Cover Story
This land is yours
The earliest memories Erik Garcia has of growing up in California are of living in Oakland and then later in Modesto. He remembers going to flea markets where his dad had a stand selling a number of goods. “We tried to have our own business, but obviously like with most businesses there are hit and…
What is your favorite style of beer?
Doug Dougherty executive director of Oasis “Mine is an India pale ale. I like the range and different flavors of hops. There are a lot varieties.” Gloria Vanhirtum hospitality “Mine is lager, personally. It’s perfect for people who don’t want anything heavy.” Mason Frakes realtor “That’s an awful question. I’d probably go with India pale…
Rebeccamendations
• Florianos 805 has excellent tacos, burgers, and more, but their ceviche (picture) is pretty incredible, too. Try it out at 1129 N. H St., Lompoc. • Rancho San Julian’s Pumpkin Patch is now open Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The ranch store…
Ca’ Del Grevino’s Cafe and Wine Bar offers fine dining in a casual package
For some reason this week, I have “Food Glorious Food” from the musical Oliver! stuck in my head. I’ve been singing it nonstop for two days (much to the “delight” of those close to me who have to endure my shaky singing skills). So I’m giving in and writing about some truly glorious food that…
Special Olympians to compete in divisional games in Santa Maria
Kristy Soriano, 39, was 9 years old when she first enrolled in a Special Olympics competition. Her sport of choice at the time? Track and field. “My parents got me involved,” the lifelong Santa Maria resident recalled to the Sun. “They thought it was a good way to exercise. I used to go down to…
Dino Maldonado
For Dino Maldonado, transferring from Ernest Righetti High School to St. Joseph High School two years ago and joining the Knights football team was like getting adopted into a new family. Maldonado rose to a top position in that family quickly—becoming the Knights’ starting quarterback as a junior and filling the big shoes of outgoing…
Pioneer Valley’s Performing Arts Center to open its curtains in November
In celebration of the grand opening of Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s new Performing Arts Center, Pioneer Valley High School students will stick it to the man on Nov. 2 with an exclusive performance of School of Rock the Musical. The production, based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black, was written by…
Spotlight On: Studio 8
When Berta Cabrera first started cutting hair, she wasn’t sure how long she would stick with it. “I wanted to be a police officer, but my parent’s didn’t believe in a girl being a police officer,” she said. “My father said, ‘No.’” The refusal was hard to bear. Around that same time, one of Cabrera’s…
Punching back
Javier Solis has lived in La Plaza Villas Apartments for nearly eight years. The complex, a series of cream-colored stucco buildings at the end of Olivera Street in Guadalupe, is one of the largest in a town that lacks abundant affordable housing for its residents. Eight years ago, Solis said he felt lucky to have…
The art of funding
The Santa Maria City Council is in agreement for the need of a public arts master plan. What council members cannot agree on is how to fund it. “That’s what it really is about,” Councilmember Mike Cordero told the Sun. “It’s gotta be paid for. The trick is, who pays?” On Oct. 3, council members…
Residents criticize Santa Maria youth safety task force
Another in a series of public meetings on the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety went awry on Oct. 9 after a string of community members criticized the city of Santa Maria’s attempts at addressing recent spikes in violence in the city. The intent of the meeting, held in the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center,…
Humor: Ariel is a ghoulish grandma
My God! Is it already October? Is Halloween really almost upon us? It is my favorite holiday because I love a good fright! Give me the scary and I’m there! My love of a good scare comes from my mother and her sisters. They were the mistresses of scare tactics. One of the last times…
Local Notes: Local remembers Tom Petty’s legacy and last show
Josh Kitchen grew up in Santa Maria to parents who always cranked the great American songbook of the 1960s and ’70s. They also took him along to concerts, often, and he’s seen just about everyone, from Paul McCartney to Emmylou Harris, from Randy Newman to Kanye West. Kitchen (full disclosure: Kitchen and the author are…
Community theater group launches in Orcutt
Community theater may have a new home in Orcutt. If the people behind the Orcutt Community Theatre group have their way, it will eventually be a permanent fixture in town, performing several diverse shows every year. For now, the group, which includes comedian and ventriloquist Lezlie Thoroddsson, is trying to raise funds to get the…
Women’s equestrian fashion featured at historical exhibit in Santa Ynez
A cowgirl refused to wear a corset during a competition and helped change the way women equestrians dressed forever. That’s just one small nugget revealed in a new exhibition presented by the Costume Council at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum. The Evolution of Women’s Equestrian Attire Through the Past Century, which opened with a…
SpaceX launches satellites from Vandenberg, completes landing
Another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted into low-earth orbit just after 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. After delivering its payload of Iridium Communications Inc. satellites, the rocket booster successfully landed on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, according to a SpaceX news release. “Each successful launch brings us one step…
Solvang City Council ends deadlock, appoints new member
Solvang City Council appointed Karen Waite to its recently vacated seat on Oct. 6, ending a weeks-long debate over protocol codified in 2009 that outlines ways to fill a prematurely emptied position. Council members voted 0-3, with one abstention, to appoint Waite, a local businesswoman and the runner-up of the November 2016 election by only…
Lompoc City Council grants city manager vote of confidence
Following months of public feuding, Lompoc City Council members unanimously agreed in closed session on Oct. 3 that they had confidence in their city manager, Patrick Wiemiller. Mayor Bob Lingl made the announcement in open session at that night’s City Council meeting. “We had a very good discussion, some back and forth, and at the…
County and city fire agencies respond to fires across state
As thousands of acres in California burn, firefighters from across the state are scrambling to douse the flames, including some from Santa Barbara County and city fire agencies. According to a news release from Cal Fire on Oct. 10, at least 17 large wildfires started over a span of 36 hours, burning more than 115,000…
Canary hits new low
The Sun has hit a new low with the Canary’s “Divided we stand,” (Sept. 28). The biggest reason? His continued attacks on President Trump are not only tiresome but also moronic. Hey Canary, Trump knows what he’s doing, you dumb-dumb. He may be caustic and pompous, but he’s also right. The NFL players not respecting…
California, a sanctuary state
On Oct. 5, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation (SB 54) that makes California a sanctuary state, protecting illegal immigrants living in California. An Associated Press article says it gives California “another tool to fight president Donald Trump.” Is that what we need? Another tool to “fight” the president of our country? And, yes, if you…
Santa Maria City Council caves to developers
After two years of planning, community meetings, and a formal recommendation from the Planning Commission, our City Council decided not to listen to the community, the Planning Commission, or its own Recreation and Parks Department. Instead, they listened to the developers, who don’t want their projects to cost a little more, even if the money…
Enhanced oil recovery blues
Recently, I and other North County residents have written letters opposing dramatic and dangerous expansion of steam injection/oil extraction projects proposed by big oil consortiums for the Santa Maria area. They plan to put 760-plus new high-risk wells in aging facilities, posing significant pollution risk to our Santa Maria River and San Antonio Creek drinking…
Townie politics
There’s nothing quite like city politics. All politics are local, they say, and you don’t get more local—or heated—than that! Of course the Lompoc City Council is always entertaining, with all the finger-gun waving and accusations of insubordination. They’ve decided not to fire City Manager Patrick Wiemiller, and gave him a vote of confidence, which…
Lompoc City Council’s issues have a history
Your “Canary” was recently wondering why folks might think that there is a shadow government in Lompoc (“WTF, Lompoc,” Sept. 21), with former Mayor John Linn at the helm. First a brief chronology of events over the last decade: Linn ran against longtime Mayor Dick DeWees in 2008 and lost by a narrow margin. Following…
The time to act is now
We all in America need to put gun violence in perspective. Most Americans do not realize that we have nearly twice as many guns at 88.8 per 100 citizens as any other nation. Researchers have correlated guns with higher homicide rates in the United States. After the horrific shootings at the Route 91 Harvest Country…
Political Watch
• U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) announced via social media that she would seek re-election for California’s open Senate seat in the 2018 election. “I am running for re-election to the Senate,” Feinstein posted on Twitter. “Lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to health care. I’m all in!” • U.S.…
Hobnobbing with Helen
The Minerva Club, founded in 1894 by a small group of pioneer women, held its traditional Opening Day luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Radisson Hotel. \More than 130 ladies came to welcome the official start of Minerva’s 2017-2018 club year. In need of rest and relaxation, after several arduous months of teas, potluck…
