BINGEABLE: Shrinking (2023) Where’s it playing? Apple TV Plus What’s it rated? TV-PG The makers of Ted Lasso have blessed us with a new series starring Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, and Jessica Williams as therapists who work in an office together. Segel is Jimmy, a man who lost his wife in the not-too-distant past and […]
BINGEABLE: <i>Shrinking</i> (2023)
NEW FLICKS: LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN
NEW FLICKS: LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN Where’s it playing? Netflix What’s it rated? R Jamie Payne directs this film sequel to the award-winning television saga about brilliant but disgraced police detective John Luther (Idris Elba), created by novelist and scriptwriter Neil Cross. I’ve never seen the series, so if you’re wondering if you can enjoy […]
County cannabis tax revenue $10 million less than projected
Santa Barbara County collected $3.1 million in cannabis cultivation and retail taxes through the second fiscal quarter, $10.5 million less than the original projections of $23 million. “There’s been a decline in gross sales receipts, there has been a significant drop in wholesale pricing, and there’s a severe supply glut—there’s too much product in California […]
Lompoc prioritizes funding body cameras for city police
More than 300 Lompoc residents participated in a recent survey to help city officials weigh future budget priorities. Results were collected between Jan. 10 and Feb. 10, and members of the Lompoc City Council discussed them during a special budget workshop on March 16. One of the survey questions included a list of potential areas […]
Political Watch: March 23, 2023
• U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Santa Cruz) joined 24 members of the California congressional delegation in calling for a delay of the March 16 deadline for families impacted by January’s severe storms to apply for federal aid, according to a March 15 statement from Carbajal’s office. Amid multiple new storms […]
Point-in-Time Count shows slight decrease in homelessness
For the first time in more than three years, Santa Barbara County’s Point-in-Time Count results showed a decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness. “We’re hopeful that all the efforts and the county and Continuum of Care and homeless service providers is really beginning to make a difference in people’s lives, but we’re hoping […]
Orcutt community members pitch in to help local donut shop owner hospitalized with cancer
Orcutt resident Patricia Sly-Feighner said Houth Hak, the owner of Orcutt’s Golden Donut, always went out of her way to make people feel special. “She’s just always so happy, you just knew she would smile at you. She would help carry your stuff out to your car; she was a ray of sunshine,” Sly-Feighner said. […]
Policy prattlers
Solvang is so far up its own ass about what “Danish” means that it can’t understand the evolution of the European country that it spends marketing money to emulate. I guess Solvang likes to live in the past—like almost 100 years ago, past: pre-1933 Denmark. You know? Back before it was legal to be a […]
Santa Maria: Stop the gobble-gobble
The citizens of Orcutt are fed up with the actions of Santa Maria as they attempt to annex the Richards Ranch property into the city. It is located next to Highway 135 and Union Valley Parkway. The Parkway already has significant traffic. If approved, traffic will increase by 20,780 trips per day creating more unwanted […]
Lompoc’s fire crews are well trained, but the city needs to fund a more robust department to ensure public safety
On Saturday evening, March 11, a very large fire occurred at the north end of Lompoc between Walmart and the airport. The property, known as the “Campbell Coolers,” is a very large vegetable processing facility. There are several football field-sized piles of construction material, pallets, and boxes stored on the property. It was one of […]
Ryan Carroll’s papercut pieces pop with color in Santa Maria
Just like the Donovan song implies, to catch the wind was no easy task for local artist Ryan Carroll while completing a piece centered on Morro Rock. “I was trying to capture that Morro Bay is very windy,” Carroll said with a laugh. As a papercut artist, Carroll enjoys re-creating imagery from reference photos and […]
Flying Goat Cellars showcases landscapes by Carol Talley
On Friday, March 24, Flying Goat Cellars in Lompoc will hold an opening reception for its latest art showcase—a solo exhibition of paintings by local artist Carol Talley. The reception is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. The exhibit is titled Luminous Landscapes, and features a collection of Talley’s “abstracted landscapes” that evoke feelings of […]

