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Santa Maria amends ADU ordinance amid lingering frustrations

Since 2018, Santa Maria’s approved 1,526 accessory dwelling units (ADUs), equivalent to eight apartment complexes, leaving residents frustrated with overflowing trash bins, increased traffic, and less parking.  “It’s not uncommon for us to see a single-family property with one or multiple ADUs and so it begins to take on a neighborhood characteristic of something that’s […]

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Clean up and abandon: While the state undertakes its largest orphan oil well project in California history, environmental groups worry about lack of accountability for oil operators

About a year ago, the California Department of Conservation embarked on the largest oil well plugging and abandonment project in state history, starting in Santa Barbara County.  The department’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) set off to plug and abandon 171 orphaned wells in the Santa Maria Valley’s Cat Canyon with $34 million in state […]

Posted inFood & Drink

Good Witch Farm in Lompoc delivers microgreens across the Central Coast, makes them more than a final flourish

Micro-education Keep up with Good Witch Farm’s organic microgreens and edible flowers on Instagram @good_witch_farm. For queries, contact owner Jane Darrah at (805) 757-4120. Often forgotten about until it’s time to make a plate of food look pretty, microgreens and edible garnishes are at the forefront of Lompoc cultivator Jane Darrah’s mind.  “I found microgreens […]

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New Flicks: Road House

Road House What’s it rated? R When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime Doug Limon (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) directs this “not quite a remake” about a bouncer hired to clean up a fight-prone bar who ends up saving an entire community. It’s basically a Western, as this version self-reflexively acknowledges through future […]

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Constellation makes quantum mechanics entertaining

Constellation What’s it rated? TV-MA What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Apple TV Plus Created by Peter Harness (Wallander, Doctor Who) based on a concept by Sean Jablonski (Nip/Tuck), this sci-fi psychological thriller/mystery follows astronaut Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) who after a deadly accident on the […]

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Cuyama Buckhorn’s Wild Flour Celebration features workshops, live music, food, wine

The Cuyama Buckhorn’s upcoming three-day Wild Flour Celebration runs Friday, April 5, through Sunday, April 7. The multi-layered event includes a wide range of culinary offerings, education programs, and other festivities to celebrate the Cuyama Valley’s super bloom of wildflowers.  The program kicks off with a Welcome Wildflower Cocktail reception on April 5 (check-in begins […]

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Friendly Neighborhood Big Band pays tribute to Frank Sinatra at benefit concert

The Nipomo Community Presbyterian Church presents the Friendly Neighborhood Big Band live in concert on Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. The local ensemble will perform covers of popular songs made famous by Frank Sinatra during the program, titled Sinatra: The Music of Frank Sinatra. According to the 16-piece band’s Facebook page, the featured members […]

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Bingeable: The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Netflix Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes, The Covenant) created this action comedy TV series, which is a spinoff of his 2019 film of the same name, about newly minted 10th Duke of Halstead Eddie Horniman (Theo James), who inherits his father’s 15,000-acre estate only […]

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Love Lies Bleeding depicts a gritty and fantastical love affair

Love Lies Bleeding What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Regal Arroyo Grande Rose Glass (Saint Maud) directs a screenplay she wrote with Weronika Tofilska about Lou (Kristen Stewart), a gym manager who falls for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), […]

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