Editor’s note: Santa Maria Speedway General Manager David Castaneda told the Sun after the paper went to press that races have been postponed due to logistical issues, and the speedway is holding an open practice on May 11 from 4 to 9 p.m. instead. Residents can come and watch people practice, but no concessions will […]
Off to the races: The Santa Maria Speedway is back in business starting May 11
Posted inFood & Drink
The hunt for quesabirria: An on-trend taco dials up the flavor all over the Santa Maria Valley
Who doesn’t want a tortilla dipped in consommé and filled with tender, succulent stewed beef and melty cheese? (Unless your vegetarian or vegan, of course.) Top it with some cilantro, onions, and the taquera’s choice of salsa, you really can’t go wrong. The meat falls apart, oozing its saucy origins—stewed for hours with chiles, garlic, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Little King Coffee debuts in Buellton
Get the royal treatment Visit littlekingcoffee.com for more info on Little King Coffee, located at 290 Valley Station Drive, suite 101, Buellton. The shop is open daily, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. With their newborn nestled in a stroller, a Buellton couple was walking along Valley Station Drive when an epiphany struck in late […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Cypress Gallery holds new solo show, Pouring My Heart Out
Works of heart The Lompoc Valley Art Association presents Pouring My Heart Out, a showcase of paintings by local artist Christine Jeszeck, which is slated to open on Thursday, May 2, and run through Sunday, May 26, at Cypress Gallery, located at 119 E. Cypress Ave., Lompoc. An artist reception for Jeszeck’s solo show will […]
Posted inOpinion
What Oppenheimer didn’t tell us
Oscar-winning Oppenheimer fails to depict the experience of the Tewa people with the Trinity test. Using First Peoples and the land and water they protected as sacrifice for atomic testing, just weeks before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. government poisoned the air, water, and sacred land of the Tewa—communities that for more […]
Posted inOpinion
A fuller look at history reveals that the intrepid ‘pathfinder of the West’ has a complicated reputation
The 2024 election is hurtling toward us like a runaway train. The far right has launched a full-scale attack on alleged “indoctrination” of political correctness that they claim to find throughout public education, from kindergarten through high school and especially in colleges. I’m a retired history teacher with 20 years’ experience in our local secondary […]
Posted inOpinion
Dinosaur messes
The dominos are finally beginning to visibly fall for Big Oil on the Central Coast. Dinosaurs like the Phillips 66 refinery in Nipomo are on their last legs—thanks in part to massive environmental outcry over the projects proposed to keep them humming. SLO County’s 2017 decision to deny P66 a rail spur extension on its […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Blast from the Past: Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead What’s it rated? Unrated When? 1978 Where’s it showing? The Fremont Theater on Saturday, April 27, at 8:30 p.m. Written and directed by George A. Romero, Dawn of the Dead is a follow-up to his groundbreaking 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, considered the first modern-day zombie movie. Dawn takes […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
New Flicks: Chosen Family
Chosen Family What’s it rated? Not yet rated When? 2024 Where’s it showing? The Fremont Theater in SLO on Saturday, April 27, at 5 p.m. Writer-director Heather Graham (Half Magic) helms the very funny new dramedy Chosen Family, about Ann (Graham), a yoga instructor with bad luck in love and with an impossibly difficult family […]
Posted inNews
Free summer baseball programs in Lompoc and Santa Maria are open for registration
Santa Maria and Lompoc families looking for free summer programs for their kids can sign up for the Junior Giants coed baseball league. The eight-week program starts in mid-June for children ages 5 to 13—with teams divided by age. The Santa Maria program registration ends April 30 with practices starting on June 6. The Lompoc […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: April 25, 2024
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) visited the future site of more than 30 new studio apartments and a health clinic in downtown Santa Barbara, and presented a ceremonial check for $1 million, an investment he secured in this year’s federal budget to support the project, according to an April 16 statement from Carbajal’s […]
Posted inNews
Solvang considers raising maintenance fees for Skytt Mesa homeowners
The feedback from ballots recently mailed to residents of Solvang’s Skytt Mesa neighborhood will determine the fate of a proposed lighting project estimated to cost $50,000. City staff expects to tally up the mailers’ results by June 1, while the Solvang City Council will vote May 13 on a potential 2 percent maintenance fee increase […]