Cover Stories
Everything is illuminated
Throughout the past year, many of the most successful films have seemed especially concerned, each in its own way, with justice. Spielberg’s Lincoln is, of course, an obvious example—the masterful telling of how slavery was abolished. But at the movies, justice can also be served retroactively in a show of flamboyant ultraviolence, as in Tarantino’s…
Picking up the slack
The carpeted floor of the portable classroom rumbled with the collective movement of nearly 30 Alice Shaw Elementary School fourth graders and their dance instructor. Nina Rippy was teaching the youngsters basic ballroom dance technique, playing swing music over a stereo, while the mass of legs stepped, kicked, and spun. While most of the kids…
TurnKey hearings are in full swing in Santa Barbara
A settlement conference for three former executives of a construction firm suspected of embezzling money from the Santa Maria-Bonita School District is set for Jan. 29 in Santa Barbara. Cynthia Clark, former district assistant superintendent for business services, will also be in court. She allegedly oversaw fraudulent invoices and payments made to the construction firm,…
Get the flag
Football—with its tackling—can be dangerous; if you love the sport but not the risk, think about joining the Solvang adult flag football league. Games start Jan. 26 and run through March 30—depending on the number of teams that register and the weather. Registration is due Feb. 11. Everyone is welcome; the cost is $400 per…
Game on
It was a good week for the Los Padres League; the Santa Maria girls’ basketball team took its first win this season over Santa Ynez on Jan. 16. Players Alexis Topas and Sarah Galaciano helped lead the Saints to victory with 14 points scored by Topas, while Galaciano racked up 12. In other local sports,…
Abracadabra!
The Santa Maria Parks and Recreation department is excited to announce that it will be host to a six-week class called “Magical Teens.” The class will meet every Wednesday from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center. The first session is set to begin Jan. 23 and will end Feb. 27.…
First pitch
The Hancock Bulldogs will finally get to break in their new field on Saturday, Jan. 26. The day will begin with the alumni taking the field for batting practice at 10:30 a.m., followed by the much-anticipated rededication of John Osborne field at 11:45 a.m. The master coach himself, John Osborne, will throw out the ceremonial…
Athlete of the Week: Sophie Stanfield
For junior Sophie Stanfield, everything about water polo comes easy to her—except for egg beating. A varsity polo player for Santa Ynez High School, Stanfield was recently named Athlete of the Week for the Athletic Roundtable held every month at Giavanni’s Pizza in Orcutt. Head water polo coach Jenele Martin has coached Stanfield since her…
Breathe, stretch, let it go
I’ll admit it. I missed the whole yoga craze. I never thought it was a valid form of fitness—not enough of an adrenaline rush for an active person like me. However, yoga’s continued popularity piqued my curiosity, enough to convince me to try some yoga classes. So there I was, sitting in the darkened studio…
Preserving perfection
Chamber music depends on the space in which it is performed. A good room with the right acoustics can make a performance magical. Just such a space was the inspiration for the “Schoolhouse Music Evenings,” a concert series founded by Rose Knoles in 1981 when she was a teacher at Dunn School in Los Olivos.…
Getting sexy back
Spring is nearly here, and for many people that means digging out their workout gear and hitting the gym or trail to get in shape for summer. For me, the thought of extra people working out around me means self-conscious dread. The reason being, I don’t look pretty working out. I have friends who look…
St. Mary prepares fundraiser
St. Mary of the Assumption School presents its 11th annual Mardi Gras Dinner, Dance, and Auction event on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Santa Maria Radisson on Skyway Drive. The event is the school’s largest fundraiser all year. Acquired monies will go towards new and refurbished infrastructure, and keeping tuition affordable for the…
The Cypress wants you
The Lompoc Valley Art Association still has openings for joint or solo art exhibitions at the Cypress Gallery. Openings are for the months of March, May, July, August, and October. The entry fee is $25. Only LVAA members may apply. More info: 733-4282 or vicaart@aol.com. Also, the LVAA will hold its regular “In-gathering” on Jan.…
Call of the wild
Julie de Venoge, a Cabrillo High School senior, is hosting an art show in the Cabrillo Aquarium at the high school for her senior project. Venoge is looking for artists to participate in the show, which will feature art that is influenced by earth and nature. The show is scheduled for April 24 from 6:30…
Fungi jumping
This is a story of contrasts. Of gourmet food and wine paired with campy horror. Of a popular ingredient that can be foraged for in the wild or cultivated with kits from Costco. Of something that grows from rot and decay, transforming death into life. This is a story of mushrooms. “I like looking at…
Community creating culture
A public library should represent an entire community. Truly meant for everyone, a good library offers limitless access (other than hours of operation, of course) to information, art, and other important resources. To that end, the Santa Maria Public Library operates its Shepard Hall as a venue for artists to present their works for a…
On population
Prior to about 45 years ago, women just didn’t (couldn’t?) participate in any sports. The first female who tried to run the Boston Marathon had to wear a hood. That was back when women’s place was in the home—barefoot, pregnant, and behind the sink. Young gals today take for granted their equality to males. I…
Women make wine, too
She’s been the head winemaker at one of the largest wineries on the Central Coast for a decade, and yet there are people who are surprised to learn a winery could be led by a woman. Denise Shurtleff, Cambria Winery’s winemaker, recently shared with me this astonishing conversation that unfortunately she’s had on more than…
Learn ‘Fast’ with Allan Hancock College
Allan Hancock College has approximately 100 Fast Track classes still available for the spring. The classes offer students instruction in eight weeks or less; many of the classes run for only one or two days. Open Fast Track classes include anthropology, art, auto technology, business, dance, electronics, emergency medical services, English, entrepreneurship, environmental technology, graphics,…
Help stop bullying with the click of a button
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District is offering its students, parents, and teachers a new way to report bullying. Concerned individuals can use the “Bully Button,” which is featured on the district’s website, smjuhsd.k12.ca.us, to fill out and submit a report of bullying. In a release to the media, Superintendent Mark Richardson said…
Check out what’s new at the Dunes Center
The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center is undergoing a bit of a makeover, according to its new executive director, Doug Jenzen. Formerly the center’s assistant director, Jenzen replaces executive director Frances Romero, who was elected mayor of Guadalupe in November. Jenzen holds a master’s degree in history and a teaching credential from Cal Poly in SLO. He…
Hobnobbing With Helen
When artist Bob Burridge talks, people want to listen. More than 100 people—standing room only—crowded into Solvang’s Elverhoj Museum on Saturday, Jan. 5, to hear him talk—about his work and about his world before the desire to paint fulltime took him by the throat and held him happy hostage. The title of the exhibition, “I…
Discover new things in the New Year!
We’re wrapping up the first month of a brand new year, and there are a lot of exciting changes at the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum! Our first big event is Sunday, Jan. 27, Nat Fast Day: We’ll open our doors with free admission for all and celebrate art in honor of local artist Nat…
Hello world!
After three months in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), newborn Ellie Moomey is finally home from the hospital. She is Marian Medical Regional Center’s lowest birth-weight baby to date. Ellie came into the world on Aug. 11, 2012, after just 25 weeks of gestation and weighing only 1 pound, 15 ounces. Prior to delivery,…
Spotlight on: Red Carpet Winery
Pink, sugar-dusted raspberry truffles accompany a moonshine-and-brandy-infused port at the Red Carpet Winery tasting room in Pismo Beach, which opened in December 2012. It’s the last taste from the fleet of five wines showcased in both of David Addamo’s recently opened Red Carpet tasting rooms; the other opened in July 2012 at the Red Carpet…
A to Zuniga
As of press time, the Santa Maria City Council remained in a stalemate over what to do about mayor Alice Patino’s vacant council seat. Prior to the Jan. 15 meeting, the Sun sat down with Terri Zuniga, the top vote getter in the November election, to get her perspective on matters most pressing to the…
‘Rape is rape’
In February 2009, a Los Angeles County woman returned home from a party with her boyfriend, her brother, and his friends. The couple went to bed; the woman soon fell asleep and the boyfriend left the bedroom. After he left, one of the brother’s friends snuck into the room and initiated sex with the woman.…
Local job market still struggling
The economy is turning around—or is it? A recent press release from the State Employment Development Department (EDD) showed the Santa Barbara County unemployment rate at 7.6 percent as of December 2012. According to the EDD, this is a slight increase from the November 2012 unemployment rate of 7.3 percent. Although the county has made…
DA fights the release of a sexually violent predator to Santa Maria
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley traveled to Sacramento the week of Jan. 21 to testify in a California Court of Appeals case against Tiber Karsai, a sexually violent predator who could be released in Santa Maria as a transient. Karsai was found guilty of rape in Santa Barbara County in 1974, and of…
Doobie Half-Dozen files suit against state
Everybody knew it was coming, and here it is: Nearly a year after their cases were reluctantly dismissed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, five of the medical marijuana collective operators arrested in 2010’s controversial “Operation Green Sweep” have filed a civil suit against the California Department of Justice. On Dec. 27,…
Man chains himself to tree, briefly, in protest of park plan
Los Osos resident Jonas Richardson chained himself to a Nipomo Community Park oak tree on Jan. 20 in protest of the park master plan unanimously passed by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 18. The plan serves as a blueprint for the next 20 years of development within the park, including…
What does Martin Luther King Day mean to you?
Bill Siedl logistics “He did a lot of work, and I give him a lot of credit in that he did it the peaceful way.” Tess Young server “It means freedom for a lot of people, and without him things wouldn’t be the way they are today.” Samuel Duarte Thrive Guadalupe project coordinator “It is…
