•On March 23, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced that he secured new federal funding for multiple Santa Barbara County-based projects, including $1.2 million for a fire station expansion in Santa Maria, and $850,000 for the county to help rebuild the Lompoc Animal Shelter. “This funding will strengthen the essential services and shared spaces […]
Political Watch: March 26, 2026
Posted inNews
Guadalupe’s Early Learning Center starts strong with ADA swings, a school garden, and more
In February, a U.S. senator ventured to Guadalupe to see firsthand how $1.9 million in federal funds helped bring the town “a much overdue community asset,” as the local superintendent described it. Guadalupe Union School District Superintendent Emilio Handall escorted U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) during a tour of the Early Learning Center—the city’s new […]
Posted inOpinion
Hot topic
Testy exchanges between Solvang City Council members over something their mayor built is becoming more common than it should be. Mayor David Brown’s treasure-hunt style Solvang Passport cellphone app was the topic du jour at yet another City Council meeting and promises to come up again in the future. Apparently, the city doesn’t have other, […]
Posted inOpinion
The world needs to tell the U.S. and Israel, ‘No more war’
While polls revealed that 70 percent of Americans opposed war with Iran, why has our government, at the behest of Israel and without a vote by Congress, begun bombing Iran’s major cities? The truth is that this war has been planned for 19 years. In March of 2007, Amy Goodman interviewed retired Gen. Wesley Clark, […]
Posted inLetters To The Editor
Get educated about local community organizations
I just read the commentary posted by Roy Reed (“Know before you vote,” March 12), mostly about the 5th District supervisors election coming in June. However, what struck me most was his misinformed, or rather non-informed, view about local community organizations. Let me educate everyone. Indivisible Santa Maria: “Our vision is a democracy that delivers […]
Posted inOpinion
Has Trump no shame?
I recently read that Trump is suing California over its clean air rules for cars and trucks. I’m not exactly sure what his logic is and don’t really care. I do know that this man is the antithesis of President Theodore Roosevelt who put protections on place for national monuments like Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A few words from the Sun’s political cartoonist
Ross Mayfield claims that his almost 24-year tenure with the Sun fell into his lap, but really, it’s because a reporter saw his sketch of a former county supervisor shooting herself in the foot. Literally. The first time Mayfield appeared in the paper was on July 4, 2002, as the subject of a story. Arts […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
CalNAM’s newest nature-focused exhibit in Solvang
The next time you’re strolling the streets of Solvang, take a pause to enjoy a gallery of art that celebrates the local environment. A juried exhibit called When the Earth Whispers Back: Nature’s Hope is up at California Nature Art Museum (CalNAM) through Sept. 6. “This exhibition will center on plant and animal species that […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Solvang Festival Theatre holds family-friendly ABBA tribute show
Catch ABRA Cadabra’s energetic, family-friendly concert at the Solvang Festival Theatre on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. Audience members will hear classic hits like “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia” from the ABBA tribute band at the intimate, outdoor amphitheater. “We don’t try to pretend we’re ABBA,” Jeanette O’Keefe, the band’s lead vocalist and co-founder, said […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Project Hail Mary is a fun popcorn movie that’s too long
Co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) bring Drew Goddard’s (The Martian) adaptation of novelist Andy Weir’s 2021 novel to the screen. Ryan Gosling stars as science teacher Ryland Grace, who awakens alone on a spaceship hurtling through space. With no memory of how […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Nuremberg examines Hermann Göring’s relationship with his psychiatrist
NurembergWhat’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix This story is based on the 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai, which chronicled the relationship between U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) and Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) during the Nuremberg trials. The idea was that Kelley was […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
An unwitting participant gets Jury Duty treatment in Company Retreat
Jury Duty Presents: Company RetreatWhat’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Prime If you watched or heard about Jury Duty, you already know the premise—an everyday man and all-around nice guy is surrounded by a cast of increasingly strange people in a scenario where they are, for all intents and purposes, trapped. Nice […]