Over the past 12 years, Santa Barbara County riding group Rancheros Visitadores, in partnership with Wrangler, has donated more than $1.5 million to the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara to support local cancer research and care programs. The Rancheros Visitadores was started in the Santa Ynez Valley in the 1930s by local ranch owners to […]
Santa Ynez Valley-based horse-riding group annually contributes to Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara
Posted inNews
Political Watch: May 2, 2024
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) highlighted $850,000 he helped secure in the 2024 federal budget to build a 1.2 mile bike and pedestrian path adjacent to Highway 227 in San Luis Obispo, according to an April 25 statement from Carbajal’s office. The funding is set aside to help complete segments two of the […]
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State completes Santa Barbara County cannabis business licensing audit
Santa Barbara County will change its cannabis licensing application as it implements suggestions from the State Auditor’s Office. “To my knowledge, this is the first time cannabis has been audited at the state level. It’s relatively new with recreational level,” Deputy County Executive Officer Brittany Odermann told the Sun. “It’s typical that the Legislature will […]
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Buellton grants emergency support to SYV Community Outreach
A local nonprofit recently secured emergency funds from the city of Buellton to keep its Meals on Wheels program for seniors from going belly up. In an April 24 letter to the city, Pam Gnekow, CEO of SYV Community Outreach, reported a deficit of $110,000 during 2023, due to expenses out of the organization’s control […]
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U.S. Forest Service to receive nearly $38 million in Thomas Fire settlement
Southern California Edison agreed to pay the United States $80 million to resolve claims and recovery costs associated with suppressing and recovering from the 2017 Thomas Fire—ending a nearly four-year litigation process. “Obviously, we are not happy about the fire and the cause of the fire, but we are happy to reach a settlement with […]
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Off to the races: The Santa Maria Speedway is back in business starting May 11
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 […]
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 […]
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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 […]