Cover Story
God speed
Inside a warehouse-sized, 80,000-square-foot commercial building in Livermore, a town just east of Oakland, construction workers are busy preparing a place of worship: the future home of the Well Christian Community Church. From its humble beginnings in 2003, starting with just 15 families, the church has blossomed to 1,500 members, outgrowing its current home in…
What’s the most unusual item you have in your car right now?
Alisha Martinez audit coordinator “A French fry with rigor mortis.” Butch Kuhl business owner “An old retro electronic piece of equipment from the ’40s that someone gave me. I’ll probably use it as a prop or in some artwork.” Hayley Fouratte student “One moccasin and one Tom’s shoe. The mates are in the house.” Julie…
Athlete of the Week: Juan Robles
For Pioneer Valley varsity soccer coach Roberto Robles, it’s not just his son Juan’s athletic ability that makes him an Athlete of the Week—it’s his leadership abilities and dedication to the game. Juan, a junior forward (who can also play middle field), is having a stellar season so far. In the Panthers’ eight wins and…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, March 29 Boys’ Baseball Cabrillo @ Templeton TBA Boys’ Golf San Luis Obispo Tournament @ SLO CC 1 p.m. Nipomo Tournament @ Monarch Dunes 1:30 p.m. Orcutt Academy @ Mission College Prep 2 p.m. Boys’ Tennis Arroyo Grande @ St. Joseph 3 p.m. Paso Robles @ Righetti 3 p.m. San Luis Obispo @ Pioneer…
On the roster
• Central Coast All-Star Basketball Spectacular: Northern Santa Barbara County high school seniors will take on San Luis Obispo County all-stars at the 22nd annual Kiwanis Central Coast All-Star Basketball Spectacular on March 31 at Allan Hancock College. The event features boys’ and girls’ games and three-point shooting and slam-dunk contests. The girls’ game tips…
Learn golf fundamentals with First Tee
The First Tee of Central Coast is starting spring sessions of its “More Than a Game” junior golf program at Blacklake Golf Resort and Sunset Ridge Golf Course. Sessions for children ages 7 and up will teach young golfers of all levels basic golf skills, rules and etiquette, appreciation for the game, and interpersonal and…
Poker for the Packers
If you know when to hold ’em, and when to fold ’em, the Santa Maria Valley Packers want you to join ’em for a poker fundraising event on April 21. Organizers will be giving away a champion’s bracelet and a 40-inch TV to the night’s big winner. A $50 donation secures a buy-in, with re-buys…
The Bleacher Bum Chronicles Vol. XXIV
The start of spring on the sports calendar can best be summed up in two words: March Madness. And what a tournament it’s been; hopefully your brackets (and bank accounts) weathered the storm. Not one, but two No. 15 seeds beat No. 2s in the first round: Lehigh stunned Duke, and Norfolk State toppled the…
Espresso yourself
The only thing that’s introduced me to more friends than music is coffee. Over a steaming latte, minutes swirl into hours of talk, laughter, and peaceful contentedness. Welcome complements to a day at the coffee shop include music and poetry; Café Noir, a local coffee shop, is doing its part in providing a venue for…
Second chance, more gifts
I’ve been married for a long, long time to the same woman, my wife, whom I love. We tied the knot more than 15 years ago. That means that for more than 15 years I have been wrong about just about everything, and I haven’t gone a day when I skipped shaving without getting grief…
Foreigner sings at the county fair
The Santa Maria Fairpark has announced that Foreigner will be at the Santa Barbara County Fair on July 13 on the Main Stage. Foreigner released such hits as “Feels Like the First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” “Urgent,” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” In all, the group has had 14 Top 20 hits. Foreigner will…
Meet Doyle Burkey and other artists
The Lompoc Valley Art Association is holding its monthly meeting and art program at 7 p.m. on April 3 at Stone Pine Hall, 210 South H St., Lompoc. Social “hour” starts at 6:30 p.m. The guest artist will be Doyle Burkey, a retired technical illustrator now enjoying his creative freedom working in watercolor. He’ll be…
Color and design
The latest show at Gallery Los Olivos is marked by soft pastels, references to nature, and slight feminine touches. It features the jewelry designs of Patricia Watkins and the watercolor works of Peggy Fletcher. Watkins’ creations feature beaded elements coupled with sterling silver and gold-filled findings. She also occasionally uses brass and copper, as well…
Charting a life course
Mapmaking is like a science, requiring exact measurements and precise points. Casual observers may have a hard time imagining how artistic flair may fit into the cartographic process. But for 20 years, Connie Brown and Redstone Studios have created maps that aren’t just works of art, but are significant representations of life events for people…
Fighting Back wins grant money
The Fund for Santa Barbara Youth Making Change recently awarded a $1,850 grant to Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley’s Youth Involvement Group hold bullying- and violence-prevention events at two local junior high schools. “Despite the best efforts of local schools, students continue to report frequent bullying and harassment which can lead to tragic consequences,” said…
Athletes like LeBron James could soon be replaced with robots like Leonidas
A team of high school engineers called the Spartatroniks from Orcutt Academy High School created a robot that has the ability to rebound like Dwight Howard and score like Kobe Bryant. And, unlike Lebron, Leonidas has already won a championship. The Spartatroniks took home first place from the Los Angeles Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in…
Strega Nona’s Harvest
Strega Nona, previously appearing in the pop-up Brava, Strega Nona!, returns with a serious green thumb. The wise woman knows her plants, and she dispenses advice to her companions, Bambalona and Big Anthony, as she carefully plans her garden with a packet of seeds saved from a previous year. Strega Nona walks her audience—including little…
Kite month is around the corner!
April is National Kite Month, and the Discovery Museum is so excited to present the third annual Free Family Kite Festival on April 22. We look forward to our entire community enjoying the beautiful kites, being dazzled by the amazing kite fliers at the festival, and having fun flying their own kites and participating in…
A full-filling 30 years
Even the Occupy movement would have to agree that not all banks are evil. The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County gathered some of its current and former board members, together with top contributors, at the Santa Barbara Club last week, in honor of its 30th anniversary. Part of the event was spent looking back at…
Spotlight on: La Fogata
Guadalupe’s La Fogata re-opened its doors for business in February and is serving delicious, traditional Mexican food, enhanced by the creativity of new owner and chef Israel Gonzales. He and wife/co-owner Melisa have both worked in restaurants for many years, and they share a life-long passion for good food. Opening a restaurant of their own…
If you build it …
Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District officials recently released findings of an environmental test done on the proposed site for a new continuation high school—and there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that testing revealed the presence of elevated concentrations of hazardous substances in one soil sample. The good news is…
Planning Commission postpones SA Recycling application–for now
Local grassroots organization Friends of Fesler achieved a small victory at the Santa Maria Planning Commission meeting on March 20 when the commissioners decided to postpone a decision—yet again—on development of a new SA Recycling facility. SA Recycling originally brought its application to the Planning Commission on Jan. 18, but the decision was postponed until…
Goodbye, Gallegly
Republican Elton Gallegly announced earlier this year that he will be retiring at the end of this term, after serving 26 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. With that in mind, the Sun decided to talk to Gallegly about his time in Congress and the impact his decisions have had on local, national, and…
SLO County votes in favor of Nipomo water project
San Luis Obispo County has cast its vote in favor of a controversial supplemental water project for Nipomo. On March 27, SLO County supervisors, acting in their side role as the SLO County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, cast a ballot in favor of the Nipomo Supplemental Water Project. The Nipomo Community Services District…
Pesticide manufacturer pulls strawberry fumigant from U.S. markets
After years of pressure from environmental groups, Tokyo-based pesticide manufacturer Arysta LifeScience agreed on March 20 to yank a controversial strawberry pesticide containing methyl iodide out of the American market. “This is a tremendous victory, where scientific integrity has outweighed pesticide industry pull when it comes to food and farming,” Paul Towers, spokesman for the…
Allan Hancock College will launch its first international student program this fall
Beginning in the fall, Danish students will travel to Solvang to learn about American hospitality, thanks to an agreement between Allan Hancock College and Copenhagen Hospitality College. The college’s leaders signed a contract on March 15 that will allow Danish students ages 18 to 25 to study culinary arts and tourism services stateside. Copenhagen Hospitality…
The American warlords are guilty
It is very difficult living on the streets; I know this firsthand. It is also difficult being a soldier; I know this firsthand. Soldiers are treated like second-class citizens. Unfortunately, they are deemed disposable. More than 6,000 of our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, have recently been sent to their graves prematurely because…
I will be proud and ashamed
In our world of triumphs, who have we left behind? Let’s not reenact our disgraceful home coming of our Vietnam vets. Just as in the past, we put our selfish interests ahead of what’s really right. We have large parades for winning sport teams, closing entire cities down, but fail to recognize the men and…
An open letter to Ron Paul
After reading this letter, I hope you have already considered my suggestions to you. First of all, I think you should run as a “third party” candidate in November. Secondly, I think you should choose Bill Richardson as your running mate. He is a Democrat, thereby allowing the left as well as the right to…
Why do we allow Diablo to operate?
Many local residents are in favor of Diablo. Most residents around Fukushima felt the same way about their plant prior to the earthquake. If you are saying we need the electricity, does your roof look like mine—covered with photovoltaic and solar panels? Germany and Switzerland are phasing out all their nuclear power. Diablo is storing…
We shouldn’t spread ourselves too thin
In their opinion piece, “One Step Toward Fairness,” (March 25), the Santa Maria Times editorial writers unwittingly identified, arguably, the single largest problem in politics today. Namely, it is the idea that whatever services exist today, because they exist, the citizens have become accustomed to their availability and therefore have a “right” to have them…
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Santa Maria has soul. That’s one of the reasons the Murphy family, one of Arkansas’s most prominent families, chose the Santa Maria Valley to build its spectacular winemaking enterprise, Presqu’ile. Another important reason is the French term the wine industry uses: terroir, meaning climate, soil, slope, elevation, wind, and so on, covering characteristics that give…
