Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Reptile is a ’90s-style police procedural thriller

Reptile What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Netflix Music video director Grant Singer makes his feature film directorial debut with this stylish police procedural he wrote with Benjamin Brewer and star Benicio Del Toro about New England Detective Tom Nichols (Del Toro), […]

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Faces of the valley

Dust kicks up onto Stephen Gliessman’s work boots as he walks through his vineyard. A wide-brimmed hat protects his face from the Cuyama sun beating down in the 90-degree midday heat.  Birds caw and squawk as he approaches a row of zinfandel grapes.  “That’s our sound system playing distress calls of a bunch of pest […]

Posted inOpinion

With its many community-driven initiatives, Lompoc is a beacon of hope for our youth

The community of Lompoc is advancing a set of initiatives to provide new and motivating opportunities for its young people so they can navigate and thrive in the world beyond high school. This focus is critical given sobering national trends that reveal increasing death rates and other deteriorating outcomes among children in the U.S.  National […]

Posted inOpinion

Confused and confuddled

Solvang updated its homelessness ordinance.  Starting Nov. 9, you can camp overnight in a number of publicly owned spaces but for no longer than 24 hours at a time. Unless, of course, you do camp somewhere for longer. Then, the city can notify you that you have up to 72 more hours to vacate the […]

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Political Watch: October 12, 2023

• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced a bicameral bill that would increase access to internet and telephone services for low-income urban and rural Americans, according to an Oct. 6 statement from Padilla’s office. The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would help states increase awareness and enrollment in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline program […]

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Supreme Court upholds decision for Twitchell operators to release water for steelhead

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from the operators of Twitchell Dam to hear a case regarding water releases from the dam for steelhead trout preservation. This decision upheld a 9th Circuit District Court of Appeals ruling stating that dam operators—the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District—need to […]

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Solvang adopts new homelessness response law for temporary camping

Currently outlawed, overnight camping on public property in Solvang will be allowed under certain circumstances by mid-November thanks to new rules. During the Solvang City Council’s Oct. 9 meeting, City Attorney Dave Fleishman recommended the adoption of a new homelessness response ordinance, while describing the city’s current policy—unaltered since 2002—as unenforceable and at risk of […]

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