Warning: The photos on the following pages will bring a smile to your face. They’re adorable! Readers from Santa Ynez to Lompoc to Paso Robles submitted more than 300 images of their non-human companions as part of this year’s competition. A panel of in-house judges narrowed them down to the top three in each of…
Keith Kelsey never intended to become the caretaker of 300 peacocks. He just wanted to bring a few birds home. About 45 years ago, Kelsey and his brother rounded up seven peacocks from a ranch near Highway 101 south of Pismo Beach and transported them to their family’s property in See Canyon. The birds settled…
Despite having a soft spot for animals, U.S. Army service member Matthew Petersen said he rarely approached the stray dogs he observed while recently deployed in Kuwait. But something about the dog he’d eventually name Turkey stood out to him as a invitation to make an exception. “Dogs on the base, and even around the…
A unanimous vote from the California Fish and Game Commission granted new safeguards to roughly 9 square miles of marine habitat off the coast of Guadalupe. “I understand how hard it is to lose yet another fishing area,” Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin said at the hearing. “However, the Chumash people were displaced. Their lands taken. Forced…
With a tax bump to consider on the Nov. 3 ballot, Santa Maria’s registered voters will determine the fate of some local playgrounds, pickleball courts, and public pools, according to City Manager David Rowlands. “These are all quality-of-life items, … services that are at risk due to the ongoing budget pressures,” Rowlands told attendees of…
To make up for years of letting some Guadalupe residents’ unpaid water bills slide, the city ramped up its monthly shutoff average from 10 customers to 90 this October. “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to start shutting off water. The city has $250,000 in unpaid water bills,” City Administrator David Trujillo told the City Council at…
•Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed Assembly Bill 2257—authored by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara)—into law. This legislation grants county boards of supervisors across California the option to confirm a sheriff’s nominee to lead county jail operations. The law establishes a direct role for supervisors in approving jail leadership, helping close what Hart calls an accountability…
For the second year in a row, dozens of employees of a local credit union spent one of their days off on a team building project, so to speak. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which fell on Oct. 12 this year, 150 CoastHills Credit Union workers volunteered their time to build 105 beds for local children…
Water shutoffs are coming, Guadalupe! Total unpaid water bills in the city have apparently reached $250,000, and it’s time to bring the hammer down, according to city staff. This is a problem that’s years in the making, according to City Administrator David Trujillo. Guadalupe’s stayed at a steady average of shutting off the water for…
Santa Barbara County supervisors did their part to make fuels more expensive when they passed an ordinance to ban new onshore oil and gas drilling in the county on Sept. 15. You can say that when the supes took this action, they didn’t miss the elephant in the room, but the foreign oil tanker. As…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a dangerous new rule that was set to begin Oct. 22 that will threaten the healthcare of millions of Americans. The rule, “Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Mail Shipments,” will effectively end Americans’ ability to personally import their prescription medicines. CBP extended the date to…
Another school shooting, and it’s off the news cycle in 24 hours. Columbine and Sandy Hook shocked our conscience and were discussed for years. Have we accepted that losing children to gun violence is a necessary cost to prevent tyranny? Then why are gun advocates supporting a tyrant with insurrection and extrajudicial killings of U.S.…
Dave Machin’s hobby collecting View-Master 3D toys started by chance when he picked one up at an antique shop in San Luis Obispo. He clicked through travel reels of destinations like Yosemite, Chicago, and Miami. “What occurred to me was that these are now antiques, so all these pictures of these places were like 70…
The theme “living waters” should inspire local artists interested in creating a new public art installation at a Santa Maria park. Digital submissions related to plants, wildlife, and the lake at Jim May Park are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 13. “The selected artist or team will receive a $1,000 award, and the winning…
Solvang native Esther Jacobsen Bates has spent 30 years dedicated to supporting arts education and cultural organizations in Santa Barbara County. For her dedication, she received the county’s Leadership in the Arts Award at the Oct. 6 Board of Supervisors meeting. “Over time, I discovered that my strength was not making art but helping others…
Mahershala Ali stars as Latif, an ex-military, devoutly Muslim hitman, in writer-director Bassam Tariq’s (These Birds Walk, Mogul Mowgli) new film. After his wife dies unexpectedly, Latif returns home to Huston to care for his children—daughter Fatiha (Adia), son Qadir (Jahleel Kamara), and infant daughter Aziza (twins Brooklyn and Jaxon Hughes)—but must embark on a…
Code 3What’s it rated? R When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Hulu Christopher Leone (Parallels) directs this script co-written with Patrick Pianezza about Randy (Rainn Wilson), a burnt-out paramedic who’s completely frazzled. He and his co-worker, Mike (Lil Rel Howery), are directed by their supervisor, Shanice (Yvette Nicole Brown), to take on a new trainee, Jessica…
Monty Python and the Holy GrailWhat’s it rated? PG When? 1975 Where’s it showing? Bay Theatre of Morro Bay on Monday, Oct. 26 (doors at 5 p.m.; show at 5:45; $17.91 tickets at my805tix.com) Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones direct this 1975 British comedy by the Monty Python comedy group. Written by Graham Chapman, John…
Sitting at a table by the window inside Grover Beach Sourdough, Jacob and Brooke Town can still see the site of their former restaurant across the street. In an unexpected, bittersweet turn of events, the owners had to close The Spoon Trade one year ago and pivot. A developer bought the building that housed The…
