Every year in Solvang, community members gather around a giant Christmas tree for the lighting ceremony. The festivity draws from a tradition in Denmark, where people hold hands around the tree and sing. The scene is one of the very last images in Kate and Adam McHugh’s first children’s book, Ferd and the Magic Hat: […]
A Santa Ynez couple publishes a Christmas picture book
Posted inSpecial Issues
Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden decks out for its annual Holiday Lights Festival
The gifting treesThe Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden will host its Holiday Lights Festival on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, between Dec. 5 and 21 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. For tickets and more info on the event, visit syvholidaylights.com. The garden is located at 151 Sycamore Drive, Buellton. Gray pines. Blue oaks. Warm and cool […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Norma Moye keeps Paso Robles’ Vine Street Christmas tradition alive
Visit Paso and be merryThe Vine Street Victorian Showcase celebrates its 39th annual event on Dec. 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event is free. For more information, contact the Downtown Paso Robles Main Street office at (805) 238-4103. When Norma Moye bought her Victorian home on 18th and Vine in 1975, she never […]
Posted inNews
Recent ICE arrests in Santa Maria draw criticism from immigration rights advocates
After asking to see the warrant for her husband’s arrest, a woman in Santa Maria was handed an insurance claim for the car window ICE agents broke to apprehend him, 805 UndocuFund volunteer Michelle Ambriz-Quintero told the Sun. A member of 805 UndocuFund’s rapid response team, Ambriz-Quintero was alerted on Nov. 16 about an Immigrations […]
Posted inNews
Solvang ups pledge to Santa Ynez aquatics center
The Solvang City Council greenlit an additional $50,000 to support the Santa Ynez Valley Community Aquatics Complex. With the council’s Nov. 10 approval, the city’s contribution has increased to half a million dollars since June, which will be released when construction begins. The decision came after a friendly challenge from Buellton. The cities have engaged […]
Posted inNews
Buellton refreshes its tree policies while pursuing Tree City USA status
There are plenty of guidelines and recommendations for developers related to tree upkeep in Buellton, but not enough enforceable do’s and don’ts, some city officials recently argued. “I don’t like the fact that, … ‘Should’ leads to ‘I don’t need to,’” Buellton Mayor David Silva said at the council’s Nov. 13 meeting. The city is […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: November 20, 2025
• On Nov. 17, U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-California) and John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced the bipartisan Healthy Lungs for Heroes Act. This legislation would create the first respiratory protection standards for wildland firefighters. According to Schiff’s office, federal firefighters were prohibited for decades from wearing respiratory protection, despite a growing body of evidence warning about […]
Posted inNews
Santa Margarita’s Christmas at the Ranch celebrates third year of holiday cheer
The 14,000-acre ranch that temporarily housed thousands of firefighters—dispatched from agencies across California to contain the Gifford Fire in August—is inviting them back to see the former site of their base camp in a different light, literally. “While they were there, a lot of local ranches around Santa Margarita and Pozo all said, ‘We want […]
Posted inOpinion
The middleman
While warm-blooded American patriots were enjoying their weekends like warm-blooded patriots, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was out doing the work of the people: arresting rapists, pedophiles, and murderers (and I assume, good people, too)—according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security press release you can find right on its website! Direct-to-the-people news, direct from […]
Posted inOpinion
The U.S. should look to New Zealand for democratic inspiration
On No Kings Day, a chant reverberated throughout America as 7 million protesters marched in 2,700 cities and towns all across the country—including the Central Coast: “Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” After a two-week tour of New Zealand, here’s what one version of democracy looks like: This small […]
Posted inOpinion
Our divided nation needs to heal with empathy
Empathy is not a “new age” idea. It is a hard, often uncomfortable discipline that requires patience, humility, and the courage to listen. Certain voices in our culture dismiss empathy as soft or naïve because they mistake it for agreement. It is easier to sneer at the idea than to do the difficult work of […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
An artist helps others on their cancer journeys by teaching collage classes
At around 12 years old, Kathleen McKinnon realized she wanted to be a teacher for the deaf after her church brought in a deaf congregation. But during McKinnon’s college years in Florida, when she was studying learning disabilities, she had another realization. “I was walking back to the education department, and I walked past the […]