Cover Story
Keep it brief: 28th annual 55 Fiction
Editors note: This year we kept it simple, just like submitters kept it brief, and Sun staff members from different departments wrangled through the stacks of words that made up the last year’s worth of 55 Fiction entries. They corralled the chosen ones into a short pile meant for print in our 28th annual 55…
Record algal bloom producing neurotoxin that affects ocean shellfish
There’s something in the water off the coast of Santa Barbara County: It’s a horde billions strong, breeding in numbers not seen in years, producing a neurotoxin that can cause seizures, memory loss, and death. It’s not oil. Beaches are reopening after the May pipeline rupture above Refugio State Beach; crude oil is sinking through…
Isla Vista victim sues Sheriff’s Office, UCSB
More than a year has passed since the massacre in Isla Vista. The aftermath continues, and one of the victims filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 23. In the lawsuit, Keith Cheung alleges false imprisonment and that he was denied proper medical care when he was handcuffed by a Santa…
Should complaints of police officers using excessive force be publicly available?
Elvispresley Nave contractor “Yes, people are getting harassed daily by cops. There should be more public accountability.” Nick Cornwell distribution and sales “Yes, because we should expect the same transparency from them as they do from us. Accusations are one thing, but if it sticks, I want to know.” Thomas Jordan delivery driver “Yes, I…
Political Watch 7/2/15
• On June 30, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a contentious bill that mandates vaccines for almost all children. The California Legislature passed it on June 29. The LA Times reported that the final legislative vote took place along mostly partisan lines with Democrats in favor of the bill. “I believe in the safety and efficacy…
Community Notebook 7/2/15 – 7/9/15
MONDAY, JULY6 • The Solvang Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. TUESDAY, JULY 7 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. Agendas are…
Clinically underserved: Guadalupe is slowly losing medical services
Where Esteban Perez lives in Guadalupe, he can simply walk to the Marian Community Clinic in the Plaza de Guadalupe along Main Street. The 72-year-old former nightclub bouncer relies on the clinic for medication to treat his diabetes. But soon, he’ll have to depend on his wife to drive him to Santa Maria, because the…
Oil bills engendered by Refugio spill pass out of committee
Two bills coauthored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) in the early wake of the Refugio State Beach oil spill passed out of committee on June 29. Senate Bill 414, which moved on with an 8-1 vote, is aimed at speeding up oil spill response. The main provision’s a program by which fishing vessels…
Bull shot by CHP officer after getting loose on Hwy. 101 near Buellton
Duties of a California Highway Patrol officer include maintaining safety on public highways, enforcing traffic laws, and apparently attempting to wrangle angry bulls, which happened after one got loose from a ranch near Buellton on June 23. According to the CHP Public Information Officer John Ortega, Patrolman Adam Hrehor responded to a call of…
El Capitan, fishing grounds reopen after spill
The California Department of Fish and Game lifted its closure of the fishing grounds around Refugio State Beach on June 29. The long stretch of fertile coast, spanning more than 100 miles between Coal Point and Hollister Ranch, was reopened after tested fish didn’t show oily contaminants that posed a threat to people. This comes…
Thousands evacuated as brush fire burns near Lompoc
More than 1,000 residents in the Mission Hills area were evacuated as a brush fire scorched hundreds of acres on June 29. According to Santa Barbara County Fire Department Public Information Officer Dave Zaniboni, the department responded to a call of a fire near 1550 Burton Mesa Blvd. at 1:16 p.m. Fire crews from Lompoc…
Spotlight on: R Taco Truck
The length of Highway 166 between Guadalupe and Santa Maria is skirted by quintessential California agricultural land. Farmland stretches for miles on either side of the road as workers fill crates of produce in the fields. Coming from the east, near the corner of Salinas Road and 166, an oasis emerges. It’s the R Taco…
Hancock brings in new administrative leaders
In June, Allan Hancock College hired two new associate superintendent/vice presidents. Michael Black moved into the finance and administration slot and George Railey Jr. slid into the spot for academic affairs. “Michael and George are great additions to the college,” Superintendent/President Kevin Walthers said in a press release. “Both men are forward thinkers with a…
Young recruits make it through Central Coast Law Enforcement Explorer Academy
After two weeks of physical and mental challenges, 24 local men and women, ages 14 to 20, from five different law enforcement agencies graduated from the Central Coast Law Enforcement Explorer Academy. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown and other officials from participating agencies gave the young adults a final inspection before handing over certificates…
The biggest things
The U.S. Supreme Court decided some big things this week. BIG THINGS. The same-sex marriage debate is finally over. News flash: It’s legal. The Obamacare debate is finally over. States that haven’t set up health care exchanges can eat their federal government defying words, because now that very same bureaucracy can officially, legally, even though…
Save water, go vegetarian
Editor’s note: Included in this commentary are numbers associated with agricultural water use. That information was sourced from a variety of sources: Worldwatch Institute, The New York Times, the Grace Communications Institute, the Water Foundation Network, National Geographic, Mother Jones, the Pacific Institute, and medium.com. We know that we have a mega drought in California.…
Brandon Pita
Brandon Pita spent his childhood racing motocross. When he quit, he said, he wanted to keep racing but in a different style. So, in 2009, he took up BMX at the age of 11. And, after riding for a few short months, he travelled to Louisville, Ky. to win the national title and take home…
Orcutt proud: Soon-to-be senior Jacob Smith prepping for next baseball season
An avid athlete, baseball and soccer keep him on the playing fields, 17-year-old Jacob Smith plays first base and back-up pitcher for Orcutt Academy High School. A senior when he returns to school in the fall, his fielding percentage for the 2015 season—.993 with 10 double plays, six assists, and one error—earned him the third…
Capps brings Congressional Art Competition winner in Washington
U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) played host to Mission College Preparatory High School junior Jenna Skiff on Capitol Hill on June 24. Skiff’s the winner of the 2015 Congressional Art Competition for Capps’ district. She attended a celebratory lunch reception and viewed the art show at the Capitol, where the teen from Cayucos also…
Cypress Gallery features work of Tonya Romano Schultz
The Lompoc Valley Art Association features the work of Tonya Romano Schultz at the association’s gallery, the Cypress Gallery in Lompoc through the month of July. The exhibit, titled Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful, celebrates and explores the artist’s many ways of embracing beauty in the world. A reception with the artist happens on…
Songwriters At Play comes back to Santa Maria
The Songwriters At Play series will present its first showcase at The Market in Santa Maria on July 8, marking a return to the Santa Maria Valley by the songwriter-themed concert series. The July 8 concert, which happens from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. will feature Jody Mulgrew. The event is open to all ages and…
Lompoc Theatre Project offers outdoor screening of ‘Grease’
The Lompoc Theatre Project, in association with the Lompoc Recreation Division, will present a screening of the classic musical comedy Grease on July 10 in Ryon Park. The screening will be the first in the Movies Under the Stars series, which screens at dusk following Lompoc’s Olde Towne Market during the summer. The first event…
Summer at the Great American Melodrama sure to sizzle
For an actor of the melodrama, there’s nothing worse than coming off stage without a whole lot of boos and hisses to show for it. That is, if you’re a melodrama actor playing the villain. If you’re the hero, you’re probably looking to incite as many cheers and hoorays as possible. Either way, the truth…
Local families prepare Bon Odori dance for the upcoming Obon Festival
The traditional Japanese style of dance known as Bon Odori opens and closes annual Obon Festivals across the globe, including Santa Maria’s organized by the Guadalupe Buddhist Church. The festival—schedule for July 26 this year—includes performances, showcases of crafts, delicious food, and bonsai trimming demonstrations, but the festival begins and ends with the traditional group…
California Country rocks the Maverick on Independence Day
As the rockets’ red glare over Mission Santa Inés dies down on July 4 another celebration will begin not far down Highway 246 at the historic Maverick Saloon, only this celebration won’t be filled with colorful explosives, but will boom with crashing cymbals, pounding bass, and screaming guitars. The Maverick Saloon is celebrating with live…
Paranoid delusional
My wife truly believes that during this very second there are countless nefarious villains lurking around our suburban home just waiting for the perfect opportunity to commit acts of savagery against her. Obviously, this is a completely ridiculous notion for a number of sane reasons, but sanity has nothing to do with my wife’s logic.…
Jack’s Restaurant in Orcutt gets new owners
Can a restaurant be the happy ending to a love story? As the new owners of Jack’s Restaurant celebrated with a recent ribbon cutting surrounded by friends, family, and fellow merchants it certainly seemed so. It was a passion for food and service that brought owners Chris and Terri Salazar together, and as they celebrated…
