When it comes to keeping your personal items safe, Fortress-Secure Mini-Storage in Santa Maria is one protector with staying power, celebrating its milestone 10th anniversary on Jan. 2. “I can’t believe it,” said managing general partner Todd Plastino. “It’s gone by fast.” Founded by Todd and his father Robert in 2002, the Santa Maria location […]
Spotlight on: Fortress-Secure Mini-Storage
Posted inNews
Ringing in the holidays
It’s a little after 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, and Lt. Matthew Jensen is standing outside the Foods Co. on Broadway, talking to someone on his cell phone. “The bell’s already driving me nuts. I’m going to be dreaming of it,” he tells the person on the other end of the line, who presumably […]
Posted inNews
Blazing a new trail
A plan for a network of multi-use trails in Orcutt cleared a major hurdle on Dec. 13, when Santa Barbara County supervisors voted unanimously to accept an offer of more than 300 acres from a local housing developer. For Luis Escobar, a distance runner and cross-country coach who spearheaded the idea of building a recreational […]
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Animal Services rescues 450 birds and other animals from Santa Barbara property
Employees of Santa Barbara County Animal Services seized nearly 450 animals from a rural property on West Camino Cielo Road in Santa Barbara on Dec. 10. Animal Services Director Jan Glick said the seizure began at 8 a.m. and finished more than 12 hours later. Authorities were alerted to the situation through an anonymous tip. […]
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Golden State Water ordered to issue refunds
The state’s chief regulating agency for public utilities has levied fines on Golden State Water Co. and ordered the company to issue nearly $10 million in refunds to its customers. Customers in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties won’t see much of that sum, however. The California Public Utilities Commission announced on Dec. 15 […]
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Strange pleads ‘no contest’ in death of Lompoc woman
Lacey Strange—the 18-year-old woman facing a vehicular manslaughter charge in the death of a Lompoc woman—changed her “not guilty” plea to “no contest” on Dec. 15. Strange’s attorney, Catherine Swynsen, entered the plea on the defendant’s behalf before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa, who is presiding over the case in Santa Barbara […]
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Threats loom while Santa Maria PD investigates officer shooting
Santa Maria Police Department officials, including Police Chief Danny Macagni, would not confirm to the Sun whether they have received threats of violence since an incident that left alleged Santa Maria gang member Samyr Ceballos, 24, dead in the street, citing an ongoing investigation into the shooting. But numerous sources have told the Sun that […]
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Cuyama community honors its first fallen solider
Cuyama Valley residents are mourning the death of Sgt. Christopher Muniz, who died Dec. 11 in Afghanistan. Muniz is the town’s first causality from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 24-year-old was one of two soldiers killed when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in the Kunar province. The community […]
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Temporary setback for Occupy Lompoc
On Dec. 17, police officers asked members of the grassroots group Occupy Lompoc to vacate Liberty Park at the corner of H Street and Ocean Avenue in response to a complaint from the public. The protesters left without incident and moved to a vacant lot nearby. Liberty Park was a project undertaken by the recently […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten or prepared for someone else?
Bryan Hersey Tom’s Burgers food prep “I had a piece of toast with the egg cooked inside it once. It might not be weird to other people, but it was weird to me because I don’t like runny yolk. I’m kind of a simple eater.” Nick Long Tom’s Burgers cook “Some guy ordered a U […]
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Jump for joy!
Know any thrill seekers who are notoriously hard to shop for? There’s nothing like jumping out of a plane to put a smile on an adrenaline junkie’s face. Since Jan. 1, 2000, Skydive Santa Barbara has been offering tandem jumps and top-quality skydive training. “We’re the fastest growing skydive school in Santa Barbara County. We […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Musical glory
The Lompoc Valley Master Chorale is celebrating the holiday and 20 years of musical contribution to Lompoc’s musical community with the piece that originally brought the group together: George Frederic Handel’s setting of the Messiah to be performed on Dec. 16 and 17 in Lompoc. “David Hensley, who was the founding director of the group, […]