•In an Aug. 21 statement, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, commented on the recent passage of a package of bills allowing California voters to determine whether the state should temporarily redraw its congressional maps through 2030 to counter the Trump administration and Texas Republicans’ partisan […]
Political Watch: August 28, 2025
Posted inNews
Solvang DRC ‘spars’ with city staff about regulating art murals
Holiday decorations and hours of operation are among the types of signs that businesses and private property owners can freely display in Solvang without a city permit. Distinguishing between what kinds of signage is under the Solvang Design Review Committee’s (DRC) purview and what might be exempt from the city’s upcoming sign ordinance update has […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc continues pushing for county to annex land for housing
Lompoc is still in the middle of a long-standing debate with Santa Barbara County over annexing two parcels of land into the city to pave the way for a housing project. Bodger Meadows would provide 200 single-family homes and 140 apartment units. The apartments range from studios to three-bedroom units, and 20 percent of the […]
Posted inNews
Board of Supervisors reduces cannabis acreage cap, responds to grand jury report
While the maximum acreage allowed for cannabis cultivation across unincorporated Santa Barbara County will decrease by the end of September, the new limit won’t impact current growers—which are essentially grandfathered in under a recent Board of Supervisors directive. At its Aug. 26 meeting, the board voted 5-0 to reduce the acreage cap from 1,575 to […]
Posted inNews
Competitive advantage: Santa Ynez wants to build a CIF-approved pool for its athletes and a public recreation space for the community
Santa Ynez Valley Union High School is eager to have its own CIF-sanctioned swimming pool by the time Los Angeles hosts the Olympics in 2028—with help from some special equipment tied to 2016’s Olympic trials. In 2017, a local nonprofit dedicated to improving public pool access in the valley purchased two Myrtha pool systems that […]
Posted inFood & Drink
A new family-run brunch spot in Grover Beach serves American classics with a Mexican flair
Flores described herself as the face of Holy Belly, the one at the front of the house. Cindy Flores never pictured herself running a restaurant. Instead, she was thinking of opening her own hair salon when she found a restaurant space for rent in Grover Beach last October. Flores sent the link to two of […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Smoke follows a corrupt arson investigator and a police detective assigned to help him
Smoke What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Apple TV+ It seems Smoke has taken notes on John Leonard Orr’s journal entries for Apple TV’s new series. Orr is a former arson investigator who was convicted of perpetrating the very fires he was investigating back in the mid ’80s and early ’90s. Arson […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Dept. Q is British crime thriller about marginalized law enforcement working a cold case
Dept. Q What’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix Created by Scott Frank and Chandni Lakhani based on Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen’s book series, Dept. Q is about law enforcement workers dealing with trauma. At the center is formerly top-rated investigator Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), who was badly injured in a shooting […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Honey Don’t! is violent black comedy with a twist
Honey Don’t! What’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande Co-writer and director Ethan Coen has reteamed with co-writer Tricia Cooke (Drive-Away Dolls) on this second installment of their planned “lesbian B-movie trilogy.” This time […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Local artists support fundraising efforts for Carrizo Plain after Madre Fire
Artists are donating 50 percent of their sales from an online art show to support the restoration of Carrizo Plain National Monument, which was damaged by the Madre Fire in July. The landscape paintings of Carrizo are available online through Oct. 15 and include oil, watercolor, pastel, and acrylic works. Members of San Luis Obispo […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Art exhibit at Mattei’s Tavern showcases horses and the wild West
Experience the power and grace of open roads and roaming horses at an art show at the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern from Aug. 30 to 31. Artists Kimerlee Curyl and Karen Bezuidenhout showcase work that “invites you to pause, reflect, and reconnect with nature, spirit, and the beauty that exists in the unspoken,” according to […]
Posted inOpinion
Parachute drops are similar to paper towels: They don’t do much to help
Tax-funded parachute drops on rescue missions in Gaza remind one of another intervention by Trump during a crisis. In September 2017 when Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria and left in ruin, its infrastructure was rendered useless and its people were in dire straits. Trump visited, arriving armed with paper towels that he lobbed […]