Cover Story
Lens flair: Check out the results of Winning Images 2014
Winning Images began at our sister paper, New Times, in 1994, and the contest has been inviting local photographers to participate for 19 years now. It eventually expanded to include this paper, the Sun—and this batch of images should remind everyone involved of why this annual competition has been such an enduring and…
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Brina Conner student “Helping foster kids in the system.” Tyler Hollum buser “Finished with college and working at a job I want rather than one I have to do.” Skye Elder preschool teacher “Well-traveled and still teaching preschool.” Esteban Pachaco student “Using my architectural education to help people.”
Measure P defeated; oil companies live to drill another day
There were more reporters than supporters at the informal gathering thrown by the No on Measure P campaign on election night at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria. Supporters and campaign workers checked the latest numbers throughout the night of Nov. 4 on cell phones, tablets, and computers. “It’s a pretty big spread at this…
Katcho keeps his assembly seat
Incumbent Katcho Achadjian was re-elected to his second term in the 35th District state assembly seat, which represents all of SLO County and Northern Santa Barbara County. Achadjian, who previously was a three-term SLO County supervisor representing District 4, has been settling in to his mainstay reputation for area politics. The assemblymember had to fend…
Political Watch 11/6/14
• On Oct. 30, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a report showing a 7 percent decline in California’s total homeless population since 2010. The data is compiled through what’s known as a point-in-time count held at the end of January, where volunteers and organizers count and/or survey homeless people on…
Community Notebook 11/6/14-11/13/14
MONDAY, NOV. 10 • The Santa Maria City Block Grants Advisory Committee has its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room, 110 E. Cook St., Santa Maria. • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. Agendas are available at…
Brokers tout commercial development in Santa Maria
Several hundred people, including workers in blue shirts and safety goggles, lined up in the parking lot of the Airpark Drive Zodiac plant around noon on Oct. 31 to get a free lunch of hot dogs and tacos. Pacifica Commercial Realty broker Jerry Schmidt and Santa Maria Planning Commissioner Etta Waterfield were handing out the…
Santa Maria sees its first significant rainfall in months
Ask anyone around Santa Maria when the last time it rained was, and they likely won’t remember. That all changed on Halloween night. The storm brought anywhere between a half inch in Buellton to almost 1.5 inches in Santa Maria. The rain may have been needed, but also caused some minor problems throughout the county.…
Supervisors ask for revisions to proposed dangerous dogs ordinance
A handful of Santa Barbara County residents begged the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 to save two dogs sentenced to death under the county’s current dangerous dogs ordinance. About seven people made the request during the public comment portion of a hearing on the county Public Health Department’s potential changes to the Animal and…
Etta Waterfield wins a Santa Maria City Council seat
A steady stream of voters of all ages cast ballots at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center polling location on Park Avenue in Santa Maria last night, voting to elect city Planning Commissioner Etta Waterfield as the city’s newest council member. Along with Waterfield—who won the majority with 34 percent (6,077 votes)—incumbent Jack Boysen (26 percent,…
Bob Lingl is Lompoc’s mayor
The challenger to incumbent John Linn won the election to become Lompoc’s new mayor with a margin of more than a 1,000 votes. It was quiet at the Trinity Church of the Nazarene polling location on D Street, where the last votes trickled in the night of Nov. 4. The final ballot was cast at…
Capps narrowly holds her seat
California’s secretary of state reported that, as of 4:43 a.m. on Nov. 5, incumbent Democrat Lois Capps had edged out her Republican opponent Chris Mitchum 51.6 to 48.4 percent to keep her U.S. House of Representatives District 24 seat. This year’s election resulted in the narrowest margin of victory yet for the longtime congresswoman, who…
Voters decide to bring Guadalupe’s budget closer to balanced
Guadalupe residents pulled together to push their city back from the brink of losing its cityhood on Nov. 4, with more than 70 percent of voters backing three measures to increase revenue pouring into the city’s general fund. Perhaps pouring is too strong a word. The measures should add an extra $300,000 or more to…
Santa Maria Library offers story times for kids
The Santa Maria Public Library hosts a series of story time events for a range of ages regularly for the following months. Super Squashed Preschool Story Time meets on Wednesdays through Dec. 10 at 12:30 p.m. for stories, songs, finger plays, and books on DVD for ages 3 to 5. Children must be signed up…
PCPA extends outreach tour
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) is extending its outreach tour thanks to a generous grant from The Moca Foundation, which will allow PCPA to extend the run of Thomas and the Library Lady. The story is based on the true story of author and educator Thomas Rivera who found his passion for reading and education…
Flying Goat Cellars featured on NPR
Flying Goat Cellars winemaker Norm Yost was a guest on the NPR radio show Take Two on Oct. 24, and spoke with Business and Economics Reporter Brian Watt regarding the local wine industry boom following the popularity of the film Sideways. Yost spoke about his wine making, including his concentration on sparkling wines through the…
Wildling shows local plein air artists
The Wildling Museum is featuring the works of six local plein air artists through Dec. 15. The painters are members of Plein Air Artists of the Central Coast, a group of internationally recognized artists from SLO and Santa Barbara counties who enjoy painting the area on location. The original recent works of oil, pastel, and…
Disposing the Help
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was out, birds were chirping in the backyard, and I didn’t have anything that I had to do. It was nice to just wake up to a day where there were no travel plans, no children’s sporting events to attend, or any honey-to-do lists to procrastinate. With…
Redhead Express brings Americana folk rock to Lompoc
There is something about sibling bands. A perfect example is the Everly Brothers, a band and brothers that show off the power of two voices that have spent a lifetime singing together. Lompoc is about to be graced by not two, but four sibling musicians who blend their vocal and instrumental harmonies into a tapestry…
Local videographer premiers a documentary on Youtube
Every day young people are told that their infatuation with phones, social media profiles, and the Internet is dangerous and unhealthy. In almost the same breath, they are also told that it’s the only way for them to carve out some success in today’s economy. From parody Twitter accounts to serious artists with work to…
Allan Hancock College showcases comic and animation originals
The comic book has had an undeniable influence on the cultural identity of the media we enjoy today. Before television ever came along, comic books offered fantastic, episodic tales told frame by frame, with artwork and words. The comic book boom of the ’50s and ’60s came with the success/rivalry of Marvel and DC Comics…
Cori Lassahn of Vineyard Yoga SYV Yoga pairs wine with ancient art
We are lying motionless on the ground, wrestling with the ancient struggle of letting go. “You are sinking into the grass with every exhale of your breath,” coos yoga instructor Cori Lassahn. “Let go of the effort it took to drive here. Try to be so still that you are no longer concerned with your…
Spotlight on: New Lows
Walking into New Lows on West Ocean Avenue in Lompoc’s old town, you will most likely be greeted by the smooth sound of reggae coming from the back of the shop. Owner Ben Barrick listens to the music as he scrapes globs of ink onto T-shirts through screens that rotate on a contraption made up…
Discovery Corner: Geology is all around us!
This week, we invited Will Myest, educational program coordinator with the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center, to write a little bit about geology and the rock cycle, which he will talk about in more depth at Science Saturday on Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. Take it away, Will! When you think of a geologist, who do you…
Anonymous donation funds Hancock safety complex
When a fire makes a room so hot that everything, even the gases in the air, spontaneously combust, the room explodes into a ball of fire. It’s one of the most feared events among firefighters, and also the most deadly, said Andy Densmore, the Allan Hancock College Fire Academy coordinator, in a press release. That…
Santa Maria High students honor indigenous heritage
Golden flowers and colorful tissue paper cut-outs line the altar set up by Santa Maria High School students to remember fallen alumni and school staff. The students are from the CE’ENI club, and they celebrated Dia de los Muertos with their altar, which contained photos of those who’ve passed and food such as corn and…
Doctor, lawyer … uh …
I’m going to give Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf the benefit of the doubt, because it really was just a slip of the tongue. Many people might not have even noticed. But I heard it, there among a late-morning debate about the latest version of a sheriff’s services contract at the Nov. 4 Board…
Public servants safeguard our nation
So much of what makes our country great has been in short supply in recent years. Politics as the art of compromise is long gone. Civility in public discourse has almost disappeared. Respect for the scientific method, and the supremacy of facts over feelings, is no longer abided. We choose our own news channels according…
What’s On Deck 11/6/14-11/13/14
Thursday, Nov. 6 Cross Country PAC 8 Finals @ Cuesta College, 2 p.m. Boys’ Water Polo LPL Finals @ Lompoc Aquatic Center Football NHS vs. Dos Pueblos @ DPHS, 4 p.m. LHS vs. Cabrillo @ Cabrillo, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7 Women’s Soccer AHC vs. Moorpark College @ Moorpark, 3…
From one car lover to another
The Wheels ‘N’ Windmills Car Show organization donated $1,000 to the Lompoc Valley Motorsports Committee at the Alisal River Golf Course in Solvang on Oct. 24. The Lompoc Valley Motorsports Committee runs the Kids Moto Fun Park, which is a free, interim facility for children up to age 12 at River Park. The Lompoc Valley…
It’s never too late for tee time
The Central Coast Golf Academy is offering golf classes for beginners at the Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande. Staff instructor and Professional Golfers’ Association of America apprentice, Ken Smokoska, will lead the hour-long adult classes Wednesdays and Thursdays starting at 3:30 p.m. The first five sessions are $99 and additional sessions are $139.…
Santa Barbara citizens will walk in remembrance of those affected by Alzheimer’s disease
The Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter expects more than 1,000 people to participate in this year’s Santa Barbara Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Earl Warren Showgrounds on Nov. 8. Check-in begins at 9 a.m., and the mayor of Santa Barbara, Helene Schneider, will address the crowd at the opening ceremony at 10 a.m. A…
Willie Iribarren
The Southern California Football Association named Willie Iribarren from Allan Hancock College the Northern League Athlete of the Week on Oct. 27, in the eighth week of this season. Iribarren plays linebacker for the Bulldogs and leads the team’s defensive line this season with 81 tackles, averaging 11.6 tackles per game and 7.5 tackles for…
A local coach starts Santa Maria’s first youth wrestling program
Anthony Dakuras walked into the gym at the Minami Community Center on Oct. 30, laced up his wrestling shoes, and set his bag and bathroom scale on the bleachers. Dakuras is the head instructor and founder of Santa Maria All-American Wrestling (SMAAW), which is the first wrestling class offered through the city of Santa Maria…
