The Depot Mall and Bar in Los Alamos will host the Los Alamos Theatre Group’s upcoming production, Cottonwood, an original play about small-town life. Performances of the show start March 15 and run through April 7. Admission is $20. Cottonwood follows the lives of multiple residents of a quaint town that’s been eyed by a […]
Los Alamos Theatre Group presents <i>Cottonwood</i>
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Vega Vineyard and Farm hosts Painting in the Vineyard workshop
Art Spot on Wheels is holding its next Painting in the Vineyard event at Vega Vineyard and Farm in Buellton on Sunday, March 17, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Attendees of the workshop will spend the afternoon painting a landscape on canvas while enjoying some wine. Admission to the event is $89. Vega Vineyard […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Former Wildling Museum enters new era as the California Nature Art Museum
Don’t fear the reboot Call (805) 686-1082 or visit calnatureartmuseum.org for more info on the California Nature Art Museum (Cal-NAM), located at 1511 Mission Drive, unit B, Solvang. The word “wildling” can apply to a variety of wild plants or undomesticated animals. But its use in pop culture is often streamlined, as it almost always […]
Posted inOpinion
Left turn signals are neither safe nor sane
About every four minutes of every day, at nearly all controlled traffic signals in Santa Maria, two and sometimes four vehicles traveling toward each other nervously swerve to avoid a collision. This game of automobile chicken plays out in all controlled traffic signal left turn lanes. This is neither safe nor sane. You and your […]
Posted inOpinion
Are the steelhead back in the Santa Ynez River yet?
Normally the once proud and gracefully flowing Santa Ynez River is reduced to a dry sand bed with its banks occupied by numerous homeless camps, but occasionally during heavy rains it flows almost as it did when steelhead were abundant, long before Bradley Dam was built and Lake Cachuma was formed. For the last two […]
Posted inOpinion
A useless vote
A recent Solvang Planning Commission meeting gave us proof that artificial intelligence will take over human jobs. Instead of drawing names out of hat, the city relied on ChatGPT to tell it the commissioner who would remain on the dais to decide on whether to recommend rezoning city land for housing purposes. Three commissioners lived […]
Posted inNews
Residential rezoning proposal divides Solvang Planning Commission
Three of Solvang’s five planning commissioners volunteered to recuse themselves from a recent rezoning decision due to conflicts of interest, but an artificial intelligence app spared one of them from the chopping block. Rather than draw straws or names from a hat, as Planning Commissioner Aaron Petersen suggested, Solvang’s staff used ChatGPT to randomly select […]
Posted inNews
LA Superior Court rules on Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin boundaries
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge confirmed that the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin is one connected basin—not separate subbasins—allowing for the groundwater adjudication to move forward following a year-and-a-half of delays and litigation. “The court has been scrupulous to confine phase one of this adjudication to the boundaries of the court’s in rem [personal […]
Posted inNews
‘Long overdue’
Santa Maria Fire Battalion Chief Evan Scott got his third physical exam in his 20-year career as a Santa Maria firefighter after he helped establish the department’s health and wellness program. “It was a big deal. It was the goal I was shooting for before I retired,” Scott told the Sun. “I banged that drum […]
Posted inFood & Drink
T’s Red Tacos is a tasty treasure trove in Pismo Beach
Stop the world and melt with T Visit tsredtacos.com or call (805) 295-6084 for more info on T’s Red Tacos, located at 690 Dolliver St., Pismo Beach. The eatery is open daily, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There’s a popular carnival treat at T’s Red Tacos in Pismo Beach with ties to owner Roger […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Drive-Away Dolls is charming but lightweight
Drive-Away Dolls What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Matinee What’s it worth, Anna? Matinee Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Ethan Coen directs this queer comedy co-written with his wife, Tricia Cooke, about free-spirited Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and her uptight friend, Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who decide to […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Allan Hancock College art instructors display works in new faculty exhibit
Ann Foxworthy Gallery presents Allan Hancock College’s Fine Arts Faculty Art Show, currently on display through March 14. Admission to view the exhibit is free and it’s open to the public. The show’s featured media includes painting, installation work, photography, ceramics, digital video, and more. “As artists, our faculty have their own art-making practices both […]