

Cover Story
Encampment risks: Those living in the Santa Ynez Riverbed are at risk for human trafficking, something local officials want to tackle
See something, say something To learn more about efforts to combat trafficking and exploitation across the county, visit kingdomcauses.org/httaskforce. To report possible cases of human trafficking, contact 911 for emergencies or email humantrafficking@sbsheriff.org for nonemergencies. The struggle to survive in a Santa Ynez Riverbed encampment can be brutal. “In order to have a tent to…
Guadalupe to form capital campaign committee for the Royal Theater project
Guadalupe City Councilmember Whitney Furness is the first member of the city’s capital campaign committee that will raise money to complete the Royal Theater renovation project. The council voted to form the committee and have her serve on it at the Jan. 14 meeting where it also received an update on the project’s redesign, which…
Political Watch: January 30, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) responded to the executive actions that President Donald Trump made on his first day in office by calling some of them illegal and unconstitutional. This includes orders to pause funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan…
The Brutalist masterfully explores an artist’s epic struggle for relevancy
The Brutalist What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux) directs this screenplay he co-wrote with Mona Fastvold about Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and visionary architect László Tóth (Adrian Brody), who…
BINGEABLE: How to Die Alone
How to Die Alone What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024-present Where’s it showing? Hulu Mel can’t seem to get out of the rut she finds herself in every day. She’s got a good crew of people at work, including Rory (Conrad Ricamora), who she tools around with on one of those airport golf carts. But…
NEW FLICKS: Back in Action
Back in Action What’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix After an 11-year acting hiatus, Cameron Diaz has returned to the big screen, but good grief, she couldn’t find something better than this derivative, silly, rote action comedy? Co-written and directed by Seth Gorgon (Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief), the film follows CIA…
Pony Cocktails + Kitchen sears and spikes its food and drink pairings to perfection
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere Call (805) 691-9187 to find out more about Pony Cocktails + Kitchen, located at 3558 Sagunto St., A, Santa Ynez. The restaurant is open daily (7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) for breakfast, brunch, and lunch, and Tuesday through Saturday (4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.) for dinner. What began as a Santa…
Local dog trainer embraces positive reinforcement to help dogs stay in homes
Training a dog is 70 percent about teaching the human and 30 percent about teaching the canine, Ember Leash Dog Training owner Skylar McClellan said. “It’s about consistency and bringing everybody together so that they are all being as consistent as possible with the way that they’re responding to their dog’s behaviors,” McClellan noted. “When…
Gallery Los Olivos’ newest members bond over bending rules, moods, and feelings
February flair Gallery Los Olivos presents New Perspectives, a group exhibition scheduled to open on Feb. 1 and remain on display through Feb. 28. The exhibit showcases artworks by Ann Wirtz, Susan Kounanis, Christine Marie, Wendy Brewer, Debbi Green, Deborah Kalas, Chuck Klein, and Garrett Speirs. To find out more about New Perspectives, visit gallerylosolivos.com.…
California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick leads writing meeting in Nipomo
The Coastal Dunes California Writers Club will host a presentation by California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick at the Nipomo Community Library on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 10 a.m. to noon. The event is titled How Music Stays in the Body: On Breath, Memory, and Sound in Poetry, as Herrick will discuss topics related to bridging…
PCPA seeks young performers to audition for a child’s role in Waitress
To cast the role of Lulu in its upcoming production of Waitress, the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) is hosting auditions at its rehearsal studios, also known as Santa Maria’s Columbia Business Center, on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 9 a.m. Young performers who feel fit to play the character—a girl who looks to be between 5…
Hot and bothered
If things weren’t spicy in Buellton before the November election—with a sitting City Council member running against the sitting mayor—they are now. The council is split down the middle, with two council members on one side and the newly elected mayor and another council member on the other. They couldn’t decide on who to appoint…
Speak out against the supervisors’ plan to change the county’s wireless ordinance
We are all mourning the devastating fires in Los Angeles. The opportunity and responsibility to prevent and stop wireless facility-caused fires in Santa Barbara County is missing in the proposed wireless ordinance. On Feb. 4, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors are planning to vote on amendments to the county wireless ordinance that will…
The state’s largest egg distributor raises prices, makes record profits though its costs are down
Cal-Maine Foods is the largest egg distributor in California. It recently released its financial statement 2024. Max Bowman, vice president and chief financial officer of Cal-Maine Foods, said, “For the second quarter of fiscal 2025, our net sales were $954.7 million compared with $523.2 million for the same period last year. The higher sales were…
Encampments return to Santa Maria riverbed
About 20 encampments have sprung up in the unincorporated areas of the Santa Maria Riverbed since it was cleaned out last year. “The majority of the folks that are out in the riverbed … are the more hardcore, where they’re not going to accept the resources that we provide,” Senior Park Services Officer Ruben Ramirez…
Buellton City Council’s 4th District seat will remain empty through August
Boos erupted during a Buellton hearing after the conversation shifted from how to fill a City Council vacancy to second-guessing the outcome of November’s mayoral election. “The only reason we’re doing this is because you didn’t do your four-year term, and that’s a fact,” 3rd District Councilmember John Sanchez told Mayor and former 4th District…






