First held in 1983, the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association (SBCVA) spring festival has grown from a casual afternoon of sipping local vintages into a long weekend of wine country fun. With all the winemaker dinners, barrel tastings, and food pairings, wine lovers can spend four full days exploring their favorite beverage. Anchoring the weekend, […]
Tip a glass to spring
Posted inOpinion
If we go bankrupt, everyone else will sleep better
From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, our government seems incapable of breaking its addiction to meddling in other countries. One more time we’ll spend billions of dollars, borrowed from China, to level someone else’s home in the hope that they’ll grow to love us when they get to know us better. […]
Posted inOpinion
Let money directly benefit students and teachers
I have reservations about the wisdom of implementing the well-intended Teacher Advancement Program here on the Central Coast (“TAP into the future,” April 7). I thought our school districts and the federal and state governments were broke. The TAP program is a very expensive program to administer. The start-up costs for the Lucia Mar Unified […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t be distracted by diversion tactics
Only very rich individuals and big businesses gain from pitting worker against worker. A diversion tactic such interests have recently employed is to blame unions for the state deficits we are experiencing. A prime example of this twisted logic is the rhetoric of Justin Ruhge (“Public employee benefits are breaking taxpayers,” March 31). He claims […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
An Ariel View
Welcome to my column! You may have read some of my past stories in the commentary section of this paper, and many of you sent favorable comments to my editor and fearless leader, and for that I thank you profusely. I have been given a monthly column and byline with my mug at the top. […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A big sound
During fourth period at Ernest Righetti High School, a visitor can pass wings of students silently reading, listening to lectures, and working on group projects. Someone nearing room 502, however, will start to hear a steady bass line, followed by drums, then guitars, keyboard, horns, voice, maracas, and, of course, the marimba—the instrument that gave […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Navar is going far
Allan Hancock College arts instructor, poet, and painter Gabriel Navar will serve as a guest artist in residence for the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers in Washington State while simultaneously exhibiting his art in Germany and at the UCSB Multicultural Center. The April 13 through 17 artist-in-residence opportunity sprang from Navar’s continued collaboration with acclaimed choral composer and […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Orchestra wraps up its season
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro John Farrer, offers its fourth concert of its subscription season on April 30 at Grace Baptist Church at 7:30 p.m. The final program of its 10th anniversary season will feature works by Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Holst, Barber, Bartok, and Britten. Dr. Marcus Engelmann of the […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
C Gallery takes flight
The last day for submissions for the “Birds, Feathers, and Flight” show at the C Gallery is April 9. The theme is anything related to flight. Submissions have included a dress of feathers, tin bird dolls, and paintings and drawings representing flight. “Birds, Feathers, and Flight” is scheduled to open on April 16. Submit entries […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Capitol needs art
Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) is inviting local high school students to submit art pieces for the annual Congressional Art competition. The winner’s work will hang for a year in the U.S. Capitol, where thousands of visitors will see it. Submissions must be received at one of Capps’ Congressional offices by 5 p.m. on April 29. […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Stories from the Hill
When Lompoc resident Jill Schaefer placed a stack of papers—her memoirs—into a drawer many years ago, she was simply closing the door on a flurry of creative activity. She was glad to have gotten her story out of her head and wasn’t sure what she’d do with it next. “Next” turned out to be much […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Don’t move!
Everyone sees the inevitable changes in their lives differently. Some people think change isn’t a bad thing, while some think it’s the end of the world. For the Gianelli family in Over the River and Through the Woods, change can be embarrassingly funny, surprisingly heart wrenching, and emotionally raw. Presented by Lompoc Civic Theatre, the […]
