Lompoc City Council member Gilda Aiello (formerly Cordova) decided not to run for reelection this year after facing “a few unfair attacks on me brought on by a group of individuals who wanted to have me removed” during her last few years as a council member. “It really was with a heavy heart,” Aiello […]
Lompoc Councilmember Gilda Aiello will not run for reelection, former planning commissioner to run unopposed
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Protecting workers
Broccoli contributed $86.7 million of Santa Barbara County’s $1.8 billion agriculture industry in 2023, sitting in fourth place among the county’s top 10 agricultural commodities, according to the 2023 Santa Barbara County Crop and Livestock Report. It’s also a crop that growers use dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) on for weed treatment—an herbicide that was […]
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Political Watch: August 8, 2024
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced that he recently secured several top water infrastructure priorities for California through the unanimous U.S. Senate passage of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, according to an Aug. 2 statement from Padilla’s office. The legislation includes provisions Padilla fought for to address the Tijuana […]
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Santa Ynez Valley’s College School District adds $18 million bond measure to November ballot
Several College School District portable classrooms are World War II surplus Army barracks that were brought onto campus decades ago, Superintendent Marlene Donner said. “Our old Army barrack buildings were brought to the site and put together as the original school and they need to be replaced with new modernized buildings so the students have […]
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County Planning Commission approves Buellton cannabis cultivation project
While cannabis odor has concerned John Parke in the past when it comes to project proposals, the Santa Barbara County 3rd District Planning Commissioner voted alongside his colleagues to approve a cannabis processing project near Buellton and deny an appeal from neighbors during the July 31 Planning Commission hearing. “We have several experienced commissioners who […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest What’s it rated? G When? 1992 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11, at 1:30 p.m. My favorite troublemaking fairy is back on the big screen! Crysta (voiced by Samantha Mathis) is fixated on seeing what lies beyond the boundaries of FernGully and tales […]
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NEW FLICKS: Silent Fallout
Silent Fallout What’s it rated? Not rated When? Monday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. (reserve a free ticket at eventbrite.com) Where’s it showing? Unitarian Universalists San Luis Obispo (2201 Lawson Ave.) SLO Mothers for Peace hosts a screening of Silent Fallout on Monday, Aug. 12, and director Hideaki Ito will attend the three-hour event and […]
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Trap is preposterous fun
Trap What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Anna? Matinee What’s it worth, Glen? Matinee Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Lady in the Water) helms this psychological thriller about a serial killer called The Butcher, but even serial […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Combating stigma
Help out CAPSLO is hiring 50 student ambassadors for both SLO and Santa Barbara counties for its Teen Wellness Program. Applicants must be 13 to 18 years old and have an eagerness to address the mental health crisis. Ambassadors will dedicate three hours per week to the program. To apply, visit forms.gle/rjs2Y63dqechTNC29. Since the COVID-19 […]
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Solvang Festival Theater brings PCPA’s Cabaret to its stage
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) presents its production of Cabaret at the Solvang Festival Theater, with performances through Aug. 25. This iteration of the iconic musical opened at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria where it ran in late July, and moved to Solvang in early August. Set in Berlin during the 1930s, Cabaret follows […]
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Bond, school bond
Santa Maria-Bonita In the 2023-24 school year, Santa Maria-Bonita School District had more than 17,000 students enrolled in its 17 elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one combined elementary and junior high. By 2029-30, the district expects more than 18,000 enrolled students, not accounting for students who might come from housing projects currently in […]
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County Youth Poet Laureate hosts reading at Solvang Library
Born in Santa Barbara and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley, Jasmine Guerrero Sevilla holds the prestigious title of youth poet laureate of Santa Barbara County. In early August, Sevilla led a free workshop in Solvang for young writers ranging from ages 9 to 12. On Saturday, Aug. 10, Sevilla and the workshop’s students will […]