Cover Story
The rural jurisdiction
Navigating his dusty pickup truck along the winding highways and washboard byways in some of the county’s most remote backcountry, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputy John McCarthy certainly gets around. It’s all part of the job. As the only full-time deputy manning the department’s Rural Crime Unit, McCarthy is tasked with tackling the county’s breadth…
On the roster
• Dunes Center Golf Tournament: The Guadalupe Dunes Center will be holding its sixth annual Coreopsis Cup golf tournament on Oct. 5 at the Monarch Dunes Golf Course in Nipomo, a benefit for the center’s education programs. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at noon. Player fees are $150 and include unlimited…
Golf tournament to benefit family of Neil Reed
Nipomo community members will be holding the Coach Reed Memorial Golf Tournament on Oct. 13 at Blacklake Golf Resort, to raise money for the family of Neil Reed. Reed, a golf coach at Pioneer Valley and a former basketball player with the University of Indiana, died on July 26 at the age of 36. He’s…
La Purisima Golf Course seeks buyer
The owners of the 18-hole championship La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc are looking to sell the property, listing the popular links with an asking price of $7.25 million. Developer Kenneth Hunter, Jr., built the course in 1986 with the help of renowned golf course architect Robert Muir Graves. The par 72, 306-acre course along…
Youth rugby kicks off
Boys ages 9 to 18 from all over the Central Coast are invited to sign up for youth rugby with the Central Coast Sharks. Practices will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Wednesday nights for players in high school. The season runs from January to April. Registration is $150 and includes registration with…
The Bleacher Bum Chronicles Vol. XXX
Love it or hate it, we’re living in an age of instant communication—about everything. And as the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement have taught us, the mini-blog/social networking site Twitter is playing a part in changing the world, 140 characters at a time. While Twitter catches a lot of flack (some of it deservedly…
Athlete of the Week: Brooke Butler, Righetti
A high school athlete with exceptional athletic abilities is always someone to watch. But a high school student with tremendous talent and a mature head on her shoulders is even more amazing. The Righetti High School volleyball team is lucky enough to have one such rarely packaged player. Senior Brooke Butler’s love and passion for…
Monster bash
October is the time of year when we can all unabashedly pull our favorite costumes out of the attic and play dress up. Some go silly, some go spooky, but the spirit of fun is the same. The Addamo Bistro and Wine Bar is celebrating the holiday spirit with a series of weekly concerts/costume parties…
As serious as a heart attack
Women and men are different. I know that seems like an incredibly obvious statement, but I’m not talking about melons or other fruits and berries of the human anatomy. I mean men and women are very different. I came up with this hypothesis after studying the opposite sex day and night for 16 years straight.…
Banned books appear at the library
The Santa Maria Public Library will observe the 30th annual national anniversary of Banned Books Week with a featured speaker whose book on her childhood experiences in a California migrant labor camp was among dozens ordered removed from Tucson, Ariz., classrooms. Diana Garcia, who was born in Merced, teaches at the California State University in…
New play explores 154 and Paradise and other intersections
A staged reading of a new play by Gerald DiPego , 154 and Paradise, will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School Little Theater. The play is a benefit for the Friends of the Library of the Santa Ynez Valley and the Theater Group at the…
PCPA gets six Scenies
Stage Scene L.A. has recognized PCPA’s 2012 Summer Season with six Scenies Awards. Editor Steven Stanley reviewed 267 productions throughout L.A., as well as theaters in San Diego and as far north as Solvang. Stanley received more than 1,000 review requests between Sept. 1, 2011, and Aug. 31, 2012. Artistic Director Mark Booher stated, “We’re…
Colorful affair
Old Orcutt been coming alive recently with a host of new restaurants, wine tasting rooms, and boutiques. It’s also set to come alive in temporary, vivid, colorful strokes of chalk as the Old Orcutt Street Paining and Art Festival takes place. Families, the community, and professional artists will come together to focus on kids for…
Zip down to wine country
Living on the Central Coast, we don’t have to look very hard to find something to keep us entertained. With its pristine beaches, quaint towns, and plethora of wineries, a good time is never far away. Take, for instance, our neighbors to the north of the Cuesta Grade at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch. At…
Nipomo’s monarch
Residents living the good life at the Trilogy resort community in Nipomo come from all over the United States seeking a relaxed, wine country lifestyle, buying homes nestled alongside two coastal golf courses. Many, like Rick Altimus, assumed that their weekends here would be filled with tee offs, chip shots, and hopefully, lots of birdies.…
I’ll support a candidate who takes the pledge
I, many of my ilk and many more, agree with Grover Norquist and his pledge. Were that not the case, no one would care about it one way or the other. Our government in Washington (and California) has a spending problem—not a revenue problem—and any additional tax or fee revenue will support and encourage an…
Maldonado is the best choice
We are rapidly approaching national election time, and, if you care, it is time to make up your mind on who is best to represent the Central Coast. Lois Capps is a nice older lady who votes straight liberal and spends her time explaining to constituents what their benefits are. Abel Maldonado is a local…
Turn the faucets back on in Nipomo
I am a landowner in Nipomo and am being refused water for an assisted living facility near Von’s. After exhaustive research, I have come up with the following reliable facts: Within a vast area of 384 square miles, 10 public water purveyors utilize portions of the same water aquifer. Of the 10, only one, the…
Celebrate the freedom to read
Every year in late September, librarians celebrate Banned Books Week. It is a time to recognize the power that words, ideas, and illustrations in books can have to change lives and perspectives, and make some people and groups uncomfortable. This year, Banned Books Week falls between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. Library and bookstore visitors…
For the sake of health
Health and the practices that sustain it will be the focus of Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital’s 30th annual health fair on Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott Hotel, 555 McMurray Road, in Buellton. Admission is free and open to people of all ages. There will be…
Learn how disasters shape our world
Disasters, both natural and man-made, affect human beings in many different ways, whether physically, emotionally, politically, economically, or a mix of all four. The Friends of the Allan Hancock College Library is sponsoring a series of free lectures in October and November that focus on the consequences of such disasters from pre-history to the present.…
¡Comida Mexicana es muy delicioso!
Mexican cuisine is a Latin cornucopia of various indigenous cultures. A new cooking class at Allan Hancock College will give locals the opportunity to learn how regional variations influence foods such as tamales and Veracruz red snapper. The college’s Community Education’s Cultural Aspects of Food will meet on Oct. 6 and 13 from 10 a.m.…
Connect with science, tech, oil, and energy
The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum and the Central Coast Education Collaborative (CCEC) both enjoy creating access to hands-on learning experiences, especially in science, math, and technology. They’ve teamed up to guarantee a S.T.E.M. winder learning experience! Beginning Oct. 1, the Mobile Oilfield Learning Unit Exhibit (MOLU) will roll into town and make its California…
Cancer survivors have a night out
Surviving cancer can take its toll on the body, mind, and spirit, but it’s still something worth recognizing and celebrating. On Oct. 3, Marian Cancer Care will host the second annual Girls’ Night Out event for female cancer survivors on the Central Coast. The festivities will start at 6 p.m. in the Mission Hope Cancer…
Spotlight on: Bill’s Take Out
Often, the progressive flow of enterprise propels owners to make their businesses bigger and better. But sometimes, success comes down to remembering to “keep it simple, stupid.” That creed has perhaps been the key to success for iconic Santa Maria restaurant Bill’s Take Out, one of the few remaining classic drive-ins on the Central Coast.…
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
Nancy Peters Learning Assistance Program AHC “Sushi is the weirdest thing I’ve eaten.” Andrew Stears student “We caught a snake while hunting and ate it.” Cameron Artis-Payne student “Crocodile and octopus.” Nathalia Powell student “Chinese ice cream.”
Food for thought–and rigorous debate
Supporters say they have a right to know what they’re putting into their bodies. Opponents say our food supply shouldn’t be tied up in more red tape and regulations than it already is. The camps are divided over Proposition 37, an initiative statute that would, in a presumably organic nutshell, require that food “made from…
Lucia Mar teachers to vote on TAP again
Members of the Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association are set to vote Sept. 27 on a new agreement that could potentially change the way TAP—an incentive-based education program—is implemented at district school sites. Funded primarily by grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Incentive Fund, TAP is an educational reform program that aims to…
Trial continues for two St. Joe’s administrators accused of failing to report alleged rape
The alleged victim of a sexual assault involving two students at St. Joseph High School testified in court on Sept. 23 that she asked school administrators to keep the suspected incident from local law enforcement. Jane Doe No. 1—as described in court documents—and her mother both took the stand in the trial of St. Joseph…
Congressional candidates square off in Lompoc
Jobs, immigration, and the economy were at the forefront of a debate between U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) and her Republican challenger Abel Maldonado, who met at a women’s forum in Lompoc on Sept. 24. The two candidates, battling for the newly redrawn 24th U.S. Congressional District, spoke at the event sponsored by the…
