Cover Story
Second chances: Veterans services in Santa Maria help those who’ve served adjust to life outside the military
On the afternoon of Friday, May 22, Department 7 of the Santa Maria courthouse was packed with people. Most of them were U.S. veterans and their friends and family. Everyone stood and faced the U.S. flag. With hands over their hearts, the crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. The court was officially in…
What do you think should be done to prevent future pipeline oil spills in Santa Barbara County?
Sarah Huitt Pioneer Valley High School student “They shouldn’t drill for oil.” Ryan Goodrick outdoorsman “There should be more pipeline inspections by the company and the government.” June Anderson sewing and alterations “I think we do need to drill but we need more inspections.” Tom Faulk full-time student and full-time dad “More funding for government…
It’s go time: Seniors from SLO and Santa Barbara counties team up in football showdown to raise funds for high school athletics
When they faced each other in the regular football season, they were rivals. Now, players from seven Northern Santa Barbara high schools are teaming up as a strong, cohesive unit to go head-to-head with players from San Luis Obispo County in the fifth annual FCA All-Star Football Classic on June 6 at Santa Ynez Valley…
The Luis Oasis Senior Center Ukulele Band meets weekly for strummin’ fun
The general din of chatting friends and fingered ukuleles in the Luis Oasis Senior Center’s main room died down as the Luis Oasis Ukulele Band leader Ray Reynante approached a microphone placed in front of the several dozen seated seniors. With ukuleles tuned and group announcements out of the way, Reynante directed the group to…
Altrusa Santa Maria awards more than $20,000 in grants
The Altrusa International Foundation, Santa Maria, recently announced the recipients of more than $20,000 in the organization’s annual spring grants cycle. The foundation works to support local community-based organizations through its grants program. The recipients of the monies include the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Maria Valley Photography program, Bridges to Nations Children’s Camp…
Santa Barbara County Arts Commission showcases works from the Hancock’s Graphic Design program
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission presents the exhibit Revealed: Graphic Design at Allan Hancock College showing through Aug. 28 at the Joseph Centeno Betteravia Government Building’s art gallery. The show is designed to reveal the diversity of digital work created at the college by students in Nancy Jo Ward’s graphic design program. The exhibit,…
Lompoc Valley Art Association features Carol Kemp
The Lompoc Valley Art Association (LVAA) features the work of new member Carol Kemp in the exhibit Sacred Download: Art as Communion showing June 2 through 28 at the association’s Cypress Gallery, 119 E. Cypress Ave., Lompoc. The exhibit includes Kemp’s paintings, assemblage, and jewelry created in spiritual exploration, she explained in the LVAA’s most…
Daytripper: A grand view awaits at Knapp’s Castle
Camino Cielo’s got curves. They slow you down and wind you up to a ridgeline with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Los Padres National Forest backcountry to the east. It’s cliché, but the views really are expansive on Cielo’s ridgeline. The road starts at the top of San Marcos Pass (Highway 154);…
The C Gallery shows Gwen Cates’ abstract work
The “C” in Los Alamos’ C Gallery stands for contemporary, so the Bell Street art gallery plays host to new works by working artists, including painters whose endeavors take them beyond local vineyards and landscapes. Gwen Cates, whose show Cosmic Monologues is currently on display at the C Gallery, is more than familiar with painting…
Here comes payback
I am the oldest of four children. My brother and sister, the twins, are five years younger, and I have 10 years on my youngest brother. The twins, now grandparents like me, brought up seven teenagers between them, and I am coping with one, so we can all attest to one thing—payback is a bitch!…
Discovery Museum kicks off STEAM summer camps
During the month of July, Central Coast kids can spend their days time traveling through the artistic ages, building a drought-resistant garden, visiting with local safety officers, or constructing robots at the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum. The museum’s summer programs will offer a range of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM)-inspired activities starting…
‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’ donates to Guadalupe school
Dreams to restore the library at Mary Buren Elementary School in Guadalupe are now a reality thanks to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which responded to a plea from teachers with $100,000 from Target’s Thanks A Billion campaign. The show aired on May 22. “Our students are so deserving of this very generous gift from Ellen,”…
Allan Hancock College offers lifeguard certification class
High school and college students looking to land a year-round job can dive into a class being offered this summer at Allan Hancock College. It will be the second year in a row the college is offering a four-week long lifeguard certification class. “Students will learn the skills and earn the certificates needed to work…
Political Watch 5/28/15
• As the one-year anniversary of the Isla Vista tragedy passed on May 22, a bill by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson that would expand the list of misdemeanors carrying a 10-year ban on firearm possession and purchases was making its way through the Legislature. Senate Bill 347 would add things like petty theft involving a…
Community Notebook 5/28/15 – 6/4/15
MONDAY, JUNE 1 • The Solvang Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. TUESDAY, JUNE 2 • 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…
Spotlight on: El Padrecito Ministries
Father Masseo Gonzales’ two brothers are entrepreneurs. His older brother, David, founded a popular toy company, and his younger brother, Daniel, runs an apparel company in Chico. Gonzales is a businessman too, but his business is with God. He’s a Franciscan monk who runs a nonprofit ministry in Guadalupe called El Padrecito Ministries. His profits…
Hobnobbing with Helen
Two unusually entertaining golf tournament fundraisers took place in May—both, of course, were at the Santa Maria Country Club. The first was Golf for Wishes, held on May 15. What was special about this was the zeal of its founders, Jared Bailey and Danny Sheridan. Jared is a physical therapist with the Santa Maria Physical…
Oil and water: Crude hit Refugio Beach on May 19, seeping into the Pacific Ocean from a ruptured pipeline
Refugio state beach stank like gasoline just before sunset on May 21. The sand looked clean, the waves were clear and blue, but above the waterline, the rocks were dark, splattered with oil. Santa Cruz Island, vividly clear in the twilight, stood watch with the derricks as the light of the channel faded into the…
Lucia Mar Unified School District sued over bullying claims
The parent of a former Nipomo High School student is suing the Lucia Mar Unified School District in federal court, claiming that a physical education coach forced her son into activities against the advice of doctors and later bullied the teen when she brought up the problems to school and district officials. The lawsuit, filed…
Santa Maria forms Code Compliance Volunteer Patrol
The city of Santa Maria is forming a Code Compliance Volunteer Patrol to promote “neighborhood preservation.” The volunteer program, created at the behest of the City Council, aims to proactively educate residents who have potential violations on their property. Volunteers will work in pairs and go door-to-door. They won’t have the power to issue tickets…
City of Lompoc debuts its own FM radio station
Lompoc is now even more media savvy. Gregg Ratcliff, studio manager for the city’s Public, Education and Government [PEG] access television said that the city’s new FM radio station, 100.9 FM-LP, is operational. Ratcliff made the announcement before the City Council meeting on May 19, adding that the city received its broadcasting license one week…
Vandenberg AFB test-fires third ballistic missile
Air Force officials at Vandenberg Air Force Base test-fired an unarmed Minuteman-III ballistic missile during the early morning hours of May 20. Launched toward the Pacific Ocean at around 3:30 a.m., the purpose of the test launch was to “validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system,” according to the Air…
Nipomo declares Stage III water shortage conditions
In the face of the ever-continuing drought, the Nipomo Community Services District issued a Stage III water shortage declaration on May 21. According to NCSD Public Information Director Jessica Matson, the declaration is based on a report known as the Key Wells Index—which measures the level of water in eight wells scattered across the Nipomo…
The owner of Thai Talay in Pismo Beach opens new restaurant, Thai Villa, in Nipomo
When Chef Pranita ‘Jay’ Onyeneke and her cousin Chris Vongsaroj walked into Antonio’s Ristorante in Nipomo last fall, they had something other than lunch on their minds. “I came through the door, ordered a couple appetizers, and straight-up asked him,” Vongsaroj said, recalling his offer to buy a restaurant that was not for sale. The…
Raymond Navis
Nipomo High School freshman Raymond Navis is one of two local golfers who made CIF playoffs this year. He’ll golf May 24 at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena and said he wants to golf in the final at Pebble Beach. Navis told the Sun that he enjoys the sense of concentration he gets when he…
A stinky conundrum
One of the Sun’s reporters recently took an evening trip down Highway 101 to see for himself what the hubbub over this oil spill thing was all about. The smell was the first thing he noticed. It was unmistakable—the effervescent essence of freshly laid blacktop mixed with that familiar scent of gasoline straight out of…
No refuge at Refugio
Just like car crash commercials that make us drive a little more slowly, it’s amazing how a spill of horrible black goo can shake you up when it lands on Refugio, where surfers carve waves with friendly dolphins not far behind. It was best said when a news chopper proclaimed, ‘no wildlife affected,’ just as…
Déjà vu, all over again
News of the oil spill on May 19 at Refugio State Beach created an immediate internal response. “Oh no! How bad is it?” Images in black and white of dying birds, blackened beaches, and lame efforts to scoop oil sprang to mind—images of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil blowout. Though relatively small in size, this…
