Cover Story
The final mystery
It starts with a wave. The Sammy Keyes book series opens with a girl assuring the reader she wasn’t trying to get in trouble. This about-to-be-junior-higher is merely bored on account of being trapped in the seniors-only apartment where she’s illegally living with her grandma while her mother tries to succeed in Hollywood. Due…
Stefani Swaim
Reality set in when Stefani Swaim strutted onto the sidelines for her first game as a cheerleader for the New England Patriots. Before that, it didn’t feel real. “That’s when I knew I’m a Patriots Cheerleader,” Swaim said. “This was my dream and it is super exciting.” The St. Joseph High School alumna didn’t know…
After 23 years, Santa Maria High School’s tennis coach begins her last season
Before every match, the Santa Maria High School varsity girls’ tennis team participates in a unique ritual: The team huddles up, and head coach Ginny Barnett reads them a quote. After reading the quote, Barnett passes out small slips of paper with the motivational words written on them and instructs the players to tuck…
Do you believe animal shelters should have the right to euthanize?
Blake Bolterman window cleaning “Only sick animals that can’t be helped.” Melissa Boothe housewife “I think they should because they always have. It also keeps the population down.” Melanie Decker Kmart employee “It’s never ok.” Betty Cossa housewife “I hate it, but what else can you do.”
Community Notebook – 9/11-9/18
TUESDAY, SEPT. 16 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. Agendas are available at http://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Guadalupe Planning Commission has its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 918…
Spotlight on: Santa Maria Signs – Owner, Will Husselstein
The first things that people see upon entering Santa Maria Signs are a seeming clash of identities: professional business desks and blue-collar tools and equipment. A cushy leather chair waits for customers, and the owner, Will Husselstein, is both professional and relaxed. Husselstein is proud that his business is passing the 15-year mark, and recently…
POLITICAL WATCH – 9/11-9/18
The California Report (a radio program) played host to the first, and perhaps only, debate between Gov. Jerry Brown and his challenger, former U.S. Treasury Department official Republican Neel Kashkari, on Sept. 4. The two battled—sometimes passionately, sometimes heatedly—over major issues facing California, including water, the environment, jobs, immigration, education, and income inequality. Kashkari continued…
Community Corner – Say aloha to a new park in Nipomo
The Olde Towne Nipomo Association is inviting locals to help raise funds for the town’s future Jim O Miller Memorial Park, proposed to sit on 1 acre on the southeast corner of Tefft and Carillo streets. An inaugural luau event is set to fill the Edward’s Barn with sights, sounds, and tastes of the islands…
What kid’s are reading
Octopus Alone by Divya Srinivasan recommended for ages 3 to 5 Octopus is a solitary creature, more of an observer than a participant. She prefers to lurk in her cave and watch the activity unfold around her—and in her reef home, there’s plenty to see: Fish dart in and out of anemones, eels extend from…
Technology gives parents a portal into student grades
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District is now using technology that enables parents to check weekly student progress from their cell phones or computers. Although the district has been using Aeries in-house to keep tabs on students for several years, it was upgraded three years ago to include a Parent Portal that gives…
Santa Maria-Bonita passes the 16,000 students mark
The Santa Maria-Bonita School District reached a milestone in its student enrollment this year, according to Maggie White, the district spokesperson: It now educates more than 16,000 students. The district has grown by more than 2,200 students since 2009, Superintendent Phil Alvarado said in a press release. Fourteen of the district’s 19 schools have an…
Guadalupe wants a piece of tech for every student
Golfers are invited to take a solid swing for the future of Guadalupe youth and education at the Guadalupe Kids Come First Foundation’s first annual golf tournament fundraiser on Sept. 20 at the Monarch Dunes Trilogy Golf Course in Nipomo. The funds are earmarked for students attending the Guadalupe Union School District. The foundation was…
Embark on a Nutrition Expedition
National statistics show that the increasing number of overweight children living in the United States is of great concern, and the Santa Maria Valley is now struggling with this issue as well. According to the California Department of Education, physical fitness test results for the Gold Coast Region—the Central Coast—for 2005-2006 showed 36 to 38…
Santa Barbara County revamps its dangerous dog penalties
Two beige and white, Labrador retriever/husky 2-year-olds have occupied a kennel at the Santa Barbara County Animal Shelter in Santa Maria since April. They’re on a sort of doggy death row. The puppies are waiting for the courts to make a final ruling in their case: Should they be euthanized (killed humanely) under the county’s…
An amateur-built plane flips at the Santa Maria Airport
A Griffon Aerospace Lionheart belonging to Charles Ealand flipped over while landing at the Santa Maria Airport on Sept 5. Three Santa Maria Fire Department engines responded to the crash along with an urban search and rescue vehicle, an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle, and a battalion chief, said a press release from the fire…
Santa Maria business makes the top 500 for tax delinquencies
It’s been updated: The list of Top 500 Sales and Use Tax Delinquencies in California is out, and one former Santa Maria business has steadily crept up the list over the last few years. Despite closing in 2007, the Ashley Furniture Homestore, formerly at 1318 South Broadway, is listed as delinquent on its Sales and…
A Lompoc addiction counseling facility is set to open by November
An $18-million addiction detoxification unit, rehabilitation, and residential outpatient facility in Lompoc was certified by the state on Aug. 29, which means it can open and begin serving patients as soon as staffers are hired and trained. Jim White, who was in charge of construction for the Champion Center, said the facility will have a…
Reclamation talks fish and water with county supervisors
During the Sept. 9 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation attempted to explain the reason behind endangered steelhead deaths in Hilton Creek. Michael Jackson, area manager for a portion of Southern California that includes Santa Barbara County, presented supervisors with an update on Lake Cachuma and water releases for…
A Santa Maria fugitive was arrested in Texas
Half a continent away from Santa Maria, after skipping a Sept. 1 court date related to allegations of lewd acts with a minor, Clive Decomarmond was arrested in Texas on Sept. 5. After Decomarmond failed to show up for the start of his scheduled jury trial, a felony no-bail warrant was issued for his arrest.…
Schedule 9/11-9/18
Thursday, Sept. 11 Boys’ Water Polo SMHS vs. Atascadero @ Atascadero, 3:30 p.m. Santa Barbara Tournament @ Santa Barbara SYUHS vs. Paso Robles @ SYUHS, 3:30 p.m. Girls’ Volleyball SMHS vs. Paso Robles @ Paso Robles, 4 p.m. RHS vs. Cabrillo @ RHS, 4 p.m. SYUHS vs. SLO @ SLO, 4 p.m. St. Joseph vs.…
The Outside in Nature Play Days are winding down
There are three events left in the 2014 Outside in Nature Play Day program put on by the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department. John the Bee Keeper will bring honey, a hive, and real bees to Los Flores Rancho Park for his presentation on the importance of bees on Sept. 20. Each Play Day…
Teens will try to stay afloat in a cardboard boat race
The Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center will play host to its Teen Boat Regatta on Sept. 13 from noon to 5 p.m. at the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center for teens from 12 to 18 years old. In this free event, teams will have three hours to construct a boat entirely out of cardboard and duct…
On your mark. Get set. Colors!
Colored powder will cover participants at the second annual Catchin’ Colors 1-mile Fun Run, held Oct. 4, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Joselyn Bowling Green parking lot in Santa Maria. Runners and walkers of all fitness levels are invited to get drenched in colored powder when they cross the “color zone” in celebration of…
Don’t act guilty
The whole “innocent until proven guilty” line is a great saying. But so is “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Both of those phrases were battling in my head as I read about Clive Decomarmond, a man authorities say is a suspect in multiple cases of lewd acts…
But look at the Koran
Regarding “Reawaken Muhammed’s words,” Sept. 4: I agree with the doctor that the Muslims should adopt the peaceful teachings found in the Achtiname. However, it seems obvious that the Achtiname is not well known enough, or no prominent Muslim leaders care about it. It seems more Muslims care about the hadiths that are “contaminating” Islam.…
‘These murderers are not our own’
Ed. note: Part one of this commentary ran in last week’s Sun. Visit santamariasun.com to read the entire piece. ISIS in Iraq has brought the issue of abhorrent expressions of the Islamic religion (Mis-lam) to the center stage. They have attacked, desecrated, and pillaged the holy sites of Christians and Muslims. They have murdered…
The Funk Zone
Just a stone’s throw from Stearns Wharf is a soulful area of downtown Santa Barbara affectionately known as the Funk Zone, where “the ocean meets the streets.” The formerly run-down industrial area between State Street, Garden Street, Montecito Street, and Cabrillo Boulevard has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis over the last decade. A small section…
Local rock tribute Booker Tease jams at O’Sullivans
Nobody can argue the massive influence that one particular four-piece band had on the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s. Booker T. and the M.G.’s began as the house band for Stax Records, but have become known for so much more, fueling a generation of soulful rockers with their smooth instrumental sound. Today on…
Sweet 16
When it comes to anything pop culture, current events, or even what the weather might be tomorrow, I usually don’t know a darn thing about it. In the information age, I sort of live in a bubble of zero information. It’s not as if I like being an uninformed person; my ignorance is due to…
Clark Center calls for artists
The Clark Center Foundation for the Performing Arts is accepting applications from artists interested in exhibiting their work in the Clark Center during 2015. Art shows in the Clark Center’s lobby and salon hallway, which includes space for large bodies of work. The foundation encourages artists who work in mixed media, oil, watercolor, pastels,…
Enjoy art, support art
The Ian M. Hassett Foundation is gearing up for its second annual fundraiser event Form Over Function on Oct. 11 from 3 to 6 p.m. in Orcutt. The Hassett Foundation is a local nonprofit organization that was formed in memory of Ian Hassett, who passed away after battling Non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2012. Hassett was an…
Telling tales
The Orcutt Library is offering a Mouse Tales Preschool Story Time event happening regularly on Tuesday mornings from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The storytelling series continues through Oct. 28 at the library. The series will include stories, songs, finger plays, and puppets for ages 3 to 5. Attendees must be pre-registered through the library.…
The Lompoc Mural Society is unveiling a new mural
The Lompoc Mural Society has been beautifying the small town, officially, since 1988, regularly commissioning large works on public buildings that somehow reflect Lompoc history and culture. The latest installment brought a celebrated muralist to the Central Coast. “We are really excited,” said Lompoc Mural Society project administrator Vicki Andersen. “It’s been a long…
