Cover Story
Flavor revolution: Los Olivos Homegrown garlic varieties bring a whole new experience to taste buds
A pitchfork’s pointy tines jabbed into the soft fabric of a faded black tarp. Once. Twice. After the third heave, Los Olivos Homegrown farmer Poul Palmer leaned on the handle for leverage, loosening crumbles of clay soil from an herbal giant. Allium sativum: garlic. Not that white-stuff-you-find-in-a-supermarket kind, but that crazy-stuff-you’ve-never-heard-of garlic. Rare. This one’s…
Where is the best burrito in Santa Maria?
Jennifer Santos “Chipotle. They give you a lot of different options, and you can add whatever you want to your burrito.” Gorri Thakur “Taco Roco in the mall. I’m a vegetarian, and they have a good variety of vegetarian burritos.” James Gerber “Pasion in Orcutt. I like the pineapple and cilantro with steak.” Anthony Torres…
Lompoc Unified School District refinances bonds
The Lompoc Unified School District recently refinanced outstanding general obligation bonds. The refinancing will result in local property owners saving more than $1 million, according a June 1 release from the district. The bonds originally totaled $9.9 million and were authorized by voters in the November 2002 election. The funds were used to renovate, construct,…
UnitedAg awards scholarships to local students
UnitedAg, a member-owned agricultural trade association, awarded more than $100,000 to students in California and Arizona, including more than $7,000 to students in Santa Barbara and SLO counties. The students submitted essays in response to the following prompt: “Explain where and how California gets its water. If you were governor, how would you manage this…
Leadership Santa Maria Valley unveils garden at Guadalupe junior high
Leadership Santa Maria Valley class of 2015 unveiled the first multi-purpose school garden at Kermit McKenzie Junior High School on June 9 at 9:45 a.m. at the school located in Guadalupe. School staff, city dignitaries, participating donors, and volunteers attended the special unveiling event, which showcased the new planters assembled mostly over Memorial Day weekend.…
Santa Maria High School Saints Band wins first place at Elks Rodeo Parade
The Santa Maria High School Saints Band took first place at the annual Elks Rodeo Parade high school band competition, including a grand prize of $500 from Mega 97.1 FM and Home Motors. The band has received the honor for four consecutive years, and won first place this year for a performance of “When the…
Spotlight on: Cottage food operators
For a long time, Jovy Kurokawa sold her Puerto Rican confections under-the-table. But that’s common for some stay-at-home Puerto Rican moms raising their kids in American urban communities. In the past 20 years while living in various major U.S. cities, Kurokawa used her home kitchen to produce Puerto Rican style sweets and sold or traded…
Political Watch 6/11/15
• State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Carpinteria) introduced legislation on June 2 in response to the recent oil spill on Refugio State Beach. “There are still many unanswered questions about the Refugio oil spill,” Jackson said in a press release. “It’s already become clear that there is work we can…
Community Notebook 6/11/15 – 6/18/15
TUESDAY, JUNE 16 • 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 available at http://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Santa Maria City Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City…
Hobnobbing with Helen
When I went to an event Sunday night, June 7, at the Santa Maria Inn, I did not expect to see the likes of Congresswoman Lois Capps, Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, and 1st District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal. But there they were in a room full of 140 folks who came to…
Burrito time: A Sun writer’s quest to find the perfect Santa Maria burrito
Let’s be honest, Santa Maria is a culinary mecca. The city put itself on the map years ago with its own style of barbecue. And let’s not forget about the wine. Having recently moved from New Orleans, and Miami before that, where food defines cultures, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Santa…
Corrections
• In the June 4 article “STEM Expo winners take home cash prizes,” the Sun incorrectly identified a Lompoc High School junior; the student’s name is Isaiah Bowman.
Vandenberg contractor appeals $3.25 billion property value assessment
A company responsible for launching rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base is appealing what it’s calling a series of property tax assessments issued by the county. United Launch Alliance (ULA), a Colorado-based company that develops the Delta II, Delta IV, and Atlas V rockets, is disputing a $30 million tax bill stemming from a series…
Lompoc signs contract for multimillion-dollar space theme park
With a tiny bit of pomp and circumstance, Lompoc city officials signed a one-year contract with Polish entrepreneur Eva Blaisdell and her company, California Space Center LLC, handing over 82 acres of city-owned property to build a multimillion-dollar theme park. The contract signing took place before the Lompoc City Council meeting on June 2 and…
Santa Maria’s looking for a new allocation of state water
Santa Maria is looking to obtain an allocation of state water that has been suspended since 1981. The Santa Maria City Council passed a resolution calling for as much during its meeting on June 2 and authorized Mayor Alice Patino to seek such a deal with the Central Coast Water Authority. “We would be remiss…
County confirms hepatitis C transmissions at Santa Barbara medical office
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department confirmed June 5 that hepatitis C was transmitted to five patients treated at the office of Dr. Allen Thomashefsky. The department is continuing to investigate Dr. Thomashefsky to determine if anyone was infected because of unsafe medical practices at his clinic. Working with the Centers for Disease Control…
Two killed in Santa Maria domestic dispute
Police shot and killed a homicide suspect on the night of June 5 following an alleged domestic violence incident where a woman was stabbed to death, according to the Santa Maria Police Department. Sgt. Russ Mengel said that police responded to a call at 9:36 p.m. in the 300 block of West Williams Street and…
Winged soapbox
The news can be super depressing. Over the first weekend of June, my inbox filled with law enforcement press releases about homicides, officer-involved shootings, and overdoses—all in Santa Barbara County, not some far off place like Baltimore. Some weeks are like that, and it’s hard to wrap my puny bird brain around why. I know…
It’s negotiating time
District: Negotiations between the high school district and its faculty association should be made public The Santa Maria Times covered a poll on low teacher morale allegedly taken by the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s faculty association. Association President Mark Goodman reported that the union polled approximately 260 of its 381 members regarding…
Breakfast of champions: Penny’s All American Pancakes raises money for Hospice SLO County through pancake eating contest
What is it about eating contests that has people so intrigued? “There’s no rules,” Tommy Healy told the Sun. “You can use utensils. You can use feet. Whatever works for you.” Healy is the emertius champion of Penny’s All American Pancake Eating Contest. It goes down in Pismo Beach at Penny’s All American Café each…
Pure Natural Juices
Pure Natural Juices is a cool, quiet juice bar at the intersection of Lakeview and the Orcutt Expressway. Stop by for juices, paninis, wraps, waffles, salads, or smoothies. The juice bar is the brainchild of local chef Erik Lachino. “I really like to eat healthy, especially at this time when there’s many diseases,” Lachino said.…
Dog sense
There is a joke I’ll see on the Internet every now and again, and it says that if alien life were to visit and see us they would think dogs ruled. To the foreign mind, seeing a person following on a leash behind a dog and picking up that animal’s poop, makes it obviously clear…
Historical Society releases book about Santa Maria Valley dairy industry
If you think retired school teacher and 1957 Elks Rodeo Queen Laura Lee Tognazzini Dias will easily give away the inspiration for the name of her new book, The Purple Cow: A Dairy Daughter’s Heritage, think again. The author and dairy daughter, clad all in purple for a recent meeting with the Sun, guards the…
Sanford Winery offers painting class by Gypsy Studios in the vineyard
Local artist Christi Schaeffer began Gypsy Studios at the start of the year in an effort to bring her first love, painting, beyond the studio and out into wine country, with all its colorful vistas, fresh air, and sensational wines. Her Painting in the Vineyards series is popular at local, picturesque wineries, and the first…
Nathan Towne performs music for every taste at The Market in Santa Maria
Nathan Towne, an Orcutt-Santa Maria area native and professional performing musician, plays just about everywhere across the Central Coast. He’s played coffee shops, restaurants, bars, wineries, tasting events, food festivals, farmers’ markets, and private parties. Starting to see a pattern? Towne, who I must admit in full disclosure, is a friend, goes where the food…
Wildling Museum opens bird exhibit, holds trunk show
The Wildling Museum hosts a national traveling exhibition organized by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin, Birds in Art 2014, showing June 12 through Aug. 10. The Yawkey Woodson museum plays host to a juried competition for the finest bird art in the world each year, and only the finest creations make it…
DANA receives donation from Nipomo Lions Club
The DANA Cultural Center received a donation of $500 from the Nipomo Lions Club on June 2. The money will go toward the support for the development of the nature education facility slated for completion in 2016. The DANA Cultural Center is open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and…
Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara awarded NEA grant
Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to further the programs, performances, and education outreach in 2015 and 2016. The NEA awarded $20,000 for next year’s round of free concerts, school assembly performances, and educational outreach sessions in Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, and Guadalupe.…
Scratch Kitchen brings locally sourced food and libations to Lompoc
Described by some as the restaurant Lompoc has been waiting for, Scratch Kitchen restaurant and wine bar opened for business on May 1. “It’s a restaurant that Lompoc deserves,” replied co-owner and chef Augusto Caudillo. “We are fertilizing the epicurean desert that has been Lompoc for a long time, and we want to give Lompoc…
