Cover Story
Jail break
The Santa Barbara County Jail is a labyrinth of steel and cement. Walking through its dimly lit, stale hallways, it’s difficult to determine your exact location. The letters and numbers spray painted on the jail’s pale blue-gray walls—a blocky E-225 or W-140—offer little navigational help to the untrained eye. The letters, it turns out, stand…
If you were a superhero, what power would you have?
David Peasley maintenance “Strength, because it comes with health.” [image-2] Jacob Maza Pac Sun associate “Flight, because gas prices suck.” [image-3] Quetzalli Mitchell (pictured with father Ernest) student “Lightning, because it’s powerful.” [image-4] Ray Heath retired “Flight, so I could get places faster and there’d be no traffic.”
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, June 23 Semipro Baseball Ventura County Brewers @ California Wahoos 5 p.m. Santa Maria Packers @ Fresno Cardinals 7 p.m. Friday, June 24 Santa Maria Reds @ Clovis Tournament TBA Saturday, June 25 Auto Racing Super Late Models/IMCA Modifieds @ Santa Maria Speedway 6 p.m. Semipro Baseball Santa Maria Packers @ East…
On the roster
• Wine Country Bike Trek: This fundraiser for People Helping People lets riders sign up for three-day rides through the Santa Ynez Valley (June 24 through 26) or a one-day ride on June 25. Meals and wine will be provided, along with musical entertainment. For a three-day ride, a minimum of $350 in paid pledges…
Locals to Relay for Life
About 800 participants and more than 70 relay teams are expected to take part in Santa Maria’s Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society on July 9 and 10. Participants will camp out overnight at the Elks Unocal Event Center and take turns walking or running for 24 hours, to represent the fact…
Tournament will honor a fallen base airman
Senior Airman Daniel Johnson, a Vandenberg Air Force Base airman killed in Afghanistan in 2010, will be remembered at a Memorial Golf Tournament at the Santa Maria Country Club on July 11. The cost is $150 per person for the four-person scramble event, which includes green fee, cart, lunch and drinks on the course, and…
BMX heats up in Santa Maria
Like bikes? Bicycle Motocross racing (BMX) is ready to get down and dirty this summer at Santa Maria BMX, and the organization is looking for riders of all ages to participate. Races will be held on most Fridays and the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Practices take place Mondays and Wednesdays from 5…
Sadie DeQuattro
It just keeps getting better. For sophomore Sadie DeQuattro, the saying couldn’t be more true. The setter for the Allan Hancock College women’s volleyball team will leave in the fall to play for Lindenwood University in Belleville, Illinois. DeQuattro began her volleyball career early on in middle school, inspired by seeing her mother coach the…
Digging in at the beach
Beach volleyball isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for players ready to dig deep and spike hard. Just ask three-time Olympic gold medalists and beach volleyball duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. Back in 2009, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) made the decision to add “sand” volleyball to its list of Division I…
Born Champion
I’ve been a close friend of and musical collaborator with local singer/songwriter, poet, and artist Champion McConnell since our days at high school (we both graduated in 2007). Champion has a distinct voice and songwriting style that together earn him comparisons to Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, and Buddy Holly. It came as a…
Graduate and make up
My daughter is one of those girly girls. She loves things that are pink, and she rocks out to Lady Gaga. She has always been this way. If it had been up to her, she would have scheduled a makeover for when she popped out of the womb. Obviously, it wasn’t up to her, and…
Cypress Gallery celebrates women
The Cypress Gallery Featured Artist Exhibit for July presents paintings of women as seen through the eyes of two acrylic artists: two views and two very different approaches to portraying the female. “La Femme” lets you imagine the female both as art and artist, as portrayed by Lompoc Valley Art Association members Karen Davis-MacDonald and…
Imagine Wine bares it all
Imagine Wine has a unique wine label that features a tasteful nude woman painted by Geza Kende in 1940. In honor of “Pearl,” as she’s called, Imagine Art Gallery is hosting a show of the famed female nude photography of Bruce Mondschain of Chicago. See it July 2 through Sept. 30. Mondschain’s studies of Greece,…
Sweet Adeline honored
Tri City Sound Chorus recently honored long-time member Dyana Cridelich of Orcutt with its Sweet Adeline of the Year Award. The honor is given each year to a member who’s provided outstanding service to the chorus and the community. Cridelich, an Allan Hancock College employee by day, has been a member of the Orcutt-based chapter…
Music, parody, and satire
Get into a political discussion these days, and the conversation—perhaps despite a joke about sexting and an unfortunately ironic name—probably won’t be funny. Broadway actor, singer, and dancer Gale McNeeley, however, can find the humor where others don’t. He’s sharpening that well-known wit once again for a new production, Celebrate the American Musical, focusing on…
Welcome to the ’60s
The 1988 John Waters comedy film Hairspray had a nostalgic ’60s focus when it came out, and now the film itself is an object of nostalgia. That double-whammy of fond memories is apparently a huge draw, because the Marian Theatre was packed for PCPA’s presentation of a musical adaptation. This show opened on Broadway just…
Ban fireworks–they attract crime
Santa Maria has become a breeding ground for crime and criminals. On Aug. 19, 2008, at the City Council meeting, all the reasons were given to ban the sale of fireworks. I quote: “Illegal fireworks put such a burden on the police and fire department. … By banning fireworks, it would make it much easier…
Get this ‘inconvenient truth’
If someone wrote to your paper suggesting the shutdown of Hoover Dam, imagine the uproar. You’d call the men in white coats. Well, here is an “inconvenient truth”: Hoover Dam produces about 4 billion KWH annually, but Diablo Canyon produces about 18 billion KWH annually.
We need Diablo
After the catastrophe that hit Japan when an underwater mountain collapsed and caused a Richter 9 earthquake (that’s 1,000 times stronger than any quake that has ever happened in California) and a tsunami inundated the coast, the Henny Pennys came out in force with their usual attacks against Diablo. The only area in the U.S.…
Circumcision measure ignores the facts
Read New York Times writer Jennifer Medina’s article, which appeared in the Tribune on June 6 (“Efforts to ban circumcision gain traction”), about San Francisco activist Matthew Hess’ endeavors to have a measure placed on the ballot in San Francisco to criminalize circumcision (except for any adult males who may elect to undergo the procedure).…
The perfect pair
In the early 1980s, Tony Austin, one of Santa Barbara County’s pioneer winemakers, famously described his product as “consumable art.” To further illustrate the connection between the visual arts and his liquid creations, Austin became among the first area vintners to reproduce original paintings on his wine labels. Central Coast wineries continue to celebrate the…
Fall registration now open for Allan Hancock College
School might have just ended but preparations for next fall are just beginning. Priority registration is now open for Allan Hancock College. Priority is given to students who are currently enrolled and is based on credits completed. Open registration begins on June 26 at 8 a.m. and will be available 24 hours a day through…
Hancock welcomes a new educator to the faculty
Earlier this month, the Allan Hancock College board of trustees appointed Luis P. Sanchez as the new associate superintendent and vice president of academic affairs. Holding this office beginning July 1, Sanchez will be the college’s chief instructional officer and oversee instruction of all credit, noncredit, and community education programs. Sanchez will also be integral…
Santa Barbara County budget receives deep cuts, again
The latest cuts proposed in the Santa Barbara County 2011-12 budget have many people working in social services and law enforcement warning of an unprecedented hard year. The county Board of Supervisors, tasked with covering a $72 million budget shortfall, made especially deep cuts to the county Sheriff’s Department, prompting a written statement released by…
Walk for memory’s sake
The Santa Maria branch of the Alzheimer’s Association is inviting local residents to once again join the national movement to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s by participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. This year’s walk will be held at Waller Park on Sept. 17 beginning at 9 a.m., but event organizers are encouraging…
Spotlight on: Piano Outlet
With more than 30 years of experience playing, teaching, and selling pianos, owner Bob Auletta is more than familiar with the instrument he offers at the Piano Outlet. Auletta was raised in a musically gifted family with a famous conductor and composer father: Ted Auletta. Beginning his study of piano at the age of 7,…
Working for the weekend
After two years of attempts to open the first weekend farmers’ market in Northern Santa Barbara County, Nipomo produce vendor Christy Laschiver is losing her patience. Laschiver, along with Nipomo farmer Varden Nonella, had planned to establish a farmers’ market in the parking lot of the Cool Hand Luke’s restaurant in Santa Maria, running Saturdays…
Greka Oil sued in federal court over Santa Barbara County spills
Federal and state agencies filed a civil lawsuit on June 17 accusing Greka Oil & Gas of violating environmental laws as a result of 21 oil spills in Santa Barbara County from 2005 to 2010. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges Greka, which changed its name to…
Lompoc City Council discusses a redistricting draft
On June 10, the California Citizens Redistricting Committee released its first draft of new political boundaries throughout the state. The nonpartisan commission is aiming to redraft fair and clear-cut U.S. Congressional, state Assembly, and state Senate districts, while keeping cities and communities intact. But if approved, the new lines could create quite a headache for…
