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Where rubber meets road: Northern Santa Barbara County works toward making roadways more bike and pedestrian friendly
My co-workers scanned me from head to toe the day, just a few years ago, that I entered the building after riding my bike to work. Their mouths slightly agape, they took stock of the helmet on my head, my rolled up pant leg, and my mountain bike and questioned me about the health of…
What a school wants: Everything you need to know about the school bond measures you’ll vote on this November
Show up at a polling place in Santa Barbara County on Nov. 8, and you’ll be slapped with myriad choices to make: Should recreational marijuana be legal? What about large-capacity ammunition magazines? No more death penalty, or a quicker path to one? You’ll also decide on issues that haven’t popped up in your Facebook feed…
Author pens book about California mission history from Native American view
Author Gary Robinson will sign copies of his latest book, which tells a Native American view of California mission history, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 at The Book Loft in Solvang. The book, Lands of our Ancestors, provides the Native American perspective through the eyes of a 12-year-old Chumash boy and his…
Spotlight on: Tipsters Catering Food Truck
Owning and operating a restaurant is not easy. Just ask Santa Ynez resident and culinary entrepreneur Teresa Keeling. Keeling had been doing catering since 2003 when she decided to open up a restaurant by the name of Flavors in Buellton in 2010. But then she closed it down two years later. She said she’ll probably…
Community Notebook 10/6/16 – 10/13/16
MONDAY, OCT. 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…
What do you think could be done to make the Central Coast a safer place to live?
Kasey Hatley carpenter “Well, I think it is a pretty safe place already, so that’s probably all I got.” Loas Padalli chef “Six months ago we had a meeting with all the soccer teams, and we talked about having more fields to play soccer so the kids and all the families can be in there…
Chill out: The best places in Santa Maria to satisfy your Indian-summer cravings
A few weeks ago, you may have opened up the Sun and flipped straight to the Eats column (as all our readers do, I imagine) and read my take on the start of fall and the Pumpkin Spice Latte-shaming that comes along with it. I wrote about rain and colorful leaves and boots and sweaters—apparently…
Out of my dog league
One of the best things about living in California is the state’s laissez-faire policies on women and our small dogs. Stop into just about any boutique or vintage shop along the Central Coast and you’ll be sure to spot us, pushing our carts through the aisles while our little dogs perched on the cart looking…
Sarah Raines celebrates the dark humor of Tom Lehrer in Lompoc
Classical singing is one of the most respected forms of music making, mostly due to the incredible amount of skill and discipline it takes to acquire performance-level talents. Once you arrive at that level, you get to sing some of the most powerful and emotionally potent music there is, from opera arias to art songs.…
Flying Goat Cellars hosts Candace McHugh’s paintings
Flying Goat Cellars welcomes local artists to show in their gallery space, and next in line is painter and illustrator Candace McHugh, whose work shows through Nov. 21. An opening reception for the show is Oct. 29 from 3 to 5 p.m. McHugh’s work focuses on soil, seeds, rocks, and plants, and how they fit…
Robbie Kaye will launch new line in Los Olivos
Celebrated artist Robbie Kaye will launch her new brand/art project, Treads on Threads, in Los Olivos on Oct. 13. The project includes a line of textiles that use tires and colorful paints to create unique designs. The event on Oct. 13 happens from 4 to 7 p.m. at Honey Paper, where Kaye will launch the…
Lompoc features first Mural in a Weekend event
Lompoc is a town known for its murals, thanks to decades of work by the Lompoc Mural Society. Now, the city of Lompoc will celebrate the newest mural with a weekend’s worth of events that will shine a spotlight on local arts and the new mural by Art Mortimer. The festivities take place across Oct.…
New Times Music Awards readers’ choice open to voters
The annual New Times Music Awards has received its submissions, and judging is underway. But you can cast your own vote online for the contest’s readers’ choice category now through Oct. 13. There are several local groups to choose from, and you can find them listed and cast a vote at here. Voters can listen…
New Lows in Lompoc hosts sticker art show for one night only
Most people walk right by them, but they’re there. Stickers cling to street corners, signs, lampposts, utility boxes, and just about anywhere else you can imagine. We’re not talking your everyday, gold star for a good grade sticker; we’re talking colorful, evocative, graffiti-inspired, sometimes-graphic stickers. It’s an art form linked to the skateboarding and punk…
The Great American Melodrama’s localized comedy Trudy and the Beast is a hilarious sendup of a classic story
Out there, near the fog swept water hazard of the 13th hole at the Blacklake Golf Course in Nipomo, a hideous creature lives. At least, according to the Great American Melodrama’s current production, Trudy and the Beast. This hilarious and localized satire of another story of a similar name opens with a mysterious exposition. Accompanied…
Fiona McKiernan
It’s not unusual for someone to run a 10K, or a half marathon, or even a full marathon. But for Fiona McKiernan, 35, running—and at one point even walking—was an almost miraculous feat, making her story a bit more special than the rest. On Oct. 9, McKiernan will join 25 other runners from around the…
Let the dogs out: St. Joseph High School’s cross-country team runs with shelter dogs and gains attention of talk show host Rachael Ray
It must be hard to be alone, without a family, sitting in a small pen, longing to stretch your legs and run. On the other hand, it takes focus, determination, and dedication to run nearly every day in order to build speed, strength, and endurance as a high school athlete. There’s nothing fun in that.…
Are we great or what?
Hey, did you know that it’s National Newspaper Week, now through Oct. 8? I know, I know, everybody seems to have a special day of awareness or weeklong celebration. But hey, journalism is important! I’m also aware this may be a biased perspective. But why is it important? Well, duh! A newspaper like the Sun…
Porter is the commonsense candidate
Every day brings another article or study about how important water is becoming to the average American. I think all of us here in Santa Barbara County have felt the impact water, or the lack thereof, can have on our day-to-day lives. Our county is seeing a tremendous problem with the drought right now. Anyone…
Salud doesn’t care about the people
Some say people change with time, but I guess those who say that have never met Salud Carbajal, who hasn’t changed his colors since he first ran for 1st District Supervisor. His comment regarding Lompoc being the “armpit” of Santa Barbara reminded me of the interview I and my board of directors had with him…
Cunningham’s knowledgeable about the needs of law enforcement
Dawn Ortiz-Legg’s negative ads against Jordan Cunningham in the upcoming state Assembly race tell us much more about her than about him. I have known Jordan for many years, and served with him as a deputy district attorney in San Luis Obispo County. He is a hard-working, honest, and intelligent man, having graduated from the…
Cunningham distorts the truth
Both 35th Assembly candidates are airing negative commercials. Dawn Ortiz-Legg’s ads chastise Jordan Cunningham for running as the law-and-order candidate while representing reprehensible criminal clients. Jordan’s ad attacks Dawn’s involvement with Code Pink. Dawn’s ads state the facts correctly. Jordan’s does not. SLO Code Pink’s concern was the deadly, costly Iraq War. We organized the…
Lompoc is at a very dangerous crossroads
With John Linn and Jim Mosby running for Lompoc City Council again we are faced with their plans to promote and impose the expensive motorsports speed racetrack business on Lompoc at the expense of all of us taxpayers. If you voters give them the votes, they, with their sidekicks City Councilmembers Dirk Starbuck and Victor…
St. Mary of the Assumption students bring pets to school for blessing
St. Mary of the Assumption School prepared for barks, meows, chirps, and a host of other sounds as students and families planned to bring their pets to school Tuesday, Oct. 4, for the annual blessing of the animals. The St. Mary’s School family joined millions of people around the world for the traditional event as…
Cal Poly Journalism Department celebrates 100 years
The Cal Poly Journalism Department is planning a two-day celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of the student press on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 and 15. The weekend festivities will culminate with a Spotlight Gala at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo starting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Ben Bradlee…
Uncontested: Most of the trial judges in California’s Superior Court system are re-elected without opposition
Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump. Justin Fareed. Salud Carbajal. Bruce Porter. Joan Hartmann. The names of these candidates and their opponents are familiar to many residents of Santa Barbara County who’ll be voting for them come Nov. 8. But what about James K. Voysey, Pauline Maxwell, or James Rigali? These are some of the names of…
Santa Barbara County receives federal grant to combat human trafficking
Last month, the Sun reported on the problem of human trafficking in Santa Barbara County, where two convictions in recent years have exposed the tip of an iceberg of issues surrounding the sex trafficking of minors. On Sept. 29, the county came a little closer to effectively tackling those issues when the U.S. Department of…
Register to vote, since we’re making it easy
Hey. You. Are you registered to vote yet? No? Well, you picked the perfect week to grab an issue of the Sun, because we’re making voter registration simple for you (and your unregistered friends and family members). Inside this week’s print edition of the Sun, you’ll find a voter registration card, anxiously waiting to be…
Santa Maria Police investigate stabbing homicide on East Cox Lane
The Santa Maria Police Department is investigating a stabbing homicide of a Nipomo man that occured in Santa Maria during the evening of Oct. 2. According to the SMPD, police received a call at 8:41 p.m. to the 500 block of East Cox Lane in Santa Maria. Once they arrived, the SMPD found 42-year-old Anthony…
Political Watch 10/6/16
• A law authored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to encourage young people to vote by allowing voter pre-registration beginning at age 16 has just taken effect. The law was contingent upon the enactment of VoteCal, California’s new voter registration database, which Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified at the end of September.…
