Cover Story
A new California organic waste law will change how residents organize their trash
Greasy banana peels, old lettuce heads, chopped-off jalapeño stems, coffee grounds, and bread crusts from all California kitchens have a new destination. As of Jan. 1, a new state law requires schools, businesses, restaurants, and households to recycle their organics—and local governments have to oversee the new recycling program—to mitigate climate change. It’s the biggest…
NEW FLICKS: ANTLERS
NEW FLICKS: ANTLERS Where’s it playing? Redbox, On demand What’s it rated? R What’s it rated? R When? 2021 Where’s it showing? Redbox Co-writer Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Black Mass) directs this supernatural horror thriller about a schoolteacher, Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), who suspects one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy…
BINGEABLE: STATION ELEVEN (2021)
BINGEABLE: STATION ELEVEN (2021) Where’s it playing? HBO Max What’s it rated? TV-MA Based on Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel, Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic tale that weaves through time—both at the beginning of the pandemic that wipes out most of the world and then to 20 years later. At the center of this…
Take advantage of some local, limited-time offers, as part of Santa Maria Valley’s Restaurant Month
Twenty dollars. 22 cents. About a dozen different dining options.As part of Santa Maria Valley’s Restaurant Month, which kicked off on Jan. 14 and runs through Feb. 13, several local restaurants are offering their own limited-time combos, made up of each venue’s respective menu selections. What each of these specials have in common is a…
Nichole Dechaine discusses day-to-day life as a local music professor and concert soloist during the ongoing pandemic
Entranced by movie musicals from a young age, Nichole Dechaine spent her childhood belting out her favorite show tunes—but she had to be sneaky about it. “I had two little brothers that weren’t very enthusiastic about it. So I used to go in my room and kind of sing into a pillow, or sing in…
County public school students receive COVID-19 test kits
The state of California delivered 56,700 COVID-19 test kits to the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO) on Jan. 10, and the education office completed its distribution to school districts so families can test their students at home, Internal Services Administrator Debbie Breck said. “It’s really helpful to have the kits available to send…
Buellton debates banning electric-only housing
The number of California cities prohibiting new housing developments from using natural gas is growing, but some Buellton City Council members don’t want their town added to that list. In opposition to the trend, Councilmember John Sanchez requested that the City Council discuss the possibility of requiring all future residential developments to at least offer…
Three Dems announce runs for new Assembly seat
The new boundary lines for Central Coast state Assembly districts are opening the doors for new candidates, and closing chapters for at least one incumbent. What was once Assembly District 35 will be split between two new districts in the next election cycle. The new 30th District includes most of SLO County up to Santa…
Lompoc Valley of the Flowers Half Century Club holds upcoming craft show
On Saturday, Feb. 12, the Lompoc Valley of the Flowers Half Century Club presents its Handmade Craft Show and Boutique. This fundraiser event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To find out more about this collaborative event, call (805) 245-8161 or email loretta.culinary@yahoo.com. The Lompoc Valley of the Flowers Century Club is…
Los Alamos Theatre Group announces next original musical, ‘The Right Thing’
Tickets are now available for The Right Thing, a new, upcoming musical presented by the Los Alamos Theatre Group. The show is scheduled to premiere on Friday, Feb. 18, and run through Sunday, Feb. 27, at the Depot Mall in Los Alamos. This original production is written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom (the writer-director behind…
Orcutt Community Theater presents latest production for two performances only
Orcutt Community Theater holds its production of The Tramp and The Roughrider at KDA Studios on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Jan. 23, at 1:30 p.m. Set in 1903, this historical play follows President Theodore Roosevelt and famed naturalist John Muir during the duo’s documented camping trip at Yosemite. Alan Sutterfield…
Losing a voice
If the recent candidacy announcements for the Central Coast’s new Assembly districts are any indication of the areas that will feel unrepresented in the future, Santa Maria will be left out. So far, in new Assembly District 37—which together with the 30th District is replacing the district that Republican Assemblymember Jordan “I’m Not Running Again”…
Miss Information, aka COVID information
2021 crowned The Queen of COVID, Miss Information. But what information? Was it misinformation when Fauci initially said the Wuhan outbreak was nothing to worry about while Chinese authorities imprisoned residents of Wuhan where outbreaks occurred around a viral studies lab? Was it misinformation when Fauci said masks don’t work, they only give you a…
Coastal Commission owes us an explanation
Last March 18, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to close Pier Avenue in Oceano to vehicle beach access on July 1, 2022, to stop crossings at the Arroyo Grande Creek and to extend the snowy plover exclosure. Last month, a backroom secret agreement was made to undo those conditions and maintain the status…
It’s time for the humorless left to recognize that it’s lost the cancel culture war
Many of you may have read of the brouhaha over the Netflix special of comedian Dave Chappelle, The Closer. Chappelle’s routines are notorious for jokes that insult and mock nearly every group, including whites, women, gays, Jews, and Asians. His usual material largely revolves around biting comments on race and identity, and Bloomberg has glowingly…
Political Watch: January 20, 2022
• The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced in a statement that Santa Barbara County received two funding awards totaling nearly $10 million to address homelessness. The first was $6.9 million from Project Homekey Round 2, awarded to the county in partnership with Good Samaritan Shelter. Project Homekey is a California program…
New Life K9s connects the PTSD-prone with service dogs through an army of support
Combat veteran David Petersen’s time on the Central Coast was bookended by two life-changing events. He arrived in May 2020 after receiving in-patient treatment for suicide, and left for Oroville in Butte County last month to be a high school football and wrestling coach, this time with a service dog named Cole in tow. “I…
