a potential occurrence. Bear with me—this bird brain is rather limited in its capacity to imagine much of a potential future. Am I wrong then in surmising that the ability to imagine also gives you…
Just a plant: Farmers stress that cannabis is another agricultural commodity
From continuously changing regulations to scrutiny from some local groups and the threat of the black market, farmers at the forefront of the cannabis industry have to be adept at navigating a number of challenges. As of Jan. 15, Santa Barbara County has received applications for 218 cannabis cultivation projects totaling 2,346 acres, according to…
Oceano will vote on tax to fund Fire Authority
The Oceano Community Services District (CSD) boardroom was full on Jan. 25. Residents were there to hear presentations from the Five Cities Fire Authority fire chief and general manager about Measure A-20. Measure A-20, if passed, would maintain rapid response times for medical emergencies and fire protection services, provide 24/7 staffing and emergency services, and…
County receives $6 million for jail diversion
A new diversion program in Santa Barbara County aims to keep people suffering from mental health issues and substance abuse disorders out of jail and instead move them into treatment programs. During its Feb. 4 meeting, the county Board of Supervisors accepted nearly $6 million in grant funding from the Board of State and Community…
Supervisors deny appeals, move wind project forward
By the end of this year, an energy developer plans to build 29 wind turbines up to roughly 500 feet tall in a largely undeveloped area about 5 miles south of Lompoc. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to move the Strauss Wind Energy Project forward at its Jan. 28 meeting after…
POLITICAL WATCH: February 6, 2020
• Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham’s (R-San Luis Obispo) bill to increase transparency surrounding police sexual assault investigations (Assembly Bill 1599) passed the Assembly on Jan. 27. The bill moves into the state Senate and is supposed to be heard by Senate committees over the summer, according to a press release from Cunningham’s office. “We passed a…
Bruce Porter’s campaign is misleading
I recently received a mailer exhorting me to “vote against Joan Hartmann.” I wasn’t advised who I was supposed to vote for. However, in tiny letters I found the source: “Paid for by Porter for Supervisor.” Perhaps Bruce Porter was reluctant to ask people to vote for him because of his misleading statements. Porter’s mailer…
Joan Hartmann has local interests at heart
Our 3d District County Supervisor, Joan Hartmann, is a highly responsive representative for local interests. When the Vandenberg Village Community Services District asked if she could get county permission for us to drill some test water wells on county property, she helped us out. We asked and she delivered. As a veteran, I suggested to…
Hartmann’s policies are bad for the 3rd District
For the last 10 years I have been actively involved in reviewing and granting scholarships for high school students in the Santa Ynez Valley. A good education is one of the most vital elements of a thriving community. We have been fortunate, until recently, that there has been community and county support for superior education.…
The Santa Maria Fire Department is getting more staff and a new engine thanks to 1-cent sales tax
Santa Maria has grown by 30,000 people since 2000, and it’s still growing. In 2018 and 2019, the city issued building permits for more than 500 housing units, city Public Information Officer Mark van de Kamp said. Keeping up with the public safety needs that come along with an increased population has been a challenge,…
Audacious Foundation funds new projects in Lompoc, Guadalupe
Since 2015, the Audacious Foundation has provided funding to schools throughout Santa Barbara County to pay for learning experiences that can’t be found in textbooks. The foundation started by partnering with five schools in South County, but it has since expanded to 12 schools countywide, including campuses in Lompoc, Santa Maria, and Guadalupe. Foundation Executive…
Kalyra Winery reopens a year after a freak winter storm took out its Santa Ynez tasting room
Half deck, half tasting room, Kalyra Winery’s thin, long building overlooks the Santa Ynez Valley. The walls smell faintly of fresh paint, but the venue is hopping on Feb. 1. The walls smell faintly of fresh paint, but the venue is hopping on Feb. 1. Every table is full, and there isn’t space at the…
Lompoc Concert Association presents experimental rock fiddler Adam DeGraff
Classically trained violinist Adam DeGraff will perform at the First United Methodist Church in Lompoc on Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m., as part of his Rock Violin Neat tour. After spending years as a professional orchestra musician, DeGraff recently began dabbling in experimental rock, which serves as the basis for his current touring show.…
New book examines Theodore Bikel’s childhood in Vienna during Nazi annexation
About a year before his passing in 2015, Austrian-American film actor Theodore Bikel (The African Queen, My Fair Lady) wrote a memoir, describing a year in the life—between 1937 and 1938, during his childhood in Vienna. The short story was published in Moment Magazine and explored Bikel’s confusion as a child in response to rising…
Wet your whistle with new lakeside landscapes at Gallery Los Olivos
Titled New Visions, the latest duo exhibition at Gallery Los Olivos showcases several nature-based landscapes by artists Sheryl Knight and Britt Friedman. Waterfalls and other water-centric scenes are the subjects found in most of the show’s featured paintings. With the new year only a month in, why not ring in the roaring 2020s with some…
Susan Farber hosts natural perfume workshop in Solvang
Artisan perfumer and certified aromatherapist Susan Farber hosts two sessions of her natural perfume-making workshop at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature on Saturday, Feb. 8—one from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the other from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Farber is the founder and creator of Sol Aromatics, which produces a variety of…
Orcutt Community Theater presents ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
Orcutt Community Theater’s production of Joseph Kesselring’s murder farce, Arsenic and Old Lace, opens at Klein Dance Arts Studio on Friday, Feb. 14, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. The plot follows Mortimer Brewster, whose life turns upside down after realizing two of his close relatives are serial killers. Performances of the show will run through…
SMHS students create colorful murals for new admin building
More than 70 Santa Maria High School (SMHS) art students are participating in an ongoing mural project, decorating the plywood walls surrounding the school’s new administration building. The three-story structure is currently in construction and will feature an admin office, 50 classrooms, and a bell tower. For the mural project, students created their designs during…
