When Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim met up, they wanted to see if they could bring their “acts together and do a work on the popular stage,” as choreographer Robbins said. The end result was a Broadway masterpiece, an American Romeo and Juliet, a great American Opera. Today, more than 50 […]
Roll over, Shakespeare
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Hannah Diaz
Sure, there’s no “I” in team, but every tribe must have a chief. For the Indians II, Santa Maria’s 12 and Under Girls’ All-Star softball team, it’s starting pitcher Hannah Diaz, a fixture of the team’s run to the Amateur Softball Association’s Nationals tournament. The Indians’ No. 1 hurler, Diaz has played softball since the […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Bleacher Bum Chronicles VI
Recession? What recession? July 4 may have been Independence Day in America, but the real independence day for professional basketball players came on July 8, the first day NBA free agents could sign new contracts. And man, did they get paid. Carlos Boozer bid adios to Utah for (my kind of town) Chicago, reportedly raking […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria Girls softball team needs donations
The Santa Maria Girls All-Stars 12U Indians II team is representing Santa Maria in the Amateur Softball Association Nationals tournament in New Mexico on Aug. 2 and needs the community’s help to get there. The team estimates each of its 13 players needs to raise at least $1,000 to cover traveling, uniforms, and hotel and […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Sharpen skills with summer soccer
The World Cup may be over, but Catalyst Soccer and Cal Poly Mustang Soccer are celebrating the international competition all summer long with weeklong children’s soccer camps in Orcutt and Santa Maria. The camps are directed by coaches and players of the nationally recognized Cal Poly Mustang Men’s and Women’s Soccer Programs and are divided […]
Posted inOpinion
Thanks, but still, what does illegal immigration cost?
Thank you for a somewhat balanced, lighthearted approach to what is a very difficult issue (“¿Cuanto cuesta?” June 24). Most articles I read take one side and ignore all the issues on the opposite side. The last six months or so I have been trying to become more informed regarding this issue. One thing I […]
Posted inOpinion
Cars don’t fit in the dune view
During my first week here in California, I have been taken by its striking beauty. I had no doubt it would live up to its majestic reputation, but I had no idea that the mountains, always looming in sight, would provide such a spiritual, if you will, backdrop. We made our way up through southern […]
Posted inOpinion
Obama hates how great America is
America’s economy is under siege by unemployment, housing, Afghanistan, illegal immigration, and a $13 trillion debt, and all Obama does is spend money, spew rhetoric, blame Bush, sue BP, and start a civil war in Arizona. His ratings are plunging, 62 percent of the people think the country’s going the wrong direction, and even his […]
Posted inOpinion
Our pesticide methodology stands
I read with interest your article on the pesticide drift study in Sisquoc (“A better alternative?” June 24)—in particular, the quote from Lea Brooks at the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) calling into question the validity of the sampling methods used: “When [DPR] and Air Resources Board conduct monitoring, we follow U.S. EPA protocols,” she […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t bash immigrants
Regarding your story “¿Cuanto cuesta?” (June 24): I wonder how many of your readers will consider the root cause of illegal immigration: the failure of source countries to provide their citizens with education, job opportunities, social services, and civil rights. We demonize poor people who risk their lives and leave their families for an insecure […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Sip at the symposium
Often taking a back seat to flirty Pinot Noirs and roguish Rhone varieties, Chardonnay nevertheless persists as a worthy partner for food and fun. Golden, gorgeous, and capable of displaying tremendous stylistic differences, it remains one of the world’s most popular wines. Santa Barbara County vintners, in concert with the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country […]
Posted inNews
Seeds of hope
It was easy to be overwhelmed. The ocean of color stretched literally to the horizon: purples, whites, reds, yellows, pinks—some in solid swaths, others jumbled together in a firework display. People came from all over the world to see the flower fields of Lompoc. Today, people still come, but they have to search a bit […]