A new student-led production of Chicago will premiere at the Pioneer Valley High School Performing Arts Center in Santa Maria on Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. Additional performances will be held on March 24, 25, 30, and 31 and April 1, at 7 p.m. each evening. This iteration of the popular musical, set during […]
Three local high schools team up for student production of ‘Chicago’ in Santa Maria
Posted inFood & Drink
Camins 2 Dreams winemakers open new tasting room in Lompoc
As two local vintners were recently putting the finishing touches on their new tasting room, the building shook for a moment. “I just finished hanging all the stuff. I think that was the day before we opened,” said Lompoc-based vintner Mireia Taribó, who recalled the reverberating boom of a missile fired from Vandenberg Space Force […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
BINGEABLE: THE RELUCTATNT TRAVELER (2023)
BINGEABLE: THE RELUCTATNT TRAVELER (2023) Where’s it playing? Apple TV Plus What’s it rated? TV-PG Eugene Levy isn’t the type of guy who seems like he’s interested in spending any time outside of his comfort zone, so what could be more fun than putting him in some of the most beautiful and most uncomfortable places […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
BINGEABLE: THE BIG BRUNCH (2022)
BINGEABLE: THE BIG BRUNCH (2022) Where’s it playing? HBO Max What’s it rated? PG-13 I know, I know—what new can a cooking competition show really offer? But hear me out. This one focuses on the best meal there is—the one you’ll wait in line for an hour outside the new pop-up eatery to enjoy, the […]
Posted inNews
Santa Maria City Council green-lights permit for Fallas building conversion
Downtown Santa Maria’s old Fallas building should get a facelift after the City Council unanimously approved a permit for the Vernon Group to convert the commercial building into an apartment complex as part of the city’s Downtown Specific Plan. “We’ve been talking a lot about the downtown redevelopment plan and here we have a project […]
Posted inNews
Plains Pipeline proposal to replace valves on the line responsible for the 2015 Refugio oil spill has county residents worried
Prroposal to put in new safety valves on an oil pipeline looks straightforward but raised a lot of questions. “This was brought to us as, ‘Look, this is simple. It’s just putting safety valves, required by law,’” said Santa Barbara County Planning Commissioner John Parke, who represents the 3rd District. “There [are] a lot of […]
Posted inNews
Chumash Foundation’s Technology in Schools grant funds schools’ access to technology
When the Chumash Foundation was looking for a beneficiary for its 2015 Charity Golf Classic, the organization’s team saw a need for funding to upgrade technology resources in Santa Ynez Valley schools and classrooms. “Technology is ever-present in our world, and we realize that teachers and administrators are expected to educate without vital resources they […]
Posted inNews
SLO County could consider Nipomo sheriff’s substation in budget
The dormant possibility of Nipomo receiving a sheriff’s substation came alive again during a San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors discussion about capital improvement. On March 7, SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson stressed the need for a substation in the unincorporated town. His comments, coupled with 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding’s support for increased […]
Posted inNews
U.S. Forest Service lifts 60-day Los Padres closure
Hikers and outdoor recreators can now hit the trails again in Los Padres National Forest as the U.S. Forest Service opened up access where it could. But the agency is still keeping severely damaged roads, trails, and campgrounds closed off to the public, Los Padres spokesperson Andrew Madsen told the Sun. The new order follows […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: March 16, 2023
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) applauded President Joe Biden for proposing a $300 million increase in funding to agricultural research and innovation in his 2024 budget—an investment pushed by Carbajal and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, according to a March 10 statement from the congressman’s office. As Congress is set to craft the […]
Posted inOpinion
Pipeline pressure
Are residents right to be worried about a plan to update the valves on an oil pipeline that was so badly corroded it burst in 2015, spilling more than 120,000 gallons of crude oil along the Gaviota coastline? If you ask the company that proposed the project, it’s just a matter of bringing the coastal […]
Posted inOpinion
An open letter to landlords and apartment managers
With homelessness in America spiraling out of control and homeowners and apartment managers able to rent out properties at obscenely high rates, you are in effect causing the homeless crisis. Nobody can criticize any of you individually because supply and demand is the main reason for the crisis. There simply isn’t enough affordable housing to […]