Cover Story
SUMMER GUIDE 2020
Hey, you guys! Guess what? It’s June, and the days are becoming that special kind of Central Coast warm. You can still hit the beach, and things are starting to reopen! And that’s not all. We didn’t forget to put together our annual Summer Guide issue for you! Although the activities and events are a…
County faces another lawsuit over Santa Ynez cannabis farm
A group of Santa Barbara County residents recently filed a second lawsuit over the county’s decision to approve another cannabis project in the Santa Ynez Valley. The county Board of Supervisors approved plans for West Coast Farms, the project at the center of this most recent lawsuit, during its April 21 meeting. This project is…
Political Watch: June 4, 2020
• On May 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of California Connected, a contact tracing program and public awareness campaign. The program will connect public health workers across the state with individuals who test positive for COVID-19 to ensure that those they’ve been in contact with have access to confidential testing and medical care.…
Rancho Laguna Farms workers allegedly faced retaliation for striking
As the work day nears an end on May 28, a small gathering arrives at Driscoll’s Santa Maria office. The company’s large green cursive logo—“Driscoll’s: Only the Finest Berries”—glistens in the late afternoon sun. Mask-clad community members stand below it, and a man named José Luis Ramírez Carrera clutches a manila envelope. Inside is a…
Two oil projects proposed in Cat Canyon have been canceled within the last two months
In March 2019, the Sun ran a cover story titled “Carbon evolution” that explored the contentious debate taking place in Santa Barbara County over three large-scale oil and gas projects proposed in the Cat Canyon oil field. A little more than a year later, it appears this evolution is over before it started. Two of…
Public health officer loosens restrictions on graduation ceremonies
After speaking with concerned school administrators, district officials, and parents, county Supervisor-elect Bob Nelson sent a letter to public health officials on May 22 asking for a few concessions in the county’s initial restrictions set for graduation ceremonies. On May 26, Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg issued an updated health order allowing for some…
County studies potential trail along Santa Maria River
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors greenlit a study to identify a possible walking and biking path along the Santa Maria River that would connect the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe. This study will examine the feasibility of extending the path that already exists along the river within the city of Santa Maria…
U.S. prisons implement security measures in response to nationwide protests
After a weekend of protests and unrest nationwide, the federal Bureau of Prisons told the Sun that it is implementing “an additional, temporary security measure” within its prison facilities, including those in Lompoc. The bureau stated that no protests occurred inside the prisons, and that the measures are purely in response to actions occurring outside…
With a teen and a preteen as my guides, I venture into the pixel playground known as Minecraft
It’s the last Sunday of May, and it’s perfectly cloudy outside—excellent weather for the adventure my daughters and I are about to begin here in our living room. The girls, ages 10 and 13, still love to share their worlds with me, and I do my best to enter. I know these times are finite—both…
Orcutt artist and photographer Alexandra Wallace mingles with single-line portraits
When COVID-19 mitigation measures first went into effect, a landslide of wedding postponements left professional photographer Alexandra Wallace with plenty of downtime. Armed with the Procreate app on her iPad Pro, Wallace decided that now might be the perfect time to try her hand at an art form she’d admired for a while but never…
Santa Maria City Council approves local emergency orders
Santa Maria City Council approved a resolution Tuesday confirming local emergency orders and actions of the city’s director of emergency services regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. These included an order “prohibiting temporary flower stand sales,” as well as one “permitting temporary modifications to retail and restaurant operation and authorizing the Public Works Director to temporarily close…
Elverhoj Museum hosts talk with artist Isabella Kelly-Ramirez
The Elverhoj Museum of History of Art kicked off its Artist Q-and-A Instagram series on Wednesday, June 3, and will continue the series with guest artist Isabella Kelly-Ramirez on Wednesday, June 17. The livestream will begin at 4 p.m. Kelly-Ramirez is one of the 14 featured artists in the museum’s new virtual exhibition, The Art…
Orcutt artist Lori Mole accepts commissions, announces new online gallery
Lori Mole’s last public exhibition was held in the Santa Maria Public Library’s Shepard Hall in 2019, but on Thursday, May 28, the Central Coast painter announced a new online gallery to exhibit her latest works. The paintings online (at lorimolefineart.com) are also available for sale. Mole recently shipped her largest painting to date (40…
Santa Barbara County wineries could reopen to the public at the end of May as long as they serve food, too
Winery visitors get the option of wines by the glass or wines by the bottle these days. But that’s only if they also purchase food. And as long as the alcohol and nibbles are on the same check, paid for by the same credit card. This is the world we’re living in right now. But,…
Solvang funeral director helps bury those who died from COVID-19 in New York City
As a first responder, Dan Flynn has been deployed to numerous hurricanes and countless tornadoes, but he hadn’t experienced anything like what he witnessed while in New York City during the peak of its COVID-19 outbreak. Flynn—who runs Simply Remembered Cremation Care, a funeral home service with locations in Solvang, Santa Barbara, and soon Santa…
CANARY: Off-kilter
There’s nothing I can say to heal the fissures exposed in this country right now. The whole thing is a bit bananas. With advocates in the streets protesting against police brutality directed at people of color, and mayhem advocates in the streets doing their best to have some hell-raising fun, it’s hard to keep it…
But foresight was desperately needed in the case of COVID-19
This has been a very chaotic couple of weeks on the COVID-19 front. I am surprised but happy at the pace that Gov. Newsom and Santa Barbara County have adopted in reopening most businesses, even though there are many restrictions. I am not complaining, but the “science” that the governor has repeatedly said would guide…
