The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center is seeking an artist with work focusing on the local dunes ecosystem (beaches, dunes, plants, animals) in the medium of his or her choice. Selected artists will have their work featured at the Dunes Center Gallery. If you’re interested, mail or drop off an artist summary and samples of work at […]
Picture the Dunes
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Buellton resident inspires tea drinkers
Mary Jane Nirenberg of Buellton was one of the winners in the Good Earth Tea “Tag You’re It” Tea Tag contest. Her winning quote, “The only way to fail at something is to fail to learn from the experience,” will be featured on Good Earth Tea tags later this year, as will inspirational quotes from […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Stone on a wire
Sharon Duncan loves what she does. You could say that, as a jewelry maker, she gets wrapped up in her work when inspiration hits. Duncan creates elaborate, wire-wrapped jewelry using gems, stones, and glass. She sculpts each piece into an elaborate work of art. Duncan began sculpting wire nearly 10 years ago as a way […]
Posted inNews
Get courses while they’re hot!
There’s nothing like summer in the classroom, especially if it’s your last chance to enjoy cheaper community college enrollment fees. So, if you’re trying to avoid that $10 enrollment cost increase–from $26 to $36 per credit–coming to Allan Hancock College in the fall semester, now’s the time to act. The summer catalog will offer a […]
Posted inNews
Students paint their school purple to end cancer
On April 5, 11-year-old DJ Claborne turned Tunnell School, where he attends, purple for the day. After giving a presentation to the school’s principal and faculty about Relay For Life, he recruited students to help put up banners, balloons, and ribbons around the school to raise awareness about the life-saving fundraiser. “He’s awesome,” Senior Relay […]
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Spotlight on: Tom’s Toys
In keeping with today’s economy, Tom’s Toys in the Santa Maria Town Center is going discount. Hoping for a sales boost—like his San Luis Obispo store experienced after a similar change in 2008—owner Ted Frankel is offering major markdowns on Barbies, Liv Dolls, board games, and Hot Wheels, to name a few popular items. Frankel […]
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Advocating for April
With only a handful of attorneys and sometimes few social workers to serve them, many local abused, neglected, or abandoned children need extra support. This is where Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children steps in. A CASA worker is a specially trained volunteer who advocates on behalf of an assigned child in order to […]
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The missing
After almost 10 years without any clear leads to explain the disappearance of Lompoc resident Dana McPeek, police announced last month they’d finally found some answers. In December 2010, a local civilian found what appeared to be a human jawbone while hiking in a remote area outside Lompoc city limits near Miguelito Canyon. He turned […]
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Judge to determine whether Leeds is competent to stand trial–
Courtroom arguments began April 8 in the third hearing to determine whether Lee Leed–the man who in 2008 allegedly shot and killed four people at a salvage yard in Santa Maria–is competent enough to stand trial. Leeds, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, has spent the last few years in custody, shuffling back and forth between […]
Posted inNews
Corrections
• In its March 22 news article “Times are tough for community colleges,” the Sun misreported information about Allan Hancock College’s budget. Employee salaries and benefits account for more than 80 percent of the school’s budget. • The lead sports article on April 7, titled “Red Dawn,” incorrectly reported the coaching background of Santa Maria […]
Posted inNews
Child endangerment charge dropped
Nearly five months after an extensive San Luis Obispo County Narcotics Task Force investigation led to the arrests of 15 members of medical marijuana collectives and a host of criminal accusations, one defendant has learned he won’t be facing child endangerment charges. Steven Gordon, a former firefighter—who, as operator of the Pismo Beach mobile dispensary […]
Posted inNews
PG&E to NRC: Don’t relicense Diablo yet!
A year and a half after Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announced it was seeking federal relicensing of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant—and just more than a month after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan created an unprecedented nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and renewed local concern over seismic safety—PG&E has […]