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BINGEABLE: ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (2021)
BINGEABLE: ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (2021) Where’s it playing? Hulu What’s it rated? TV-MA When three unlikely strangers team up to solve a death in their shared building, the trio starts to unravel a web seemingly more complicated than a simple murder. Martin Short plays Oliver Putnam, an eccentric has-been theater director who’s secretly…
Holy Grounds Cafe and Coffee Shop serves up lunch and lattes, donates proceeds to local Meals on Wheels program
Solvang’s newest coffee spot is both a source of caffeination and congregation. Repurposed from a local church’s social lounge, Holy Grounds Cafe and Coffee Shop celebrated its grand opening at the end of August, after a six-week period of remodeling. One of the church’s deacons, Pam Gnekow, pitched the coffee shop idea to her peers…
Husband-and-wife duo John Iwerks and Chris Chapman showcase vivid landscapes in new Solvang exhibit, Widening Circles
It was love at first bite. When artist Chris Chapman asked former gallery manager John Iwerks to help hang some paintings, Iwerks wanted to make a sweet first impression. “I baked some chocolate chip cookies for her when we first met at the gallery,” said Iwerks, who was working at Gallery 113 in Santa Barbara…
Ca’ Del Grevino Estate Winery hosts Painting in the Vineyard event
Art Spot on Wheels holds its next Painting in the Vineyard workshop at Ca’ Del Grevino Estate Winery in Santa Maria on Oct. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission to the class is $75, which includes art supplies and a complimentary wine tasting. Participants will create their own plein air landscape based on…
Voting open for New Times Music Awards’ Readers Choice Award
Votes to determine this year’s winner of the New Times Music Awards’ Readers Choice Award will be collected through Oct. 18 (deadline is 5 p.m.). The public is invited to vote for their picks online at newtimesslo.com. Each voter is asked to select three picks (and rank them as first, second, and third) out of…
Hancock College instructor Mark James Miller writes new novel, ‘The White Cockade: A Novel of the American Revolution’
The White Cockade: A Novel of the American Revolution, a new historical fiction book by local author Mark James Miller, was released on Sept. 30 and is now available to order through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other sellers. The novel was published by Black Rose Writing and follows various “men and women caught up…
The American Cancer Society hosts Santa Maria Relay For Life to raise funds for research
Cancer research funding at the American Cancer Society (ACS) dropped by more than 50 percent in 2020. “Unfortunately, just because COVID is here doesn’t mean cancer stops,” said ACS Santa Barbara County Development Manager Heidi Gavlak. “For the first time in ACS history, it’s been challenging to get funds for cancer research.” With a goal…
Political Watch: October 7, 2021
• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills to boost housing production across California, according to a Sept. 28 announcement from the governor’s office. These bills complement the $22 billion housing affordability and homelessness package as well as ongoing work by the state to encourage more housing production. “The acute affordability crisis we are experiencing in…
Planning Commission denies ExxonMobil trucking permit
More than 30 community organizations, 58 speakers, and thousands of letter writers gave their input on a plan to restart offshore oil platforms and truck oil through Santa Barbara County. For organizations such as the Los Padres ForestWatch, community participation was a movement in the making for months prior to the Santa Barbara County Planning…
Four local schools open COVID-19 testing sites for students, employees
Students and teachers at some local schools can now get tested for COVID-19 on campus. On Sept. 27, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District opened new testing sites at four of its schools. The sites—located at Liberty Elementary School, El Camino Junior High School, Fesler Junior High School, and Tommie Kunst Junior High School—are open Monday…
Women’s March in Santa Maria calls for community action
A crowd chanted as signs depicting “my body, my choice” in English and Spanish bobbed through the air and residents marched down Broadway on Oct. 2. The Santa Maria Women’s March for Reproductive Rights coincided with the national movement against a Texas bill (SB 8) that bans abortions after six weeks and the $10,000 incentive…
Virus PR
Virus protection is like layering Swiss cheese armor on top of your body. Masks are one layer, vaccination is another—distancing, well-ventilated air, and hand hygiene are still more. One hole-filled slice of aged cheese on top of another. The more layers, the fewer holes: Get it? And misinformation? Oh, well, that’s a cute little mouse…
Let the trucks roll
The county of Santa Barbara has forced ExxonMobil to propose trucking their oil until they are permitted to reopen their pipeline. The pipeline is the least expensive and safest means of transportation for the oil from Las Flores refinery. We urge the county to grant their permission for ExxonMobil to proceed for these reasons. They…
Vandenberg Space Force Base military firefighters were deployed 7,700 miles to keep aircrews safe in Afghanistan
When the first plane flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903, it began an era that has produced some very large aircraft—many of those are military aircraft. In 1937, the U.S. Army Air Corp developed the first firefighting vehicle modified specifically to fight aircraft fires from a commercially produced fire engine. Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSF)…
