Need licensed childcare for your preschooler? YMCA Stepping Stones Childcare, located in the Betteravia Government Center, and the YMCA Young Children’s Preschool, located at 3400 Skyway Drive in Santa Maria, are now enrolling children ages 2 to 5 years old. The prerequisite is potty training. The Stepping Stones center is a licensed and fully […]
Program provides Stepping Stones to a good education
Posted inNews
It’s transfer time
Students interested in transferring to a four-year university—and their parents—are invited to attend Allan Hancock College’s University Transfer Day on Nov. 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Santa Maria campus student center (building G). Attendees will get a chance to talk to representatives from approximately 40 colleges and universities in California […]
Posted inNews
Take a future business leader to lunch
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce is looking for business people to sponsor students at its Future Business Leaders of America luncheon on Nov. 10 at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center in Santa Maria. For a $30 donation, sponsors can “take a future business leader to lunch,” and have the opportunity to […]
Posted inNews
Students get down to business
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce is looking for business owners to sponsor students for their Take a Future Business Leader to Lunch event, to be held on Nov. 10. During the event, members of the Future Business Leaders of America from the Santa Maria and Orcutt Union High School districts will have […]
Posted inNews
Certifiably solar
North County residents interested in converting their homes to solar have a newly certified installer available locally to serve their energy needs. The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners recently certified Gary Gordon, owner of Santa Ynez Valley Solar, into its program. Certification holders must meet experience and educational prerequisites, pass a comprehensive […]
Posted inNews
Take a taste test
Tastefully Simple, an award-winning direct sales company specializing in easy-to-prepare foods, recently welcomed Santa Maria resident Jessica Elledge as an independent consultant. Elledge will offer the company’s gourmet foods at home taste-testing parties, where guests get product samples, recipes, and serving suggestions. Tastefully Simple is based in Alexandria, Minn., and was inducted into […]
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Talk about carriers
Cell phone and service store Total Wireless is now under new ownership—and adding more carriers to its lineup. Joining the T-Mobile service already offered, Sprint and Boost mobile services will now be available to Total Wireless customers. Owner Maggie Stukas, who took over on Oct. 1, invites the public to visit the store and […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Trespassers will be shot
Technically, I am not allowed in my own kitchen—or “my wife’s kitchen,” I should say. I am occasionally granted permission to enter the air space around “her” kitchen, but only to do menial tasks like take out the stinking trash or kill a life-threatening evil spider. Any other kitchen access (like getting some cheese and […]
Posted inOpinion
Halloweens, past and future
Halloween is my favorite holiday, even more than Hanukkah and Christmas. There’s no stressful gift buying, card writing, or party-planning. Halloween is even better than Thanksgiving. No visitors, putting up guests, putting up with family quirks, meal planning, bird thawing, pie baking. But those holidays are another story. Let’s focus on All Hallow’s Eve! You […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Pool party
Last year, the St. Joseph High School boys’ water polo team won a single game. This time around, the Knights are doing more than just keeping their heads above water—they’re challenging for the Los Padres League title. “This year has been amazing,” said head coach John Walker. “Last year, we were teaching them […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Kambria Sanders
Kambria Sanders may be a rookie, but she doesn’t perform like one. As a newbie to the local gymnastics center, Sanders has defied the odds by qualifying for sectionals and barely missing state by half a point. Sanders, 10 years old, has definitely dropped her audience’s jaws with her talent in the realm of […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Crab lovers unite!
Special Olympics Northern Santa Barbara County needs participants for its annual Crab-A-Licious Torch Run and crab feed on Nov. 6. All-you-can-eat snow crab, pasta, salad, and bread will be on the menu, as will live musical entertainment by Class Action and a silent auction complete with prizes donated by local businesses and organizations. […]