When you take a bite out of a sandwich or sip on a coffee, how often do you think about where that food comes from? It’s a question that served as the genesis for lauren Ornelas (Ornelas does not capitalize her first name) when she founded the Food Empowerment Project. “I founded the Food Empowerment […]
Central Coast-based Food Empowerment Project informs and equips locals to make healthful, impactful choices
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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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Board of Supervisors deny North Fork Ranch frost ponds project
After nearly five years going through the planning and appeals process, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 (with 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson and 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavganino dissenting) during its Oct. 10 meeting to uphold denial of a proposal to build 15 acres of new water reservoirs in the Cuyama […]
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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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BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Fly
The Fly What’s it rated? R When? 1986 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre of San Luis Obispo on Friday, Oct. 6, at 9:15 p.m. David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, eXistenZ) directs this loosely based remake of writer George Langelaan’s 1957 short story and director Kurt Neumann’s 1958 film about a scientist […]
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BLAST FROM THE PAST: Rear Window
Rear Window What’s it rated? PG When? 1954 Where’s it showing? The Palm Theatre of San Luis Obispo on Saturday, Oct. 7 (1:30, 4:15, and 7 p.m.) and Monday, Oct. 9 (7 p.m.) This classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller is an exercise in morbid curiosity. While professional photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies (James Stewart) is laid up […]
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The Creator is a gorgeously filmed sci-fi story about what it means to be moral
The Creator What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth, Glen? Full price What’s it worth, Anna? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards Santa Maria RPX, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) directs this sci-fi adventure he co-wrote with Chris Weitz (Pinocchio, Rogue One: A […]
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Local libraries screen finalists in 26th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival
Various venues across the country are hosting film screenings in conjunction with the 26th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival, including some local libraries in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Local screenings commenced in late September at libraries in Nipomo, San Luis Obispo, Atascadero, and Cambria. Upcoming screenings will take place at the […]
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Folk-pop trio Girl Named Tom performs live in Solvang
Under the stars The Solvang Festival Theater presents Girl Named Tom, live in concert, on Friday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. Visit solvangtheaterfest.org for tickets and more info on the concert. The outdoor theater is located at 420 2nd St., Solvang. To find out more about Girl Named Tom, visit girlnamedtom.com. Thanks to a music-centric […]
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Judge upholds Santa Barbara County’s denial of ExxonMobil oil trucking
A U.S. District Court judge upheld the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ decision to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck crude oil from its Las Flores Processing Facility to pump stations in Santa Maria and Kern County. ExxonMobil went before the supervisors in March 2022, calling this project a temporary solution while the company worked […]
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Waiting for water
Out in the rural countryside of the Arroyo Grande Mesa, on 8 acres of flowers, fruit trees, and animals, a zero-waste nonprofit ranch brings a feeling of freedom to those in the disabled community. Rancho de los Animales for the Disabled is a therapeutic, educational, and recreational ranch run by Beth Currier, who became a […]