Cover Story
Central Coast diving legend Sam Miller receives a big honor
The ocean stands, a regal liquid entity that represents humans’ last terrestrial frontier. While its formidable blue depths instill fear in others, it’s the one place where Sam Miller has always felt at home. Miller recalls diving in the crisp moonlight and looking up through the kelp to the twinkling stars—almost like looking up in…
Hancock students’ watercolor paintings featured in Santa Maria Public Library art show ‘Tuesdays with Marti’
It’s never too late to try your hand at art, or to return to a passion that got put on the back burner of life. At least that’s the attitude of many of Marti Fast’s students in her Allan Hancock College Community Education watercolor class, which currently has a show hanging at the Santa Maria…
The bird that cried wolf
Wolves are scary. They’re big and mean looking, especially for land-dwelling creatures, like humans. Personally, I fly; so I’m not worried about them, but I am scared of hawks, so let’s go with that. Hawks fly through the air with their big, blood-thirsty talons, and their meat-pecking beaks, on the hunt for small, defenseless creatures…
Eleven-defendant trial to move to bigger location
The blinds behind five defendants and their attorneys opened with a whoosh. Sitting on the other side of the glass were four more defendants with attorneys standing next to them. Another defendant huddled in the hallway leading into the courtroom. Yet another sat on the opposite side of the courtroom. All 11 are…
How afraid of sharks are you, and why or why not?
Alejandro Pena sales clerk “On a scale of 1 to 10? Probably a 9; I definitely respect them, and they’re just scary looking.” Carolina Gdoy yogurt enthusiast “Pretty scared. I mean I wouldn’t want to die and get my arms and legs eaten off. That would be pretty bad.” Tony Brito engineer “When I scuba…
Little hands crafting
The Santa Maria Michaels store presents arts and crafts events for kids, including a “Kids Club Summer Totes Event” on July 20. A “Kids Club Elmer’s Frog Event” is July 27. Each event runs from 10 a.m. to noon in half hour sessions at Michael’s Art and Crafts, 1934 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. More info:…
A Mixtecan immigrant advocates for a future full of possibility
Editor’s note: This article is one of a series that follows up on the Sun’s May 30 cover story, “Reaching across the divide.” Esperanza Salazar speaks softly as she recounts what it was like to go to school in Mexico. She was a Mixtecan caught up in a Spanish-speaking world. All of her textbooks were…
Lompoc Valley Kennel Club presents its annual All Breed Dog Show in Lompoc
Scores of breeders, trainers, handlers, and canines will be making foot and paw prints on their way to Lompoc July 25 through 28 to enjoy a yearly competition, the annual Lompoc Valley Kennel Club Dog Show. Known as one of the better national dog shows, the Lompoc event will be highlighting animals from across the…
Santa Ynez’s new S.Y. Kitchen offers excellent Italian cuisine, professional service, and a hot, young chef
For two indelible weeks in the fall of 2006, my husband Michael and I ate and drank our way through Italy. We still reminisce about the marvelous locals-filled mozzarella bar in Rome; the exceptionally fresh seafood platters on the Cinque Terre coast; snacking on saffron gelato in San Gimignano; sipping Prosecco overlooking Venice’s Grand Canal,…
Pioneer Valley summer science institute moves to Allan Hancock College
Solar panels resting in the sun on top of a foldout table will greet visitors who check out this year’s high school class of Summer Science Institute students. Rather than hitting up Riccardo Magni’s science classroom at Pioneer Valley High School, experiment gawkers will need to wander the Allan Hancock College campus. There they will…
Fallen firefighter mourned in Santa Ynez
California and Arizona flags were at half-staff with an American flag flying just a touch higher as a bagpipe procession led the solemn march onto the Santa Ynez Valley High School football field and track. Silence fell as first responders, from hotshots crew members to uniformed officers, filled row after row of white chairs behind…
Southside Little League All-Stars
The Southside Little League All-Star team has truly stepped up to the plate this season with dominant performances and rapid individual player growth. The 13 All-Stars—elite selections from their league pool of 12-year-olds—have been playing together since before they were 5 years old. This season they’ve developed their skills further and proven their worth with…
Polo legend returns to Santa Ynez
Team Platinum Performance will return to defend its 2012 championship title at the Polo Classic on July 20 at the Santa Ynez Polo Club. Platinum Performance will include brothers Memo Gracida—a hall-of-famer with the most U.S. Open wins—and Carlos Gracida, a three-time Grand Slam of Polo award winner. For VIP, patron, and general admission tickets,…
Dive on in!
Courtesy of PLAY, Inc., the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center will present free swim days from now until Aug. 25. Open to all ages from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Sundays, the Olympic-size pool is available for family, friends, and neighbors to visit. An adult must accompany all children; lifeguards are on duty at all times.…
Enjoy Family Day at Orcutt Hill
The Guadalupe Dunes Center put out the word to save the date for a family day at Orcutt Hill Open Space. Courtesy of Pacific Coast Energy Company and the Dunes Center, families are invited to come out for a day of fun-filled activity and softball fundraising on Aug. 3. Complete with live music, food, and…
Get your game on the court
The newest addition to the Allan Hancock College coaching staff, basketball head coach Tyson Aye, will be heading up a basketball camp at the school. Available for girls and boys ages 6 to 18, the camp will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Joe White gymnasium Aug. 5 through 8. Players will learn…
Memorial auction returns
The 12th annual Joe White Memorial Dinner and Auction is quickly approaching. Scheduled for Aug. 17, the event will be held at the Santa Maria Fairpark Pavilion. The doors open at 5:30 with a silent auction and social hour. The evening will also feature a New York strip steak dinner served at 7 p.m. with…
New coach and schedule on the way
The Santa Maria Saints cross-country team will start playing host to summer training on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saints athletic director Joe Graack will soon announce the new head coach for girls’ cross-country. “We have the goal to take the Santa Maria…
Southside heads south for sectionals
Southside District 65 won its championship game on Tuesday, July 9. At Simas Park, the team finally went a full game in the tournament after run-ruling its opponents in the previous four games. Northside came out in the first inning and knocked a home run off of pitcher Jaden Lyburtus, but its bats were silent…
Zumba for the mind
The small-framed Rosalie Fortner is dwarfed by the number of bodies dancing behind her. There are at least 50 students in her morning Zumba class on July 12; a mix of men, women, children, and senior citizens spread from wall to wall in five semi-straight rows that face the mirror inside the Santa Maria Valley…
Blunder after blunder
My fiancée and I owned a business for nearly two years in Santa Maria’s Town Center West. It was a coffee shop a couple of doors down from Big 5 Sporting Goods. Every morning as the coffee brewed, we watched the sun rise over the Santa Maria Town Center and cast light on the monolith…
The grocery getter
The great state of California has deemed that my son is capable and responsible enough to pilot a 3,000-pound car at 70 miles an hour pretty much wherever he feels like. You have all been officially warned. I am doing everything I can to ensure nobody’s dog ends up underneath my son’s car and, more…
A labor of love
Music has expanded into genres so multitudinous that no single publication can hope to cover them all. Unfortunately, this means many music lovers must scratch deeper to find magazines that feature what they’re interested in. One local by the name of Joseph Timmons took matters into his own hands and created an online publication called…
The Great American Melodrama offers twice the fun
The Great American Melodrama will be opening a second play to run in repertory with its current show How the West was Really Won. The new show, Death at Devil’s Cave: or No Mother to Guide Her, opens July 18, with both plays running through Sept. 22. Show times are Wednesdays through Fridays at 7…
Become a ‘Rising Star’
Rising Star, a solo singing competition from the producers of Teen Star, is accepting applications from adults living in Tri-County area, which includes Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. The one-night showcase is Sept. 7 in the Samala Room of the Chumash Casino and Resort, 3400 Highway 246, Santa Ynez. The deadline for…
Hancock College film screening features filmmaker
Allan Hancock College has sponsored a film screening of the documentary “50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus” featuring a talk by the filmmaker Steven Pressman on July 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 3114 of the college’s Lompoc Valley Center, 1 Hancock Drive, in Lompoc. More information: 717-3085, lauragp@aol.com,…
Los Alamos says take a seat
The Los Alamos Merchant Society presents another “Third Saturday Evening Stroll Series” featuring the theme “chairs.” The evening will include specials at restaurants and antique shops, live music, and an art display of chairs on July 20 from 4 to 8 p.m. on Bell Street in Los Alamos. The C Gallery is holding an open…
Spotlight on: a la carte
Donna Wilson has always had a passion for interior design. In 1998, she and a partner opened a la carte to bring unique merchandise to the Central Coast. The furniture store, located on Betteravia Road in Santa Maria across from the Target shopping center, sells one-of-a-kind furniture, mirrors, mattresses, and home accessories such as clocks…
Foodbank receives big grants from Walmart
Grogan Park was a busy place on July 11. Children were playing on the jungle gym, eating, and cycle-blending smoothies, and near the park’s community center, the Walmart Foundation awarded two grants totaling $120,000 to the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County. Of that money, $45,000 will specifically go to the Food Bank’s Picnic in…
A place to find books
Altrusa International, Inc. of the Central Coast will be giving away free children’s and adult books during its annual Festival of Books this summer. The event is held from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoons upstairs in the Town Center Mall in Santa Maria. This year’s festival will have three more events, July 28…
Celebrating the power of reading
Guadalupe Summer Academy students were awarded for their accomplishments in the United Way Power Reading program on July 11 with certificates, gift cards, school supplies for next year, and root beer floats. One hundred students from fourth through eighth grades enrolled in the United Way program at Mary Buren Elementary School this summer as a…
Community Notebook 7/18-25
MONDAY, JULY 22 • The South County Advisory Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Nipomo Community Services District Headquarters, 148 S. Wilson St., Nipomo. TUESDAY, JULY 23 • The Guadalupe City Council has its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 918 Obispo St., Guadalupe.…
Political Watch 7/18/13
Santa Maria/Lompoc NAACP President Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt released a statement in response to the July 14 acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Florida Neighborhood Watch member accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. “On almost the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Aug. 24, 1963 March on Washington, I am deeply disappointed that in the greatest country…
Waiting for justice
This month will mark the sixth anniversary of a day that Orcutt resident Charlie Lynch wishes was long behind him. But federal prosecutors have stood resolute in their case against the former owner and managing caregiver of San Luis Obispo County’s only medical marijuana dispensary, even after the federal government has taken a comparatively hands-off…
Understanding the Affordable Care Act
Staying informed about national policies can be tricky, but understanding how those changes will affect your family is even more difficult. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act will be put into effect. The Affordable Care Act mandates individuals to either purchase health-care insurance, or be penalized. Insurance has never before been mandatory for…
Andy Caldwell calls foul against three county supervisors
Government watchdog and radio show host Andy Caldwell of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business (COLAB) is butting heads with three of the Santa Barbara County supervisors. Earlier this month, Caldwell filed a complaint with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office asking officials to investigate whether supervisors Salud Carbajal, Janet Wolf, and Doreen…
