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Birchwood Beer Garden gives Nipomo residents a family-friendly spot to eat, drink, and be merry at a distance
It’s hard to tell whether smoke or fog hangs over Nipomo on Sept. 10 as we walk over to Birchwood Beer Garden around 5 p.m. Field to Table Catering & Events’ food truck, The Cruiser, is parked in the front parking lot serving up the Aloha Menu—your choice of Kalua pork sandwich, Huli Huli chicken,…
Cypress Gallery’s California Landmarks showcases landscapes by Liz Poulin Alvarez
While her choice of media varies between each artwork—from oil to watercolor, acrylic, or charcoal—the theme that ties together each piece in Liz Poulin Alvarez’s new landscape exhibition is exactly what its title suggests. Presented by the Lompoc Art Association, California Landmarks is the second exhibit to be held at Cypress Gallery since its official…
The NatureTrack Foundation takes its third annual film festival online with dozens of virtual screenings
“We have to cancel, it’s no longer a choice,” KC Thompson texted in a group chat on March 12, nine days before Los Olivos’ third annual NatureTrack Film Festival was set to open. The chat was between Thompson and fellow festival co-director Holly Cline and NatureTrack founder Sue Eisaguirre. “We all debated what to do,…
Upcoming virtual auction benefits Nipomo’s Dana Adobe and Cultural Center
The Dana Adobe and Cultural Center in Nipomo recently announced plans for its Fall Online Auction, which will open on Sept. 28 at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to run through Oct. 5, closing at 5 p.m. Patrons can view the full catalog of auction items and pre-register to enter the auction online at danaadobe.org.…
Hancock Centennial Celebration features opening of 1995 time capsule, other events
In recognition of its 100th anniversary, Allan Hancock College announced its plans to host several virtual and live events, starting this month and through its spring 2021 semester (culminating with the commencement of its 100th graduating class in May 2021). The college will kick off its Centennial Celebration events on Sept. 23, at 10:30 a.m.,…
The roof is on fire
If you think your life is bad during 2020, you can take solace in the fact that Lompoc had actual dumpster fires over the second weekend in September—well, you can take solace if you don’t actually live in Lompoc. Ismael Zaragoza Chavez is suspected of starting multiple dumpster fires, as well as a vehicle…
Don’t tax wineries without representation
The Santa Barbara Vintners have been working on a wine business improvement district (BID) for two years. Their first proposal was a 2 percent tax on all direct to consumer (DTC) wine sales, which would include wine clubs, tasting rooms, wine merchandise sales, food sales, winemaker’s dinners, and weddings. The 2 percent tax would not…
More families use the beach in Oceano and Grover Beach because it’s closed to vehicles
Recently, at one of the South County Chambers of Commerce meetings, members seemed to be rallying in support of an individual member who claimed he had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in business since the beaches were closed to off-highway vehicles (OHVs). Meanwhile, parking lots that usually had been nearly empty at the end…
Lompoc’s mayoral candidates talk about their campaign platforms and hot issues
The Lompoc mayoral race this year brings together familiar faces, with incumbent Mayor Jenelle Osborne running against 2nd District City Councilmember Victor Vega. The Sun spoke with the candidates to hear more about their campaign priorities and issues that will define the upcoming election and beyond. Though Osborne is originally from Texas, the mayoral incumbent…
As commercially insured patients pay more to hospitals and clinics, lawmakers fail to pass a local senator’s bill expanding oversight of the health care industry – Part 2
Editor’s note: This article is the second of a two-part series produced as a data fellowship with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. The first part, “Consolidated,” published on Sept. 10. Annual hospital financial reports highlight one big-picture health care trend across California: Hospitals are making increasingly higher profits on commercially insured patients, while…
Political Watch: September 17, 2020
• On Sept. 9, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1867 into law. The legislation extends paid sick day protections to California’s workforce. “Building on historic early action to expand paid sick days to employees in the food sector at the beginning of this crisis, this legislation means that every California employee that has been…
Additional Santa Barbara County schools approved, apply for reopening waivers
Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso announced at a Sept. 15 Board of Supervisors meeting that this week the county is, once again, assigned to the “purple tier” in California’s new reopening system. This means that schools have to stay distanced, gyms and restaurants must operate outdoors, and the county continues to…
Santa Barbara County supervisors vote to support controversial Prop. 15
After roughly two-dozen comments from the public and a lively debate, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted on Sept. 15 to symbolically support a controversial state ballot measure that would change California’s current property tax assessment formula. Proposition 15 will be on every Californian’s ballot in November, and if passed, it would amend…
Nipomo could finally see skate park construction in 2021
San Luis Obispo County is closing in on its $1.5 million funding goal for the Nipomo Skate Park with the hopes of breaking ground on construction next spring. It’s taken more than six years to get to this point in the project process, but if you ask Wyatt Russell how he feels about it, he…
New health order will regulate homeless shelters, H-2A housing
After experiencing multiple serious COVID-19 outbreaks and community groups’ continued advocacy for increased Public Health Department involvement, Santa Barbara County H-2A housing and homeless shelters are now regulated through a new health order. Issued on Sept. 11, the order applies to all individuals entering or residing in homeless shelters and H-2A housing. It requires that…
Birchwood Beer Garden gives Nipomo residents a family-friendly spot to eat, drink, and be merry at a distance
It’s hard to tell whether smoke or fog hangs over Nipomo on Sept. 10 as we walk over to Birchwood Beer Garden around 5 p.m. Field to Table Catering & Events’ food truck, The Cruiser, is parked in the front parking lot serving up the Aloha Menu—your choice of Kalua pork sandwich, Huli Huli chicken,…
