Owner and CEO of All Seasons Flowers, Benno Dobbe, announced he’s changing the name of his Nipomo company to Holland America Flowers, effective March 31. Dobbe moved to America from the Netherlands in 1980 and started the cut flower company in Nipomo in 1986. Now headquartered in Washington state, Holland America grows lilies, snapdragons, and […]
Get a blossom for all seasons
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Buellton gets drive-thru coffee
Coffee drinkers in a hurry can grab their morning cup of joe at Coffee Cabin, a new drive-through kiosk open at 264 East Highway 246 in Buellton. The kiosk’s founder, Jennifer Houck, is a former Oregon restaurant owner. “When I moved to the Santa Ynez Valley five years ago, I was surprised that the drive-thru […]
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Santa Maria Human Resources gets new board of directors
The Santa Maria Human Resources Association has announced its new board of directors, installing Tanya Astrosky as president and naming Jennifer Christiansen of Byars Thompson Buchanan Insurance and Financial Services as vice-president. The board includes Lisa Walker of VTC Enterprises as secretary, and Colleen Pyle of Central Coast Urgent Care as the group’s treasurer. Program […]
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Santa Maria-Bonita School District cancels several annual events
Students attending schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District will have to wait one more year to attend some of the district’s annual events, including the Multicultural Fair, Track Meet, and Geography Bee. The announcement came from district officials earlier this month. District spokeswoman Maggie White said the decision was based on “a combination of […]
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Tibet Awareness Day won’t fly with China
The Chinese government wasn’t happy with a seemingly innocuous bill by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee to declare March 10 Tibet Awareness Day in California. In a possibly unprecedented move, representatives from the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco actively lobbied against the bill in Sacramento. That lobbying appears to have worked. With his non-binding “consent item,” the […]
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An oasis for seniors
About a dozen men and women sit together in a semi-circle, plucking at their ukuleles and singing. The music flows through the room like a soft Hawaiian breeze. “Oh, we’re going to a hukilau / A huki, huki, huki, huki, hukilau / Everybody loves a hukilau / Where the laulau is the kau kau at […]
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Santa Marian named Woman of the Year for district
Etta Waterfield, a local leader in business, government, and the nonprofit sector, was recently honored as the 33rd Assembly District’s 2009 Woman of the Year during a ceremony at the State Capitol. Nominated Woman of the Year by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), Waterfield has played an active role in the community ever since […]
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Union Valley Parkway prompts complaint
An Orcutt-based activist group is one step closer to possibly filing a lawsuit against the city of Santa Maria over the Union Valley Parkway project. On March 11, a law firm representing Orcutt Citizens for Better Environment submitted a written legal complaint to the Santa Maria City Council, alleging documents related to the proposed project […]
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California ag secretary speaks at Foodbank luncheon
Farmers and food banks need to cooperate to improve the food infrastructure, educate the public about nutrition, and secure the future of food production, according to California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura. “We’re seeing an enormous crisis in the food arena,” Kawamura said. “The nutrition programs in the country really can be […]
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Lompoc memorial building gets a facelift
The Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building is now home to 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray’s Lompoc offices. On March 20, Gray and her staff were host to a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house during which about 200 Lompocans got to see the newly restored offices. “For years, I’ve been concerned, as have local residents, about […]
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The whole story
Some business owners simply slap a catchy moniker on their establishments, while others consider the choice with mathematical precision. For one Nipomo-area restaurateur, however, the two approaches collided, giving rise to a neighborhood gathering place with an unforgettable name: Pi-Whole Pizzeria. “How do I explain?” chuckled Phil Silver, owner of Pi-Whole Pizzeria. “My son said […]
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Santa Maria’s hit-and-run dilemma
It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Friday evening on Main Street. A woman driving a sedan pulls a sharp U-turn in front of a group of 14 Santa Maria Police Department officers and various onlookers. She speeds off down Pine Street with orange safety cones lodged in the car’s wheel-well, and a patrol car soon tracks […]