Cover Stories
Santa Barbara County Education Office’s volunteer programs inspire students and local businesses to make connections
Young students can always use some help with homework, but sometimes their teachers need help too. Thanks to the Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Partners in Education, which oversees the Countywide Volunteer Program, students and businesses alike are able to get involved in the schools, meeting the needs of students, educators, and programs. In…
Sewing support: Angel Gowns for Dignity offers comfort to grieving mothers
It all began with a Facebook post. In April 2014, Micci Robertson used the social media platform to share her personal story: She had miscarried three times, and wanted other mothers who’d gone through similar heartbreak to know she was there for them. Robertson lost her first two pregnancies, a boy and a girl, at…
Coast Guard volunteers share the burden of protecting the Central Coast by sea
Volunteers appointed to the service of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) are often paid, but then there are those who aren’t, like the men and women in the USCG Auxiliary. Established by Congress in 1939, and then later re-designated in 1941, the auxilary supports all missions by the USCG except for direct law enforcement or…
Getting by: Local volunteers help the Central Coast’s working poor survive
Between the holiday good will and cold weather, winter is a time when the plight of the homeless population is on our collective consciousness—even in sunny Santa Maria. As the rainfall increases, warming shelters spring up across Santa Barbara County for the season. But inside apartments and houses across the Central Coast, a different kind…
Santa Maria aims to curb youth violence
Santa Maria saw its first aggravated assault case of 2017 on Jan. 3, when two minors ages 15 and 16 were dropped off at the intersection of El Camino and Thornburg streets with stab wounds. The victims were transported to Marian Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. The Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) said in…
Lawsuit alleges Santa Barbara County Jail denied inmate medical care
An inmate who said a Santa Barbara County Jail deputy forced him to carry heavy items following his hernia surgery and denied him proper medical care afterward is suing the county Sheriff’s Office and jail staff for medical malpractice. In the hand-written lawsuit filed on Jan. 5 in the Anacapa Division of the Santa Barbara…
Santa Barbara County Education Office’s volunteer programs inspire students and local businesses to make connections
Young students can always use some help with homework, but sometimes their teachers need help too. Thanks to the Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Partners in Education, which oversees the Countywide Volunteer Program, students and businesses alike are able to get involved in the schools, meeting the needs of students, educators, and programs. In…
Coast Guard volunteers share the burden of protecting the Central Coast by sea
Volunteers appointed to the service of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) are often paid, but then there are those who aren’t, like the men and women in the USCG Auxiliary. Established by Congress in 1939, and then later re-designated in 1941, the auxilary supports all missions by the USCG except for direct law enforcement or…
Sewing support: Angel Gowns for Dignity offers comfort to grieving mothers
It all began with a Facebook post. In April 2014, Micci Robertson used the social media platform to share her personal story: She had miscarried three times, and wanted other mothers who’d gone through similar heartbreak to know she was there for them. Robertson lost her first two pregnancies, a boy and a girl, at…
What is a good place to volunteer?
Christa Weston student at CSULB “The Santa Maria Library, especially for students. I was part of the Teen Advisory Group during high school.” Marilyn Nawrocki retiree from General Motors “The Santa Maria Valley Humane Society, especially if you love animals.” Caleb John student at Central Coast New Tech High School “The Food Bank of Santa…
Hancock opens enrollment for expedited classes
Allan Hancock College is offering nearly 80 short-term classes for its spring 2017 semester, and registration is open now through March 26. Hancock’s short-term classes run at or under eight weeks, and many only go for one or two days, sometimes over a weekend. Available short-term classes include anthropology, dance, global studies, art, business, early…
Lompoc Unified School District revises travel regulations
A revised travel policy will loosen restrictions on work-related travel expense reimbursements for Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) educators, after a report from the Santa Barbara County grand jury said the district had a “lack of oversight” in the payment of travel expenses. Previously, the district’s policy on travel expenses mandated that if a district…
Spotlight on: Skyway Center
The corner of Skyway and Broadway languished for several years following the Great Recession, but construction of the new Skyway Center there will bring a facelift and new commercial and retail space to the valley. The Skyway Center is not yet finished, and already there is interest in the new complex, which brings more than…
Political Watch 1/12/17
• Abel Maldonado, former California lieutenant governor and former Santa Maria mayor, is emerging as the front-runner for President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, according to cnn.com on Jan. 3. Others are being considered for the job: Chuck Connor, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; Ted McKinney,…
Restricted access: Use conflicts and lack of funding affect access to public recreational spaces in Santa Barbara County
It’s hard to play sports in the rain, but it’s even harder to play at a park that’s ankle deep in water—or even deeper by the time you read this. Recent rains flooded several of Santa Maria’s public fields, a few of which double as water retention basins, limiting access to city parks during the…
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office online crime reporting now available
Santa Barbara County residents can file incident reports to the Sheriff’s Office online, following the office’s Jan. 10 release of its citizen online reporting system. The system, which is available on the Sheriff’s Office’s website, only allows for users to file certain types of incident reports. A press release from the office said residents can…
Marian Regional Medical Center fined for botched hysterectomy
The California Department of Public Health cited Marian Regional Medical Center on Dec. 17 for a surgical operation in 2014 that left a medical device inside a woman’s abdomen. The fine comes following a report that detailed an investigation into a bungled hysterectomy surgery. According to the report, a 54-year-old woman was admitted to Marian…
Prominent Lompoc man pleads guilty to child molestation
Anthony Durham faces 45 years to life in state prison after pleading guilty to 17 counts of child molestation, according to a press release from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office. Durham was arrested on Sept. 18, 2016, and he entered his pleas on Thursday, Jan. 5—not four months after his charges. Those charges…
Man of the year
Oh boy, all this rain is just great, isn’t it? California has been starved for water for six years now, a drought almost always punctuated with the word “historic,” and now we’re getting more water than we know what to do with! Retention basins are filling up, sinkholes have opened, and car accidents are happening.…
Michelle in 2020!
Our first lady, Michelle Obama, would be ideal to replace President-elect Trump when his term is up in four years. Her great-great-grandfather was a black slave. We have come so very far since then.
About walls
If Mexico were a prosperous, safe, and peaceful neighbor like Canada, the U.S. would not need to control the border with it. But Mexico and the Central American states are out of control failed governments with drug cartels, human trafficking, and endless corruption, which is undermining the security of the U.S. of A. Like Central…
The value of an arts education
We all know that when school budgets get tight, art and music education are early casualties. Traditionally, schools and classrooms are rated according to how students perform on standardized tests. You can scan those tests until you grow very weary, but you will never see mention of a treble clef or a two-point perspective. Fortunately,…
Alexis Garcia
Before winter season began, Alexis Garcia, Nipomo High School’s star heavyweight wrestler, laid out her goals for her senior year. She kept them simple, and wrote them down. They’re twofold: 1. Undefeated 2. State champ “My coach [Justin Magdaleno] made me write them down,” Garcia told the Sun. “I have them in my room, on…
Semi-pro days: Former Santa Maria Redskins and Hawks football players to share teams’ history at Jan. 14 Valley Speaks
Did you know Santa Maria once had two professional football teams? I know—neither did we! They were “semi-pro” teams, actually. So, in other words, no big paychecks, packed stadiums, or Super Bowl trophies. But the games were legit, the players were talented, and the teams were well respected in the community. It started one day…
Umbrella policy
Life is all about choices. Coke or Pepsi? Ford or Chevy? Beatles or The Stones? In most situations these types of choices are personal preferences and are usually harmless (unless you have Type 2 diabetes, in which both Coke and Pepsi are clearly the wrong choice). Now, there are other choices in life that aren’t…
Weekly habit: Musicians and poets of all flavors are welcome at 6 Degrees Coffee House in Orcutt’s open mic night
Watch a video of Anthony Michael Ariolla performing at 6 Degrees Coffee House. Freedom of expression is a founding principle of our society, but how often do we all engage in it? One last bastion of unfettered expression is the open mic, a chance for anyone to share a few thoughts or songs, taking turns…
Hear live poetry in Orcutt
The Live from the CORE poetry series welcomes two California poets for a reading event on Jan. 14 in Orcutt. David Dominguez of Fresno and Jo Milosch of San Diego will read their works live at CORE Winery in Old Orcutt. Dominguez is known for authoring two collections: Work Done Right and The Ghost of…
Santa Maria Noontimers Lions donates $1,000 to Braille Institute
The Santa Maria Noontimers Lions donated $1,000 to the Santa Barbara Braille Institute’s Santa Maria Center. Noontimers Lions Carol Haynes and Roger Selken presented the check to outreach coordinator Kitty Crockett at the center’s holiday luncheon. The donation will assist the Santa Maria program’s various classes throughout the year. Clients of the Braille Institute have…
Lompoc Library hosts new book club
The Lompoc Public Library offers a new book club, The Literary Tea and Talk, February through May. The community is invited to attend the free program, which is scheduled for the third Tuesday of every month. Tea will be provided for participants to enjoy during the book discussions. The first discussion group will meet to…
Wooded wonders: Cure your nature deficit disorder at the Wildling Museum’s tree-inspired exhibit
Look at a man’s face and his skin will give away his age: wrinkles around the eyes, scars on the hands. Look at a piece of wood, and you’ll see a similar tale unfold. Each ring within a stump’s center signifies the passage of time. Like fingerprints, woodgrain may be long, short, whorled, or gnarled.…
Fresh and wholesome slices await at the family-owned Tower Pizza in Solvang
When he was a child growing up in Solvang, Torey Dunn’s mother owned a small gift shop called Mette’s Mill. It was located in a walkway off Alisal in the heart of Solvang, beside the tower that juts out into the skyline from behind the scenic windmill there. Decades later, Dunn and his wife, Monica,…
