Cover Story
Bulldog sluggers: Locally bred softball players take Allan Hancock College on a 34-game winning streak
See a slideshow of how the Bulldogs do what they do. Allan Hancock College is a softball powerhouse—with two straight conference titles tucked firmly into its softball cleats, the team marauded the world of community college ball with a 34-game winning streak. That streak ended the weekend of May 8 in the Super Regionals tournament,…
Is Santa Barbara County’s largest city getting serious about water conservation?
More than a month has passed since Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a mandatory 25 percent water reduction for the state’s urban areas, and Santa Marians are about to get hit with the surging wave of conservation efforts it created. At the May 5 Santa Maria City Council meeting, councilmembers proclaimed May as Water Awareness Month.…
Do you think that Santa Maria is growing at a rate that’s unsustainable for our water resources?
Ron Stivers landscape painter “Water has gone beyond serious. There has to be something done. But not raising the rates, it has to be managed better. There’s no room to be expanding where water’s needed and there’s no water here.” Pierson Christensen student “I would say so. I think our growth in general is faster…
Political Watch 5/14/15
• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) reintroduced legislation on May 7 to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence. A release from her office said the legislation will close loopholes that allow abusers and stalkers access to guns. “Existing federal laws designed to protect victims of domestic violence are important, but gaps remain,” Capps…
Community Notebook 5/14/15 – 5/21/15
TUESDAY, MAY 19 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. Agendas are available at http://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Santa Maria City Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City…
Vanessa loves food: What’s cookin’ with Food Network TV show finalist and Solvang native, Vanessa Craig
Four days after the finale of the home cook competition All-Star Academy aired on the Food Network, first runner-up Vanessa Craig was back in the kitchen cooking up a storm in her native Santa Barbara County. Larner Vineyards and Winery invited Craig, who grew up in Solvang, to prepare a multi-course dinner for 20 guests…
Spring fever
Spring fever has hit our house something fierce. It’s like a sexy rainbow squatted over my house and peed spring pheromones. It seems like in every crevice and eave of our house, birds have set up nests. Right on my front patio, inches from my front door, a hummingbird built her itty, bitty nest in…
The Cliffnotes perform swampy blues rock in Nipomo and Santa Maria
No other genre of music elicits the kind of creative nicknames given to blues artists. According to Cliff Stepp, known as “Crawdaddy” among band members and fans of his band The Cliffnotes, a blues artist is given a nickname, they are never self-imposed. “They usually come from other musicians,” Stepp said. “I came by mine…
Live Oak Festival announces closing night opener
The Live Oak Music Festival, organized by and benefiting KCBX Public Radio, announced Suzy Bogguss as the opening act performing before Steve Earle & The Dukes on the closing evening of the festival on June 21. Bogguss is a platinum and gold-album country artist who released the album Lucky in early 2015, providing her take…
Toad the Wet Sprocket founder to perform in benefit of Lompoc Theatre Project
Founding songwriter of Toad the Wet Sprocket Glen Phillips will perform a live concert to benefit the Lompoc Theatre Project. Phillips, a Santa Barbara native who released several solo albums besides continuing collaborations with Toad the Wet Sprocket, will perform songs from his discography on May 23 at the Stone Pine Hall in Lompoc’s historic…
Santa Maria Public Library offers Night Light Theater
The Santa Maria Public Library holds a Night Light Theater event including a family-friendly movie screening in the Altrusa Theater. Big Hero 6 is screened on May 19 at 6 p.m. at the library. Food and drink is not allowed to the event, which is open to parents and kids of all ages. No tickets…
Hancock professor named finalist for 2015 International Latino Book Awards competition
Allan Hancock College English professor Marc Garcia-Martinez, Ph.D., was selected as a finalist for the 2015 International Latino Book Awards in the Best First Book—Nonfiction category for his book The Flesh and Blood Aesthetics of Alejandro Morales’—Disease, Sex, and Figuration published in June of last year by San Diego State University Press. The International Latino…
The Melodrama offers a hilarious western, ‘The Saga of Roaring Gulch’
The Great American Melodrama’s overall ethos, from the honky-tonk piano to the stained-wood décor, elicits memories of the Wild West popularized in film and stagecraft. That’s why, when the theater produces a Western-themed Melodrama, the welcoming actors bedecked in cowboy hats, boots, or gingham almost seem a part of the iconic little theater in Oceano.…
T-MHA presents Art of Recovery
Transitions-Mental Health Association (T-MHA) is a local nonprofit agency that works toward eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness while helping recovering locals achieve wellness through a variety of programs. Growing Grounds Gallery and Gifts in Santa Maria is the most recent iteration of the organization’s efforts to provide work, stability, and a creative outlet for…
Santa Barbara County’s ag industry brings in almost $1.5 billion in 2014
Santa Barbara County’s agricultural industry grew to almost $1.5 billion in 2014, according to a report released by the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. The report marks the ninth year in a row that agriculture surpassed the billion-dollar line. The numbers from 2014 are higher than 2013’s by some $53 million dollars—an increase which…
STEM and STEAM exposition moving to Lompoc High
The 30th annual Central Coast Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Exposition will be held May 29 and 30 at the Lompoc High School gym. This year’s event includes a STEAM Festival—with an A for art added to STEM—on May 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the cafeteria. Attendees will be able to engage in…
UC brings healthy habits to local school district
The University of California CalFresh Nutrition Education program is partnering with the Santa Maria-Bonita School District food service to nudge students toward healthier choices in the school cafeteria. From March through May, students have had the opportunity to try new vegetables: Brussels’ sprouts, asparagus, and sweet bell peppers, for instance. And after tasting those veggies,…
Students display building dreams at Guadalupe Ciclovia event
Students from Mary Buren Elementary School and Kermit McKenzie Junior High Schools’ After School Education and Safety Program built their ideal city of Guadalupe out of cardboard and recycled items and displayed them during the city’s first Ciclovia event on May 9. More than 500 students and about a dozen staff memebers volunteered to help…
Spotlight on: Cupcakes Fighting Cancer
If you want to hang out with Cassandra Sigala on the weekends, you’re going to need to know how to decorate cupcakes. “You better know how to use sprinkles,” Sigala said. Every weekend Sigala bakes hundreds of those miniature cakes for Cupcakes Fighting Cancer, a nonprofit Sigala founded to raise money and awareness for children…
Hobnobbing with Helen
Vive la fiesta! Ole! And all that … Community Partners in Caring (CPC) held its annual fundraiser dinner and auction on May 2 at the Santa Maria Country Club. The evening (titled Fiesta) was much enhanced by the presence of Ernest Righetti High School’s marimba band and ballet folklorico performers. Wow. What a talented, energetic…
Orcutt man takes plea deal for shooting father
An Orcutt man accused of shooting his parents will be spending the next two decades in prison. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced on May 8 that Brian Keith Reid pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and one count of attempted murder. Reid was facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison…
CHP isn’t charging the driver in fatal Santa Ynez accident
Police aren’t pursuing charges against the driver of a van that allegedly struck a Santa Ynez high school student in front her school, a California Highway Patrol official told the Sun. Carina Velazquez, a 15-year-old Santa Ynez Valley Union High School student, was leaving an FFA meeting after school on March 26 and crossed Highway…
El Camino students hospitalized after smoking spice
A group of students from El Camino Junior High School ended up at Marian Regional Medical Center the morning of May 8 after reportedly smoking spice, a synthetic cannabinoid, before school. Maggie White, a spokesperson for Santa Maria-Bonita School District, told the Sun that five students had smoked spice at a student’s home before going…
Santa Maria man arrested on suspicion of hotel arson
A Santa Maria man is suspected of starting a fire inside of his room following a small blaze that broke out in a residential hotel on May 6, Santa Maria police said. According to a press release issued by the Santa Maria Fire Department, several fire agencies responded to the fire and quickly snuffed the…
Conserve water now?
Did you hear? The California State Water Resources Control Board finally passed regulations on water conservation. FINALLY! But they only did it because Gov. Jerry Brown finally—FINALLY—announced mandatory 25 percent water reductions statewide in an executive order. How long have we been in a drought now? Last time I checked, we were in year 4.…
The drought is more complex than green lawns
I’m writing to respond to Brittany App’s commentary “Where there once was water” (April 23). Not everyone has the time and means to travel and snap pictures for relaxation, and there’s already an epidemic of kids sprouting apparatus from their heads instead of playing on lawns. Gardens require more water, maintenance, and precious time than…
Get oil trains outta here
I can hardly bring myself to look at the constant news about species going extinct and climate havoc. It’s no longer enough to go tooling around in my Prius. When I saw a letter to the editor mentioning the Citizens’ Climate Lobby meetings monthly, the first Saturday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian…
A proven need
An expansion project is underway at Community Counseling Center (CCC), a nonprofit specializing in affordable brief therapy for the low to moderate income and under-insured. The agency has been in operation since 1968 and is currently the single largest training center for pre-licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and doctoral level Psy.D.s and…
Making history: Allan Hancock swimmer Leanna Bramble is the first in the program to sign with a four-year school
When a student athlete signs a letter of intent to be part of the team at his or her college of choice, it’s a moment that will forever affect that person’s future. When that same moment is a historical one, well, that’s pretty amazing indeed. And that’s just the way Allan Hancock College sophomore Leanna…
Matt Sauer
Matt Sauer, Ernest Righetti High School sophomore and pitcher for the school’s baseball team, allowed no walks and four hits during the Warriors’ game against San Luis Obispo High School on May 4. He threw a complete game and struck out 11 batters, leading his team to a 4-0 shutout. So far this season, he’s…
