Cover Story
Santa Barbara County’s new program to help with climate change’s impact doesn’t have a North County location
Longer wildfire seasons and more extreme heat days are some of the current ways Santa Barbara County residents are already seeing climate change affect their everyday lives. To address these impacts, Santa Barbara County instituted the regional climate collaborative: a network of organizations working together to create climate mitigation and “resiliency” efforts, according to the…
County plans to apply for grants to help disadvantaged communities
Seven towns in Santa Barbara County currently fit the state’s definition of disadvantaged unincorporated communities (DUCs), according to a recent analysis. The label refers to low-income communities with unmet, critical infrastructure needs, planner Zoe Carlson explained during a summary of the countywide analysis at the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission’s Nov. 2 hearing. All seven…
Health care forum highlights need for ongoing federal funds
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra attended a Nov. 2 community forum—hosted by Community Health Centers in Santa Maria—to hear about local COVID-19 vaccination efforts during the pandemic and to discuss future health care collaborative opportunities. “I think it validated or it gave a lot…
Enviro groups join Exxon lawsuit as company sells offshore unit
A federal judge recently ruled that conservation and indigenous groups can help legally defend Santa Barbara County after oil giant ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against the county regarding the denial of an oil trucking proposal. The project—which was denied by the Board of Supervisors in March—proposed trucking crude oil along highways 101 and 166 from…
Two Central Coast-based veterans organizations host second annual golf tournament fundraiser
In 2021, Welcome Home Military Heroes Founder Robert Tolan worked with Band of Brothers’ Founder Jeff Stone, creating a golf tournament in the span of five weeks. “We had quite a bit of mistakes last year; none of us had ever played in a golf tournament. None of us had even really played golf,” Tolan…
Political Watch: November 10, 2022
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) hosted a virtual event alongside California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-San Francisco) and state mental health experts to celebrate the new 988 suicide and crisis lifeline’s establishment with the recent signing of Assembly Bill 988, which will provide enhanced resources to the state to help combat the rising mental health…
The big game
Should we cry for ExxonMobil? The multi-national energy corporation sued Santa Barbara County over what’s known as a “takings” in May for the Board of Supervisors’ decision to deny an oil trucking project that would have enabled the company to restart its operations offshore near Santa Barbara. Recently, a judge ruled that a bunch of…
An alternative to war
“Now, therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, president of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the cessation of hostilities of World War II, effective 12 o’clock noon, Dec. 31, 1946.” I was a little more than 10 months old when President Truman proclaimed an end to war and the beginning of what the world…
Reflecting on wars and diplomacy, past and present
Sixty years ago, the world stood inches from nuclear armageddon as President John F. Kennedy went mano a mano with Nikita Khrushchev to force the USSR to remove nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba. Sun readers are mostly much younger than me, but you probably know how the crisis was resolved if you’ve read anything about…
Two painters examine subjectivity, individuality in new Los Olivos exhibit
There’s a mantra written on local artist Karen McLean-McGaw’s easel that has influenced all of her paintings since the 1980s. “Tell me a different truth” is the phrase, which McLean-McGaw adopted from famed watercolorist Timothy J. Clark, who she once studied with. “Every time I start a painting, I am reminded to look beyond the…
Riptide Big Band brings live music to USO Dance in Santa Maria
The USO Dance, hosted by the Santa Maria Valley Senior Club with support from the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department, will be held on Nov. 13, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center. The dance will feature live music provided by the Riptide Big Band. Admission to the event is…
PCPA presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella’
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre’s (PCPA) production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella will premiere at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria on Nov. 10, with performances scheduled to run through Dec. 23. Iconic musical numbers in the show include “Ten Minutes Ago,” “In My Own Little Corner,” and “Impossible; It’s Possible.” The show’s director, Erik Stein,…
Santa Maria Wine Trolley offers extended wine tasting transportation through Thanksgiving weekend
This year marked the return of the Santa Maria Wine Trolley, after the attraction’s two-year pause due to the pandemic. The trolley resumed transportation services to local tasting rooms in May, and a recent boost in ticket sales inspired the program’s organizers to extend this season’s end date—originally in mid-October—to late November. “This is our…
