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Autumn Arts 2019
The Sun’s got the lowdown on art shows, performances, and more to fill up your fall calendar.
Planning Commission gives green light to Nipomo cannabis grow
Cannabis will continue to be farmed on a 29-acre lot in Nipomo after a fervent debate over the project’s proximity to a local elementary school. At a meeting on Sept. 12, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission voted 4-1 to approve a conditional use permit for the cannabis grow, a project widely disliked by…
Sheriff discusses cooperation with ICE while trying to maintain trust
The remnants of a contentious debate over the opening of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility in Santa Maria linger. Five years ago, thousands of protesters showed up at a Santa Maria Planning Commission meeting to oppose the construction of an ICE facility within the city. Vocal opponents later crowded the City Council…
You’re bound to divert from the main trail at Vasquez Rocks, but that’s kind of the point
There aren’t a lot of options for hikers looking for trails to explore in the sweltering, humid mess that is Houston, Texas. Sure, the Sam Houston National Forest has some charm, with its towering pine trees and meandering creeks, but the lack of any elevation change makes the redundant scenery grow old fast. Maybe this…
Nipomo children’s book author champions endangered species
We’ve all experienced those fortuitous moments in life that make us stop and think, “Now that would make a great book.” But not many of us can say we’ve brought such reveries to reality. But for Nipomo-based author Bonnie Lady Lee, the start of her career writing children’s books was an obvious choice after an…
See firsthand how local producers turn seeds into sustenance at the first Santa Barbara County Farm Day
It’s incredibly easy to know next to nothing about how food production actually works. Most of us drive past the fields every day but barely note the gradual change from empty dirt to tidy rows of leafy greens. The workers sometimes seen running boxes of strawberries to the loading truck don’t seem to have any…
CANARY: Not a lark
The city of Lompoc set the date! On Sept. 17, Lompoc City Council members voted unanimously (I know! I fell off my perch, too.) to hold a sales tax election (I know! I fell off my perch twice, too.) on March 3, 2020. Who knew Santa Maria was such a trend setter? City residents voted…
Country stars Pryor Baird and Kaleb Lee team up for benefit concert at Presqu’ile Winery
Former Voice contestants Pryor Baird and Kaleb Lee will bring a double dose of their signature country flair to Presqu’ile Winery in Santa Maria on Saturday, Sept. 28 (with doors opening at 6 p.m.). Proceeds of this duo show will benefit Operation WEBS (Women Empowered Build Strong), a Santa Barbara County nonprofit dedicated to providing…
Lompoc Theatre Project holds annual chalk festival
Lompoc Chalks 2019, an annual festival organized by the Lompoc Theatre Project, will take place on Oct. 11, 12, and 13 in Old Town Lompoc, occupying the two public parking lots located between Cypress Avenue and I Street. The event features live entertainment, food trucks, artisan vendors, hayrides, mural tours, a beer and wine garden,…
DANA Adobe hosts ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’
Grover Beach’s Studio of the Performing Arts presents its production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the DANA Adobe Cultural Center on Friday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 12. Both performances start at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. This cult classic musical centers on sweethearts Brad and Janet who stumble into…
LA screenwriter combines yoga, journaling in Orcutt
Yoga for Mankind in Orcutt hosts Release and Restore, a yoga and journaling class, on Sunday, Oct. 13, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Los Angeles-based yoga instructor and screenwriter Natalie Zimmerman will instruct this eclectic workshop. For the past five years, Zimmerman has led various classes exploring a connection between certain aspects of creative writing…
Porter announces second try against Hartmann for District 3 seat
Bruce Porter recently announced he would once again be running for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors 3rd District seat against Joan Hartmann, who won 53 percent of the district’s votes in a November 2016 runoff election against Porter. “There’s a pretty significant amount of people who are unhappy with how things are going…
Political Watch: September 26, 2019
• Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) announced Transitions-Mental Health Association, or TMHA, as the Assembly District 35 nonprofit for September. The nonprofit serves San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County. The nonprofit works to battle the stigma against mental illness. “I am extremely grateful for the services TMHA provides its clients and…
Fire department receives grant to hire additional firefighters
The Santa Maria Fire Department will soon have nine additional firefighters, thanks to a grant it received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to a statement from the city, FEMA awarded the department a $1.6 million Staffing for Adequate Emergency Response grant that will be paid out over the next three years. The…
Guadalupe works to enact new ADU regulations
The city of Guadalupe is in the process of looking at the parameters under which ADUs, or accessory dwelling units, can be built. Larry Appel, the city’s planning director, said Guadalupe wants to keep up with state regulation. He said that while there are only five or six ADUs in the city, new bills making…
Lompoc sets date for sales tax election
The fiscal future of Lompoc is now in the hands of its residents. At its meeting on Sept. 17, Lompoc City Council unanimously voted in favor of holding a 1 percent sales tax increase election on March 3, 2020. If approved by voters, this would raise the city’s sales tax rate to 8.75 percent, which…
Lompoc’s low-income housing receives a few upgrades
What do you do with an apartment complex that historically has been a center for drug dealing, gang activity, assaults, rapes, and murders in Lompoc for the last four decades? That question was answered at a council meeting on Sept. 17. Every city in the country has these types of apartments filled with low-income families;…
Reform needs to happen
The commentary, “I am undocumented” (Sept. 5), seems like a politically written hit piece. If factual, I am sympathetic. But I also grew up with illegal immigrants, hired illegal immigrants, and worked with them. Most went to the effort to be legalized and assimilate over the years. The need to improve our immigration laws and…
Alzheimer’s Association’s annual and ongoing events raise funds and shine light on the disease
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.8 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. The association projects this number will increase to nearly 14 million by 2050. #img15118 Donna Beal, vice president of the Alzheimer’s Association Central Coast Chapter, said it’s hard to pin down an exact cause for this increase. However, she…
