Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties are teaming up to address a growing number of homeless encampments in the Santa Maria Riverbed. A $6 million grant Gov. Gavin Newsom awarded to Santa Barbara County in 2023 aims to clean up encampments, including in the Santa Maria Riverbed between Santa Barbara and SLO counties that’s…
While both sets of candidates in the local state Senate and Assembly races will march forward to the November general election, preliminary results show incumbent Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and state Sen. Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) in the lead. “I’m gratified and humbled by the results, and I’m excited about getting back to work…
To help curb a lingering safety concern, the city of Solvang is preparing to renovate a 2,400-foot segment of Fredensborg Canyon Road. While there are residential driveways on both sides of the route, neither side has a sidewalk. Public Works Director Rodger A. Olds referred to this stretch of Fredensborg as “the greatest danger to…
Christopher Miller, a 67-year-old Los Alamos resident, pleaded guilty in Santa Barbara County Superior Court for failing to complete lobster commercial fishing records and paid $19,340 in restitution to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and a partnering nonprofit agency to remove at least 156 abandoned lobster traps around Santa Cruz Island. Lobster…
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal and several colleagues introduced legislation to designate spaceports including Vandenberg Space Force Base, as eligible for tax-exempt municipal revenue bonds to incentivize investment in spaceport infrastructure, according to a March 8 statement from Carbajal’s office. Projects such as airports and docks currently qualify for tax-exempt municipal revenue bonds, which attract…
The Santa Maria Family Kite Festival is one of Jenn Malone’s favorite days of the year. “There’s something about hundreds of kites in the air flying harmoniously at the same time. It’s a miracle they don’t get tangled, but I love the joy these kids are expressing [during] their fun and learning,” said Malone, the…
The other night, I heard an elected leader talk about her time as an activist and how the “inside-outside” approach has been a theme in her life. This local female leader is what I would label a “badass.” Time and age have mellowed her but if you scratch the surface, the hard-core activist is still…
It sounds like San Luis Obispo County wants the Santa Maria Riverbed cleanup remnants to land squarely in the lap of Santa Barbara County. And by cleanup, I really mean clear-out. As in, a clear-out of the miniature cities that have popped up in the riverbed since last year’s flooding pushed them out, visible from…
In making the argument that exclusive neighborhoods ought to remain socioeconomically segregated to preserve elite class bragging rights, John Donegan somehow manages to be both breathlessly condescending toward the less fortunate and also woefully ignorant of the types of housing policies that produce thriving communities (“Beverly hillbillies,” Feb. 29). Donegan ignores a mountain of sociological…
Green day The Buellton Wine and Chili Festival takes place on Sunday, March 17, from noon to 4:30 p.m., at the Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground, located at 180 Ave. of the Flags, Buellton. Visit buelltonwineandchilifestival.com for more info. As part of the festival’s live entertainment lineup and in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day,…
March has a way of coming in like a lion. On March 1, 1954, the U.S. military conducted a test explosion, called Castle Bravo, of a hydrogen bomb in the Bikini Aoll. This robbed the Bikini people and other Marshallese of their homeland and way of life and left them with extremely high rates of…
Popular medium, reality show star, and author Tyler Henry will give psychic readings at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez during two live programs, slated for Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. both evenings. The event is titled An Evening of Hope and Healing with Tyler Henry. According to press…
The Santa Maria Public Library holds its next Valley Reads Book Club meeting on Saturday, March 16, from 2 to 3 p.m. The monthly group’s selected text for March is author Clare Pooley’s The Authenticity Project: A Novel. The book’s plot involves a green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendships…
Death And Other Details What’s it rated? TV-MA What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Hulu Creators Heidi Cole McAdams and Mike Weiss helm this Agatha Christie-style mystery set on a restored vintage ocean liner touring the Mediterranean Sea. When a murder occurs, famed detective Rufus Cotesworth…
Do The Right Thing What’s it rated? R When? 1989 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre in SLO on March 16 and 17 (1:30, 4:15, and 7 p.m.), and March 18 (7 p.m.) Writer-director Spike Lee (Jungle Fever, Malcom X, BlacKkKlansman) scored an early hit with this twice Oscar-nominated dramedy about race relations in the…
Can I Tell You A Secret? What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Max Three women recount their ordeal involving an online stalker who seems to be out to destroy their lives. All three have a very active social media presence that gets infiltrated by a mysterious figure who will go to mind-boggling…
Dream weavers Visit wovencoffeeroasters.com for more info on Woven Coffee Roasters, based in Orcutt. The company’s mobile coffee shop usually operates at various locations in Orcutt and Santa Maria six days a week. When cabin fever strikes, as it did for countless locals who sheltered in place during the pandemic, it’s natural to fixate on…
