Holidays in shelters: Good Samaritan Shelter provides a variety of events this holiday season for individuals experiencing homelessness By Taylor O’Connor Off-centered cheer: Shake up your holiday table with showstopper dinners that aren’t just turkey or ham By Bulbul Rajagopal Check out the local holiday events, happenings, festivities, and more!
Good Samaritan’s holiday events • Toy Drive: Dec. 19 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Stowasser Buick GMC, 600 Betteravia Road • Parade of Lights: Dec. 2 at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge, 1309 N. Bradley Road • Christmas in the Country display, a drive through holiday experience: Nov. 24 to Dec. 25 at…
Family gatherings for Oceano resident Lisa Price and her folks rarely followed the traditional route. Her dad wanted a party for his celebration of life. When he passed away, Price did just that. The family scattered his ashes at Pirate’s Cove and welcomed 100 people at Price’s house afterward with a taco truck and a…
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) recently reacted to news that the United States successfully brokered a deal with Israel to approve daily pauses in military action in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in need and facilitate the safe evacuation of civilians from areas where Israel may be conducting operations, according…
Shelley Klein embarked on a journey gathering stories from local Santa Marians about their personal or family history in World War II and received more than she expected for a new exhibit at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum. “I told my board, ‘I think I bit off more than I could chew.’ It’s…
Math might be the subject that confuses all of us at times. I know I’m confused by the numbers that Santa Barbara County Planning Commissioner Laura Bridley proffered during a recent meeting. During the Nov. 8 meeting, she was the sole commissioner to vote against the new cycle of the Housing Element—a state requirement to…
The Santa Maria Civic Ballet and Everybody Can DANCE present their annual collaborative production of The Nutcracker, choreographed by Diane Rose Zink, at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts in Arroyo Grande on Nov. 25, at 7 p.m., and Nov. 26, at 3 p.m. As the show’s artistic director, Zink has helmed this unique…
The Great American Melodrama’s 2023 production of The Holiday Extravaganza is scheduled to open on Nov. 17. Performances of this annual holiday production will run through Dec. 31. The three-act show includes the venue’s traditional retelling of A Christmas Carol, a fractured fairy tale opera segment, and a holiday-themed vaudeville act. For more details, call…
Get ready folks, your trash bills will be growing soon. That doesn’t mean that the service would get any better than it already is, it just means that the cost to your local solid waste utility is going to go up significantly because the state of California will begin requiring the acquisition of fully electric…
I wonder if people realize what has brought about increased costs to every facet of our lives? It is called “Bidenomics,” the increased spending and the nonstop printing of money by the federal government is the primary cause of the “out of control” inflation America is experiencing and will continue to experience until spending is…
Experience the tradition Catch the show for yourself at SLO Rep (888 Morro St., San Luis Obispo) Nov. 17 through Dec. 23. For tickets and more information on show times, visit slorep.org/shows/a-christmas-story-2023. There may be no better showcase of the wonder, chaos, and downright absurdity of the holiday season than the iconic Warner Bros. movie…
The Holdovers What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards Santa Maria & RPX Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, Nebraska, The Descendants) directs this dramedy set in 1970 starring Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, an unliked and ill-tempered history teacher at Barton Academy,…
Fingernails What’s it rated? R When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus What would you do to discover if the person claiming to love you is truly in love? What would you do to be assured you were really in love with your partner? In this Apple Original film, Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Ryan…
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission recently voted 4-1 (with 2nd District Commissioner Laura Bridley dissenting) to approve the county’s Housing Element update, which will go to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 5. The Housing Element is a process each jurisdiction in the state is required to go through every eight years to address…
The Sting What’s it rated? PG When? 1973 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre of San Luis Obispo on Nov. 18 (1:30, 4:15, and 7 p.m.) and Nov. 20 (7 p.m.) George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Slaughterhouse-Five, Slap Shot) directs this seven-time Academy Award-winning film (including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay,…
Zoom calls from public comment participants are commonplace at city hearings in Solvang, but the popular platform was ironically not used by any speakers during a recent discussion on silencing certain kinds of virtual discourse in the future. “I’ll point out that I keep looking at the screen to see if anyone has joined us,”…
Come out of your shell Enjoy oysters on the half shell and more at Mother Shuckers, 133 Thompson Ave., Nipomo. The restaurant is open Thursday through Sunday from 2 to 9 p.m. Karaoke nights take place Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. Keep up with Mother Shuckers on Instagram @mothershuckersnipomo and on Facebook at Mother…
Santa Maria stepped toward clean energy and dollars saved as the City Council voted 4-0 (with Councilmember Maribel Aguilera-Hernandez absent) to approve a 20-year contract to construct and operate solar power infrastructure at eight city-owned sites—generating expected savings of more than $12 million throughout the contract’s lifespan. The wastewater treatment plant, civic center, police department,…
