Cover Story
Overdue time: After decades of exemption from overtime laws, California farmworkers will receive equal protection
At 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in September, Eliseo Martinez was fresh off his shift. His jeans were covered in dust, his sweatshirt askew, and his sneakers caked in mud. When asked, “¿Cómo estás?” he smiled and said he was “cansado.” He was tired. Martinez wore the telltale signs of a 10-hour workday in the…
Daytripper: Prost! Raise a glass to San Diego!
If it weren’t for baseball, drinking could probably be America’s favorite pastime. It most certainly is in Germany, at least during Oktoberfest, when beer flows as strong as the River Danube. The beer industry is a thing unto itself in San Diego, where more than 100 breweries exist in the county alone. Heading down to…
The race for citizenship: Recent surge in naturalization applications won’t affect processing time, federal agency says
Olga Santos stood before a small crowd of farmworkers and their families—many of them Mexican immigrants—at a Santa Maria Domestic Workers Alliance event in mid-September. Following presentations by candidates for Santa Maria’s City Council, Santos addressed comments made last year by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “Maybe this candidate is saying we’re criminals,” Santos said…
What would you do if you saw a creepy clown on the Allan Hancock College campus?
Fernhiel Legaspi Hancock student “Walk away.” Stephanie Avaloz voter registration coordinator “I would want to take a selfie with it so I could post it on Facebook.” Jessica Valencia voter registration coordinator “I would ask him if he’s with Trump.” Naomi Miramontes Hancock student “I’m super scared of everything scary. I would freak out and…
Isaac Knowles
A lot of teens recite the classic complaint, “There’s nothing to do.” But for Isaac Knowles there is always something to do. The Righetti High School freshman plays water polo for the JV novice squad. The Warriors water polo team has a reputation for excellence, and that excellence doesn’t come without a lot of dedicated…
Headed for the middle: Central Coast schools apply for realignment from CIF Southern Section to the Central Section
Missing class to travel to a game and long drives to play on foreign turf are part of the student athlete experience, but some Central Coast high schools say their teams spend too much time on the road to the detriment of player safety and morale. Those schools have applied for realignment from the CIF…
Bring out your dead
Oh, autumn! How I do love thee! It’s my favorite time of the year, and October is my favorite month. The frosting is on the pumpkin scones and the air is crisp with the scent of ashes from the smoldering wildfires of summer. Pumpkins abound at every corner Starbucks in lattes, frappes, and the aforementioned…
Lompoc Concert Association opens season with trumpeter Brandon Ridenour
The Lompoc Concert Association (LCA) welcomes traveling musicians of high caliber to perform in Lompoc every year. The opening concert for the association’s new season will feature a skilled soloist—trumpeter Brandon Ridenour—performing live at Lompoc’s First United Methodist Church on Oct. 14. Ridenour is a New York-based soloist who graduated from the Julliard School of…
Gallery Los Olivos showcases art of Vicki Andersen and Patricia Watkins
Gallery Los Olivos features two of its member artists each month. Currently, the gallery puts the spotlight on longtime member artists Vicki Andersen and Patricia Watkins. The exhibit is titled Color and Light, and runs through October. A reception is scheduled for Oct. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. Andersen is an acrylic painter who…
Valley Art Gallery features landscapes by Franczeska Bobi Angel
The Valley Art Gallery in Orcutt features the exhibit California Central Coast Paintings by local artist Franczeska Bobi Angel showing through Dec. 11. The exhibit features landscapes inspired by local geography, Angel explained in a release from the gallery. “The rolling hills, crops fresh from the fields, wineries in all their diversity, the ocean, and…
Santa Maria Philharmonic celebrates Oktoberfest with Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.
Those looking to support the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society from the bar stool can do so by visiting the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company Taproom in Santa Maria on any Wednesday in October and celebrating Oktoberfest with a fundraising brew. Anyone who visits the taproom can buy a “benefit beer,” from which 50 percent of the…
Support the expanding Ian M. Hassett Foundation at Form Over Function
It’s been more than four years now since Ian M Hassett passed away in June of 2012 after a year-long battle with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The young man showed an aptitude for art at an early age by drawing and playing music; he earned his first art award in junior high school. Ian handled his illness…
Seeds in the sky
Every fall I anticipate a wonderful phenomenon. The air begins to cool, the leaves turn brown and crispy, and I get to wear my fluffy feathers and drink coffee with autumnal-inspired spices under gray, rainy skies. Except that rain isn’t happening. The county is also anticipating the rain. Each year they pay a company to…
Don’t stay home this election, vote!
I know many family members and friends do not like politics to be discussed publicly. They don’t want to offend anyone. Yet, this election is vital for our grandchildren’s sake. Mr. Trump displays the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and could easily trigger World War III. He disrespects anyone he feels is less than his…
Get the facts right about the motorsports park
This commentary (“Lompoc is at a very dangerous crossroads,” Oct. 6) by Justin Ruhge is misleading in two primary ways. First, Mr. Ruhge says the motorsports park is being paid for by taxpayers. Second, Mr. Ruhge omits that the motorsports park has won a $1 million grant to pay for the project. It’s hard to…
A few suggestions for a safer way to ride
I am 10 years old. I ride my scooter a lot, and when my mom did not have a car, we walked, rode bikes, scootered, and took the bus everywhere. I have some ideas to help make us safer. 1. Bridges over busy roads just for people, not cars. 2. More bike paths off the roadway.…
Analysis of California’s 17 ballot propositions
You might think it’s too early to share my opinions on the November election, however, the fact of the matter is upwards of half of the voters will be casting their ballots in the next week or so! I do want to remind the readers that these are my personal recommendations, as COLAB does not…
Accreditation evaluation team commends Allan Hancock College after its visit
Everyone likes to get recognized for a job well done. Recently Allan Hancock College employees and the school’s board of trustees got a morale boost after getting some much-deserved recognition during its accreditation evaluation process. A 13-member team of peer evaluators commended Hancock for several items including its committed board of trustees, the management and…
Spotlight on: Santa Maria Public Library
School’s back in session and you know what that means: homework. But that usually requires a quiet space. Fortunately, the Santa Maria Public Library has got that covered. On Sept. 19, the library celebrated the grand re-opening of its Homework Center. It’s a space for local students to study, receive help in a variety of…
Hobnobbing with Helen
On the evening of Saturday, Oct. 8, the annual United Way Mayors’ Ball at the Santa Maria Country Club attracted more than 200 people for a landmark anniversary celebration. This fundraising event was the brainchild of Eddie Taylor more than a decade ago, shortly after he came on board as the CEO of the organization.…
Seeds of change: Is Santa Barbara County’s cloud-seeding program effective or a waste of money?
While Southern California finishes out a fifth year of drought, Hurricane Matthew dumped more than a foot of rain along some parts of the lower East Coast last week (send some of that water here, please). On Oct. 4, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors contemplated declaring an official disaster for Lake Cachuma…
State tightens restrictions on cancer-causing pesticide Telone
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) will enact new regulations on the cancer-causing pesticide 1,3-Dichloropropene—known by its brand name, Telone—starting Jan. 1, 2017. Telone is a fumigant pesticide used against insects, nematodes, and organisms that exist in the soil and threaten crops. In California, it’s used most often on the Central Coast and in…
SLO Planning commissioners stop Phillips 66 rail spur
You know those “Stop Oil Trains” picket signs you keep seeing around your neighborhood? Well, we’ve got some news. The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission voted on Oct. 5 to deny the Phillips 66 rail spur project—in other words, the commission voted to “stop oil trains.” Last week’s meeting was the eighth since the…
Fareed and Carbajal to square off in televised debate
With election day less than a month away, the time has come for Republican candidate Justin Fareed and Democratic candidate Salud Carbajal, the two candidates running for California’s 24th Congressional District, to square off in the first mano-a-mano televised debate. The debate is set to air live on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. on KEYT…
Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail breaks ground
On Oct. 11, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the long-awaited Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail complex. The new jail will be located at 2301 Black Road just outside Santa Maria city limits, and the ceremony marks the beginning of its construction. It’s expected to be completed by 2019 and estimated to cost of…
Political Watch 10/13/16
• On Sept. 30, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a California Legislative Women’s Caucus priority bill authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), the New Parent Leave Act. Senate Bill 654, which received bipartisan support as it passed through the Legislature, would have provided job-protected new-parent leave for up to 2.7 million more Californians who work…
Community Notebook 10/13/16 – 10/20/16
TUESDAY, OCT. 18 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. • The Santa Maria City Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 110 E. Cook St.,…
The first Santa Maria Beer Fest happens Oct. 22
You may know by now that I consider beer to be a main food group, for which reason I’m super duper excited to share that Santa Maria is getting its first craft beer festival later this month. The first Santa Maria Beer Fest, slated for Oct. 22, will feature 22 breweries—most local, all Californian—and one…
