Cover Stories
Movement of Light: Local entrepreneurs, performers, and artists trick out flow arts and festival installations with LEDs
Helianthus Enormae – The giant luminous sunflower from PhotonicBliss on Vimeo. This is a sculpture by Chad ‘fez’ Gaetz wish I had the pleasure of getting to program. It is a 25 foot tall steel sunflower, and it is so fun to climb on. 🙂
Race to the finish: The Lompoc Valley Motorsports Committee is on track to open an off-highway vehicle park, but not everyone is revved up about it
Surrounded by acres of wildlands, vineyards, and the ocean, many residents view Lompoc as a bucolic hideaway that’s far enough away from the traffic and general busyness of nearby larger cities. The weather is often ideal, moderately warm temperatures with a cool, moist breeze that is loved by residents and pinot noir grapes alike. Often…
Santa Maria community, police search for answers in December homicide
View photos from the Feb. 29 memorial walk. Detectives from the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) and members of the community walked with the parents of Brayan Mejia-Molina through the area of West Sonya and South Thornburg streets during the evening of Feb. 29, distributing fliers in the hopes of finding the person responsible for…
Are you registered to vote and whom will you vote for?
Meagan Ross psychology student at Allan Hancock College “Yes. I’m voting Republican, either Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio.” Christopher Paul kinesiology student at Allan Hancock College “I’m not going to vote. I’m just not interested in politics. Nobody can really make a difference.” Baltazar Melchor plant sciences student at Allan Hancock College “I’m registered to…
Political Watch 3/3/2016
• On Feb. 26, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Hallways to Health Act, legislation that would provide federal support for high-quality comprehensive health care and mental health services to students at School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) across the country. The legislation would improve the delivery of School-Based Health Center services by expanding access to…
Community Notebook 3/3/16 – 3/10/16
MONDAY, MARCH 7 • The Solvang Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. TUESDAY, MARCH 8 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Betteravia Government Center’s Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway,…
Gifts of tin
On Feb. 18 the Sun published its wedding issue and I hope you all had a chance to read it. The articles were wonderful, and the Sun staff wrote a terrific piece about weddings from various cultures. Brenna Swanston included the traditions observed in Jewish weddings, and I shared photos and memories of my wedding…
The Swing Shift Band keeps it funky on the Central Coast
The time that a band stays together can sometimes be akin to dog years. The more aged bands are truly impressive considering how many break up, often after a year or two. One local group—the Swing Shift Band—has gone through plenty of personnel changes over the years, explained the band’s leader Bernie Espinoza, but the…
St. Mark’s in Los Olivos hosts Sue Turner-Cray’s one-woman show ‘Manchester Girl’
St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church hosts three special performances by Sue Turner-Cray of her award-winning one-woman show Manchester Girl on March 3, 4, and 5 at 7 p.m. at the church. The performance features 11 different characters who are all struggling against the limited choices girls face in Turner-Cray’s native Northern England. The show is recommended…
Lompoc Music Association offers youth scholarships
The Lompoc Music Association announced the audition date and requirements for local music students hoping to compete for scholarships. The competition is open to students ages 14 through 18 who live within the Lompoc Unified School District’s borders. The audition takes place March 26 at 1 p.m. at the Valley of the Flowers Church of…
Enjoy Free Museum Day in Santa Ynez
A coalition of museums in the Santa Ynez Valley is teaming up for Free Museum Day on March 5, when locals can enjoy their collected exhibits with free entry from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The participating museums include the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature, the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Carriage House,…
Nipomo author Frank Scozzari’s ‘Wind Guardian’ imagines a terrorist attack on a Central Coast nuclear power plant
When the Twin Towers went down after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the collective refrain across the country was “never again.” Life is different in a post 9/11 world. Airport security tightened up in a major way and locations across the country were assessed for how likely they were to be chosen as…
PCPA’s ‘Community Speaks’ project explores free speech
All year long the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) trains its conservatory students to speak with inflections from across the ages, giving voice once again to Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, Tennessee Williams, and contemporary playwrights. But once a year, ever since the Community Speaks! series began seven years ago, the aspiring actors give voice to people…
Strawberry Art Contest accepting entries
Students from all over Santa Barbara County are invited to submit their best artistic interpretation of a strawberry for inclusion in the Santa Maria Valley Strawberry Festival Strawberry Art Contest. The first place winners in each grade category will receive a $25 gift card and a Family Fun Pack for four to the 2016 Santa…
Saints showcase their talent
Santa Maria High School students and faculty will showcase their skills during the Saints’ Talent Show on Friday night, March 11. The entertainment starts at 7 p.m. inside the historic Ethel Pope Auditorium, at 901 S. Broadway. Performers include contortionists, pianists, guitar players, dancers, and singers in English and Spanish. The event, which is organized…
Spotlight on: Maya Mexican Restaurant
Think about everything that’s happened in the world in the last 50 years, and the Maya Mexican Restaurant has witnessed most of it: the first moon landing, 9/11, the Michael Jackson trial, and everything in between. On Feb. 16, Maya Restaurant owners Teresa and Manuel Paredes celebrated a half-century of Mexican cuisine as they rolled…
A hard look: New bill would study economic impact of shuttering Diablo Canyon
The silhouette of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant is an iconic and familiar sight for Central Coast residents—two giant bell-shaped reactors perched atop the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Diablo is the state’s remaining operating nuclear power plant, and has both opponents and fans. One side pushes to shut the plant down over seismic…
Refugio oil spill pipelines to fall under stricter laws
Plains All-American Pipeline has applied to withdraw its filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), meaning pipeline 901—which is currently out of operation—will be removed from federal jurisdiction and come under more stringent regulation if it reopens in the future. This filing would cancel Plains’ Line 901 tariff, according to Tamara Young-Allen of FERC…
Albertsons to make comeback in Lompoc
Lompoc will be getting its Albertsons back, after the grocery chain re-acquired many of the 146 stores it sold to Washington-based grocery company Haggen in December 2014. In an attempt to preserve competition in certain Western states, the Federal Trade Commission required Albertsons to sell 168 of its stores before approving the company’s merger with…
Santa Barbara County DA settles pollution case with Lompoc mining operation
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office reached a settlement with a Lompoc mining company accused of polluting a nearby river, according to Deputy District Attorney Kevin Weichbrod. In a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Feb. 16, Imerys Minerals, which mines diatomaceous earth, is accused of polluting the San Miguelito Creek…
Judge declares mistrial in Marjorie Good case
Superior Court Judge Rogelio Flores has declared a mistrial for the murder trial of 90-year-old Marjorie Good on the basis of jury misconduct, according to Good’s defense attorney David Bixby. Good was charged in May 2015 with the first-degree murder of her daughter, Solvang resident Heidi Good. Heidi suffered from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and died…
Report claims Santa Barbara County Jail ‘actively neglects’ disabled prisoners
Disability Rights California (DRC) found evidence that Santa Barbara County Jail practices violate the rights of prisoners with disabilities, according to the agency’s report on the April 2015 inspection of the jail. The report listed the jail’s main violations as: undue and excessive isolation and solitary confinement, inadequate mental health care, and denial of rights…
Santa Maria loses $1.1 million settlement lawsuit after 10-year fight
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a $5,000 settlement awarded to a Santa Maria senior citizen couple, Hope and Javier Bravo, and more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees stemming from a 2006 civil rights lawsuit that the city fought for nearly a decade. According to court records, the opinion was…
JoJo Walker
JoJo Walker, a junior at St. Joseph High School, didn’t know if he’d ever play basketball again after breaking his leg two years ago during his freshman season. “I thought I was done,” Walker told the Sun. “I was thinking, ‘I’m not going be the same. Everything’s going to change now.’” Walker took solace in…
The Benchwarmer: The pain of the game
It was colder than usual this morning when I got out of bed. I sat up, letting my eyes adjust to the light and threw my legs over the side of the bed. As I began to stand up, my knees felt stiff, as though the bones were grinding together. My right knee gave out…
How joining a wine club changed my life: Buellton-based Club W makes waves online
Last year, I graduated from college the world’s youngest wino. It was a little sad, really: I was supposed to be this bright-eyed, pretentious recent college graduate, tackling the hectic world of overpriced cappuccinos and overrated bachelor’s degrees. But that simply wasn’t the case. Instead, I wasted my first postgraduate summer lazing through a lame…
Change is in the air, and sea, and on land
Oh, how our coastline is changing. In a big way. I understand that what happens at the coast doesn’t have the most immediate effect on most of Northern Santa Barbara County, but it also kind of does. It affects the overall picture of our lives as Central Coast residents, not to mention our ability to…
Focus on grassroots solutions
A columnist’s article in the Santa Maria Times on Feb. 4, “It’s the same story, same principle,” pointed out so many of the areas where “politics and finances take precedence over humanity and justice.” I recommended follow-up articles on solutions where grassroots actions, from the bottom up, are “flipping the equation.” This is happening big…
Holy books like Quran divinely command violence
As a non-Muslim I sincerely wish the greatest success to Mr. Saifi and his “True Islam and the Extremists” campaign in convincing Muslims that the Quran does not sanction “any form of violence towards humanity.” Unfortunately he faces three huge barriers: 1) millions of past and present Muslims differ from his interpretation of the Quran;…
Rail spur jobs argument is a smoke-and-mirrors ploy
I’m writing to share my disgust about the pro-Phillips 66 signage in the Five Cities area. Basically the thrust of the signage message is “if the Planning Commission doesn’t approve the addition of rail tracks and the resulting horrendous delivery of volatile tar sands oil from Canada and its air-polluting refinement on the Nipomo Mesa,…
Capps has earned her retirement
Eighteen years ago I voted for a UCSB professor named Walter Capps for Congress. He was elected but unfortunately died soon afterward. His young, attractive nurse bride, Lois, took his place and has been re-elected 10 times since. She’s probably the only nurse in Congress. At 78 she now needs a rest and plans to…
Diminution of religion is true cause of evil
Recently a Central Coast resident wrote a letter to the editor in another paper titled: “Religion is a Problem” (Jan. 3, Santa Barbara News-Press). In his letter the writer attributes the atrocities, killings, and social mayhem in the world to religion. Recognizing the perverted attempts of radical Islamists directed by a tenet of Islamic Sharia…
Balancing tribal needs and moving forward–as neighbors
The struggle over Camp 4 and making it virtually part of the Chumash reservation through the “fee to trust” process has pitted neighbor against neighbor here in the Santa Ynez Valley. The struggle has played out in the courts, in county and state government, in the executive offices of the president, and even in the…
