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Winning Images 2020
The Sun’s annual Winning Images photo contest went all-virtual this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And with that came hundreds more entries than last year. Check out the winners.
Enjoy the afternoon/evening with a food and beverage stroll through Old Town
If I could be grateful for one thing the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the associated safety guidelines for businesses have spawned, it’s definitely the move from inside to outside. Outdoor dining is so hot right now, and it’s a beautiful thing. Sitting with the breeze in your hair, dining al fresco on a patio…
Wildling Museum of Art and Nature hosts online auctions as part of its 20th anniversary virtual fundraiser
Going once. Going twice. Sold. Attendees of the Wildling Museum’s 20th anniversary virtual fundraiser, slated to take place on Friday, Oct. 16, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., can look forward to bidding in a live auction without even leaving their house. “We’re particularly excited about this new virtual event platform because it will allow us…
Gallery Los Olivos presents HeART and Soul, showcasing featured artists Sheryl Knight and Linda Mutti
Award-winning local painters and longtime collaborators Sheryl Knight and Linda Mutti are pARTnering up once again for HeART and Soul, a new landscape exhibition at Gallery Los Olivos. This duo exhibit will be open to the public starting on Thursday, Oct. 1, and is scheduled to remain on display through Saturday, Oct. 31. The show…
Dana Adobe and Cultural Center’s postponed July exhibit, All About Trees, now open to the public
Originally scheduled to debut at the Dana Adobe and Cultural Center in Nipomo on July 15, All About Trees—a group exhibition of locally and regionally produced art—opened on Sept. 28 and is slated to remain on display through Saturday, Dec. 4. This exhibit showcases about 20 to 25 paintings from several artists. Highlights of the…
Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation hosts drive-in screening of ‘Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story’
The Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation presents a screening of Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story at the West Wind Drive-In in Goleta on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. (gates open at 6 p.m.). Proceeds from the event will benefit the Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, a program of Cottage Health that includes Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital…
Questions, questions
It’s election season, y’all. And in Solvang, you’ve got two choices for mayor: Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Uhrig or sitting City Councilmember Karen Waite. While Solvang’s elected officials are fleeing from the dais, Waite isn’t—which should probably tell you something. “I believe the residents of Solvang really deserve to have the choice to…
Keep the dunes closed
I believe the dunes should stay closed to vehicles so they can be available to and enjoyed by local residents, walkers, equestrians, nature lovers, bird watchers, picnickers, families with small children playing in the sand, without the risk to life, limb, lungs, etc., posed by these beach vehicles, which are degrading our local environment. This…
I’ve had enough of Trump
Some wealthy, presumably white rancher has put up a hilarious yet disgusting billboard along Highway 101 south of Arroyo Grande. The billboard asks, “Had enough? Vote Republican.” Well sir, in fact, yes, I have had enough. I’ve had enough of a sociopathic, white supremacist, misogynist, moron pretending to be the president of the United States. …
Fourth time’s no charm
The Santa Barbara Vintners has spent two years and undisclosed funds trying to craft a Business Improvement District (BID). The good news is their latest proposal—1 percent assessment on all California direct to consumer sales—has dropped two of its more objectionable suggestions: using BID funds to market to the trade (grocery stores, wine shops, hotels,…
Oceano Dunes should be open to vehicles
How many miles of California coast are open to the public? Answer: All of it! Some Californians choose to recreate in vehicles. Some choose to enjoy it in other ways. In all fairness, one group should not be able to deny another group their enjoyment. It belongs to all Californians. Because someone with their own…
State Parks has mixed up its priorities in managing the Oceano Dunes, putting vehicles over environmental protection
For the past year, The Dunes Alliance (American Woodland Conservancy, Surfrider San Luis Obispo, Sierra Club’s Santa Lucia Chapter, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Oso Flaco Lake, Morro Coast Audubon, ECOSLO, San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, Oceano Beach Community Association, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Northern Chumash Tribal Council) have been asking Gov. Gavin Newsom…
Mayor Alice Patino reflects on her years as Santa Maria’s first female mayor, and plans to continue that legacy
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series highlighting Santa Maria’s three mayoral candidates. Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino’s upbringing taught her how to roll with the punches. With her father stationed at Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg Air Force Base), Patino said her childhood was full of the archetypal moving around that comes…
Political Watch: October 1, 2020
• On Sept. 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills that “will improve access to quality mental health and substance use disorder services for all Californians, as well as measures that help homeless Californians suffering from behavioral health challenges access the help they need,” according to the governor’s office. In February, the governor…
Santa Barbara County moves to less restrictive reopening tier
As of Sept. 29, Santa Barbara County has officially moved to the red tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, according to the reopening plan’s website. California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly confirmed the update in a Sept. 29 virtual press conference. This means that the county’s COVID-19 adjusted…
County approves temporary ban on commercial evictions
A set of temporary protections for commercial renters facing financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic were set to expire at the end of September, but a day before the expiration date, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to extend the protections through January 2021. At a meeting on Sept. 29, the board voted…
A fresh list of candidates are running for the Solvang mayoral position and two seats on city council
Solvang residents have two choices for mayor, and neither one is current Mayor Ryan Toussaint. Current City Councilmember Karen Waite is running against Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Uhrig to fill the position that Toussaint is leaving. Waite told the Sun she believes the position of mayor should be earned through experience and never…
Santa Maria District 1 candidate outraises everyone in city races
Santa Maria District 1 City Council candidate Carlos Escobedo has received more campaign contributions during this calendar year than anyone else running for city elected office. According to a campaign finance statement filed with the city Clerk-Records’ Office on Sept. 25, Escobedo has received a total of $26,799.38 in the calendar year to date. More…
