Cover Story
Testing the waters: Locals prepare to submit a nomination to create a National Marine Sanctuary along the Central Coast
A wise animated crab once said: “The human world, it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they’ve got up there.” He was biased, of course, but nonetheless, there are some land-roaming humans who might agree. In the waters off the Central Coast, 13 different species of whales and dolphins come to…
PCPA’s ‘Christmas is Here Again’ is an original family holiday adventure
Once the swirling snow globe of wonder that is PCPA’s Marian Theatre shuts its doors, the lights dim on its 51st season’s debut holiday production, and the magic of the season comes alive. The original, new musical features a fantastical heroine’s journey that begins and ends with the joyous spirit of the Christmas season, from…
Which is your favorite local beach?
Lisa Karys-Schiff owner of Broadway Books “Surf Beach in Lompoc because it’s wild, it’s untamed, it’s got drift logs, and rocks, and wildlife and it’s usually pretty deserted.” Quentynn Johnson busboy at the Santa Maria Inn “My favorite local beach is probably Pismo because of the Outlets and the pier. That’s always my favorite, to…
Community Notebook 11/20/14-11/27/14
MONDAY, NOV. 24 • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. Agendas are available at cityofsolvang.com. • The South County Advisory Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Nipomo Community Services District Headquarters, 148 S. Wilson St., Nipomo. THURSDAY, NOV.…
Waterlogged
My wife and I didn’t go to the same high school. Even if we had, we probably never would have met each other. You see, back in high school, my wife and I existed in two very different worlds on campus. My world was ruled by the culture of high school football, Friday night lights,…
D’Vine Wine Bar offers intimate concerts in Lompoc
Right in the heart of Lompoc’s downtown, on the northwestern corner of Ocean Avenue and South H Street, sits the historic Schroeder Building. Several locally owned businesses call the old building home, but just one provides Lompoc with live music most nights of the week. The D’Vine Wine Bar and Bistro first opened in 2005,…
Think about writing
The Santa Maria Public Library is offering an event for teens with Road Rash author Mark Parsons on Nov. 21 at the Santa Maria Public Library. Parsons’ talk will focus on what it takes to become a professional writer and is a celebration of National Novel Writing Month. The event will take place from 4…
County Arts Commission announces fall grants
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission has announced the recipients of its Fall 2014 Community Arts Enrichment Grants Cycle. Eighteen of 25 applicants were accepted, with $12,600 awarded in total. The program is possible through a partnership between the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation and the county Arts Commission. The monies come from an established arts…
Santa Maria holds annual holiday decoration contest
The city of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is holding the annual Lights, Sights, and Holiday Nights Decoration Contest event open to city residents. Nominations are now being accepted through Nov. 30 for several categories, including Best of Show, Neighborhood Spirit, Best Animation, Best Craftsmanship, Lifetime Achievement, and Best Decorated Residence in the city’s…
Hancock hosts holiday pottery sale
Allan Hancock College’s Fine Arts Department presents the annual Holiday Pottery Sale event happening Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the college’s Student Center in building G. Just in time for the holidays, the show and sale will feature ceramic creations by Fine…
The Lompoc Museum features local painter Carol J. Oliveira
Lompoc is well known as the “City of Art and Flowers,” but the art tag is a recent addition to the slogan. From its earthy origins as an agricultural town, Lompoc has evolved into more, thanks to the efforts of generations of volunteer artists who have helped beautify the creative bastion. One such artist, Carol…
Hog high: Bacon & Brine is Solvang’s slab of pork paradise
Travel past the rusty windmill and towering 8-foot-tall sunflowers in Solvang’s Atterdag Square and you will be rewarded with pork—glorious, gleaming, local pork. Hunks of house-smoked bacon, mounds of freshly sliced ham, and spiced shoulders cooked slow and low. This is the kind of pig that makes field-hardened farmers weep and Southern folks beam with…
Spotlight on: Fit Body Boot Camp
Eighty percent of our health is diet, according to Frankie Enciso, a certified personal trainer in Santa Maria. The rest is exercise, and that’s where Enciso comes in. Enciso and his business partner Sue LaCoe are the owners of Fit Body Boot Camp, a new gym squeezed in between Santa Maria Burgers and Paragon Jiu…
Discovery Corner: Get ready for the holidays with the Discovery Museum!
The holidays are just around the corner, and the Discovery Museum is ready for them. We have lots of fun educational programming planned for the week of Thanksgiving: • We’ll be making Native American headdresses on Super Sunday, Nov. 23, from noon to 4 p.m. Bring a brown paper bag and any extra decorations you’d…
Hancock’s expanded winery building is ready for spring classes
Allan Hancock College’s wine program is expanding to become one of the most comprehensive in Southern California, with only CSU Fresno rivaling it for the title. The trick to Hancock’s burgeoning program is to create a hands-on experience that takes students through everything it takes to be successful winemakers—from grapevine to store shelf. Its expanded…
Faculty association and Santa Maria Joint Union High School District struggle to come to terms with contract
After more than a year’s worth of somewhat public fighting over the nuances and meat of a contract/collective bargaining agreement, the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and the district’s faculty association came to an agreement at the beginning of the summer. And in September, less than a month after the school year began,…
Political Watch 11/20/14
• California Gov. Jerry Brown and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval kicked off the third meeting of the Western Governor’s Drought Forum on Nov. 13. The governors offered opening remarks at the two-day meeting held in Sacramento. It was the third of four held on Drought Impacts and Solutions in the Agricultural Sector, according to a…
Community Corner: Santa Maria Keller Williams holds Toys for Tots drive
Agents at Keller Williams Realty in Santa Maria will be playing Santa Claus by collecting toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program in an effort to help local needy children have a good holiday season. Boxes are located at the office, 204 E. Enos Drive, and toys can be dropped off…
Students and employers want a four-year college in Northern Santa Barbara County
Cathleen Rafferty is a busy person. She holds two full-time jobs working as a licensed drug and alcohol addiction counselor for at-risk youth at the Serenity Group Home in Santa Maria and at the Good Samaritan Shelter in Lompoc. She’s also a well-educated person, but not in the traditional sense. She holds two associate’s degrees—one…
Pipeline crunch-time: A Nov. 21 hearing looms as Nipomo stakeholders consider key water decisions
In water-challenged South San Luis Obispo County, the concept of the Nipomo Supplemental Water Project has been around for decades. Day by day, though, the project is becoming more and more real. While the actual construction of a supplemental water pipeline between Santa Maria and Nipomo has been underway for more than a year now,…
Deputies search for suspect who followed Orcutt area student
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a suspicious person who reportedly followed an Ernest Righetti High School student in the Orcutt area on two separate occasions. “ERHS officials and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a report from a female student who said she was…
Jury selection begins for U-Haul murder trial
Jury selection for the Anthony Ibarra murder trial began at the Santa Maria Fairpark on Nov. 17. More than 2,100 Santa Barbara County residents were summoned to the park to begin selection for the jury that will judge the six defendants and one juvenile accused of the gang-related torture and murder of Ibarra last March.…
Two people are seriously injured in a vintage Mustang wreck
A vintage Shelby Cobra Mustang wrecked at the corner of Broadway and Enos the afternoon of Nov. 14, seriously injuring the driver and a pedestrian, creating a scene that backed up traffic in all directions. The accident drew dozens of people with smartphones in hand, who recorded the events as they unfolded. A blue Mustang…
Don’t let history repeat itself
Congratulations, Guadalupe! You got the money you were hoping for! Now just don’t mess it up. We heard for months that the city of Guadalupe was ready to go as belly-up as a goldfish at a smorgasbord, mostly due to the fact that some long-running iffier-than-iffy accounting practices had painted a rosier financial picture than…
Can’t we all just get along?
Rodney King was an ordinary guy with a few too many brushes with the law. But his now famous rhetorical question contains wisdom that we should all contemplate. “Can’t we all just get along?” Apparently not. We seem to have changed as a society. I think the problem is that many of us have come…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, Nov. 20 Men’s Basketball AHC vs. Santa Ana @ El Camino Tournament, 5 p.m. Tuesdsay, Nov. 25 Women’s Basketball AHC vs. Reedley College @ Reedley College, 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26 Men’s Basketball AHC vs. Cerritos @ Cerritos College, 7 p.m.
Free program hopes to rev up interest in vehicle safety
The Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center will be starting its Ride 3 (exponent) program in late December. The program will offer training to adults and children, ages 12 and up, on how to safely ride all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes. The program will consist of a classroom component, where students will learn about safety, and…
Ballet folklorico team takes first at an out-of-town competition
The Santa Maria High School Ballet Folklorico team took first place in the advanced category at the La Danza de los Negritos competition. The competition was held in the Laces Theater in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend of Nov. 8 and 9. The team was also awarded Most Outstanding Performance out of more than…
Players can reboot at a winter baseball camp
The Allan Hancock College baseball program is hosting a three-day youth clinic from Dec. 22 to Dec. 24. Children, ages 6 through 18, will be coached on hitting, fielding, and pitching by Bulldogs players and coaching staff, as well as former Major League Baseball pitcher Bryn Smith and the Santa Maria Valley Packers’ head coach…
Sandee Sanger
Sandee Sanger loves a challenge. That’s what drives this 44-year-old ultra marathon runner into competing in 100-mile races. Last year Sanger ran 100 miles through the Cascade Mountains in Plains, Wash. A lot of racers failed to finish the treacherous trail because there were no aid stations and no markers to help runners navigate through…
Local basketball player accepts a full-ride to Stanford
During a basketball game, the versatile 6-foot-7 Cameron Walker might check the clock to determine what kind of play he needs to call next. On Nov. 12, the 17-year-old Ernest Righetti High School varsity basketball player was off the court when he checked the clock for a much bigger play. He sat between his parents…
