The Sun, and its sister paper New Times, occasionally enter contests—not, you know, for bragging rights or anything, but it’s fun to see how our papers hold up. We like to ask, “How do we compare to our fellow publications?” And the most recent answer was: pretty well, thanks. At a May 5 California Newspaper […]
The awards have arrived
Posted inNews
County sues Walmart over property
Santa Barbara County officials recently filed an eminent domain lawsuit against Walmart to obtain land owned by the corporation to complete the Union Valley Parkway extension. However, representatives for the county and Walmart will continue to negotiate in hopes of coming to an agreement over details regarding the three parcels of land needed to connect […]
Posted inNews
Economic summit details a sluggish rebound
The economy of Northern Santa Barbara County is recovering, but at a slower rate than previous post-recession periods, experts told an audience at the North County Economic Summit on May 4. Several hundred people filed into the Marian Theater on the Allan Hancock College campus for the latest UCSB Economic Forecast Project report and to […]
Posted inNews
JROTC is the latest victim of school budget cuts
More than 100 students from Lompoc and Cabrillo high schools will no longer get to participate in the local Air Force JROTC program. The Lompoc Unified School District Board of Education recently approved $3.7 million in budget cuts, including $107,000 in funding for the JROTC program, which covered teacher salaries, benefits, and student transportation costs. […]
Posted inNews
Pioneer Valley’s Magni has teaching down to a science
Biology teacher Riccardo Magni’s classroom looks a little like a taxidermist’s office—but not as creepy. In one corner there’s a collection of bone-dry skulls, including a rhinoceros cranium. A stuffed pheasant perches on the cabinets, ready to take flight. There are living animals, too: two hissing cockroaches from Madagascar, a giant millipede, and three different […]
Posted inNews
Wham! Biff! Pow!
The great unused potential of the comic is baffling to me. Take the written word in all its nobility, beauty, and dexterity. Compound that with all of the visceral, emotional, and evocative qualities of the visual arts. Now put them in your transmogrifier and press the button. What you expect to get from the equation […]
Posted inOpinion
Should California abolish the death penalty?
Joanna Martinez receptionist “They should be sentenced for life. It doesn’t teach anything to murder someone. Put it in the Lord’s hands, and let him judge them.” Stacy Wilson industrial sales “Each case is unique, but certain heinous crimes deserve the death penalty.” Travis Hanson student “It should not be abolished. But it should only […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Wine and art to benefit Arts Outreach
Fiddlehead Cellars recently announced “The Art of Fiddlehead,” a series of receptions for the palate and the palette, beginning on May 3. The series will benefit the nonprofit Arts Outreach while highlighting Fiddlehead wines and local artists. Series events will happen in the Fiddlehead barrel room in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, 1597 E. Chestnut Ave., […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Folklorico!
Skirts twirling like colorful pinwheels and feet shuffling to the rhythmic beat of traditional Mexican folk music will fill the stage during Allan Hancock College’s annual FOLKLORICO! performance. The event is a collaboration between dancers from the college’s dance department, the college’s youth division, and the folklorico groups from Santa Maria, Pioneer, and Righetti high […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Steel is strong
The thought of a military band usually evokes images of rows of shimmering brass and sounds of lively marches a la John Philip Sousa. Rarely does one envision an electric light show, a full rock drum kit, and screaming guitar solos. But the United States Air Force Academy Band’s popular music ensemble Blue Steel aims […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Battle on
Santa Maria Civic Theatre wraps up its season with a few good laughs with Ed Simpson’s The Battle of Shallowford. Directed by Richard Dresp, the production fuses a slice-of-life look at the small town of Shallowford, N.C., and its residents, who live through the chaos following the broadcast of The War of the Worlds by […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Everything you wanted to know about sex*
“Grandma, where do babies come from?” The question was one I had been expecting, but not just yet. Mini-Brit was then only in kindergarten. Always an observant little fellow, he noticed that a classmate’s mother’s tummy was growing quite large. When he asked his schoolmate about it, she announced that her mommy was going to […]