For trips to the lake, runs to Pick-and-Pull for racecar parts, or back and forth from Orchard Supply Hardware to deliver landscaping bricks, I drive a Dodge Ram 1500 two-wheel drive P.O.S. pickup truck. There’s nothing fancy about it. I don’t have it jacked up on big tires; it doesn’t have cool custom wheels or […]
This old truck
Posted inNews
Start by believing
It’s been about a week since Shane Villalpando was sentenced to one year in Santa Barbara County Jail and five years’ probation for having unlawful sex with underage teenagers. He’ll have to register as a sex offender throughout the duration of his probation. He’ll have to attend sex offender counseling and receive treatment for drug […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Solvang-style breakfast
For years I have taken out-of-town visitors and local friends alike to Solvang for breakfast at Paula’s Pancake House, which is known for some of the best pancakes and waffles around. Paula and Charles Greenwald found success serving their customers crepes and waffles at The Belgian Café in Solvang, so in 1986 they opened a […]
Posted inOpinion
It wasn’t always a joke
OK, I read this today over my chili verde and eggs (“Yes, I’ve used the N-word,” July 11). What I’m getting out of the Paula Deen deal is that she did not own up to it. She tried beating around the bush by saying that it was long ago. She went on to say she’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Plenty of shame to go around
After reading Gary Wechter’s commentary (“Yes, I’ve used the N-word,” July 11), I wonder what progress we have made in our understanding of racial intolerance? How could it not have occurred to Wechter that the reason the African American man did not appear indignant about “cousin Margie” calling him “nigger” did not mean he thought […]
Posted inOpinion
The sounds of silence
I guess a few more of you will have to die off (“Yes, I’ve used the N-word,” July 11). With all due respect, I was living in Jim Crow Arkansas in the ’50s when white people did refer to us as nigger. It was not acceptable to us, and I must enlighten you that it […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Javier Cardenas
The sound of reggae music and grunting fighters echoed as soft-spoken Javier Cardenas (pictured in white) wrestled with his partner at the Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym in Santa Maria. With sweat running down his brow after several intense practice rolls—which are informal matches of sorts solely for practice—Cardenas said, “Jiu-Jitsu is for the smaller person […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Memorial auction returns
The 12th annual Joe White Memorial Dinner and Auction is quickly approaching. Scheduled for Aug. 17, the event will be held at the Santa Maria Fairpark Pavilion. The doors open at 5:30 with a silent auction and social hour. The evening will also feature a New York strip steak dinner served at 7 p.m. with […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Get your game on the court
The newest addition to the Allan Hancock College coaching staff, basketball head coach Tyson Aye, will be heading up a basketball camp at the school. Available for girls and boys ages 6 to 18, the camp will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Joe White gymnasium Aug. 5 through 8. Players will learn […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A new coach and schedule are on the way
The Santa Maria Saints cross-country team will start playing host to summer training on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saints athletic director Joe Graack will soon announce the new head coach for girls’ cross-country. “We have the goal to take the Santa Maria […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Run with the big ‘Dogs
Allan Hancock Athletics announced that the women’s cross country team is now recruiting both experienced and inexperienced runners to race this season. For more information, contact Coach Louie Quintana at 705-3299.
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Give to the Saints
The Santa Maria Saints will hold a fundraising golf tournament at Marshallia Ranch Golf Course on Saturday, Aug. 24. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the boys’ and girls’ golf teams of Santa Maria. The tournament will feature a four-man scramble and prizes for longest drive and straight drive; there will also […]