Nov 28 – Dec 8, 2024

Nov 28 - Dec 8, 2024 / Vol. 25 / No. 40
For two years, LEAP: Learn Engage Advocate Partner has been waiting for the state to approve its child care license. The nonprofit has spent almost $1 million prepping to open its center in Lompoc, which aims to care for infants through 5-year-olds and would provide a much-needed service in the city. Lompoc only has enough […]

Cover Story

Riptide Big Band welcomes 2025 with free Noon Year’s Eve concert

The Santa Maria Valley Senior Citizens Club and Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department are partnering to co-host a free New Year’s Eve celebration, albeit about 12 hours earlier than most parties designed to ring in 2025. The Noon Year’s Eve Celebration Dance will take place at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center in Santa Maria…

NEW FLICKS: My Old Ass

My Old Ass What’s it rated? R When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Writer-director Megan Park (The Fallout) helms this irreverent coming-of-age story about avowed lesbian Elliott (Maisy Stella), who’s on the cusp of her 18th birthday and about to leave her family’s cranberry farm to head to college in Toronto.  She and her…

BINGEABLE: Disclaimer

Disclaimer What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Famed Mexican auteur Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mama también, Gravity, Roma) helms this miniseries based on Renée Knight’s 2015 novel about documentarian Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), who receives a mysterious novel she believes features her as a central character portrayed as a…

Firestone Walker teams up with Ernie Ball on limited-release IPA

Burnin’ for you To find out more about Firestone Walker, visit firestonewalker.com. The company’s venues include breweries in Buellton (at 620 McMurray Road) and Paso Robles (at 1400 Ramada Drive).  Visit ernieball.com for more info on Ernie Ball, located at 4117 Earthwood Lane, San Luis Obispo. The goal behind Firestone Walker’s new IPA project was…

Tunnell, Alvin, Fairlawn, and Ontiveros playground construction starts at end of year

After a months-long delay due to contract errors, playground construction will begin at four Santa Maria-Bonita School District elementary schools while the students are on winter break.  The Santa Maria-Bonita school board unanimously approved contract agreements during its Nov. 13 meeting to build playgrounds at Fairlawn, Tunnell, Alvin, and Ontiveros elementary schools.  “Though the delay…

LAFCO approves Dana Reserve annexation despite new plant species claims

November was a triumphant month for Dana Reserve developer Nick Tompkins, as the San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) gave his housing project one of the last go-aheads it needed despite the Nipomo Action Committee’s final attempts to stall it.  “Reaching this stage is incredibly gratifying for everyone who has been part of…

Political Watch: November 28, 2024

• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced a $60.4 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the city of Ventura’s large-scale water recycling program, VenturaWaterPure, according to a Nov. 19 statement from Carbajal’s office. VenturaWaterPure is estimated to produce 3,600 acre-feet of recycled water annually. The grant is the largest in a…

Who’s really to blame for our high gas prices?

Why are gas prices in California higher than the rest of the United States? The political class in Sacramento blame the oil companies, saying that they are “profiteers.” But it is those same politicians who are driving them out of business to “save the planet.” So, who is really to blame? Maybe a recent decision…

Ridiculousness

In Lompoc, there are more than 2,700 children under 2 years old and only 186 child care spaces available in the city. “This translates to the potential unmet need for 93 percent of children ages 0 to 2,” according to a needs assessment from the local school district, adult school, and First 5 Santa Barbara…

Things for my kids to be grateful for when times are tough

You have a roof over your head, and if you didn’t, you’d go to Big 5 and buy a tent because you are a survivor. You have enough to eat and relatively clean water to drink. You have people who love you, and even if you didn’t, you could still give love to the best…

Take action to protect the Equal Rights Amendment

Women and girls in the United States still lack guaranteed equal rights. The consequences are evident in ongoing battles against unequal pay, workplace harassment, pregnancy discrimination, domestic violence, and more. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) became the 28th Amendment over four years ago and will update the Constitution to provide nationwide protection against discriminatory federal…


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