Each year, we take story submissions from across the country for our 55 Fiction contest. People send us miniature novels, short but not necessarily sweet. The briefest stories in the world weave tales about murder, loss, love, family, pets, pouting, and more. In 55 words or less, we get the characters, the tension, and the…
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) voted to move the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act out of committee and into the Senate for consideration. The committee action follows recent public reports detailing potentially unethical behavior by members of the Supreme Court, highlighting the lack of transparency and enforceable ethics standards for the…
For 35 years, the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District has been helping residents and business owners replace old equipment with newer, more environmentally friendly versions through its Clean Air Grants. “It’s been interesting to see how the technology has evolved over time and how the options have grown for cleaner engines, and also…
I’m more bird-brained than usual this week because instead of our typical in-depth news, we’re running our annual 55 Fiction contest winners. It’s a highlight of the year for our publication, to be sure, and it gets me all inspired to be shorter and more to the point in this column. So bear with me.…
I honestly believe that the political class in Sacramento is losing their collective minds. In my last commentary (“Solutions?” July 13), I pointed out that “the U.S. government is now preparing to hand out $400 billion for green energy projects, and this is just the beginning of the trip down the climate change rabbit hole.”…
I was perusing the movie reviews in this week’s Sun and then started looking through the archives for the last several weeks. I noticed one glaring omission, Sound of Freedom. The Starkeys have reviewed every top box office movie in the last several weeks except Sound of Freedom. This movie has held the No. 2…
Minerva mania Orcutt Community Theater presents its production of And Then There Were None at the Minerva Club through Sunday, July 30. Performances of the show are held Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Admission is $20, and tickets are available at the door or in advance at my805tix.com. Call…
One year ago, the Supreme Court of the U. S. (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, thereby denying the autonomy of American women by proclaiming the state’s right to control their wombs. Coupled with this are efforts by some to build a border fence to keep immigrants out and to corral America’s…
The Great American Melodrama in Oceano presents Gold Fever at the Rough and Ready, which opened in late July and is scheduled to run through Saturday, Sept. 9. Performances of the the local theater group’s latest show take place Wednesday through Friday at 7 p.m., every Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and every Sunday…
Registration is open for the Santa Maria Public Library’s upcoming Saturday Crafternoon workshop, scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 29, at 2:30 p.m. The class is open to guests ages 18 and older. During the program, participants will use pens and watercolor to create maps of their favorite fictional areas. For more info on…
Dynamic duo The Margerum Wine Company’s new tasting room in downtown Los Olivos is open daily, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (805) 504-1209 or visit margerumwines.com for more info. The tasting room is located at 2446 Alamo Pintado Ave., Los Olivos. For more info on BB Sushi, call (805) 270-9317 or visit sushibb.com.…
Employment, education, financial, emergency, and health and human services assistance are the main goals for Santa Barbara County’s new mobile farmworker resource center. “We want to do case [management] and have that discussion to figure out the true needs [they] have. Is it a day care situation, lack of food, or lack of training?” program…
A gas station project with an Avenue of Flags address has continuously raised red flags with the Buellton Planning Commission, which halted the proposal from moving forward in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Periodically revised and resubmitted for review, the plan to build a new ARCO station in Buellton finally gained positive traction from planning…
Barbie What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Co-written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Frances Ha, Marriage Story) and directed by Gerwig (Lady…
Oppenheimer What’s it rated? R When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s 2006 biography, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, screenwriter-director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Inception, Dunkirk) helms this film adaptation about the American…
Jury Duty What’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime’s Freevee Whatever lengths the casting department had to go through to get Ronald Gladden to sign up for this experiment were well worth it. He thinks he’s on a real jury, one that’s being filmed for a documentary showing the process of…
A federal judge ruled in favor of a U.S. Forest Service (USFS) chaparral removal project on Pine Mountain following a lawsuit brought forth by several environmental organizations and government agencies with concerns about environmental law violations. “The court concludes that the USFS relied on best available science … and concludes that plaintiffs have failed to…
