Graffiti and chipped paint on the outside. Headlines and classified ads on the inside. City leaders singled out several news racks across Solvang as eyesores due to poor maintenance. During the Solvang City Council’s Oct. 14 meeting, Public Works Director and City Engineer Rodger A. Olds said staff realized during a fee program consultation that […]
Solvang City Council cracks down on unpermitted newspaper racks
Posted inNews
Pioneer Valley High School faculty rallies against principal’s administrative leave
Cries to keep Pioneer Valley High School Principal Shanda Herrera on staff echoed during an October school board meeting—continuing efforts to protect the principal who started earlier this year. “It’s spiteful and vindictive that we are back here again, and we need to stand up for people who work so incredibly hard for students in […]
Posted inNews
Guadalupe Royal Theater project design changes spark residents’ frustration with city
Chasing deadlines and a need to cut costs continue to haunt the Royal Theater renovation project. Most recently, Guadalupe city staff submitted redesign changes for a grant it received through the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) before getting the City Council’s approval. “Staff had to submit documents to meet deadlines next week without council approval […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Local view: Santa Maria Camera Club fosters competition and camaraderie between local shutterbugs year round
This must be the place Visit santamariacameraclub.org to find out more about the Santa Maria Camera Club, which holds juried photography competitions over Zoom on the third Wednesday of each month. For info on how to participate or attend the club’s additional in-person programs, email santamariacameraclub@gmail.com. For budding photographers, gaining exposure is virtually synonymous with […]
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Human services: Local nonprofits provide health care, including STI treatments, to Santa Maria Riverbed residents
Syphilis. Hepatitis C. Wounds. Poor dental hygiene. Domestic violence. Substance use. These are some of the concerns Raye Fleming and her team at the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO) have noticed since beginning their services in the Santa Maria Riverbed. “We’ve also found a lot of primary care issues, and 5Cities Homeless […]
Posted inOpinion
Free elections need our protection from Trump
Every citizen of the United States of America has the right to participate in free elections in which they are allowed to vote according to their own beliefs and opinions. That idea is fundamental to our republic, but that right has been challenged all along. Legislation like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 shows that […]
Posted inOpinion
Reelect Donald Trump, the champion of ‘we the people’
Having been American president No. 45, Donald Trump knows the swamp and the federal bureaucracy. He has years of experience as a worldwide businessman and employs thousands of people. He is for the people. As our president, he was and would be the “commander and chief” of the military. The bureaucracy reports to him. He […]
Posted inOpinion
America must do all it can to prevent nuclear war in the Middle East
The war in Israel and Palestine did not begin Oct. 7, 2023. It began before the state of Israel was created. In his book, Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom, noted Israeli historian Norman Finkelstein writes, “In 1947, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution partitioning British-mandated Palestine into a Jewish state incorporating 56 percent […]
Posted inOpinion
Racing molasses
Senior mobile home parks across the county are getting protection from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to stay senior—forever and always. Well, most of them should get that protection, if the board continues along its current path, which would put a moratorium on changing 55-and-older mobile home parks to all-ages and specify the […]
Posted inNews
NatureTrack provides Central Coast wheelchair users with more beach access through Freedom Trax program
Many wheelchair users haven’t felt a sandy beach in years, but one organization is changing that reality one track at a time. NatureTrack is making the Central Coast beachfront more accessible for wheelchair users throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties by providing technology that turns manual wheelchairs into vehicles that easily traverse sandy […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: October 10, 2024
• Assembly Bill X2-1, co-written by Assemblymembers Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and Cecillia Aguiar-Curry (D-Davis), passed the Assembly floor with a 44-17 vote and will advance to the Senate, according to an Oct. 1 statement from Hart’s office. Designed to bring stability to California’s oil market, the bill requires refineries to maintain sufficient fuel reserves […]
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Santa Maria City Council explores tax increases and fees to fill budget gap
Facing a $21 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year, Santa Maria is pondering a sugar tax, a cannabis tax, and/or charging fees for emergency services as ways to inject revenue and avoid dipping into city reserves. “These are outside the norm that we have done in the past,” interim City Manager Alex Posada […]
