Cover Story
Hometown Haunts: From backyard scares to professionally staged productions, Santa Maria amps up the horror, gore, and fear this Halloween
As the natural light dims, and dusk settles over the Santa Maria Elks Unocal Event Center, things begin to pick up at the Grimsley Haunt. Fog machines, strobe lights, lasers, and eerie music coalesce within the plywood labyrinth of the haunt, where gruesome tableaus and claustrophobic spaces await willing visitors. But of course, the visitors…
Cartel ‘hitman’ sentenced to life in prison
An alleged cartel hitman responsible for murdering several people in California, including a Santa Ynez man, will be sentenced to life in prison, according to officials from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office. As part of an October plea agreement, Jose Manuel Martinez will be spared the death penalty for the murders of nine men,…
What are you dressing as for Halloween?
Brian Chavez Pioneer Valley High School student “I’m going as the Mexican undead for Dia de los Muertos.” Alondra Morales student “I’m dressing like a minion.” Ricky Valdez Allan Hancock College student “I have to work, but I would go as a minion.” Mary Camilo Pioneer Valley High Sschool student “I’m dressing like a skull.”
The caveman diet
I’ve had, what I consider, the misfortune of being on television a number of times. The reason I say misfortune is because I’ve never seen my own image on TV and said, “Damn, I look good.” Instead, I’ve seen myself on television and thought I’ll never, ever, eat again. Yes, I know they say that…
DANA Cultural Center will celebrate Dia de los Muertos
The DANA Cultural Center hosts a colorful celebration in the spirit of the traditional Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos, on Nov. 1 from 1 to 4 p.m. The event will begin with a Chumash blessing, and will include altars, recipe handouts, sugar skull painting, a ballet folklorico performance, speaker presentations, face painting, and Mexican…
Santa Maria Civic Theatre holds readers theater production of Dixie Arthur play
The Santa Maria Civic Theatre delivered two readers theater performances of Lot’s Wife, a new play by local playwright Dixie Arthur, who also teaches drama at Righetti High School. Arthur’s former student, Weston Scott, directed the show, which he described as a testament to feminine strength. The main character recounts the key experiences in her…
Lompoc City Council gives Lompoc Theatre to nonprofit
The Lompoc City Council voted on Oct. 6 to sell its deed for the historic Lompoc Theatre to the local nonprofit, the Lompoc Theatre Project, for the fee of $1. The decision comes after years of wrangling by the Lompoc Theatre Project, which has plans to restore and renew the Lompoc Theatre. The process was…
Iconic song known as ‘Happy Birthday’ may return to the public domain
Have you ever sat in literally any restaurant and listened to the servers sing “Happy Birthday” to a customer? If you really stop and think, no you haven’t. You’ve probably only heard the often meager, sometimes tone deaf groups of restaurant employees chanting and clapping an old drinking song melody with any collection of words…
Daytripper: Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon in Del Mar Beach
I never knew how seriously Californians regarded dogs and the sport of surfing until I went to a dog surfing competition near San Diego. On Sept. 13, my wife and I took a small road trip down to San Diego. We left early in the morning and took our 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier mix with…
Local potters, artists, and students contribute to the Foodbank’s annual Empty Bowls event in Santa Maria
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is part of a movement of Empty Bowls fundraiser events employed by food banks nationwide, and for more than a decade, the organization has filled bowls in Santa Barbara, Lompoc, and Santa Maria. This year’s Empty Bowls is the 14th annual event in Santa Maria and helps raise funds…
Pioneer Valley FFA attends leadership conference
Several Pioneer Valley High School FFA members recently attended the South Coast Region Chapter Officer Leadership Conference where they learned how to motivate and inspire others to reach their goals in life. The two-day event, which was held in Hollister, featured several workshops, keynote speakers, lip sync routines, and a dance. Nearly 300 FFA leaders…
Lompoc teacher named Teacher of the Year
Longtime Lompoc High School drama teacher Sarah Barthel was named the 2016 Performing Arts Teacher of the Year for Santa Barbara County. The award is the first of its kind, and was created through a partnership between the Santa Barbara County Education Office and the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation Education Outreach, which is dedicated to supporting performing arts in…
Santa Maria high school students join statewide earthquake drill
Central Coast residents are used to the occasional tiny rumble of an earthquake, or hearing—but not feeling—one that occurs off shore, but sometimes there’s a real heavy shaker, so schools throughout the state got some practice in what to do in the event of a big one. The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District…
Spotlight on: Central Coast Future Leaders
As the saying goes: If you love your job, then you’ll never work again. As the program director for Central Coast Future Leaders (CCFL) in Santa Maria, Patricia Solorio loves her job because she knows she’s making a positive impact on the future of her community. How exactly? By empowering youth and creating future leaders.…
Political Watch 10/22/15
• Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) spent part of her day Saturday, Oct. 16, supporting the community’s veteran population at the annual Santa Barbara County Veterans Stand Down event in Santa Maria. The event, organized by 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, is designed to help veterans connect with support services to help them succeed. At…
Community Notebook 10/22/15 – 10/29/15
MONDAY, OCT. 26 • The South County Advisory Council has its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Nipomo Community Services District Headquarters, 148 S. Wilson St., Nipomo. • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. agendas are available at cityofsolvang.com. …
Guadalupe’s budget crisis leaves Jack O’Connell Park football field unmaintained
“How can we charge the people for the use of our park when it is clearly in such bad shape?” Estorga asked in a letter he wrote to the Sun dated Oct. 2. There’s also an issue with the bleachers. With only one set, Estorga doesn’t think it’s enough. And there’s the $171,000 barbecue pit…
Correction
In the “Spotlight on Business: REC Solar,” published in the Oct. 15 issue of the Sun, it should be stated that REC’s core clientele is middle-market companies and that Sunrun is not considered a division of REC. In the “Athlete of the Week,” published in the Oct. 15 issue of the Sun, the athlete should…
Orcutt rapper may face retrial
Even in a country that’s revered for having one of the strongest freedoms of speech on the planet, there is a line that sometimes gets crossed. For instance, courts have ruled that freedom of speech doesn’t include threats of physical harm, charges that Orcutt resident Anthony Murillo has been facing for the past two years…
Flash flooding closes Highway 166, foreshadows El Nino
Flash floods overwhelmed a portion of Highway 166 with mud and water on Oct. 16, trapping approximately 100 vehicles in the area and shutting down the two-lane highway east of Santa Maria for three hours. California Highway Patrol told the Sun that responders “assisted numerous disabled motorists” on the scene but that there were no…
Rail extension support is crucial to jobs, economy
The proposed Phillips 66 Rail Extension Project will be built entirely on their property for the flexibility to seek other affordable sources instead of only being dependent on expensive oil via pipeline. Let’s be frank, we all know that the main pipeline feeding the refinery is shut down. The fact that the cost of crude…
Immigrants have an adverse impact
Shelly, that’s a pretty one-sided, sad, sad, story (“Life on Alert,” Oct. 15, 2015). The poor, poor illegals, oh, excuse me, undocumented aliens. Before I start, I’ll tell you, my mother is an immigrant (Japanese), my wife is an immigrant (Surinamese/Dutch). I don’t hate anyone. Before the racist card gets thrown. But why not present…
They have no rights
Your article entitled “Life on Alert,” Oct. 15, 2015, depicts the plight of an illegal alien Mexican woman in a biased, anti-American sympathetic way. Your Sun paper aids and abets her illegal status. She should be wary of being deported. She is here illegally—without papers as is her companion. Just what does the Sun not…
It’s about more than oil
We get it. The country runs on crude oil. We drive cars and use petroleum-based products. But the issue of expanding the Phillips 66 Refinery to add a 27-acre rail transfer terminal, to accommodate five mile-long crude oil tanker trains, each train carrying approximately 2,220,000 gallons of toxic and volatile crude through SLO County, presents…
Terrence Robbins
Fog draped heavy over the Cabrillo High School athletic field recently as senior Terrence Robbins finished a 70-minute run, beating his cross-country teammates by nearly a full lap. Running as a sport didn’t occur to him until junior high school, when his current coach, then-P.E. teacher Peter Anderson, suggested he consider it. “Truthfully, I had…
The 35th anniversary of ‘Caddyshack’ brings an unexpected honor for Santa Maria resident Ed Murray, who helped inspire the film
Santa Maria resident Ed Murray, the inspiration for the film Caddyshack’s main character, has a meaningful new trophy for his mantle. Murray, a retired financial consultant, and his five brothers—movie star Bill; Andrew, who’s a chef; and actors Brian, John, and Joel—were inducted into the Western Golf Association’s Caddie Hall of Fame on Sept. 16…
J.J.’s Market on the Arroyo Grande Mesa is as local as it gets
I used to love to go grocery shopping with Mom while growing up in Spokane, Wash. We always shopped at the local grocer, Rosauers market. She also took me to her cousin’s fruit stand for huge, sweet apples and produce. We lived down the street from a small mom-and-pop shop that had the best candy!…
