Cover Story
Winemaker Mike Sinor’s latest venture, Shuck Shack, highlights his love of the Central Coast and its bounty
Mike Sinor of Arroyo Grande prefers to fly under the Central Coast wine-industry radar, according to friends and colleagues. However, his long list of accolades and endeavors continues to keep him in the spotlight. Among his achievements during his 30-year career are producing a Wine Spectator 96-point pinot noir, helping launch the nonprofit organization World…
BINGEABLE: SLOW HORSES (2022)
BINGEABLE: SLOW HORSES (2022) Where’s it playing? Apple TV Plus What’s it rated? TV-MA If you’re looking for an inky-black espionage series that isn’t afraid to expose the corruption of spy work and the human frailty of operatives, Slow Horses is the series for you. It follows a team of disgraced MI5 agents who’ve been…
Winemaker Mike Sinor’s latest venture, Shuck Shack, highlights his love of the Central Coast and its bounty
Mike Sinor of Arroyo Grande prefers to fly under the Central Coast wine-industry radar, according to friends and colleagues. However, his long list of accolades and endeavors continues to keep him in the spotlight. Among his achievements during his 30-year career are producing a Wine Spectator 96-point pinot noir, helping launch the nonprofit organization World…
Solvang City Council approves inaugural Pride parade for June
Two Solvang City Council meeting attendees rose to the defense of an upcoming Pride parade after one speaker at the May 9 meeting described the event as insensitive to human trafficking victims. “Because of everything that this country has been going through, with human trafficking, child trafficking, I’d love to see you table it [the…
Santa Maria BMX searches for new track space as lease ends
Santa Maria resident Jim Folkrod’s been a part of Santa Maria BMX since its beginning 14 years ago, when he took his 4-year-old son to the track to try to the sport, he said. “As needs came up, I would volunteer—whether it was being a starter or a judge at the bigger races—and for the…
Allan Hancock students and faculty allege instances of age discrimination
Mary Jo Gabel has taught sewing classes at Allan Hancock College for 35 years and never had issues until 2021, she said, when she saw a series of age discriminatory actions against her retired, noncredit students. “We were made aware back in October that the office has been referring to us—because we were seniors—as ‘the…
Political Watch: May 12, 2022
• The California National Guard facilitated the shipment of protective gear and medical supplies to Ukraine, according to a May 5 statement from the Newsom administration. Since March, the state’s shipped five, 50-bed field medical stations along with thousands of pieces of protective gear to Ukraine. “California has stood firm in our support for Ukraine…
Lompoc hoteliers request a 1 percent bed tax increase to pay for public safety
Dumpster diving. Theft. Vagrancy. Violent or tense interactions. Lompoc hotelier Atul Patel said these incidents were few and far between up until three or four years ago. But now, he said, the employees who work at his hotels—the Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn Express—have to deal with situations like this on a regular basis,…
Jason Jewell is the new interim manager of the agency that oversees the Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner train runs along the Pacific coast, extending from San Luis Obispo, cutting through Santa Barbara, and ending at its southernmost destination in San Diego. The surfliner is provided by Amtrak, but overseen by the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency—a joint powers authority used to give more local control…
What’s going on?
What’s gotten into people these days? Just as I was about to zero in on Solvang, again, word of some words at Allan Hancock College nearly made me spit out my birdseed. An administrator at our local community college “said” some rather ageist and offensive things about a group of students via email to administration…
Homelessness story was for the wrong audience
Homelessness and what to do about it was nicely covered by the Sun staff (“Shelter, services, support,” April 14 and “Space for stability,” April 21). But it was for the wrong audience. Sure, we can wring our hands and give some needy person on the street a buck. But this is like Band-Aids. You can…
Restore balance to the highest court
When Donald Trump was in office, he and Mitch McConnell made three lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. McConnell went so far as to defy Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish—that the next president appoint her replacement—by packing the court with Amy Coney Barrett just eight days before the 2020 election. The result? Today’s Supreme Court…
Lozano is the best hope for county public schools
For those who don’t know, Christy Lozano is running for Santa Barbara County superintendent of schools. Electing Christy on June 7 may be our last opportunity to save our schools, and more importantly our children, from an ignominious future. I am not sure why more people in our county are not screaming at the top…
Comedian Marc Yaffee headlines Laugh Therapy in Santa Ynez
The Maverick Saloon presents its next Laugh Therapy event on Wednesday, May 25, from 8 to 10 p.m. Stand-up comedian Marc Yaffee will headline the show, which will also feature comedian Amanda Cohen. The show is hosted by Sal España and Paco Zamora. Yaffee, who won the Ventura Comedy Festival’s Funniest Person Contest in 2012,…
Local folk singer-songwriter Ynana Rose opens for jazz-pop musician Kiki Ebsen in Santa Maria
San Luis Obispo resident Ynana Rose has loved singing for as long as she can remember. One of her earliest memories is venturing into the woods near her childhood home and belting out her favorite songs at the top of her voice. Rose didn’t feel nearly as comfortable vocalizing in front of an audience until…
Elverhoj Museum holds new photography exhibit, Greenland: Land of the Midnight Sun
The Elverhoj Museum of History and Art will host an opening reception for a new photography exhibition, Greenland—Land of the Midnight Sun, on Saturday, May 14, from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission to the reception will be free. Guests of the exhibit can expect to view a collection of photos that capture Greenland’s “vast Arctic…
