VIVA EL ARTE DE SANTA BARBARA presents a free concert featuring Mariachi Divas on April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Theatre, 884 Guadalupe St., Guadalupe. Info: gcaec@verizon.net or 343-2939. THE LOMPOC POPS ORCHESTRA presents a concert featuring themes from Schindler’s List, Sound of Music, Dances with Wolves, South Pacific, and Fiddler on the […]
Concerts
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Special Events
THE SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE accepts entries to the 2009 Strawberry Queen Pageant with the ticket-selling competition ending April 17. The pageant is April 24 at 7 p.m. at the Santa Maria Fairpark Center Stage, 614 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. Info: 925-2403, Ext. 816, marcy@santamaria.com, or the Chamber office at 614 S. Broadway, […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Kids get a day at the ranch
Children younger than 18 and their parents are invited see what the world of horses has to offer at the Lompoc Valley Riders’ Kids Day on April 19. The fun begins at 9 a.m. and continues all day with riding, food, and games at La Salle Stables, 451 La Salle Canyon Road in Lompoc. Horse […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Race to the Town Center
Racing enthusiasts have an opportunity to get up close and personal with the drivers and cars that will take to the Santa Maria Speedway this season at the Santa Maria Town Center. The Central Coast’s best drivers and their freshly painted factory stocks, mini stocks, modifieds, late-models, mini-dwarfs, and sprint cars will be on hand […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria Swim Club honored
For the third year in a row, USA Swimming recognized the Santa Maria Swim Club as one of the top 200 swimming programs in the country. The team was awarded a spot as a bronze medal team by the national swimming governing body’s Club Excellence Program, ranking it No. 178 overall out of more than […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
How to track success
Allan Hancock College is enjoying a great track and field season. Even with the track team pushed to practice at Santa Maria High School because of the Hancock track’s poor condition, nine Hancock athletes were ranked in the top 10 in the Western State Conference in 13 different events. So why does track and field […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Josh Prenot
When it comes to swimming fast, Josh Prenot is without peer in the local pool—or most anywhere else, for that matter. At the National Club Swimming Association’s Junior Nationals, held March 17 to 21 in Orlando, Prenot finished 11th in the 1,500-meter freestyle, making him one of the nation’s best swimmers in the event for […]
Posted inOpinion
Here’s how a health plan could make us great
President Obama’s public health insurance option is a good way to lower privatized health insurance. Why is this? One: If the federal government starts taking over health insurance for all (the poor, who cannot afford private health insurance; small businesses; up to the mega corporations and even the wealthy), the privatized health corporation would fail. […]
Posted inOpinion
Drop socialism, get affordable housing
Regarding the commentary, “Eureka! We’ve been selected for a rezone!” by Ken McCalip in the April 2 edition: The idea of affordable housing or low-income housing are another example of government-sponsored socialism at work. The recent example of the federal-level programs is the “subprime loan” national financial crisis that has resulted from the government insisting […]
Posted inOpinion
Illegal immigrants cause hit-and-runs and more
I would like to commend our local police for taking steps to make our streets safer by setting up checkpoints for drunk drivers and unlicensed drivers. Santa Maria is currently the hit-and-run capital for a city its size in our state. I know that this is just one problem of many that plague our city, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Dine out, Santa Maria style
Most imbibers have learned that wine can transform a meal into a delicious whole bursting with flavors beyond the sum of its ingredients. In a bid to showcase the fine dining scene on the Central Coast, as well as the merits of pairing wine with food, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and five […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Dad, uninterrupted
My wife took some much-needed R&R from the kids—or maybe it was the kids and me she was taking a vacation from. Regardless of whom she was sick of picking up after/feeding/taking care of, she was gone, and “coincidently” her cell phone battery died. This meant the kids and I were on our own. We […]
