Cover Story
From the land, with love
The Marine Mammal Center was founded in 1975 to provide care for stranded, sick, and entangled marine mammals along California’s coast from Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County to the northernmost point of Mendocino County. More than 800 volunteers help with approximately 75 creatures at the Morro Bay facility. Funding for the organization comes from private…
How and when do you get rid of your Christmas tree?
Travis Horton host “Around New Year’s. We stick it on the curb with the trash.” Nick Paramure In-In-Out employee “We have a fake tree. It’s kind of shameful.” Louden Jeffers entrepreneur “Fake tree. No comment.” Alyssa Lopez student “Typically New Year’s Day, but I try to stall my mom as long as possible.”
Clubs & Meetings
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Spiritual
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Farmers Markets
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Barbecues
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Health
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Learning
@font-face { font-family: “Geneva”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }span.Absatz-Standardschriftart { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } ONGOING EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS for inventors, entrepreneurs, new product developers, and creative individuals that feature expert speakers and resources meet every first Wednesday of the month…
Recreation
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Kids & Family
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Dance Lessons
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Night Life
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Concerts
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SPECIAL EVENTS
@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “NimbusSanD-BoldCond”; }@font-face { font-family: “NimbusSanD-LighCond”; }@font-face { font-family: “NimbusSanD-LighCondItal”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }span.Absatz-Standardschriftart { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } THE LOMPOC MUSEUM is raffling off a custom vintage style quilt in benefit of the museum’s Stone Pine…
Warm up with winter jazz
The Dick Clark Big Band Orchestra wants to keep Big Band jazz alive and well in Lompoc. The band will present a Winter Jazz Festival Concert and Dance on Jan. 29 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Anderson Recreation Center, 125 W. Walnut and I streets. Admission is $5 at the door. Hear jazz…
Food for thought series
On Jan. 23 at 2 p.m., the Cachuma Lake Nature Center will be host to guest speaker Larry Ballard in the Food for Thought series. The event is free to the public and will begin with a social where light refreshments and beverages will be served. The speaking presentation runs from 2:30 p.m. to 4…
Hearts are red
Hearts or Red” is the title of the upcoming Small Treasures exhibit in the Town Center Gallery, which will be filled with art that represents romance, love, hearts, or simply the power of the titular color. A public reception to celebrate the exhibit will include a demonstration by Joyce Nelson, who will paint a rose.…
Dreadful success
Lance Sawyer sketched out a design with the familiar ease and confidence of a hot chick used to jotting down her number on a napkin in a bar. Only Sawyer was sitting in a booth in a dimly lit sushi joint just before the lunch hour. With short, quick strokes, he pulled together shapes, stopping…
Political Watch – 1.13.11
State Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) had a busy week, issuing multiple statements to the press. On Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal, Blakeslee said: “This budget is troublingly similar to the failed proposals of the Schwarzenegger administration. Perpetuating the status quo without reforms is a prescription for continuing job losses and declining revenues. Instead…
Community Notebook – 1.13.11
• 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 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, 918 Obispo…
Helping Haiti
As most of the world knows, on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Caribbean country, located east of Cuba on the island of Hispaniola. The Haitian government reported that the disaster claimed 230,000 lives, injured 300,000 people, and left one million people homeless. The earthquake reduced to rubbish many…
Book drive honors MLK
The AmeriCorps Reading Literacy Program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office will be holding its 10th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day book drive on Jan. 17. AmeriCorps members will be at Chaucer’s Bookstore in Santa Barbara, The Book Store in Lompoc, and Borders in Goleta to collect books and offer activities for children.…
Newly sworn-in Gov. Brown’s budget proposal upsets nearly everyone
Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to accomplish something in his first few weeks in office that took his predecessor years to accomplish: He’s infuriated many of the state’s Republicans and Democrats at the same time. Brown released his budget proposal on Jan. 10, and it was a doozy. It calls for $12.5 billion in cuts…
County poised to crack down on spills from on-shore oil production facilities
At its Jan. 11 meeting, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with a proposal to tighten regulations for noncompliant on-shore oil drilling companies. If approved, the ordinance would amend the county’s Petroleum Code to change what constitutes a “high risk” facility, and clarify the offending facility’s clean-up requirements. The…
Local mayors seek state and federal aid to reopen Guadalupe Dunes
Heavy rains and flooding forced the closure of the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes County Park in late December, prompting city officials to plead for state and federal aid to fix the park’s access road. The Santa Barbara County Parks Department closed the entry to Guadalupe Beach—the western terminus of Main Street—after 10 inches of rain fell…
Hobnobbing With Helen
When he was a young man, ophthalmologist Dr. Dennis Shepard spent time as a medic in Korea, Viet Nam, and Laos, some of it on the staff of famed humanitarian Dr. Tom Dooley. This is just one of the riveting aspects of Dr. Shepard’s life that he talked about on Jan. 8 in the Historical…
Track loaders are available in Santa Maria
Kubota Tractor Corporation announced Santa Maria’s Ahern Rentals Inc. as one of the first dealers nationwide to offer Kubota compact track loaders, including the SVL75 and SVL90 models. Both models are equipped with tilt-up cabins, two-speed travel and high ground clearance, and powered by a four-cylinder, direct injection, turbo-charged Kubota diesel engine. The 74.3-gross horsepower…
CBSM promotes executive VP
Community Bank of Santa Maria recently announced the promotion of Curt Davis, a 30-year veteran of community banking, to the position of executive vice president, loan administrator. Davis joined the bank in 2003 as a commercial lender and was later promoted to senior vice president in 2006. He graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma…
Boysen to speak at luncheon
Newly elected Santa Maria city councilman Jack Boysen will share his background and goals as the featured speaker of the Chamber of Commerce’s next Business Committee meeting on Jan. 18. The meeting runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Santa Maria Fairpark’s Satellite Wagering Center, located 937 S. Thornburg. Check-in and networking begins at…
Fairpark hosts Baby Expo
In addition to showcasing vendors of baby-related merchandise, this year’s event will feature a “Funny Baby Photo Contest” in which the top three winners will take home prizes. It will also feature a contest with a $1,000 gift card grand prize. The Fairpark is located at 937 S. Thornburg St. in Santa Maria. For more…
Let your fingers do the reading
It was the first day of school after winter break at the Braille Institute, but classes were trimmed down for a special occasion: Helen Frederickson’s birthday. It wasn’t just any birthday, though. Frederickson was turning 99. At just shy of 100, though, she hasn’t let her age slow her down one bit. She attends the…
Lend helping hands and share time
Mother Teresa said it best: “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with love.” One of the rarest commodities for many today is time, and giving of our time to volunteer is very precious indeed, but it is the best way I know to do small things with love. So…
Edgar Espinosa
If David fought Goliath today, David would’ve used judo instead of a slingshot; it’s a form of fighting that doesn’t put importance on size between opponents. That’s why it attracted Edgar Espinosa. At the time of his first fight, he was 5-foot-4, weighing 120 pounds when he squared off against a 6-foot opponent weighing more…
A volunteer for the hall of fame
Inside the local Boys and Girls Club gym, a wall bears six names. They’re the club’s all-time “Honor Coaches,” those who’ve made indelible marks on the youth they’ve guided. Listed among the group is Eddie Navarro. If the name rings a bell, don’t be surprised. There’s a good chance you’ve either been coached by him…
Give those extra pounds the boot
The new year is a perfect time to think about getting back in shape. To help locals reach their fitness goals, CCE Performance Training is offering a Boot Camp on Jan. 15. The camp takes place at 9 a.m. at Robin Ventura Field, located next to Rotary Centennial Park at 2625 S. College Drive. Cost…
Lompoc pool reopens
After being closed for six weeks for economic reasons, the Lompoc Aquatic Center is again open for all regularly scheduled programs. Beginning Jan. 15, the Aquatic Center will hold a Recreation Swim on weekends and any day all schools in the Lompoc Unified School District have the day off. To register for programs or find…
‘Holiday’ extended
Due to popular demand, the inaugural “Mega Holiday on Ice” skating rink at the Santa Maria Town Center will stay open until Jan. 23. Located in the old Gottschalk’s parking lot, at the corner of Broadway and Cook streets, the rink is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was originally scheduled to…
Brew of the mountain
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company recently opened its doors on a sleepy street in Buellton, bringing pub fun and stylish beers to the Central Coast. To the delight of locals, the handcrafted brews honor regional lore with names evoking the colorful character of the Santa Ynez Valley. According to Jim and Jaime Dietenhofer, the founding father-and-son…
