In response to Mr. Ron Fink proposing that the Ten Commandments be displayed “in every school, library, courthouse, and city hall in the United States” (“What’s the fuss?” July 25): I can only reply that many citizens, myself included, resent being subjected to archaic and divisive Christian orthodoxy and dogma. How about a new set […]
How about a new set of ‘commandments’
Posted inOpinion
Democrats are sporting fresh faces and ample energy heading into Electoral College decisions
Last August, my commentary concluded with this observation: “One thing is certain: By next August, both parties will have completed their primary elections … and named their nominees. We already know the stakes in 2024: Nothing less than the future of our democracy, the security of our planet, and the conditions under which our nation […]
Posted inOpinion
Canceled
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to cancel DCPA—aka the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate; aka a weed-eating herbicide often used to treat broccoli and onion fields that’s associated with certain birth defects. But officially canceling DCPA ain’t easy. It’s not like a clarion call to boycott your neighborhood racist coffee shop on TikTok. Or the right-wing […]
Posted inNews
Julio Roman is Pacific Pride Foundation’s new executive director
Julio Roman started his journey with LGBTQ-plus organizations as a client. “I was looking for a safe space,” Roman said. “I was dealing with my feelings around being attracted to other guys, and this was a safe space to really be yourself. I was able to find a community of young men who looked like […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: August 15, 2024
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) applauded the Biden-Harris administration for announcing a change in housing policy to benefit veterans, a policy that he proposed as part of the recently adopted Home for the Brave Act, according to an Aug. 8 statement from Carbajal’s office. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc Councilmember Gilda Aiello will not run for reelection, former planning commissioner to run unopposed
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
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 […]