Cover Story
Olive Grove’s charter petition is blocked after threat of litigation: With a closure, 19 staff would be out of work, 280 students out of a classroom
The Cuyama Joint Unified School District voted not to adopt the Olive Grove Charter School petition on Feb. 19, putting 16 teachers and three classified staff one step closer to losing their jobs at the charter school come September. The group of Olive Grove staff sponsoring the petition has decided to appeal the decision to…
Pacific Coast Energy Company heads down environmental impacts road for its proposed oil-drilling project on Orcutt Hill
View a slideshow of PCEC’s oil operations. The whirring “whoosh” of cyclically steamed oil wells buzzing on Orcutt Hill is gentle in comparison to the diesel generated “catcha-catcha catcha-catcha” of the conventional oil pump jack known as Folsom 6 on the other side of Pacific Coast Energy Company’s (PCEC) property. The hill has produced more…
County DA and sheriff say Proposition 47 is going to increase their workload
Depending on which side of the bars you’re sitting, Proposition 47–passed by California voters in November 2014–can be good or bad news. The good news, at least for thousands of people currently under county probation, is that they could be eligible to have their cases closed early. The bad news, according to some county officials,…
The Charged Particles teach jazz at the Santa Maria Library
The Bay Area jazz trio Charged Particles re-formed when drummer Jon Krosnick began teaching psychology at Stanford several years ago and connected with fellow professor Murray Low and bassist Aaron Germain. The group’s debut tour included a stop at the Santa Maria Public Library in 2013, where they played to a packed house that gave…
What is your favorite subject in school? Why?
Xenia Gilmartin student “Right now, I am loving English. I guess because of the way it is taught; the teacher is honest with us and the material is very straightforward. I also like to write.” Danny Prewett student “Automotive because I really enjoy it and want to be a mechanic.” Jared Huacuja student “I would…
The Cost of College
My son is at that magical age where he is now looking at colleges. It is a special time for a teenager when he can dream big, imagine his life at a great school, become anything he wants, and possibly change the world for the better. This is a beautiful dream. It’s a positive look…
Santa Ynez artist guild features an artist salon talk
The Artists Guild of the Santa Ynez Valley presents a free public art salon on March 18 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art in Solvang. Art gallery owner Frank Goss will give a talk titled What’s the Deal with Art Galleries? and will speak on current buying habits,…
Get ready for ‘Chair-ity’ raffle
The Friends of the Santa Maria Public Library and the People for Leisure and Youth Inc. (PLAY) are co-sponsoring an upcoming art show and raffle event featuring painted chairs. It will show from March 21 through April 10 in the Santa Maria Town Center Mall. Area artists and quilters will donate their time and talent…
Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden offers Mulch Madness
The Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden will provide home gardeners with a wide range of advice from trained docents and local experts for its upcoming free Mulch Madness event on March 14. The Botanic Garden invites locals to bring garden tools and help spread mulch in the public garden as part of the informal, informative…
PCPA asks for help meeting scholarship appeal goal
PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theatre recently launched the 2015 Scholarship Appeal with the goal of raising $100,000 by June 30. Scholarships are awarded to students who participate in performances during the fall and spring as well as the summer season. PCPA programs provide hands-on experience for actors and technicians to hone their craft in a professional…
PCPA’s all-female ensemble brings ‘The Penelopiad’ to life
A play only truly begins once the lights go down and the characters appear, but sometimes a set alone will let you know something about the story before the show begins. Such is the case with The Pacific Conservatory Theatre’s current production, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, which runs in the Severson Theatre at Allan…
The Dunes Center offers an Oso Flaco birding hike
We are all natural birders, so contends board member and volunteer docent for the Dunes Center John Deacon. From hawks swooping down off a telephone wire to a distant warble carrying through the morning fog, birds are all around us, and they can’t help but catch our attention, Deacon said. “For me, it has kind…
Pair this!: William James Cellars’ Robin Bogue is all about flavor spelunking
When it came down to figuring out which wines paired best with this year’s lineup of Girl Scout cookie flavors, William James Cellars owner and winemaker Robin Bogue espoused one golden rule. And that is, besides being obvious, “Try not to eat all the cookies in one sitting.” “When we decided to do this pairing…
Santa Maria-Bonita is looking for bond oversight committee members
As the Santa Maria-Bonita School District moves forward with the planning necessary to use Measure T bond funds, community involvement is a key piece. According to a press release from the district, California requires districts that successfully pass construction bond measures—such as the $45-million Measure T approved by 62 percent of voters in November 2014—to…
Silence helps student discipline issues in Guadalupe
Since school started this year, students at Kermit McKenzie Junior High School in Guadalupe have used a stress-reduction strategy called the Mindfulness Program. The technique uses breathing and concentration to decrease and curb behavioral issues, enabling students to focus on learning. Principal Gabe Solorio said disruptions on campus dropped by more than 200 incidents over…
Santa Maria High students attend UCLA youth conference
Santa Maria High School students took a recent field trip to Los Angeles to engage in dialogue about academic, cultural, and social issues during the MEChA de UCLA Raza Youth Conference. The annual event, put on by Chicano and Latino UCLA students, attracted more than 1,000 high school students from throughout the state, according to…
Spotlight on: Pam’s Place
Shakes, smoothies, sundaes, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and, of course, many different toppings. This is the menu of the newest frozen treat spot in Nipomo–Pam’s Place. Centrally located in the Tefft Center across from the post office, Pam’s Place is attracting customers from all over the Central Coast. “It’s great to have a place I…
Political Watch 3/12/15
• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Ocean Acidification Research Partnership Act on March 4. The legislation would support research on ocean acidification through partnerships between the seafood industry and the academic community. According to a press release from Capps’ office, ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, leading to the…
Community Notebook 3/12/15-3/19/15
TUESDAY, MARCH 17 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. Agendas are available at http://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Santa Maria City Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City…
Police want state grant money to rid unwanted activity in Santa Maria and Santa Ynez riverbeds
The Santa Maria River stretches more than 20 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. The drought has caused the riverbed to become a dusty, dry landscape that acts as a cover for clandestine activity such as target practice, illegal off-roading, and graffiti vandalism. The Santa Ynez River has been a source of similar problems for…
Santa Maria City Council questions the accuracy of a homeless count
The difference between the north and south ends of Santa Barbara County may have affected the numbers in the January Point-in-Time Homeless Count, according to Santa Maria City Councilmember Jack Boysen. During the council member reports at the end of the March 3 City Council meeting, Boysen said that the numbers reported to the U.S.…
School No. 20 gets boundaries and a student population
Santa Maria-Bonita School District’s new school will start out with approximately 750 students at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. The district’s school board unanimously approved boundary changes to accommodate for school No. 20 (it’s still waiting for an official name) at a special meeting on March 4. According to district spokesperson Maggie White,…
Lompoc writes off $2 million worth of unpaid utility fees
An audit presented at the March 3 Lompoc City Council meeting showed that the city has written off nearly $2 million in delinquent utility fees going back more than seven years. Even though the lost revenue is a drop in the bucket compared to what the city makes in revenue every year—more than $100 million,…
Be true to your students
Why does it seem to be so hard to educate the children in our culture? Last week, I wrote about one local district’s contract negotiation impasse, which—if it stays as unresolved as it’s been for months now—could result in a strike. This week, our cover story is about the almost total dissolution of an area…
Where did you dream up this rhetoric?
I feel as though I must comment on Richard Miller’s letter, “The Dreamers deserve better” (Feb. 26). First off, turn off MSNBC—you seem angry! You paint those you disagree with as “racists”: The GOP is “racist,” the do-nothing Congress is “racist,” the judge is “racist.” Why is that, I wonder? Is it because they don’t…
Vaccination should be a choice
The recently proposed vaccine mandate is completely unjustified. First of all, herd immunity is a concept that applies to naturally acquired immunity. It has never been proven to have significant relevance to vaccination. Many of the past epidemics that were said to have been resolved by vaccines were already in decline from natural herd immunity…
Care for the troops
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were misguided exercises in haughty presumptions and ineptitude. The result was enormous destruction, fertile environments for terrorism, mass violence, and insurgency. The only beneficiary was the military-industrial complex. Beside deaths and bodily harm, the war caused severe psychological damage to service members in a variety of forms: post-traumatic stress disorder…
Badreddine Assioua
Allan Hancock College quarterback Baddredine Assioua, No. 13, and three other Hancock football players are being honored for their work on and off the field during the 2014 season: All four were added to the 2014 Scholar-Athlete Team by the Southern California Football Association (SCFA). The honor is reserved for student-athletes who have been active…
Hancock basketball takes a conference title, but doesn’t make playoffs
With a quick huddle before the start of the game, players from the Allan Hancock College men’s basketball team get their bearings straight. The huddle breaks, and the players march toward the center of the court. “Let’s go brothers,” said Hancock sophomore guard Lawrence Johnson as he gives a low five to one of his…
