Cover Story
The Great American Melodrama serves up classic live theater, song, and dance to the central coast
The lamps are dimmed, illuminating the stage. A lone piano heralds the coming of the night’s master of ceremonies, who introduces the Great American Melodrama and the play to be performed that night. Unaided by a microphone, the actor projects his voice to every corner of the warm and welcoming room. And before you know…
Anthony Ibarra murder case pre-trial hearings on the move
There’s nothing more irritating to ears than the infamous “pop” of a microphone, followed by an earsplitting squeal, and then dead air. Such technical difficulties can make it hard to conduct a pre-trial court hearing, especially one in which 11 attorneys need to speak on behalf of 11 defendants. The pre-trial hearings for the 11…
What is your opinion on bilingual education (dual immersion)?
Alex Tabera student “I think it is great. Being bilingual gives kids more opportunities. It will also teach people to appreciate diversity.” Russ “Action” Jackson professional fundraiser “In some countries, students are required to know more than one language. We should do what makes us stronger and more competitive on a global scale.” Jesus…
Santa Maria refinery seeks railroad extension to cut crude costs
In June, San Luis Obispo County residents began receiving vague phone calls from an East Coast-based company, which asked a long list of rather nebulous questions. At first, it seemed political; the pollsters asked for the residents’ opinion of each of the county supervisors, and were even unaware of the recent passing of District Four…
CAMERON EDWARDS-REA
The smell of chalk and sound of tumbling are familiar in KT’s All-Star Gymnastics Gym in Santa Maria. As one of the largest gyms in the area, KT’s caters to a diversity of students who range from toddlers to adults. KT’ is also home to one of the most competitive youth male gymnasts on the…
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…
Run with the big ‘Dogs
Allan Hancock Athletics announced that the women’s cross country team is now recruiting both experienced and inexperienced runners to race this season. For more information, contact Coach Louie Quintana at 705-3299.
Give to the Saints
The Santa Maria Saints will hold a fundraising golf tournament at Marshallia Ranch Golf Course on Saturday, Aug. 24. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the boys’ and girls’ golf teams of Santa Maria. The tournament will feature a four-man scramble and prizes for longest drive and straight drive; there will also…
Southside makes an amazing comeback
The 11- and 12-year-old Southside All Stars of Santa Maria continue to amaze with their baseball talents. In a recent game, Southside was down 15-2 in the sixth inning only to turn around and bring the game to 16-15 at the start of the seventh inning. The bottom of the seventh inning brought Trevor Garcia…
The Benchwarmer
Fellow benchwarmers, we can all agree that my love for baseball doesn’t come as a surprise. For avid baseball fans, July marks a special time of year: the All-Star break. Now past its 84th edition, the race to the World Series takes a pause as the best of the best from the American and National…
Political Watch 7/25/13
• The cities of Santa Maria, Goleta, and Ventura recently received $2.5 million in federal grant awards to provide housing and economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced in a July 22 press release. Community Development Block Grants provide federal funding to local governments to develop viable urban communities…
Hobnobbing With Helen
Who knew that Rancho Bowl, at the corner of Donovan and Broadway, is more than just a bowling alley? Certainly not I. But at the Chamber of Commerce’s regular monthly mixer held on Thursday, July 18, at this locale, I found that the sprawling bowling alley building is part of a business that includes a…
Community Notebook 7/25-8/1
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 • The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Planning Commission Hearing Room, 123 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The agenda is available at www.co.santa-barbara.ca.us. • The City of Santa Maria Families for the First Decade Project, a group of individuals and agencies who…
Sober promise, pleasant prize
anta Maria High School graduate Elmer Barrueta recently won a Mini Cooper for pledging to drive unimpaired for one year. He was selected from hundreds of students in San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties. The drawing was a part of the “All In Driver” program sponsored by McCarthy’s of San Luis Obispo. The…
The Sun is an award-winning paper
The Sun shone brightly in the 2013 National Newspaper Association Better Newspapers Contest, with three first-place awards and three second-place awards. Former Arts Editor Shelly Cone won first place for her humor column, ‘To lie or not to lie?’ about the pros and cons of lying to your children. She took second in environmental reporting…
Legislators debate the possibility of permitting HIV-positive organ transplants
A bill that would allow medical researchers to look into the feasibility of transplanting HIV-positive organs into HIV-positive patients has gained approval from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee. It now heads to the House floor for a vote. Authored by representatives Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) and Andy Harris…
Oil’s potentially on the horizon at Vandenberg
A company that wants to pull oil from the ground below Vandenberg Air Force Base needs to choose its location carefully. The last request to drill was proposed between two major launch sites on the base. That was a definite no go; putting a drill pad there would have prevented access to a major launch…
Spotlight on: Beacon Barber Shop
The Beacon Barber Shop in Orcutt now belongs to an enthusiastic new owner: certified barber Winston Bennie, who has no shortage of plans for his new digs. Bennie recently described to the Sun his aspirations for the shop: “I want this place to be old-school; sort of a time warp, Americana style, harkening back to…
Allan Hancock College gets new student reps
Two new student representatives will take the helm as Allan Hancock College begins a new school year. Peter Gonzalez, 20, from Santa Maria, was elected as the Associated Student Body president in spring 2013. Gonzalez will serve until spring 2014. Lauren Kueffler, 19, from Nipomo, was sworn in as the new student trustee on the…
Leadership camp ceremony honors foster teens
Nine foster teenagers who dedicated most of their summer to LEGIT—Leaders Establishing Great Ideas for Tomorrow—were awarded for their hard work at a ceremony in Santa Maria on June 19. The Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Transitional Youth Services program organized the leadership camp, but the attending teenagers gave the camp its name and helped…
First 5 calls for input from community
First 5 Santa Barbara County is holding a series of meetings to gain information from the community about what services are needed for children from birth to 5 years old. The First 5 commission will use information gleaned from the meetings as it gets started on the strategic plan for the next three years. The…
Santa Maria High student takes top honors at Santa Barbara County Fair
Josh Mendez of the Santa Maria High School Future Farmers of America club won the Round Robin Showmanship award, and showed the Supreme Champion Meat Goat and the Reserve Champion Market Sheep at the recent Santa Barbara County Fair. The round robin is an event that requires exhibitors to show pigs, cows, sheep, and goats.…
Ramadan demystified
The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is underway. The observation of not eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset is especially challenging when Ramadan falls during the hot summer months. As the mercury rises, so does the length of fast. This year, each of the 30 days of fasting is about 16 hours in duration,…
Saturday marketplace sprouts at Santa Maria Town Center
Purple cauliflower, golden beets, green beans, red strawberries, white onions, peach peaches, yellow lemons, rainbow chard; I discovered a kaleidoscopic variety of fresh, locally grown produce at the new farmers market at the Santa Maria Town Center. Growers and artisans sell their produce and products from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. every Saturday. Four years…
The sweetest guy I know
Usually my column is devoted to the lighter moments in my life. This week is no different because I am going to tell you about the sweetest guy I know—a man with a beautiful spirit who has lived an amazing life. He is a true American hero, being one of the few survivors of the…
Local Notes: Unity Chapel of Light celebrates Bridget Hough-Meynenc
Climbing the mountainous path that is a doctorate in music takes a huge amount of skill, discipline, and raw talent. Luckily, Bridget Hough-Meynenc possesses of all those traits, which helped her recently secure her doctor of musical arts degree in collaborative piano performance at UCSB. Unity Chapel of Light—a nondenominational church in Orcutt—remembers when Hough-Meynenc…
Little hands crafting
Michael’s Arts and Crafts presents arts and crafts events for kids, including a “Kids Club Elmer’s Frog Event” on 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: 349-8801.
Locals awarded for ‘WaterWise’ gardens
The Santa Barbara County Public Works Department has announced the winners of the inaugural “WaterWise Garden Recognition Contest.” The winners were selected on how well their home gardens used water, especially if the gardens were able to limit the use of drinking water. The countywide grand prize winner was Christine Nolte of Santa Barbara, who…
Find your family tree
People interested in tracing their familial roots will be delighted to learn that the Santa Maria Public Library and the Santa Maria Valley Genealogy Society have joined forces to help locals with that very activity. The library, which already enjoyed a large genealogy collection, has agreed to house the society’s book collection as well, which…
Santa Maria Philharmonic Society receives generous donation
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society announced recently that a $5,000 donation was made to the nonprofit musical arts organization in the memory of Ardeth Cox, a longtime patron of the philharmonic, who left the money as a bequest. Her family, the philharmonic said in an e-mail, is prepared to donate another $1,000 if the community…
A grail-full of guffaws: PCPA Theaterfest lets its chain mail down for Monty Python’s delightfully lewd Spamalot
If you do not go and see PCPA Theaterfest’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot, I will be force to say “Ni!” to you! Well, maybe I won’t go that far. Monty Python fans are squirming with delight to find that PCPA is staging an outrageously hilarious production of Spamalot no more than an un-laden swallow’s…
The Guadalupe Buddhist Church celebrates life and death with the Obon Festival
As dancers move in unison, the silent rush of cotton kimonos and the shuffling of tall wooden geta sandals tell the story of ancestors and the hardships they suffered to make it through life. Bon Odori is a traditional style of dancing used to help celebrate the Obon Festival in Japan and all over the…
The Canary dishes on Santa Barbara County Jail food complaints
There’s this old saying about variety being the spice of life, but I think maybe salt is. Sure, some people may argue that it’s cumin or saffron, but to me, salt has universal appeal. It makes everything better—in moderation, of course. Salt makes food more foody. There’s also this old saying about how if you…
