Cover Story
Health & Wellness 2021
It’s near impossible to talk about public health right now, without discussing COVID-19, so for our annual Health and Wellness issue, Staff Writer Malea Martin writes about flu cases being lower than usual, and local public health experts say that COVID-19 precautions have helped. Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash speaks with a nutritionist about COVID-19 weight…
Gallery Los Olivos’ featured artist Karen McGaw paints new landscapes following shoulder surgery
Editor’s note: This is the third and final installment in a series profiling the three featured artists of New Perspectives, a biennial group exhibition at Gallery Los Olivos. Over the spring and summer of 2020, Karen McGaw found solace in three hobbies to combat pandemic-induced monotony: painting, tennis, and bike riding. Unfortunately for her, the…
S.Y. Kitchen expands takeout menu while sister restaurant, Nella Kitchen and Bar, temporarily closes
Somewhere between the realms of pizza and focaccia, wishful cravings became reality in the form of pinsa—one of Nella Kitchen and Bar’s signature Italian dishes. Described as a reinterpretation of an ancient recipe, the main characteristic that sets this Roman-style pizza apart from traditional pizza is its lightness. “Pinsa comes from the Latin ‘pinsera,’ meaning…
Santa Maria Public Library offers Youth Art Packs to students
Starting on Feb. 6, students grades six through 12 can sign up online to receive the Santa Maria Public Library’s Youth Art Pack for free, by visiting engagedpatrons.org. The pickup date for this take-home project is Feb. 13 at the library. Topics of this beginners’ workshop cover various principles of art. Although the Youth Art…
Wildling Museum presents Nocturnes and Envisioning the Night Sky: A Conversation with Nathan Huff and Nathan Vonk
On Feb. 10, the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang will host a virtual panel and discussion with artist Nathan Huff (pictured left) and art gallery owner Nathan Vonk (pictured right), titled Nocturnes and Envisioning the Night Sky. Huff and Vonk will take part in a live conversation from 4 to 5 p.m.…
‘Where we are headed now is the wrong path’
Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his opinion on multiculturalism and was hammered with the “woke crowd” calling him everything but something good to eat. What’s happening in our country is a division by ethnicity, color, and economic status. It’s by design to separate us from our Americanism. You can move to France, but…
Hint: It’s something all city residents should care about
Some Lompoc City Council members might think that a CIP is what you do with a cool beverage, but that’s not the case. As a city service area grows, additional facilities and equipment are needed to provide citizens with an adequate level of service. The capital improvement program (CIP) is the long-range overarching management tool…
Vaccination nation?
What’s up with COVID-19 vaccine distribution in this state? It would appear that nobody knows. Not Gov. Gavin Newsom, not the counties, not the general public—nobody. According to Newsom, the federal government sends vaccine doses directly to county public health departments. The state, he said, doesn’t have warehouses of vaccines ready to ship to counties.…
NatureTrack found a way to keep honoring its mission while also filling a need in the community
NatureTrack’s mission is to foster a lifelong fascination with nature through outdoor field trips, but COVID-19 makes the logistics of these excursions more challenging. And with kids still mostly learning from home, it became more difficult for NatureTrack to reach its target audience. That’s when founder Sue Eisaguirre had an idea, a way to put…
Political Watch: January 28, 2021
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) issued a video statement following the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20. “Today was a great and historic day for our country where we witnessed, yet again, the peaceful transition of power, the seating and inauguration of the Biden-Harris administration,” Carbajal…
Carbajal reintroduces bill on legal status of parents of veterans
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) reintroduced a bill on Jan. 26 that would help parents of veterans become lawful permanent residents without needing to leave the country. The Flores family from Goleta inspired the bill after their mother, Juana Flores, was deported in April 2019 to Jesús Maria, Aguascalientes, in Mexico. Juana is a…
Cunningham questions state’s vaccine allocation process
Some lawmakers are demanding answers from the state as to how COVID-19 vaccines are distributed to counties, while Gov. Gavin Newsom said the federal government sends doses directly to county public health departments. Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) and a group of bipartisan state legislators penned a letter on Jan. 21, asking California Health…
Newsom lifts regional order, Santa Barbara County back to purple tier
Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted his regional stay-at-home order on Jan. 25, but this doesn’t mean that all bets are off for COVID-19 restrictions. Instead, counties will be judged individually in the state’s tiered reopening system. Nearly all of California’s counties—including Santa Barbara County—remain in the purple, most restrictive tier. The stay-at-home order was first enacted…
Redistricting commission votes to keep controversial demographer
Santa Barbara County residents are raising concerns about the demographer selected to help the county redraw its supervisorial districts, a company that some claim has a history of being politically biased and creating districts that protect incumbent elected officials. The National Demographics Corporation (NDC) is a consulting agency that provides demographic analysis, redistricting assistance, and…
