A former Buellton hot spot for fans of split pea soup, bread bowls, and quirky memorabilia began attracting a different kind of crowd once the 100-year-old venue shut off its stoves for good in 2024. Trespassers of the shuttered Pea Soup Andersen’s—with some walls and patio spaces now enveloped in thick, green overgrowth—range from long-term…
The Bodger Meadows housing project near Lompoc has bounced between city and county staff for the past two and a half years, but the city’s been trying to obtain the property from the county for decades. After the City Council discussed the project’s latest news, Mayor Jim Mosby joked dryly about the saga. He referenced…
A flat rate since 2011, the parcel tax for residents of Providence Landing—a neighborhood in the unincorporated Vandenberg Village area—will jump from $672 to $692. These funds go toward upkeep at the Providence Landing Park, an arrangement Santa Barbara County 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson noted as unlike any other tax collected across the county.…
Set to expire at the end of this calendar year, a temporary waiver from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) allowed the city of Solvang to add two new gasoline-fueled buses to its public fleet that travels across the Santa Ynez Valley. Without the waiver, addressing the city’s recent bus shortage would have left leaders…
• Having passed the state Senate Public Safety Committee and state Senate Local Government Committee, Assembly Bill 2257—authored by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara)—will advance to the Senate floor in August. Focused on county jail accountability, the bill would give boards of supervisors throughout California the option to exercise confirmation authority over a sheriff’s top…
As the end of summer break draws nearer, so does a new beginning for the Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People Youth Coalition. Dedicated to educating youth about the harms of alcohol and drug misuse through periodic visits to school campuses, this local initiative is taking a more collaborative approach with its programming this year,…
The city of Buellton no longer considers Pea Soup Andersen’s an official city landmark. After hemming and hawing this spring over what exactly it was going to allow the current landowner to do to the building, the Buellton City Council came up with a solution to the problem it had inadvertently created: Pull the historic…
Housing is one of the most pressing issues facing the Central Coast. So when Congress passes a bipartisan housing bill, it should be good news. But instead of simply telling the truth, politicians too often turn good news into campaign spin. That is what Congressman Salud Carbajal is doing through the 21st Century ROAD to…
It’s finally happened: actual American athletes and American fans singing our National Anthem at the World Cup! From what I’ve observed, in every other country in the world other than the United States, fans sing their anthems with pride and gusto at sporting events! Maybe this might spur our nation’s fans to follow suit! Rather…
On July 1, Donald Trump flew to the Theodore Roosevelt Library in a jet gifted to him by the Qatari dictator, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. This is unprecedented. What was typical is that, once at the new library, Donald Trump spoke only about Donald Trump. A few contrasts between the two men: •…
Though he now calls himself an artist, Joe McFadden spent his career in the tech industry. While he was advising software companies by day, McFadden found balance by slathering oil paints on canvases in his free time. “I wanted something I could develop over many years and maybe develop someday into a real skill and…
Right before pausing for its month-long summer hiatus, the Santa Maria Camera Club announced the winning images from its June competition. “Each photographer brings a unique vision and artistic perspective, demonstrating the talent and skills that have earned recognition in club, regional, and national competitions,” according to press materials. The group’s monthly competition meetings are…
Catch the last two weekends of the Lavender Festival in Lompoc on July 18 and 25. The event, hosted by Santa Rita Hills Lavender Farm, is free to the public from noon to 5 p.m. both days. The highlight will be a lavender wreath-making class. For a $55 fee, participants will receive all the necessary…
Created by Robert Hull based on the 2023 Harlan Coben novel of the same name, this crime drama follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), wrongly imprisoned for his son Matthew’s (Jasper Rainn Larence) murder. After five years of a life sentence, David learns from his ex-wife’s sister, Rachel (Britt Lower), that Matthew (now played by Ashton…
The Murder of Rachel NickellWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Netflix Rachel Nickell was a young mother to her son Alex, and the two were inseparable. So inseparable that when her bloody body was found with 49 stab wounds in Wimbledon Commons, 2-year-old Alex was found clinging to her corpse, covered in…
Here’s your chance to see a cult classic on the big screen and support your local radio station when The Rock Community Radio (97.3/107.9 FM) hosts The Blues Brothers fundraiser screening at Bay Theatre. The Blues BrothersWhat’s it rated? R When? 1980 Where’s it showing? Bay Theatre of Morro Bay on Monday, July 20 (doors…
When Geneva Franciskovich finally struck a deal to purchase an old boba spot on Pomeroy Avenue, she thought, “Holy shit. This is crazy.” That night she was out to dinner with her family, reveling in the feat. She’d just pushed six years’ worth of savings into buying space on one of the most competitive streets…
