

Cover Story
Emma Enchanted
Sunset showings The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) presents its production of Emma at the Solvang Festival Theater through Sunday, July 2. The company’s next production, Bright Star, will open at the outdoor venue on Friday, July 7, and run through Sunday, July 23. Visit pcpa.org or facebook.com/pacificconservatorytheatre for tickets and show times. For more info,…
Central Coast Creative Corps awards grants to local artist-led groups, initiatives
Twenty-three organizations were recently selected through a competitive regional call to receive $140,000 grants as part of the Central Coast Creative Corps, a pilot grant program funded by the California Arts Council. Grantees were selected from a pool of more than 100 applicants by a panel of Central Coast-based artists and community leaders. Organizations in…
Santa Maria Public Library holds club for Pokémon enthusiasts
The Pokémon Club at the Santa Maria Public Library will hold its next public meeting on Saturday, July 8, at 11 a.m. Fans of the trading card game, video games, and television show are encouraged to attend. Call (805) 925-0994 or visit cityofsantamaria.org for more info. The library is located at 421 S. McClelland St.,…
Former Allan Hancock College instructor is charged with sexual assault
A former Allan Hancock College instructor is facing criminal charges of committing sexual assault. The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office accused Kevin Daily, 29—an engineer and one-time instructor of industrial technology at the Santa Maria community college—of rape by use of drugs and unlawfully manufacturing a firearm and an assault weapon, according to…
Solvang reexamines policy on outdoor dining spilling onto sidewalk
The reassessment of a rescinded COVID-19 protocol in Solvang has city officials mulling over whether or not to bring it back as permanent policy. Between 2020 and 2022, the city of Solvang allowed more than a dozen food and drink establishments to put outdoor seating on the sidewalk with temporary encroachment permits. In early 2022,…
Gomez Candies dishes out candy grapes and pineapple rings in Lompoc
Get in line, online For candy grape and candy pineapple order inquiries or more info on Gomez Candies, visit tiktok.com/@gomezcandies_ or facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093170621974. A viral trend inspired local candymaker Alyssa Gomez to create a spiral blend. “I saw a lot of people doing it on TikTok, and my nieces wanted me to try it,” said Gomez,…
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a mind-blowing visual feast with ample action, heart, and humor
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse What’s it rated? PG What’s it worth, Bulbul? Full price What’s it worth, Caleb? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Fair Oaks, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Editor’s note: New Times Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal and Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wrote Sun Screen this week while Glen and…
BINGEABLE: Black Mirror
Black Mirror (Season six) What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Netflix Writer, creator, and showrunner Charlie Brooker’s dystopian sci-fi/horror anthology series is back after a four-year hiatus. Based on the episodes I’ve seen so far, I have a feeling that the latest season of Black Mirror was worth the wait. There are…
GUILTY PLEASURES: And Just Like That
And Just Like That What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Max Set 11 years after the events of the disastrous Sex and the City 2 movie, New York’s fashionable foursome has viewers asking a question that’s different from the usual “Are you a Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), a Samantha (Kim Cattrall), a…
Study examines the future of Oceano Dunes with OHV ban
An independent study is attempting to dust off an image of the Oceano Dunes’ future should off-road vehicle (OHV) use be permanently reduced or stopped at the state park. Called the Oceano Dunes Stewardship Study, the 105-page document released on June 1 detailed 20 recommendations as a blueprint for prospective development, management, and promotion of…
County to implement ‘death penalty’ for late cannabis tax payment
Cannabis businesses that don’t pay their quarterly taxes or file the accompanying report within the 30-day grace period could lose their license to operate in Santa Barbara County starting in August. “It’s that severe,” Deputy County Executive Officer Brittany Odermann told the Board of Supervisors on June 27. “You are late. … You cannot renew.”…
Political Watch: June 29, 2023
• State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and state Sen. Monique Límon (D-Santa Barbara) are calling on textbook publishers to diversify their instructional materials and work with the task force they co-chair, a special Task Force on Inclusive Education. “As our nation grapples with book bans and literary exclusions, it is critical we ensure…
Central Coast cities host panel discussions and screenings of new film, American Hospitals, Healing a Broken System
See for yourself To request a showing of American Hospitals, Fixing a Broken System, visit fixithealthcare.com/host-a-screening to sign up to host a free screening of the film in your community. While he doesn’t believe the current hospital industry is wholeheartedly corrupt—and in fact, he’s proud to see the innovations the industry has made over the…
Politicians allowing ‘broken windows’ has led to a surge in quality-of-life crimes
Back in September 2017 in a locally published commentary, I observed “Broken windows; Lompoc is full of them”; this commentary was based on a theory by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982 that used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighborhoods. Expanding on the theory, they wrote, “If the…
RIP latecomers
Being in or adjacent to the cannabis biz right now has got to stink. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has gotten the short end of the stink, I mean stick, for too long, and it’s taking action. During its June 27 meeting, the board voted to implement the “death penalty” for cannabis businesses…
Could this be ‘weather weirding’?
There is no doubt that the weather we have had this year has been weird, culminating in rare June rain. Can we attribute these record highs and lows, droughts and floods to a newly unstable climate? Might that be because a century of greenhouse gas emissions has trapped solar heat, magnified the shifts of the…






