Cover Story
Geo-political divide: Santa Barbara County supervisors have kept north-south issues in check, until recently
Read the 2003 Sun article about the county split (.pdf). In recent months, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has split ways on contentious issues—the most visible of which was the Santa Maria Energy expansion project decision. It’s really no surprise that environmental concerns are in one corner of the political boxing ring and…
Miró restaurant brings in world-renowned wine and spirits experts for monthly dinner
Bacara Resort and Spa on Santa Barbara County’s Gaviota Coast is debuting an extraordinary new dinner series called “Meet the Masters” the third Thursday of every month. This is a rare opportunity to break bread with, and pick the brains of, true geniuses in the fields of wine and spirits during an exclusive multi-course dinner…
Do you think there’s a North-South divide in county politics?
Edward Moreno dry-wall consultant “Yeah, it’s still there. We should have our own county, Santa Maria County, and Santa Barbara should have its own. Santa Maria takes care of its problems, and Santa Barbara takes care of its problems.” Linda Nunez student “I don’t know. I’m busy with school.” Tina Sanchez case manager “Yes; it…
Creative ecology: The Dunes Center publishes a book showcasing the talents and education of its students
Nature is a creative endeavor. Every day and night, critters scurry, slither, and sneak, hoping to make a future for themselves in their own unique way. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center looked to this creative model to help educate kids about local ecology with a program that started in 2012. The fruits of that program are…
Teenage fiddler Amaya Rose Dempsey saws on the strings at Temple Beth El in Santa Maria
Watch a video of Amaya Rose’s original song “I’d Rather Watch The Rain.” Potential is a terrible thing to waste, especially in music. Many wonder why child prodigies reach such a level of skill so early on in life, but the answer is simple: who would want to do anything else? One local kid, Amaya…
Bedford’s mushroom festival returns
The Bedford Winery is presenting the eighth annual “Mushrooms Gone Wild!” mushroom festival on Jan. 25 in Los Alamos at the wine tasting room. The event will feature wine tasting and an expansive selection of fungi. Varieties will include, but won’t be limited to, chanterelles, hedgehogs, shitake, porcini, oyster, and black trumpet. Guests will be…
OASIS Senior Center holds open house
The Luis Oasis Senior Center invites the Santa Maria Valley community to come enjoy an open house event on Jan. 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the center, 420 Soares Ave., Orcutt. The center has been serving seniors since 1984 and invites all to come meet program facilitators, staffers, and board members. Programs include…
Local author reminds people to celebrate National Hugging Day
Scott Washburn, author of The Best Bear Hugs Ever, is reminding local kids and parents to celebrate National Hugging Day on Jan. 21 and to download a free certificate of recognition for giving “The Best Bear Hugs Ever” from his website at thebestbearhugsever.com. Washburn’s book relates a father walking through the zoo, seeing which animal…
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center launches iPhone app
The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center has launched a new free iPhone app for visitors of the dunes. Available at the beginning of 2014, the app catalogs all the points of interest within the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes complex that stretches from Pismo Beach to Point Sal. The app also feature walking tours with photographs at Oso Flaco Lake…
Campfire starts fundraising candy drive
Campfire Central Coast of California is in full swing for its annual candy drive fundraiser. The year’s theme is “Hawaiian Luau,” which will feature young entrepreneurs selling candy near local stores and in local neighborhoods through Feb. 19. Campfire also offers candy sales to U.S. troops overseas. Candy can be purchased for the troops at…
Get to know Connie Rohde-Stanchfield, the hard-working director of The C Gallery
My first interview as arts editor for the Sun was with Connie Rohde-Stanchfield, director of The C Gallery in Los Alamos, and it has informed every one of my interviews since. What surprised me most about Connie was how effortless it was for her to talk about art, especially the most abstract media, with a…
No foot to stand on
I love absolutely every single detail about my beautiful wife—except for two things. There are just two little things that, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get past them. In fact, if I’m completely open and honest, these two little details really turn me off. Sometimes they can even make me gag…
Mini courses kick off St. Joseph High School’s second semester
Santa Maria barbecue, crime investigation, and jewelry making are just a sample of the classes St. Joseph High School students took their first week back at school. Also offered were poetry writing, the benefits of juicing, and jam-band classes. Those classes were just some of the ones offered during a weeklong session known as the…
GATE students take a break from vacation
A little more than 250 gifted and talented students from the Santa Maria-Bonita School District participated in the annual GATE Winter Enrichment Workshop on Jan. 15. Now in its seventh year, the workshop has grown from the 50 students who attended the first event. GATE Director Gina Danley said it’s an enrichment opportunity for students…
Long-time high school district board member retires
A man who’s been with the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District since 1963 recently retired. His resignation was accepted at the school board’s Jan. 15 meeting. School board member Dean Reece dedicated half a century to serving the high school district in many capacities. From 1963 to 1984, Reece taught social studies, history,…
Spotlight on: The Antique Mall
After operating the Antique Mall together for almost 30 years, Ray and Judy Jilderda announced at the end of 2013 that they’d be retiring soon and shutting down the shop. They initially tried to sell the business—and all the items in their inventory—but a lack of buyers prompted them to mark everything in the store…
Political Watch 1/16/14
• In response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s release of his 2014-15 budget, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and the National Federation of Independent Business, California, both released statements lauding the establishment of a more robust rainy-day fund. “Government should do what small business owners are required to do every day—only spend what they bring in—while…
Community Notebook 1/16-1/23
TUESDAY, JAN. 21 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Betteravia Government Center’s Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Ste. 141, Santa Maria. 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…
Community Corner: Celebrate Underwater Parks Day!
Looking for a way to enjoy this gorgeous, unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having lately? Well, on Jan. 18, you can celebrate the 6th annual Underwater Parks Day with a series of events happening along the coast. Underwater Parks Day was created by Southern California aquaria in 2009 to introduce California residents and visitors to…
AB 60 allows undocumented immigrants to carry driver’s licenses
Jan. 1 is a day that many look to with great optimism—that the upcoming a year will be great—and it’s also a day that ushers in new laws. One piece of legislation that has many excited for the New Year is Assembly Bill 60. Approved by Gov. Jerry Brown back in October, AB 60 allows…
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department aids local law enforcement by driving arrestees down south
At the beginning of the month, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department launched its temporary North County jail transport unit. The two-person team receives recent arrestees from local law enforcement agencies and drives them down to the county jail in Goleta—saving valuable time and resources, and keeping police officers on the streets. In a Jan.…
Santa Maria Chamber gets certified as green
It’s only natural that an organization that helped the Santa Barbara County Green Business Program gain a foothold in Santa Maria earned its own green certification to post in the window. After five years of introducing businesses to the greening process, the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce recently became Green Business Certified, and will be…
Santa Barbara County reports its first flu-related death
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department recently announced that a county resident in her 20s died in early January due to complications from influenza. This is the first influenza-related death reported in the county this season. Department representative Susan Klein-Rothschild told the Sun that hospitals are required to report to the public health department…
A leak at Imerys contaminates San Miguelito Creek
An anonymous tipster contacted the Sun on Jan. 8 about a muddy discharge entering San Miguelito Creek south of Miguelito Park outside of Lompoc. Turns out, the anonymous caller was correct, but the leak had already been reported to the proper authorities. Muddying San Miguelito Creek was a leak that originated at the Imerys plant…
Lompoc City Council appoints a new city administrator
Moving from the Raisin Capital of the World to the City of Arts and Flowers, Patrick Wiemiller recently left a decades-long career with the city of Fresno to become Lompoc’s new city administrator. The Lompoc City Council appointed Wiemiller—who went up against nearly 60 other applicants for the position—at its Jan. 7 meeting. Also at…
Who is susceptible to conspiracy-theory thinking?
Not only the superficially educated and narrowminded, not only bumpkins with bad breath and worse teeth, not only the gullible and aggrieved, not only those who are nostalgic for a past that never was, not only those who are afraid of losing control—the fire-breathers, the weapons-collectors, wearers of bespoke body armor, anonymous online trollers, lovers…
Stick to the actual facts
I have often enough seen people take one fact and magnify it into a brown mountain. For instance, the criticism of President Barack Obama for shaking the hand of Cuba’s Raul Castro and the backlash against Pope Francis, then the motive-driven equating of both the pope and president with socialists and communists. I recall it…
Why change our laws to reward illegality?
The California Supreme Court decided that a person living in California illegally can get a law license to practice law. This demonstrates the peak of irrationality and is pure idiocy. It flies against common sense. It is contradictory. It is an insult to all law-abiding Americans. It is a slap in the face to all…
This is the real Katie Davis
Andy Caldwell’s recent paid advertisement in the Sun claims to offer “The Truth About Katie Davis and 350.org” (Jan. 2) but instead offers misinformation. First, while claiming in his headline to offer the truth about Ms. Davis, he doesn’t even mention her until the final paragraph of his alleged exposé about her. But by implication,…
Why widen?
I’m going to fly a bit outside of my usual comfort zone this week by writing about a South County issue. Of course, what happens down there sometimes comes up, so it’s really an all-county issue. I’m talking about traffic. By the time most of you read this column, the Santa Barbara County Association of…
What’s on Deck? 1/16 – 1/23
Friday, Jan. 17 Boys’ Soccer Pioneer Valley vs. Righetti @ PVHS, 3 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Atascadero @ SJHS, 7 p.m. Santa Ynez vs. Cate @ SYHS, 5 p.m. Girls’ Basketball Cabrillo vs. Nipomo @ CHS, 5 p.m. Pioneer Valley vs. Righetti @ PVHS, 6 p.m. St. Joseph vs.…
Hancock welcomes soccer coach
Allan Hancock College officials announced last week that Billy Vinnedge will be taking over as the men’s soccer coach for the Bulldogs pending approval from the Board of Trustees. “His enthusiasm, passion, and energy for Hancock soccer made him the ideal candidate for the job,” said Kim Ensing, associate dean of kinesiology, recreation, and athletics…
Erin Freeman
Righetti girls’ water polo opened its PAC 7 season with a 9-2 victory over Paso Robles Jan. 7. A driving force behind that win was sophomore Erin Freeman, who came up big with four goals. Head coach Roxanne Eastwood said Freeman is manning the set position this year, and she has been working on perfecting…
Nipomo debuts a girls’ wrestling team
Room 149 at Nipomo High School is filled wall-to-wall with wrestling mats. The heater makes the room unbearably stuffy for those who aren’t used to it. Above the white board hangs a banner that says, “Champions are built, not made.” Building for the future is exactly what head girls’ wrestling coach Justin Magdaleno is doing.…
