The 60th annual Chumash Intertribal Powwow celebrates the Indigenous cultures of tribes from the U.S. and Canada. Vendors will offer traditional food, arts, and crafts during the two-day powwow in Santa Ynez from Oct. 4 to 5. “We look forward to welcoming tribes from throughout North America to celebrate our heritage and culture,” the tribal […]
Chumash Intertribal powwow marks 60 years
Los Alamos Old Days festival honors historic traditions and the community starts new ones
Ray Williams looks forward to celebrating the old days every year. He’s from Los Alamos, and that’s where he raised his children, who also get excited for the town’s annual weekend-long celebration. “Saturday night for me is always the fun one,” he said, referring to the night of live music and cook-your-own-steak dinners. Back on […]
The Girlfriend explores love, jealousy, wealth, and a mother’s overprotectiveness
Cherry (Olivia Cooke) is rich boy Daniel’s (Laurie Davidson) new sexpot girlfriend, and to say his mother, Laura (Robin Wright), is suspicious is quite the understatement. Cherry seems to have expensive tastes, and Laura is sure she’s wooing her precious baby boy to gain his wealth. The Girlfriend What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s […]
The Long Walk is gutting look at male bonding under duress
Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, four of the five The Hunger Games films) directs JT Mollner’s script based on the Stephen King 1979 dystopian thriller novel of the same name about a group of 50 teenage boys, each from a different state, competing to see who can walk the farthest. The […]
Orcutt Chalk Festival to be held on Broadway Street
Families and artists are invited to the annual Orcutt Chalk Festival on Sept. 27 along Broadway Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Artists will transform the sidewalk and street into colorful artwork. The theme of this year’s festival is the Central Coast. Squares are available for artists to reserve online, and there are awards […]
CalNAM’s Wild in California exhibit showcases biodiversity in mosaics and woodblock prints
Growing up in Santa Barbara, Patti Jacquemain spent a lot of her time drawing and riding horses. She lived on a lemon ranch and said she always deeply cared for the wildlife and wild places that she saw on horseback. The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History also had a big impact on her childhood. […]
What has America become?
So, what do you call this thing that is now America? Gangs of uniformed thugs with hidden faces roam city streets picking on random minorities and disappearing them in violation of long-established law and their civil rights. Colleges pressured to indoctrinate students in only right-wing thought. Cuts to anything that might even resemble reason or […]
A lesson, warning, and proposal for the Nipomo Mesa
I got to know the late Harold Miossi shortly after settling here after finishing grad school at Cal in 1976. I had the privilege of enjoying his occasional company until his death in 2006. Harold’s name graces two fine concert venues—the PAC at Cal Poly and the CPAC at Cuesta College—as well as the city’s […]
Government control
Does the county have any control over the federal government? What about the state? No. That’s the answer I’m going to go with. What have we done as a state? We’ve banned Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting their business at state courthouses—as in, arresting people. According to CalMatters, officers are doing it regardless. […]
Santa Barbara Humane scores first nonprofit award from the Santa Maria Valley Chamber
In the grand scheme of Santa Barbara Humane’s century-long history, the nonprofit’s five-year presence in Santa Maria feels as fresh as a newborn pup. The animal welfare agency’s paw prints on the area recently caught the attention of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, which picked Santa Barbara Humane as its nonprofit of the […]
Political Watch: September 25, 2025
• On Sept. 17, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California), Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland), and Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) introduced the Protect America’s Workforce Act. According to Padilla’s office, the bill would repeal two executive orders, while restoring collective bargaining rights and workplace […]
Solvang drafts policy updates that regulate vacation rentals
Left untouched since 2015, the rules that govern vacation rentals in Solvang are overdue for a makeover, according to the City Council. In August, the council directed staff to research two separate policy amendments for elected officials to consider moving forward with. One option bans short-term rental use anywhere outside of Solvang’s downtown village district, […]

