Political Watch

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies recently announced that tickets for the Jan. 20 swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama won’t be provided directly to the public, but will go to Members of the 111th Congress. Each Member of the House of Representatives will receive 198 tickets to the inaugural ceremonies for distribution. All official […]

Community Partners in Caring held its annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria on Nov. 14. This year, the nonprofit is celebrating 10 years of providing service to the community in the form of volunteer assistance to seniors (most of which is medical transport for homebound seniors who can’t drive or […]

The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County is inviting volunteers to give thanks this Thanksgiving season by helping to plant 500 native shrubs and plants at the Black Lake Ecological Area in Nipomo. On Nov. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon, Land Conservancy staffers, members, and volunteers will plant native flora as part of […]

The city of Santa Maria will conduct a citywide call on Nov. 24 at 10 a.m. to test its emergency alert notification system, which allows city officials to record and send personalized voice messages to thousands of residents and businesses through a single phone call. According to a press release from the city, the goal […]

The Santa Maria Police Department’s traffic bureau was busy on Nov. 15 and 16, conducting two Driving Under the Influence (DUI) checkpoints and a driver’s license checkpoint. The first DUI checkpoint took place on Nov. 15, from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the intersection of Main Street and Western Avenue, and later moved to […]

Pop star Michael Jackson recently sold his Santa Ynez ranch, Neverland, transferring the property deed to the Sycamore Valley Ranch Co. LLC. The singer filed a grant deed on the ranch on Nov. 10, according to documents posted on the Santa Barbara County clerk-recorder website, sbcrecorder.com. Jackson went into default on a $24.5 million loan […]

Progress has been made on determining the cause of another recent fire. On Nov. 17, U.S. Forest Service and Santa Barbara County Fire Department investigators announced that they had arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for starting the Gap Fire. As of press time, the 16-year-old suspect was in custody at the Santa Barbara […]

Gas prices in California fell to less than $3 a gallon in November. That is a whopping drop from the state record of $4.58 in June. There’s already evidence big car and truck sales are perking up in response. “This drop has been a wonderful thing,” said Kurt Rodriguez of Santa Maria Ford. “We definitely […]