Cover Story
Defining homelessness: Santa Maria continues to see an uptick in homeless people, but locals find themselves living on the street for a variety of reasons
It’s a sunny day at Waller Park in Santa Maria; children run about the playground; disc golfers leisurely stroll across the grassy, tree-dotted hills; and the water fountain sparkles with the afternoon sunlight. A gray-haired retiree who goes by the name Kat sits alone in a sedan, a clean looking vehicle outside and in, if…
Temple Beth El will host bluegrass music July 4
Temple Beth El in Santa Maria hosts an Independence Day celebration with a barbecue lunch and live music by bluegrass group Blue Moonshine. Described as “high octane bluegrass music,” Blue Moonshine will perform with special guest steel guitar player John Clarke. The barbecue lunch includes tri-tip, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and side dishes on July…
Is Santa Maria spoiling all the fun with its crackdown on fireworks?
Mike Dugan works at Roundtable Pizza “Not really, because there are organized fireworks shows. Safe and sane is OK as long as you don’t light them off in a dry location. You don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade.” Marlene Montano nursing student at Allan Hancock College “They probably shouldn’t even sell the legal ones.…
State preschools enrolling for the 2016-2017 school year
Children ages 3 through 5 years old in Lompoc, Los Alamos, and Santa Ynez whose parents are income-eligible can receive free preschool instruction in centers operated by the Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Child Development Programs. Preschool is offered in the following locations: • DeColores State Preschool, Clarence Ruth School, 501 North W St., room…
Righetti High School offers JumpStart Academy
Incoming freshman will find out what life at Righetti High School is all about later this summer. The students are taking part in the JumpStart Academy, a transition program that is designed to ensure that young people from feeder schools are prepared and successful. The two-week 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. experience starts July 18…
Triple Threat All Stars win national titles in Las Vegas
Triple Threat All Stars Cheerleading teams traveled to Las Vegas on May 14 for the Cheer Power National Championships and brought home honors. Triple Threat All Stars Cheerleading has three teams. It’s different than high school cheer because it incorporates tumbling, jumps, dance, stunts, pyramids, and different movements/motions and transitions in its routines. For the…
Spotlight on: Blue Eyed Daisies Antiques and Vintage Furniture
For seven years, Samantha Castillo worked as a field executive for an insurance company. The pay was “amazing,” she said, but there was something unfulfilling about the job. She wanted to start her own business. Castillo started Junk Attic in 2012, and ran it out of her garage, but eventually changed the name to Blue…
Political Watch 6/23/16
• On June 15, the Legislature voted to pass the 2016-17 state budget, a plan that includes two California Legislative Women’s Caucus priorities, a significant multi-year investment in state-subsidized child care and early education that rises to $527 million by 2020, and repeal of the Maximum Family Grant Rule. The budget now heads to the…
Community Notebook 6/23/16 – 6/30/16
MONDAY, JUNE 27 • The South County Advisory Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Nipomo Community Services District Headquarters, 148 S. Wilson St., Nipomo. • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. agendas are available at cityofsolvang.com. TUESDAY, JUNE…
Hobnobbing with Helen
Community support for law and order (no, not the TV show) brought together about 200 people for a Police Council-sponsored fundraiser for the Santa Maria Police Department. This year’s Police Council event was held on Monday, June 6, at the Santa Maria Country Club and was a huge and pleasant surprise for its organizers. Read…
What does it take to move the 40-ton historic Enos Ranchos House half of a mile?
Have you ever wondered about the old white house that sits at the Betteravia exit along Highway 101 in Santa Maria? It’s known as the Enos Ranchos House, and it’s being moved to make way for a new 113-acre mixed-use development. Instead of demolishing the house, which was built in 1872, according to historical records,…
Buena Vista Beautifiers continues to push for park preservation
Santa Maria’s Parks Commission finalized renovation plans for Buena Vista Park more than a month ago—but that hasn’t stopped the Buena Vista Beautifiers from publicly protesting the city’s park design. The Parks Commission’s renovation of Buena Vista will remove most of the 4-acre park’s existing features, replacing them with tetherball poles, a new children’s playground,…
Sherpa Fire grows to nearly 8,000 acres
Firefighters across the region continued to battle the Sherpa Fire that broke out on Scherpa Ranch, located just south of Santa Ynez, on the afternoon of June 15. According to Dave Zaniboni, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the fire has grown to 7,969 acres, adding that at least 70 percent of…
Mayoral race underway in Lompoc
Summer is here, and with it comes a nice distraction from this headache of a presidential election: local elections. In the coming weeks, we’ll hear election bid announcements right and left from hopeful city officials. In Lompoc and Santa Maria, we’re already seeing the start of it: Santa Maria City Councilwoman Terri Zuniga kicked off…
California’s proposed budget lifts limitations for welfare recipients
California’s proposed 2016-2017 budget would repeal the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule, which prevents cash aid from California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) for any child born into a family that had received assistance from the program for 10 consecutive months prior to the child’s birth. Senate Bill 23, written by Sen. Holly…
Diablo Canyon Power Plant to shut down by 2025
Diablo Canyon Power Plant—the only nuclear power plant left in California—will be shut down by 2025, according to the plant’s operator, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which made the announcement on its website on June 21. The Sun reached out via telephone to media representatives with PG&E, who didn’t respond before press time. The company’s…
Do you feel lucky?
The month of June has become a little more wistful for me because of Father’s Day. My dad passed away in 2001 and my lovely stepfathers, Clarence and then Joe, died in 1994 and 2013, respectively. Now I buy cards for my brother and my husband, The Brit. But Father’s Day also holds memories for…
Music with the maestro: Santa Maria Philharmonic Society fundraiser to feature performance by Michael Nowak
Fresh from announcing the appointment of new Music Director Michael Nowak, the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society scheduled a couple of fundraiser concerts to help aid the growing organization’s upcoming season. The first event was at Presqu’ile Winery in May, which included food and wine while local singer-songwriter Inga Swearingen performed in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater…
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. holds Americana Festival at Buellton brewery
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. announced a day of concerts at its flagship brewery in Buellton, scheduled for July 3, and featuring a lineup of Americana-style bands. Four bands will perform beginning at 1 p.m. and rocking their distinct blend of American music genres into the evening. Americana Fest will also include craft beer tasting, barbecue…
Santa Barbara County Animal Services hopes to expand kids reading program
Santa Barbara County Animal Services shared a post on its Facebook page announcing the expansion of a program that gets young people involved in volunteering and socializing the animals at county shelters. A teenager named Allegra, whose parents were unable to adopt a dog for her, began visiting the Santa Maria shelter regularly, so the…
The Great American Melodrama gets punny with ‘Under the Boardwalk’
The Great American Melodrama definitely has a thing for puns, but Under the Boardwalk might be as punny as it gets on that little stage in Oceano. Rapping clams, roller-skating gulls, and a DJing starfish get a little dirty under the pier in this kooky Westside Story meets Pismo Beach tale about a love affair…
PCPA’s props department brings out the puppets for production of ‘Shrek The Musical’
Tucked away into a small room just offstage of Allan Hancock College’s Marian Theatre is a winged, red-scaled, and lipstick-wearing dragon, ready for her big number. Well, the dragon is really a puppet held up by wooden scaffolding, awaiting the five puppeteers who will help spread her leathery wings and soar onto the set of…
Give me Libertine, or a good reason to deny them
In many small business circles, you’ll hear that the city of Santa Maria has a pro-business stance. You’ll hear that there is less paperwork, fewer restrictions, and reasonable fees required to do business in Santa Maria. Santa Maria is business friendly—if you’re a mega-department store with a name that would make your grandma blush. The…
Bedrock principles
It’s very clear that what sets America apart from other civilizations is our value system. Our respect for life, liberty, democracy, and social equality, and our tolerance for different religious views and lifestyles—these are all bedrock principles on which this country was founded. These values are also the foundation of healthy communities, respectful workplaces, and…
Current trade policy is destructive
I really appreciate Zaf Iqbal’s editorial commentaries including: “Dump Trump,” (June 9). However, I disagree with Zaf’s brief comments on trade with China. Zaf suggested Trump would risk a trade war with China that would lead to a “… drop in demand … (of U.S. exports to China equaling) $116 billion last year.” Zaf doesn’t follow…
The real threat
When I woke last June 12 to news of the worst-ever mass shooting in the history of the United States, I found myself hoping that the shooter wouldn’t turn out to be Muslim, that the shooting wouldn’t be one tied to “Islamic terrorism.” While it may seem obvious to wish that such terrorism fails to…
Jessica Bautista
It took a little while, but recent Pioneer Valley High School grad and wrestler extraordinaire Jessica Bautista has found a home for herself next school year. Bautista will attend and wrestle at Emmanuel College, a small Division II school in Franklin Springs, Ga. “It wasn’t until the last week of school [when I decided on…
Euro trip: Danish exchange student to host St. Joseph’s teammate for grueling week of tennis training
In a few weeks, a pair of St. Joseph High School tennis teammates will step onto an airplane—destination: Copenhagen, Denmark. Avnish Bhatt, an incoming senior at St. Joe’s, will be making his first-ever trip to Europe, reveling in an exciting opportunity to improve his tennis game by training on clay courts with top Danish coaches.…
Crumbly goodness: Crumbles Cafe and Bake Shop in Santa Maria rocks old diner vibe and killer cookies
Once upon a time, a young journalist divided between her food column and her low-carb diet decided to venture from the warm, safe embrace of her calorie counting app and into the unpredictable, risky world of baked goods. Her destination: Crumbles Café and Bake Shop. The place opened up just shy of two months ago…
