Cover Story
Find your tribe: There’s a place for everyone at the Live Oak Music Festival
Good morning and welcome to Sociology 101, an introduction to the study of society and social behavior among homo sapiens. Humans are social animals. We naturally create and maintain social networks. Some of us have very tight and often exclusive social circles whiles others have large overlapping networks, moving between and belonging to a number…
School resource deputy position reinstated at San Marcos High School
There’s a new deputy on campus at San Marcos High School. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced on May 11 that Deputy Jaycee Hunter will serve as the school’s new school resource deputy. The decision came just three days after the Santa Barbara Unified School District voted to fund the campus law enforcement position…
PCPA delivers a solid production of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’
When reviewing plays (or films) from classic source material, I often find myself mulling over what its creator would make of contemporary productions. What, for example, would William Shakespeare make of productions of Hamlet reimagined as a Western or Richard III set in a fascist England? And what about Victor Hugo, the esteemed French poet…
Local singer/songwriter Jineanne Coderre performs originals and covers across the Central Coast
Ever since she was a small child, Jineanne Coderre heard music, and it wasn’t long before she was making her own. Now a dental hygienist and professional singer/songwriter on the side who dazzles audiences across the Central Coast with her voice, Coderre recalled growing up with her parents, both skilled musicians and lovers of music.…
Crossing party lines
Hey, last week’s wish came true (“Strange days indeed,” May 10), I did make a splash! I love when right wingers accuse me being a “triggered liberal” devoid of reason or logic when all I said was the president might not deserve a freakin’ Nobel Peace Prize or whatever they demand following a peace agreement…
Spotlight on: E&J Gallo Winery
The reach of one of California’s most powerful wine firms extended further into the Central Coast region in early May when it purchased nearly 1,000 acres of vineyard property in the Santa Maria Valley. Modesto-based E&J Gallo Winery, which boasts that it’s the world’s largest family-owned winery, made the announcements on two separate occasions, almost…
Darien Langley
St. Joseph High School freshman Darien Langley may be young, but the track and field star has already broken two school sprinting records that were set in 1994. At the recent 2018 PAC-8 Track and Field Championships, 15-year-old Langley won the 200 meter sprint and finished 2nd by .01 of a second in the 100…
Santa Maria’s Paradise Juice Bar lives up to its name
Ever since my doctor side-eyed me and then lectured me for 20 minutes after I confessed how much fried food I consume on a weekly basis, I’ve been on a quest to stay focused on eating healthier, especially when it comes to eating out. As one can imagine, having a weekly food column dedicated to…
Rose Compass artists to host gouache painting workshop
Artists Libby Smith and Nina Warner will demonstrate how to create gouache paintings at the Wildling Museum on June 9. Smith and Warner are both members of the Rose Compass collective, a group of local artists featured in The River’s Journey exhibit at the Wildling. The demonstration will include a tutorial from Smith and Warner…
Local student artist wins 2018 Congressional Art Competition
Madison Ly, a student at Ernest Righetti High School, was recently announced as the winner of the 2018 Congressional Art Competition. Madison’s winning piece, titled The American Dream, will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol throughout 2018. Students from across California’s 24th Congressional District were encouraged to participate in the annual competition. A total of…
Nancy Yaki’s latest exhibit at Elverhoj features scenes from the artist’s travels
At the moment, Nancy Yaki is at a loss for words. Standing outside the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art in Solvang, the acclaimed artist, usually quite chatty and effervescent about her work, is rather speechless at the work being undertaken for her new exhibit. As she watches museum staff carefully unload her canvases in…
Dear Canary
Maybe the fumes from the dark coal mine finally overcame even your ultra-biased worldview to the point of absurdity (“Strange days indeed,” May 10)? I have a few true liberal friends, who though they can be just as polarized as yourself, they don’t let a visceral hate for the president overtake reason and logic. To…
Who can do it?
It has been a tough period for the Sheriff’s Office�”murders, a dozen major wildland fires, and the recent mudslides along with the ongoing duties of protection, custody, and safety. I’m sure there are deputies who are tired and cranky, but “time for change” is not a reason to replace Sheriff Bill Brown. Before you decide…
Keep oil, and keep it clean
In the past several weeks there have been several letters to the editor claiming the oil companies may, might, could contaminate our aquifer and the air we breathe, or disturb natural habitat as they drill for oil and gas, or inject wastewater back to where it was pumped from. The oil fields are already there,…
Bill Brown for sheriff
For more than 11 years, Sheriff Bill Brown has served the people of Santa Barbara County with integrity and dedication. His re-election is supported by elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum. Bill is the immediate past president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association and one of California’s most respected law enforcement leaders.…
Vote ‘no’ on Lompoc Unified School District bond
Lightning does strike twice in the same place. Yes, it does at the Lompoc Unified School District’s (LUSD) board, which has placed on the June 5 ballot a requirement for a new school bond for the second time in two years. This bond, titled Measure Q2018, is designated for $79 million to be spent over…
A leadership change is needed for Sheriff’s Office
As a resident who grew up in Santa Maria and has dedicated 32 years to keeping the public safe, I regret to say that our Sheriff’s Department needs a leadership change to face our mounting public safety challenges. That’s why I’m running for sheriff. From patrol to training recruits and leading crisis intervention training to…
Santa Barbara County governments push forward despite less than expected pot tax haul
For the time being, Santa Barbara County and its cities are reacting with tepid optimism to the news that California will not lower its 15 percent excise tax on cannabis. “It’s actually not surprising to me that the revenues are fairly low at this point,” Santa Barbara County Deputy CEO Dennis Bozanich said, adding that…
UCSB workers join statewide strike
Service and patient care workers at University of California campuses across the state participated in a three-day strike from May 7 to 9, protesting what workers call “widespread” employment inequalities in the university system. The strike, which hit campuses including UC Santa Barbara, was a direct response to a years-long, failed bargaining effort between the…
Political Watch 5/17/18
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) said on May 14 in a statement that she would not vote to confirm Gina Haspel as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and pointed to Haspel’s involvement in the agency’s “Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation Program” as the disqualifier. “The United States must send a message to…
Lompoc Unified School District $79 million bond measure on June 5 ballot
It’s been 16 years since residents passed a bond measure that funded infrastructure improvements to schools in the Lompoc Unified School District. Now a $79 million bond measure is on the June 5 primary election ballot, and if passed, the disct’s Assistant Superintendent for Business Services John Karbula said it would still only fund about…
Sheriff election heats up following grand jury report
The race for Santa Barbara County sheriff-coroner reached a boiling point after the release of a 2017-18 Santa Barbara County grand jury report stating the Sheriff’s Office mandatory overtime had “become a de facto element” in its personnel and budget management practices, costing the office and county millions of dollars and affecting recruitment efforts. “Substantial,…
Christensen for auditor/controller
Jennifer Christensen is the county’s chief investment officer and an experienced financial professional. It is no secret that Santa Barbara County is heading into some serious financial budget and fiscal issues. We need an experienced and well-qualified individual as our auditor-controller. That is why a number of past and current local mayors and the county…
