Cover Story
A new chapter
They were here before. Before there was Santa Ynez or Santa Barbara County or the United States, before there were casinos or environmental impact reports or legal restrictions on water usage, before there was Christianity or even monotheism, there were the Chumash. Tens of thousands of them once spread across 7,000 square miles in present-day…
UPDATED – Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department investigates SMPD-involved fatal shooting
An investigation of a July 20 incident involving a man who was fatally shot by police officers from the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) has been turned over to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, according to SMPD Sgt. Russell Mengel. Police identified the man as 31-year-old Javier Gaona of Santa Maria. An autopsy for…
Could the Santa Maria Police Department have handled the July 20 shooting of Javier Gaona differently?
Brielle Casillas student at Pioneer Valley High School “Being that I want to be a police officer, I feel the officers felt their lives were threatened, but they didn’t all have to shoot at once.” Nathan Padilla student at Pioneer Valley High School “I think they did what they had to do. You’d be panicking…
We must help make the killings stop
The shootings continue. The deaths continue. We hear that Americans are angry, divided, fed up. But we are all horrified by the outcome in blood. And almost everyone shares the same reaction: Make the violence stop. First we must acknowledge that no other modern, civilized country on earth has the gun deaths we do here…
California Space Center could get second consideration in Lompoc
Eva Blaisdell, the entrepreneur behind the California Space Center whose exclusive negotiation agreement was terminated by Lompoc last November, told the Sun she wants city leaders to consider the project one more time. The project is a theme park/educational center that would be built on an 82-acre piece of land adjacent to Lompoc’s Allan Hancock…
A sense for story
People don’t usually think of Jane Austen as a controversial author, but the intense fandom of her work ever since it was published in the early 1800s–and her loudest detractors–haven’t quit discussing her writings for generations now. You either love her novels or you don’t, and for those who can’t get enough Austen, there is…
A festival of joy
The origin of the Japanese tradition of the Obon Festival is enshrined in centuries of celebration. It’s a time when generations of families and friends come together to honor the lives of those who have passed away during the year since the last festival. The Obon Festival always includes a traditional dance, the Gathering of…
An ode to lasagna
Lasagna is my favorite food in the world.It’s like a pie, but with pasta and cheese and meat and tomato sauce instead of”well”pie stuff. And as far as I’m concerned, a bite of lasagna is the closest thing there is to taste bud heaven. So I take this subject very seriously.I spent three days in…
Hope floats
There is a secret about me that most people don’t know. It’s a bit shameful, so I don’t usually talk about it. I can’t … float. Yes, that is correct; I can’t lie on my back in the water and float. I don’t float, I only sink. You can tell me a thousand times to…
Born to blues
The Solvang Festival Theater is celebrating the fifth year of its jazz concert series, but the collection of summertime concerts received a small tweak last year, explained the theater’s Executive Director Pam Pilcher. Pilcher told the Sun that the concert series is now called the Sunday Jazz and Beyond concert series, with the “beyond” highlighting…
CARSON SILVA
Carson Silva has a secret go-to maneuver in water polo that’s been working like a charm for him lately. The move is pretty simple: Be quicker and stronger than everybody else. “I’m bigger than most people,” the 13-year-old from Lompoc explained. “I’ll usually shoot over people. I’ll do a move where I jump up and…
Catch some outdoor time
As teachers, our summer break is precious time needed to recover and recharge for another school year. For those of you who think we don’t need this break, I invite you to manage teenage students all day for a 180-plus day tour and let me know if you don’t need a vacation afterward. But I…
Show or tell?
That was the first text I got on the morning of July 20. And my first thought was, “I’m really not in the mood to see a shooting today.” I don’t know if it was premonition or the fact that sensational deaths have been such a regular occurrence lately, but either way, I was having…
Cunningham cares about the community
As a parent, my first thought when it comes to voting for my representative is education. I need to know that my children are in good hands when I’m not with them, and that the people I help send to the Capitol care about their chances in school as well as their ability to get…
High school students compete Summer Science Institute
While most Santa Maria area students were on vacation this summer, eight teens participated in the seventh annual Summer Science Institute founded by Riccardo Magni. These students met for six weeks at Allan Hancock College from June 13 to July 21, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students had to apply to…
High school students compete Summer Science Institute
While most Santa Maria area students were on vacation this summer, eight teens participated in the seventh annual Summer Science Institute founded by Riccardo Magni. These students met for six weeks at Allan Hancock College from June 13 to July 21, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students had to apply to…
Spotlight on: Longoria Wines
Longoria Wines has been a first at a lot of things. It was one of the first wineries to move into Lompoc, one of the first in Los Olivos to have a tasting room, and one of the first to leave the Wine Ghetto in Lompoc. Now, it’s the first commercial business in Lompoc to…
Political Watch 7/28/16
• The city of Santa Maria is currently accepting applications for the Block Grants Advisory Committee, Board of Appeals, Landmark Committee, Measure U2012 Citizens’ Oversight Committee Recreation and Parks Commission, Santa Barbara County Library Advisory Committee and Santa Maria Community Television Board until sufficient applications have been received and the vacancies may be filled. Applications…
Community Notebook 7/28/16
MONDAY, AUG. 1 • The Solvang Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. TUESDAY, AUG. 2 • The Vandenberg Village Community Services District has its regular board meeting at 7 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room, 3757 Constellation Road, Vandenberg Village. • The Santa…
CAUSE launches its biggest ever voter registration campaign in Santa Maria
The Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) is on a mission to register 1,000 voters in Santa Maria for the November election in an attempt to boost the city’s lackluster voter registration rates. The organization launched a six-week voter registration drive on July 27, according to CAUSE Community Organizing Director Hazel Davalos.…
Santa Ynez ziplines course project moves forward
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors last week gave the green light to a Santa Ynez ziplines course after months of back-and-forth between the county and its residents. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the project, called the Sierra Grande Rural Recreation Project, in January, but the vote was appealed by neighbor Rick Oas. Oas…
Doctors needed
On June 21, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously renewed a contract for an Atlanta-based physician staffing company that once provided a hiring recommendation for a doctor who turned out to have faked his credentials. The county renewed with Jackson and Coker, which provided a hiring recommendation for Ernest Addo, the man who…
