Cover Story
An age-old question
For the last three months, John has been pounding the pavement, searching in vain for a job. He’s currently on food stamps and depends on friends for housing and transportation. He’s teetering on the verge of despair. “I’m very depressed, very worried about the future,” he said, the frustration evident in his voice. “All my…
What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Ernesto Martinez restaurant manager “[My wife gave] me a son.” I.D. Hernandez student “Taking me to Disneyland. ” Mike Godinez respiratory care practitioner “Thanking me at work.” Brad Bunkelmen retired “My mother gave birth to me.”
C Gallery hosts Tantara Wines tasting and book reading event
The C Gallery in Los Alamos will be host to a book signing in honor of the upcoming release of Bill Cates’s book To Ride a Fine Horse. Stop by between 5 and 7 p.m. on Sept. 30. The Friday evening event offers a reading and signing, as well as a Tantara wine tasting. Cates…
Gabriel Nava exhibits work this fall
Artwork showing in two cities this autumn can be traced back to Santa Maria. Allan Hancock College fine arts instructor Gabriel Navar has been invited to display his work at an exhibit in Richmond, Calif., and in Guadalajara, Mexico. Two pieces will be on display in the Richmond Art Center’s 75th Anniversary Celebration. The exhibit…
Music that Pops
What sets a “Pops” orchestra apart from any other kind of orchestra? The Lompoc Pops Orchestra has been performing for Lompoc for years, and is now entering its 15th season of providing regular concerts that keep the community involved and excited. “The Lompoc Pops is patterned after the Boston Pops,” said Anthony W. Fox, president…
Prof. Wagner and the fight against brain drain
A wintergreen cursor blinked against the black void of the Apple IIE’s monitor, casting a faint glow onto the face of a young Michael Wagner. In the years to follow, those pixels would arrange into homework and games—and would generate a love of computer programming in the boy staring at them. Twenty-three years after getting…
Ghostly good
Santa Maria Civic Theatre is haunted with hilarity by its latest production, Blithe Spirit, a comedy in three acts by the celebrated Noel Coward. The show is about a man haunted by the ghost of his first wife—much to the chagrin of his second wife. Alan H. Foster directs this charming production of a community…
Gerardo Alvarez
It’s hard enough to get up at 6 in the morning. It’s even harder when you know that you’re going to be running for the next hour. Gerardo Alvarez starts his day—every day, seven days a week—just like this. He wants to be able to breathe while his opponents are trying to clean his clock.…
The Bleacher Bum Chronicles Vol. XVIII
Call it a sucker punch. Call it what you will. Floyd Mayweather, Jr., saw an opportunity, and he went for it. That’s how I felt after the brawny, brazen welterweight celebrated yet another victorious outing in the ring at the MGM Grand along with his sizable entourage. For what it’s worth, Mayweather’s knockout of Ventura’s…
What’s on Deck?
Thursday, Sept. 22 Boys’ Water Polo Arroyo Grande @ Pioneer Valley 4:30 p.m. St. Joseph @ Righetti 4:30 p.m. Girls’ Golf Lompoc @ Santa Ynez 2 p.m. Righetti @ Atascadero Tournament 2 p.m. Girls’ Tennis Pioneer Valley @ St. Joseph 3 p.m. Cabrillo @ Lompoc 3:30 p.m. Templeton…
On the roster
• Walk For Life: This fundraiser for Care Net Pregnancy & Resource Center of Santa Maria at Waller Park on Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., includes a 1.5-mile walk around the park, barbecue lunch, and a celebration with a bounce house, games, and booths. Participants can bring donation checks to the registration…
Skydiving event to raise money for charities
If you’ve ever wanted to parachute out of a plane, but never had the guts, it’s time to ready your nerves. Tickets are on sale for the second annual “Fallin’ 4 A Purpose” VIP skydiving event on Oct. 9, sponsored by Roblar Winery and Skydive Santa Barbara. VIP jumpers will be pampered with private access…
Confessions of a Catholic school girl
My British husband was born into a Jewish family in Hackney, on the east side of London. I was born in Spokane, Wash., to a predominantly Italian-American Catholic family. Raising our grandchild, Mini-Brit, in the Jewish faith has provided quite an education for me! You see, I am not just any Catholic. I am an…
Time to celebrate
The first time the annual Celebration of Harvest event took place at Rancho Sisquoc Winery—on Oct. 23, 1991—it was pouring rain and there was mud everywhere. Jim Fiolek, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Association (SBCVA), recalls the first celebration with fondness. “It had rained so much that the school buses that were…
Book it to the museum!
Celebrity guests, like Santa Maria City Councilwoman Alice Patino, have shared stories as a part of the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum’s new Tuesday Tales program. The Discovery Museum just launched one more free weekly program, adding to its already robust series of hands-on program for kids and families: “Tuesday Tales.” We are excited to…
Hobnobbing with Helen
Bravo, ladies of the Santa Maria Country Club! Your “Ladies Friendship Luncheon and Fashion Show” was such a stylish success. This is the seventh year this group has held this event, designed to bring together tennis, golf, and social members. The luncheon benefits a different nonprofit each time. This year, the focus was on the…
Know your status
I offered to get tested for HIV/AIDS as part of this article because I thought it would be a good way to inform people about the virus and hopefully dispel some of the myths about—and stigma surrounding—testing. I was also highly confident in my status. I’d never been tested before, but I was 100 percent…
Faith and change
A human’s search for the meaning of life can’t be constrained by culture or tradition. Searchers will follow whatever path they need to take to whatever end it meets. Bernardo Pichardo is a hard-working, honest mechanic. He seems to walk around with a warm glow. When a Sun reporter recently walked into his shop, he…
Spotlight on: The Union Hotel
Outside, the smell of greasewood rides the wind. Ragged wood and old-time architecture take observers back to the ’80s. The 1880s. Inside, the floor is uneven—scuffed in some places and polished to a shine by countless feet in others—and creaks just about everywhere. Knickknacks and bric-a-brac from days of old adorn the place. It’s just…
City and county officials are trying to stop construction of a roundabout in Lompoc
The mayor of Lompoc has launched a letter-writing campaign against construction of a Caltrans-approved traffic roundabout planned for Highway 246 on the city’s outskirts. In a recent interview with the Sun, Mayor John Linn said he was shocked Caltrans officials chose to move forward with the project. “It’s pretty heinous,” Linn said of the roundabout.…
Weird News
It’s a surprise! In January, a baby was born to Canadians Kathy Witterick and David Stocker, but seven months later, they still have not revealed to family or friends whether little “Storm” is a boy or a girl. The couple is intending to raise Storm free of gender-specific cultural stereotypes (i.e., such things as domesticity,…
Time for a facelift
On Sept. 25, the Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building will celebrate its 75th anniversary with much to-do. The event commemorates the three quarters of a century the building has been part of the Lompoc community and will raise funds for the building’s $3 million renovation project. The opening ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. and…
SLO shooting victim taught in Lompoc
An Arroyo Grande woman is dead, and the alleged perpetrator—her adult son—was arrested after a brief standoff with police in San Luis Obispo on Sept. 17. Karen Shumey, 65, was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound in downtown San Luis Obispo. Shumey was a longtime eighth grade history teacher at Vandenberg Middle School. At…
Uproar over Vandenberg briefing spurs Air Force mandate on ‘religious neutrality’
One month after the U.S. Air Force suspended a controversial class taught to launch officers at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the branch’s top officer issued a memo warning leaders to avoid promoting particular religious views. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz sent the memo to units nationwide on Sept. 1, calling on officials…
Chumash hold an annexation meeting of their own
On the night of Sept. 16, hundreds of Santa Ynez Valley residents walked past the blinking lights and the clanging noise of hundreds of slot machines in the Chumash Casino, heading straight to the Salama Showroom. They weren’t there to gamble or attend a rock concert; they came to discuss land owned by the Santa…
Mediation heals relationships, saves money
Mediation, not trial or arbitration, is now the preferred method of dispute resolution in our justice system. The reasons are myriad: • More than 85 percent of disputes negotiated through mediation are settled, according to statistics from the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo superior courts. • Mediation is private and confidential, but litigation is…
