Cover Story
Sunshine Week: Breaking down public access to government records
You’d be surprised at the documents, emails, text messages, and more that you can request from your local government. And most of the time, that entity will acquiesce. I’ve received emails between city council members and constituents, property tax records for oil companies, letters to the Environmental Protection Agency, calls for public safety service in…
Santa Barbara County issues sixth annual homeless death report
Heart disease and overdoses remain the top killers of homeless individuals in Santa Barbara County, according to health officials. The information was included in an annual report from the County Health Department’s Homeless Death Review Team released earlier this month. According to the findings in the report, a total of 44 homeless individuals died in…
Spotlight on: The Hourglass Project
Under the shared belief that the economy’s problems are too big for any individual community to solve on its own, a coalition of Central Coast-based business and civic leaders decided to form a collaborative “action tank” to help create high-quality jobs throughout northern Santa Barbara and SLO counties, from Lompoc to San Miguel. Melissa James…
Santa Maria makes plans for Measure U revenue
Santa Maria plans to use revenue from a recently approved sales tax hike to beef up its police and fire departments, among other enhancements. Members of the City Council directed staff to use the revenue from Measure U tax hike, approved by voters in November 2018, to add staff to both departments as well as…
Santa Maria Public Library now accepting passport applications
After more than six months of preparation, the Santa Maria Public Library officially began accepting passport applications on March 11. The move, which took months of planning, staff training, and a lengthy verification process through the U.S. State Department, was made in an effort to provide Santa Maria residents with additional space and time to…
Former Olive Grove employee files wrongful termination suit
A Central Coast charter school system is facing legal trouble again, this time in the form of a lawsuit recently filed by a former employee alleging wrongful termination. The complaint, which was filed on March 5 by Santa Barbara-based law firm Anticouni and Associates, alleges that former Olive Grove Charter School employee Dawn Wilson was…
Celtic punk band Flogging Molly to perform at Chumash Casino
A concert series taking place on a pirate ship during a four-night Caribbean cruise sounds like a scam of Fyre Festival proportions. Getting scammed over a failed music fest on an island inhabited by super models is one thing, but on a pirate ship? That’s a whole other level of disappointment. The Salty Dog Cruise,…
Painter Rachel Lee’s new exhibit embraces her California roots
In food writing, the word succulent conjures up images of something juicy, ripe to the point of perfection, or beautifully fork-tender. In nature, it evokes a sense of heartiness, a sturdy will against rough or turbulent times. Succulents are plants that can withstand great environmental upheaval, such as a drought or a blizzard (or even…
Former Allan Hancock College student Jesslyn Brundy wins design contest with LA Opera
Jesslyn Brundy has a good reason to celebrate these days. The Cal State Northridge student, a former Allan Hancock College design student, recently won $5,000 as part of a design contest with the LA Opera. “It’s very exciting, and I am so thankful,” Brundy said of her big win. “I am pleased with how it…
Celery root is a unique root vegetable to try during late spring
I have an unabashed love for ugly produce. For decades, Americans have been trained by commercials and mass marketing to believe that the best vegetables are the ones that look like they walked off a Chanel runway—marked by bright exaggerated colors, flawless skin, and a shape most bikini models would envy. But we know that’s…
Gallery Los Olivos presents For the Joy of Painting
Artists Sheryl Knight and Linda Mutti are featured through April 30 at Gallery Los Olivos in an exhibit called For the Joy of Painting. Knight and Mutti will feature work in oil and pastels on canvas as well as linen. The pair has been painting together for more than 10 years. Mutti studied with artists…
Monique Gomez
It’s been a slow start to the high school softball season so far thanks to the rainy weather, but Pioneer Valley High School student Monique Gomez is already showing a lot of promise on the field. Gomez, a junior and a third-year varsity softball player, is one of the hardest working players on Pioneer Valley’s…
Community college programs offer financial paths to higher education
Current Allan Hancock College student Kailia Villanueva has big dreams for her future. “I see myself down the line as an entrepreneur, and I want to own a business,” Villanueva said. Going to college was always part of that dream, but it wasn’t until Allan Hancock College established the Hancock Promise in 2017 that Villanueva’s…
Bird’s eye
My fair-weathered feathered friends are looking forward to their trips north along the Pacific Flyway. They can hit the Central Coast with a glance toward the ocean and settle into coastal marshes and sand-framed freshwater lakes with abandon! The only freshwater lake in the dunes complex that anyone really cares about. Oso Flaco Lake. And…
Political Watch 3/14/19
• State Sens. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) convened a joint informational hearing of the state Senate Committees on Judiciary and Environmental Quality on March 12 to look at the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its impact on housing and other development. Just the Facts: An Evidence-Based Look at CEQA…
Proposed plans for the southern end of the Oceano Dunes have environmentalists up in arms
Although eight projects are currently proposed for Pismo State Beach and the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, only one is stirring up trouble with the Central Coast’s environmental community: a campground and southern access point near Oso Flaco Lake. “This area chosen by State Parks for this development may be the worst spot they…
Lompoc passes new parking rules on two troublesome streets
As the cost of living in California continues to skyrocket, a growing population of people in the state are living in their vehicles. The trend has led to clashes between those people and cities trying to enforce parking ordinances; the city of Lompoc is no exception. Ground zero for the issue appears to be Aviation…
Oceano is in dire straits
Since State Parks disclosed its intention to add an off-roading campground and access road by Oso Flaco Lake, people in that area have mobilized against it: the residents of Nipomo Mesa and Trilogy and the Oso Flaco friends. I don’t blame them. I have been a resident of Oceano and have suffered the consequences of…
A warning to Congressional Dems and the irrelevant media
There is an age-old tactic employed by insecure people. Try in every way to belittle another person in order to make yourself look better, smarter, or more important. I have a warning for congressional Democrats and their media. Stop your incessant attacks on President Donald Trump. If you want to get America’s respect, then earn…
A bad Band-Aid
On Tuesday, March 5, the Lompoc City Council discussed the ongoing problem of the homeless using the streets of the city as a campground for their mobile residences. The city attorney explains the issue in his staff report: “The city has experienced consistent nuisance issues and other adverse impacts resulting from the parking of vehicles…
Solvang Library presents History Alive lecture
The Solvang Library will present a first-person dramatic history presentation on librarian Frances Burns Linn on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. Linn was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2018. She served as head librarian of the Santa Barbara Public Library from 1906 through 1943 and was the driving force behind building…
