Sep 14-24, 2023

Sep 14-24, 2023 / Vol. 24 / No. 29
Temple of the People member Damian Rollison grew up in the Theosophical Society, hitting childhood benchmarks within the faith and then raising his own children within the Halcyon temple. While he did eventually leave the community, Rollison returned to the temple for its sense of community and the temple’s aim to find what unites all […]

Cover Story

Temple for the people

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on the Temple of the People in Halcyon. The first, “Halcyon’s homily,” ran on Sept. 7. Halcyon resident Damian Rollison knew the Temple of the People as his sole faith growing up. Flip through the Images of America book about the tiny community between Oceano…

The quote was an error but the point is the same

After submitting my letter (“An open letter to the secretary of state,” Aug. 31), I discovered that I had included a quote I attributed to Donald Trump that was in error. My bad, “to err is human.” Subsequently, this error was pointed out to me, first by the editor, and again by Mr. Clive Pinder…

Boycotts work, and we can boycott Big Carrot

If you are outraged by the Carrot Kingpins, Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms, seeking to hog water rights at the expense of Cuyama residents and their school, then boycott all their products. We can buy fresh and delicious carrots at our local farmers’ markets. Remember that the late Cesar Chavez organized the Wrath of Grapes…

SLOPOKE presents 13th annual Art of the West Show in Solvang

More than 20 artists are participating in the 13th annual Art of the West Show, scheduled to open on Friday, Sept. 22, and run through Sunday, Sept. 24, at Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang.  The three-day exhibition of landscapes, seascapes, wildlife portraits, sculptures, and other works of art that celebrate the American West will…

Board of Supervisors invests in Santa Maria River realignment

Andy Guiterrez has seen the Santa Maria riverbed flood time and time again since calling Guadalupe his home in 1957.  Most recently, he watched the church where his mother’s funeral was held flood and an entire neighborhood get destroyed when a river levee breached during the January storms, he told the Santa Barbara County Board…

Bottoms is a guffaw-worthy teen black comedy

Bottoms What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby) directs and co-writes with star Rachel Sennott this raunchy teen black comedy about two besties and lesbians—PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri)—who are at the bottom…

BINGEABLE: Live To 100: Screts Of The Blue Zones

Live To 100: Screts Of The Blue Zones What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Netflix Certain areas of the world are known as “Blue Zones,” regions where residents live longer than average. Netflix’s new series Live to 100 takes us around the world to explore what it is about these areas that…

BINGEABLE: Who Is Erin Carter?

Who Is Erin Carter? What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2023 Where’s it showing? Netflix Erin Carter (Evin Ahmad), a British substitute teacher living in Spain, has a quiet life. Her Spanish husband, Jordi (Sean Teale), treats Erin’s young daughter, Harper (Indica Watson), like she is his own. Erin’s hoping to get hired at the school…

R&D Local Kitchen holds dinner pop-up at Brekkies in Solvang

Once, twice, three times a week Follow R&D Local Kitchen on Instagram, @rxd_localkitchen, to find out more about the pop-up comfort food eatery, which currently operates Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Brekkies, located at 1655 Mission Drive, Solvang. While working at the same restaurant about a decade ago, two…

Santa Maria Planning Commission green-lights Alvin Newton Apartments

A local developer’s plan to construct 82 new apartments in downtown Santa Maria recently gained unanimous support from the city’s Planning Commission, and backlash from a multi-state labor union. More than a dozen members of the Southwest Mountain States Carpenters attended the Planning Commission’s Sept. 6 meeting to protest the Vernon Group’s proposed six-story, mixed-use…

Santa Barbara County seeks input on its Recreation Master Plan

The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission is asking the public for insight on the county’s Recreation Master Plan at its Sept. 27 hearing. The plan is a collaborative effort between county Parks and the Planning and Development Department to make changes to the county’s general plan policies and land use zoning codes to support recreation…

Political Watch: September 14, 2023

• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced two bipartisan bills aimed at helping the Central Coast curb the threat of forever chemicals in communities near regional airports, according to a Sept. 8 statement from the congressman’s office. Carbajal’s Clean Airport Agenda, which he unveiled at San Luis Obispo Regional Airport on Sept. 7, includes…

SYV Pride members reflect on their trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the European city’s Pride celebrations

Walking in Copenhagen’s Pride parade and attending its weeklong celebration felt surreal, said Santa Ynez Valley Pride President Lauren Lastra.  “I think in many ways we’re still digesting the trip because there were so many takeaways, so many perspectives—life-changing moments that you still need to digest and be intentional and mindful for what that means…

Doing what’s right

After all else failed, Santa Barbara County stepped up for Guadalupe in a way that moved 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino to tears for the resilient community he represents and the board on which he serves. “Today you were public servants,” Lavagnino told fellow supervisors after they unanimously voted on Sept. 12 to allocate $8…

It’s time to do something about climate change

When I read “the sea is boiling hot” in Lewis Carroll’s famous poem “The Walrus and The Carpenter,” I imagined a hot tub near the ocean. I never thought it literally would be our ocean or our beloved Maui burning to the ground. I wonder whether Carroll was thinking about climate change when he wrote…


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