Cover Story
Hi Mountain Condor Lookout volunteers and Cal Poly students help wildlife agencies track the endangered California condor
At the first creek crossing, you know it’s not going to be a smooth ride up Hi Mountain Road. It’s steep and deep, with rivulets of earth carved out by heavy creek flows rolling up the other side. This road was graded and re-opened to the public in 2018, but a winter of heavy rain…
Pure Natural Juice Bar makes eating healthy taste like a cheat day
Look. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nutritionist. I’m not even in particularly good shape. I’m just another doughy dude lumbering his way into middle age and hoping for the best. But I’ll tell you this: After sampling a few things off the menu, it sure feels like I’d be an Adonis in no…
Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum acquires new musical instruments
The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum recently added two new instruments to its musical library for guests of all ages to enjoy. Thanks to an anonymous donation, two conga drums and a collection of soprano pentatonic freechimes now stand in the museum’s outdoor area, next to the Discovery Farms produce truck. “We’re so excited to…
SCVB establishes Film Solvang
The Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) announced the establishment of Film Solvang, a strategic marketing service to assist filmmakers, local businesses, residents, and government representatives with planning film productions throughout the Santa Ynez Valley. “Filming is an important source of revenue for our economy in the short and long term,” SCVB Executive Director Tracy…
Central Coast Live Read holds sixth performance to benefit the Ian M. Hassett Foundation
I had zero acting experience when Central Coast Live Read (CCLR) founder Alli Wallace asked me to join the cast of the group’s inaugural production—a live table read of the Toy Story screenplay in 2016. Full disclosure: We’ve been friends since preschool, so the offer to read the pivotal role of Slinky Dog—who woofs a…
Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, and Fabian Forte team up as The Golden Boys
“Beauty school dropout/ No graduation day for you …” When it comes to generation gaps, Frankie Avalon’s performance as the guardian angel who encourages Frenchy to go back to high school in Grease knows no boundaries. Or do kids not grow up with Grease anymore? People still watch ABC Family, right? What’s that you say?…
The issues remain the same
Who’s ready for some Ocean Dunes State Vehicular Recreational Area dust talk? Oh come on, it’s thrilling. All this talk about micro-particulate matter, cancer, and dust mitigation is making me feel like I want to talk about the Oso Flaco Lake controversy again. On one side, we’ve got the Central Valley revved up and rearing…
Plains pipeline gets away with it
Let’s put this in perspective: The fine levied by Judge James Herman against Plains All-American Pipeline, based in Houston, for the 2015 Refugio Oil spill was $3.3 million. Plains’ revenue during the last quarter was $8.79 billion. That comes out to more than $4 million per hour. In one hour, Plains made more money than…
We need solutions
Karen Garcia wrote an excellent article on the personal heartbreak that is the result of immigration policies and enforcement that has been given the wink and nod for more than 40 years (“After deportation,” April 25). Congress needs to do something about this now. Actually it should have been done yesterday. President Trump has offered…
Lompoc’s temporary tax: Should it be for a single purpose?
Lompoc has a revenue problem that looks like it’s not going away anytime soon. Many are arguing that any proposed temporary sales tax to help alleviate the revenue problem should be for a specific purpose, so let’s try and figure out just what that purpose would be. The City Council majority is currently standing by…
Spotlight on: Natural History Museum
Virginia Perry Souza and her mother first opened the Natural History Museum in Santa Maria as a tribute to Souza’s late father, who was fascinated by the Central Coast’s nature and wildlife and passed that appreciation on to his daughter. Despite her genuine enjoyment of wildlife, Souza said she’d had no intention of acting on…
Lompoc’s main fire station faces structural, budget issues
Firefighters with the city of Lompoc are working 24-hour shifts in a fire station that may not be able to withstand an earthquake. The fire department’s most recent attempt to fix this problem was rejected earlier this year. In March, the department was informed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a grant application to…
Locals and park goers workshop draft plan to reduce dust emitted by Oceano Dunes
It’s been more than 50 years since Jim Suty’s family first started traveling from the Bay Area to the Oceano Dunes. Since then, he can only remember three Thanksgiving dinners he’s spent away from the beach. To Suty, the debate over the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is about more than just riding dirt…
Political Watch May 9, 2019
• State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) announced on April 30 that his Anti-Eavesdropping Act passed the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee. The bill, if signed into law, would prohibit smart speaker manufacturers from storing, data mining, or selling voice recordings collected through smart speakers. “Recent revelations about how certain companies have staff…
Dispensary owner faces charges in Los Alamos cannabis probe
One of 805 Beach Breaks’ owners is facing criminal charges in Santa Barbara County as part of an investigation into a cannabis farm in Los Alamos that was raided by law enforcement in March. Brian Touey is one of three growers being charged in connection to the site at 9676 Harvest Road, which housed hundreds…
State agencies consider aquifer exemption in Cat Canyon Oil Field
Oil companies may have more space to build injection wells in the Cat Canyon Oil Field if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves a potential recommendation from various state agencies. The California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR)—along with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Coast…
Camp 4 bill passes House after months of volatility
It’s been a crazy few months for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and the tribe’s long-standing effort to get Camp 4 officially placed into trust is starting to seem like a never-ending rollercoaster. The Chumash got over another hump on that coaster on April 29, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a…
Santa Maria resident offers emergency bystander training in wake of Oceano shooting
It’s been about a year since Santa Maria resident Scott Hunter retired after 30 years in firefighting and started offering free classes to Central Coast residents on ways to block massive bleeding injuries during violent incidents. The classes are part of a national awareness campaign called Stop the Bleed, which Hunter said was first launched…
Firefighters union sues Santa Maria city, employees
The Santa Maria Firefighters Union is accusing the city and three of its current and former employees of illegally retaliating against labor union executives for opposing a proposed hiring policy. A lawsuit filed in March, shortly after a Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) hearing found that the city violated the state law on collective bargaining,…
Santa Maria Civic Theatre’s Putnam County Spelling Bee is hysterical
I had never seen a production of Rachel Sheinkin’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, so every joke in Santa Maria Civic Theatre’s (SMCT) rendition of the Tony Award-winning musical—which runs through Sunday, May 19—was brand new to me. Nor have I ever competed in a spelling bee myself, but it’s the former that…
