Cover Story
Feathers and knives
Gleaming steel knives sit in a red velvet-lined box. The curved three-inch blades are menacing, despite their size. At first glimpse, it’s difficult to tell what purpose they serve: They’re too sharp to be part of a Freddy Kruger-inspired costume, and too thin for woodworking. When paired with a coping saw, the strange daggers look…
If you could get an “Extreme Makeover,” what would you change about yourself?
Janice Salazar physician “I think women should just boost their confidence in general so they don’t have to worry about the external. Whatever is internal will emanate out to match the external.” Kirk Miller retired “Probably nothing. I don’t feel the need to, and it’s a lot of money.” Bill Psomas retired “I’d be 30…
Athlete of the Week
Because of the central role pitchers have on a team, the success of Allan Hancock College’s Bulldogs softball this season would not have been possible without starting pitcher and first year player Nathalia Powell. She leads the league in wins, with 18, in saves, and in strikeouts, with a whopping 107. She has also had…
Splash and dash
It’s time again for the fourth annual Splash and Dash at Allan Hancock College on April 27. Participants can take part in an Aquathon with the option of doing a 5K run and 500-yard swim or a 5K run, 500-yard swim, or two-mile walk. Organized and run by Hancock recreation students, the Splash and Dash…
A Bulldog goes big
Allan Hancock College basketball player Khufu Najee signed a letter of intent to attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis—a Division I school. A 6-foot-4, 185-pounder from Berkeley, who spent just one year at Hancock, Najee has already been informed he’ll be competing for a starting position right away, according to Hancock athletics. Hancock reported that Najee…
‘Sweet’ qualifying meet
The Hershey’s Track and Field Games will be held Saturday, May 11 at the Pioneer Valley High school track. With events kicking off at 9 a.m., the games are open to boys and girls of all skill levels from ages 9 to 14. Top performers at the games will receive medals and progress to the…
Run with the Bull
The 15th annual Bull Canyon run will be held Saturday, May 18. The event will kick off at 7:30 a.m. with a 10K run/walk followed by a 5K run/walk at 8 a.m. The Bull Canyon run will also feature a 5K kids run for ages 2 through 5 and ages 6 through 9 at 9:45…
Not your average athlete
Hunter Hall looks up at the thick rope hanging ominously from the soaring ceiling. Without even hesitating, he grabs hold of it and begins to climb his way up. In the blink of an eye, he’s already at the top and lowering himself to the ground. Hall does “rope climbs” 15 to 20 times every…
Biff! Bang! Pow!
It’s hard, at first, to tell exactly what’s on the wallpaper in the photo. Maybe it’s swallows, swooping in repeated patterns? Are they airplanes? Retro space ships? Shapes resolve slowly, and then the theme becomes clear. Nothing is flying at all. Those are saddles floating amid clouds of horseshoes, gloves, riding crops, and other, more…
Talk, why don’t you?!
Sometimes I wonder—OK, a lot of times I wonder: Whatever happened to the public’s right to know? I mean the part of government that is a public process, in the public eye, for all to see. Take, for instance, the closed session Buellton City Council meeting on April 25, when City Manager John Kunkel “resigned”…
A kind-hearted farce
Some stories don’t need to spell things out for you; they just need to convey a feeling or an idea, and as the action unfolds, the themes become apparent. The Santa Maria Civic Theatre’s production of Opal’s Husband is a prime example of a play that takes you on a journey of feeling and discovery.…
After the revolution, before the millennium
In Amy Herzog’s intelligent play After the Revolution, Emma Joseph has built a career on the legacy of her grandfather, a Marxist who was blacklisted in the ’50s. Then Emma discovers Grandpa Joe was actually a Soviet spy, and her world unravels. After the Revolution, which will be presented as a staged reading at the…
All for Mom
Altrusa of the Central Coast and its sponsored youth volunteer organization, ASTRA of Ernest Righetti High School, are presenting a Mother’s Day event for children of all ages at the Orcutt Public Library. Following a short story time, kids are invited to hand make and decorate cards for their moms. In addition to the cards,…
Making art as a family
The Santa Maria Michaels store offers upcoming arts and crafts classes for kids. “Free Family Craft Time: Handprint Keepsake Bouqet Event” is on May 6 from 10 a.m. to noon. “Free Family Craft Time: Mother’s Day Coupon Book Event” is May 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information, contact Michaels at 349-8801 or…
Crooning cabaret
The Lompoc Firefighters Foundation presents “Mother’s Love,” a fundraiser, dinner, and show, on May 11 at La Purisima Hall, 213 W. Olive Ave., in Lompoc. The evening will feature performances by Lompoc resident and cabaret singer Dennis Headrick, country crooner extraordinaire George Stillman, and American songbook master Maggie Worsdale. All proceeds from the special event…
A special guest
The Lompoc Valley Art Association invites any and all to its upcoming public meeting on May 7 from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the Stone Pine Hall, 200 South H St., in Lompoc. The featured speaker for the event is John Hood, an art instructor at Allan Hancock College, who will be demonstrating several techniques…
‘Tis a wonderful month for the Queen of the May
Happy May Day! The first day of May was originally celebrated by early Teutonic tribes as Walpurgis night and by the Celts as the festival of Beltane. These were times for rejoicing. The warmer weather brought happier expectations of fruitful crops, birthing of lambs and calves in the fields, and renewed activity that had been…
A celebration of stories
Every generation of great filmmakers had something in common: They had a story to tell. From silent-era icon Charlie Chaplin to modern directors like Scorsese or Tarantino, film has always been driven by stories. That’s the point Righetti High School film teacher Robert Garcia drives home to his students. “We shoot with the film techniques,”…
Mom deserves brunch
Some things, like fine wine and the Mother’s Day brunch at the Historic Santa Maria Inn, continue to improve with age. Behind the scenes, managers have been planning for months to present the best Mother’s Day grand buffet in the history of the hotel on Sunday, May 12. And that is saying a lot, considering…
The first time
Any use of the phrase “greenhouse gases” prompted groaning and contemptuous laughter from the gallery of North County residents watching the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission meeting from Santa Maria on April 24. It was as if the crowd were waiting for the dreaded emissions discussion to hold up progress on Santa Maria Energy’s plans…
Out among the oaks
The lack of public walking trails in the Santa Maria Valley has been an annoyance to walkers, bikers, horseback riders, and dog walkers for quite some time. Thankfully, Santa Maria Valley Open Space (SMVOS) started a couple of years ago to address that problem. Last year saw the opening of the Orcutt Hill Trail system,…
Hobnobbing With Helen
It was Amy Curti’s night to shine. And shine she did. This charming chairperson of the Orcutt Children’s Art Foundation (OCAF) was in charge of OCAF’s Annual Gala and major fundraiser, held Saturday evening, April 27, at the Santa Maria Country Club. Around 5:30 on the big night, Curti beamed as she went through the…
Down the tube
The Monterey Shale deposit below our feet contains an oil reserve worth untold trillions of dollars. Yet imagining the Monterey Shale as a single underground reservoir of oil misses the mark as badly as visualizing an aquifer as a subterranean lagoon canopied by limestone. Oil deposits certainly exist, but in pockets of varying size separated…
Spotlight on: Vibrant Radiant Health
The West Coast calls for happier people, with its sunny weather, beaches, and an overall more relaxed vibe. Cynthia Howard, a stress coach of more than 20 years, discovered this after moving her motivational and coaching business, Vibrant Radiant Health, from Maryland to Santa Barbara County just last year. “I actually think people are happier…
Local nonprofit helps county’s low-income families purchase homes
Coming up with the down payment for a house isn’t realistic for many low-income families, but the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County has one big tool in its arsenal to make doing so a bit more tangible. The nonprofit is entering the second year of a Workforce Homebuyer Down Payment Loan Program that…
Don’t talk to strangers online
The world of Internet-ready devices is one that many adults don’t fully understand, said Tracy Webb during a presentation at St. Joseph High School on April 29. She told parents and teachers that children today are “born digital.” “That makes us digital immigrants,” she said. Webb is a member of the Los Angeles Regional Internet…
Parting is such sweet sorrow
Patricia M. Troxel, one of the driving creative forces behind Santa Barbara County’s PCPA Theaterfest, died on April 21 after more than four years of battling breast cancer. Troxel was known and respected throughout the region for her work as a teacher, director, and literary manager. Her vast body of work as a director at…
Energizing communities
Moving to renewable resources to create energy has been a major focus recently for many in government and for individuals who are concerned about the environment. The Central Coast is no exception and on April 25 the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club was awarded with the 2013 Anthony Grassroots Prize for Organizational Stewardship…
Teen-led program looks for board members
The Fund for Santa Barbara’s Youth Making Change Program is taking teenage applicants to serve on the 2013-2014 boards. Youth Making Change is a teen-led grant-making program that gives youth the opportunity to engage in philanthropy. Each board, one in Santa Maria and one in Santa Barbara, gives out $15,000 in grants to projects led…
Coast Guard offers school help again
After attempting to meet the sequester’s budget restrictions by suspending tuition assistance, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it was reinstating the program for the rest of the fiscal year 2013. But the reinstatement comes with new eligibility requirements to ensure the $4.6 million set aside for Coast Guard tuition assistance will last until the end…
A cause worth picking for
Two hours of work yielded 2,000 pounds of oranges for the FoodBank of Santa Barbara County on Earth Day, April 22. It was all in a day’s work for the 17 volunteers, who are seniors at St. Joseph High School enrolled in Christian Witness classes. Frederick Ranch in Nipomo was host to the FoodBank orange…
Local students take the California FFA helm
Local students take the California FFA helm It’s not the first time students from Santa Maria and the surrounding area have been elected to serve as California FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) officers, but it’s not something that happens every day, either. And for the two young ladies taking their first year after high…
