This year, Santa Barbara County’s restaurateurs prove that March needn’t be limited to a single celebration of all things green. In venturing beyond the corned beef and cabbage of St. Patrick’s Day, they promise to deliver a variety of edibles guaranteed to delight Scandinavians, sushi fans, beef-eaters, and foodies of all stripes. Beginning March 14, […]
Spring eats
Posted inNews
Locals see red over photo enforcement
Less than three years after Santa Maria’s red light photo enforcement program began, the cameras and strobe lights are gone from the intersections where they once perched. All that remains are the poles to which they were attached—for now. On Feb. 22, as workers removed video and photo equipment from two intersections, the city was […]
Posted inOpinion
What should Santa Maria do to curb the graffiti problem?
Greg Watson student “They should put security cameras all over the town.” Steele Asing student “A neighborhood watch kind of thing for all over. But, then again, some graffiti is art.” Chris Parisi student “We should chop off those who break the law’s hands when they are caught, because they can’t graffiti again without hands.” […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 2.25
Cast your vote: Members of the Santa Maria Valley Democratic Club and Young Democrats of America will be holding a door-to-door voter registration drive in Santa Maria on March 7 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call 720-0851. Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cyber Security Enhancement […]
Posted inNews
Community Notebook 2.25
TUESDAY, MARCH 2 • The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. Agendas are available at santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current. • The Vandenberg Village Community Services District has its regular board meeting at 7 p.m. in the District […]
Posted inNews
Hobnobbing with Helen
There was a ton of Valentine’s Day events around town—so many options for celebrating Cupid. One such event, which benefited the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society, was held on Feb. 13, at Marvin and Paulette Teixeira’s Tres Hermanas Winery barn on Foxen Canyon Road. The barn is a spacious affair with interesting wrought-iron chandeliers and […]
Posted inNews
Rehabilitation stations
As in many counties in California, jail overcrowding has been a substantial public safety concern for several decades in Santa Barbara County. Since 1986, the county has been under court order to limit jail populations and the impacts of overcrowding. A major solution to this problem—a North County jail facility—is currently in the works. And […]
Posted inNews
Be aware
When the earth stopped shaking after the 2003 San Simeon earthquake and the smoke cleared from the 2004 Gaviota fires, emergency officials and local radio stations learned an important lesson about their disaster response plans: There was room for improvement. After the San Simeon quake, radio stations in Santa Maria that would normally have gotten […]
Posted inNews
Seeing is believing
Dr. Rupert Chowins is director of Optometric Services. Pacific Eye’s Eric White is a high-level surgical-technician. Together, they’re traveling to Guatemala. Their time spent south, however, won’t be much of a vacation. Based on Chowins’s previous experience—he’s been to Guatemala four times in the past two years—he thinks they’ll be aiding about 1,000 patients and […]
Posted inNews
Correction
In the Sun’s Feb. 18 cover story, “Bridging the controversy,” the number of suicides from the bridge was misreported. A total of 52 people have jumped to their deaths at the bridge, including eight in 2009. News Briefs is compiled by Sun staffers from staff reporting and local and national media. Information should be sent […]
Posted inNews
The results are welcomed but not surprising, according to Santa Barbara County officials.
Scott McCann, the county’s director of health education, said he came to a similar conclusion while compiling a community health status report for the Public Health Department. That study focused more on premature death, risk factors, and prevention, but also considered disease prevalence, physical activity levels, poverty levels, and other important factors. McCann said Santa […]
Posted inNews
Gallup poll lists Santa Maria and Santa Barbara residents as having healthy lifestyles
Emotionally stable? Physically fit? Happy at work? A new poll released by Gallup suggests people living in Santa Barbara County are more likely to answer “yes” to all those questions than people living in most other areas across the nation. The Gallup-Healthways Life Evaluation Index poll has ranked the Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/Goleta area No. 6 […]