Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual EmergencyWhat’s it rated? Unrated When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Cuesta College Performing Arts Center, Wednesday, Jan. 28 (5:30 to 7:30 p.m.; reserve your free spot at eventbrite.com) Directed by Bay Area queer icons Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, this 2025 documentary is their artistic response to the devastating 2020 CZU […]
<i>Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency</i> is an artistic response to California’s destructive wildfires
Posted inFood & Drink
Small production winemakers gather at their crush facility for an open house tasting event
Two presses. One destemmer. Countless barrels of grape juice. At a 15,000-square-foot warehouse on Easy Street in Buellton, seven small-production winemakers share a custom crush facility. Many don’t have official tasting rooms, relying on wine club memberships and online sales for distribution. Readers’ discountBuy tickets for the Easy Street Wine Collective open house on Jan. […]
Posted inNews
Stacking up: Lawsuits against Lucia Mar school district allege sexual abuse, negligence
San Luis Obispo County’s largest school district faces three lawsuits filed within the last six months alleging child sexual abuse, assault, and negligence at the hands of its employees. A Mesa Middle School student, a Grover Beach Elementary School student, their guardians, and two former students at Dana Elementary School filed separate complaints against the […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc could fix its streets with proposed sales tax measure
Lompoc City Council members took the next step toward placing a half percent special sales tax measure dedicated to road and sidewalk maintenance on the ballot. The decision was informed by the city’s first FlashVote survey that asked respondents about city improvements and the tax measure. On Jan. 6, the council voted 3-2 to move […]
Posted inNews
Solvang considers removing Design Review Committee from sign permitting process
Time. Place. Manner. Case law shows that the legal limits of monitoring free speech and assembly go hand in hand with the objective rules a city can adopt to regulate signage and art—including murals—used by privately owned businesses. Over the past nine months, Solvang’s staff and legal advisors have cited U.S. Supreme Court cases, including […]
Posted inNews
Buellton installs the county’s first public pet microchip scanner stations
Typically found in veterinary offices and animal shelters, a pet microchip scanner can quickly help someone who’s found a stray animal—if it’s been microchipped—arrange a reunion with its owner. Although its availability is limited by working hours, staffing, and other factors tied to locations that carry scanners, the Santa Barbara Animal Care Foundation (SBACF) is […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: January 15, 2026
• On Jan. 9, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a $348.9 billion budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year. A press release from Assemblymember Gregg Hart’s (D-Santa Barbara) office stated that the budget maintained funding for key services, especially in areas where the federal government has pulled back. “As we craft our state budget—the guiding policy […]
Posted inNews
Pre-applications and life-changing opportunities open at Buellton Garden Apartments
In the late 1960s, a small group of people wanted to help their neighbors with low-income housing issues in San Luis Obispo County. Founded in 1970, People’s Self-Help Housing has built affordable housing across the Central Coast over the last six-plus decades, most recently in Buellton. People’s Self Help opened up pre-applications for 89 one-, […]
Posted inOpinion
Government hawk
Sales tax ballot measure proposal season is here! I know it’s not officially a season, but it should be. In the run-up to election season, local governments ponder all the things they could do with a little extra sales tax revenue. In Lompoc, during this season of proposals it’s all about the roads. They need […]
Posted inOpinion
Why are we still running over plovers?
On March 18, 2021, the California Coastal Commission made the historic decision that off-road vehicles must be removed from Oceano Dunes because off-road vehicle use jeopardizes one of the world’s rarest coastal ecosystems and endangered wildlife (not to mention harming local public health and air quality). Four years later, the court struck down the Coastal […]
Posted inOpinion
Restore Oceano’s natural defenses
The draft 2025 Soil Conservation Plan for Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is a disappointing endorsement for hauling our beautiful beach to the dump. For years, massive amounts of sand have been tracked out on vehicle tires from the Grand and Pier Avenue exits, resulting in tons of sand being hauled to landfills—an estimated […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A local jeweler sets out to empower others with her craft
Long before Jessica Rangel made jewelry, she collected rocks, mesmerized by the texture of each stone. As a child she always had a rock in hand, which is nearly still true today. As an adult, Rangel remembers shopping for jewelry but never finding exactly what she wanted to wear. Rather than settling for store-bought pieces, […]