Cover Story
Emmy Award-winning composer and Santa Ynez local Carl Johnson reflects on a rewarding career in film and television
Like many origin stories, the tale of Carl Johnson’s foray into professional composing (Looney Tunes, Care Bears, Batman: The Animated Series) and orchestrating (Monsters Inc., WALL-E, Skyfall) isn’t without happenstance. “Suddenly there was the piano,” said Johnson, revealing the first instrument he played, at age 7. “My grandparents bought my family a piano, and my…
Here’s how local food and drink businesses are reaching out for help as the economy starts to open back up
If you haven’t been out to eat yet, and you can, I suggest you do so right now. Because the only variable that experts can’t predict is when customers will be patronizing food and drink businesses again, but it needs to happen for any of the Central Coast’s fantastic programs to work. Judy Mahan—who has…
PCPA alumna Sarah Raines enters new role as program coordinator for Youth ARTS Alive
Contrary to the timeless Alice Cooper adage, school’s in for summer—at least for Youth ARTS Alive, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free courses in arts education in Santa Maria since 2017. Tentatively starting July 13, local students ages 12 through 17 can take advantage of free classes in theater, music, dance, and visual arts at…
Allan Hancock College Library initiates COVID-19 archive project
The staff of the Allan Hancock College (AHC) Library is currently collecting materials related to the COVID-19 outbreak for a historic archiving project. Area residents are welcome to submit any of their recorded experiences—in the form of photos, videos, essays, journal entries, poems, audio recordings, or other archival materials—of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the…
HOPE takes Poetry Night and other Santa Maria Pride events online this year
The House of Pride and Equality (HOPE) kicked off its virtual series of Santa Maria Pride events with a live music stream on June 22, which continued with an LGBTQ-plus panel on June 23, and its annual Drag Show on June 24. The series continues with Youth Pride Lounge on Thursday, June 25, starting at…
CANARY: How rude!
Oh Solvang, you continue to delight this little twittering titterer with your antics. And I love you for it! Who knew the little city full of tourist delights could have such an angry soul? After years of quietly puttering along without many quips and quibbles, you seem to have exploded into a tumultuous sea of…
Housing density isn’t the problem
I’m amazed, and sometimes amused, at the many creative reasons people give for wanting to stop housing development. Now they’ve latched onto COVID-19. Because New York City has high density housing and high rates of COVID-19, they argue that building more housing will lead to the proliferation of diseases, higher infection rates, and more deaths.…
Loss of local oil projects has a far-reaching impact
Well, it appears that Aera Energy has thrown in the towel. The reasons given were the global drop in the price of oil coupled with the ever-increasing regulatory demands from the county. There is little that we can do to control the influence on crude prices, none that compare to the foreign petroleum producing giants.…
Victims or heroes?
I was tuned into a weekly technology podcast where everything new from Zoom-bombing to what technology Walmart was buying, and the conversation turned to face masks and how we were grateful that there were people out there still stocking shelves and running the checkouts. These people were real heroes. One of the participants, someone who…
It’s time for bold action in the face of dysfunctional leadership
Sheriff Brown’s commentary (“When the badge gets tarnished,” June 11) is right to point out the fallacy of generalizing one’s personal experience. It is not appropriate to brand all police based upon the actions of a few, just as it is not right to blame peaceful protesters for the destructive actions of a few. The…
Ethnic studies increase understanding, perspective on race in our country
There is obviously a stubborn, if not malignant, perspective about race and ethnicity in our nation today. This perspective is intensified by the perverse arithmetic of the Trump administration’s rhetoric, and by the signs and narratives that we’ve seen in the media these past weeks. As the administration has proven it is uninterested in healing…
Weddings by the Sea isn’t letting a global pandemic stop couples from saying ‘I do’
Prior to COVID-19, Santa Barbara County-based company Weddings by the Sea already specialized in planning small, intimate ceremonies for couples looking to get married. But after the pandemic hit, things got even smaller. “There was a point where we weren’t doing anything,” Weddings by the Sea owner Catherine Forester told the Sun of the early…
Political Watch: June 25, 2020
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) issued a statement June 18 after the Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. President Barack Obama created the program in 2012 that prevented undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children from being deported. “DACA gave…
The political beliefs of local business owners are becoming harder to ignore, and it can make or break relationships with customers
As a few hundred Central Coast residents prepared to march through Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in early June, a few business owners were getting ready for what they feared could become violent riots. Some boarded up the windows of their businesses or closed up shop,…
Lompoc opts out of county-led consortium aimed at addressing housing issues
He may have said it four years ago, but Santa Barbara-based U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal’s reference to Lompoc as the armpit of the county still reverberates in the minds of some residents, such as George Bedford, who referenced the remark while urging the Lompoc City Council not to join a county-led consortium during a recent…
Between the COVID-19 economic crisis and calls to reallocate funds away from the police, city budgets are capturing public attention
The protests that erupted in early and mid June across the country in response to systemic racism and police brutality came at a pivotal moment for local governments, as many cities raced to finalize their budgets before the new fiscal year hits on July 1. Amid a pandemic-induced recession, many cities are faced with financially…
Lompoc, Vandenberg Air Force Base enter into grant partnership
With Vandenberg Air Force Base likely to experience an increase in staff and resources as the federal government establishes a U.S. Space Force, the city of Lompoc is looking into a grant program that could benefit both the city and the base. Steven Greenberg with Bridge View Resources, a consultant working with the city on…
Rancho Laguna farmworkers get raise after multi-week organizing effort
After more than a month of organizing efforts, including worker walkouts and attempts to submit a petition to Driscoll’s, farmworkers at Rancho Laguna Farms successfully received a raise. Rancho Laguna Farms is a Santa Maria-based direct supplier to the berry company Driscoll’s. Rancho Laguna farmworkers first took action on May 4 with a strike, demanding…
Solvang passes budget amid COVID uncertainty
As a city that relies heavily on people visiting its businesses for tax revenue, the city of Solvang has been rocked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While businesses that were closed due to the public health crisis are beginning to open back up, uncertainty regarding the future of the virus and how it affects people’s…
Guadalupe City Council votes on unprecedented tobacco ordinance
Guadalupe wants an A rating from the American Lung Association, and voted on a comprehensive tobacco ordinance June 23 that would be the most stringent in the county. “The American Lung Association gave us an F rating, and then I discovered that the city doesn’t even have a tobacco ordinance,” Guadalupe City Manager Todd Bodem…
Citizens begin effort to recall Solvang council member
Less than two years after being elected, Solvang Councilmember Chris Djernaes is facing a citizen-led recall attempt. Lammy Johnstone, who is leading the effort, recently filed a recall notice with the city that states, among other claims, that Djernaes isn’t respectful to residents and disregards the wishes of the voters. During the Solvang City Council…
