For many years I have been aware of the extreme dangers on the narrow two-lane Highway 166 between Santa Maria and Bakersfield. It was good to see the Cuyama Valley speaking up in unison requesting help with this roadway. Because we own a small ranch in the Cuyama Valley, I frequently use this roadway. Back […]
Quantum safety leap needed: Highway 166 either needs modern passing lanes or to become a four-lane highway
Posted inOpinion
School bored
After all my years in the coffee-fuelled business of journalism, I think I can say pretty definitively that there’s hardly anything as boring as a school board meeting. School boards often represent small cross sections of cities and communities and it’s mostly parents who are concerned enough to attend meetings. The only time you read […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Karli Lundberg
Golf can be a psychologically draining game, but for committed athletes like Orcutt Academy High School junior Karli Lundberg, overcoming obstacles of all kinds is no problem. Although Lundberg had a slow start this season, head coach Jim McManus said she took it upon herself to be a leader, showing Orcutt’s younger golfers that hard […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 11/1/18
• Santa Barbara County election offices and polling places will be abuzz on Nov. 6 for the midterm election. According to the county’s website, conditional voter registration is available through Nov. 6 at 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria, 401 E. Cypress St. in Lompoc, and 4440-A Calle Real in Santa Barbara. Ballot drop […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc Unified employee arrested, fired after assaulting student
A Santa Maria man employed by the Lompoc Unified School District was arrested and fired after footage showing him abuse a special needs student on a school bus was turned over to investigators. According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, the video shows the districts recent hire, 52-year-old Arthur Carlos, use “excessive force to […]
Posted inNews
Santa Maria-Bonita board candidates talk goals at debate
In a relatively low-energy forum on Oct. 26, Santa Maria-Bonita School District board of education candidates debated, and mostly agreed on, a variety of fiscal and educational topics. While the four candidates each had somewhat unique ideas on ways to improve the school district, they all shared similar goals for the district’s handling of Santa […]
Posted inNews
Pent up fuel: State and federal agencies focus on increasing prescribed burns for wildfire prevention, but environmental groups say that’s not the answer
An estimated 129 million trees in California are dead. It sounds apocalyptic, but it’s true. About one-fifth of those, or 27 million, died between November 2016 and December 2017. More than 60 million died the previous year. Most of the die-off has occurred in the Sierra Nevada, but forests on the Central Coast have lost […]
Posted inNews
Clued in: The escape room craze finds a home on the Central Coast
The nighttime forest hum of crickets and frogs, sometimes punctuated by a distant wolf howl, fills the wood-paneled cabin room. Lined with locked boxes, tables with drawers, a pot-bellied stove, a bed, and frontiersman accoutrements, the only modern feature to the room is a keypad-locked door. This isn’t the California wilderness of the late 1800s, […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 10/25/18
• After the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Russian national Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova for interfering in the 2018 midterm elections, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) released a statement, saying it was “yet another example of ongoing Russian efforts to interfere in our electoral process.” “Russia continues to use social media platforms like Facebook […]
Posted inNews
Hobnobbing with Helen: A socially satisfying October
It was impossible not to have a good time at the Boys & Girls Clubs’ annual Celebrity Waiter’s Night on Oct. 18 at the Santa Maria Country Club. This was a high-octane event, positively oozing with energy and excitement. The fundraiser attracted 225 enthusiastic friends and supporters and included some in costume. You had to […]
Posted inOpinion
Scary thoughts
I‘ve said before that the truth hurts, but sometimes it’s downright chilling. Take the report released by the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) about the county’s response to the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides (see page 7). The county’s own report recommended improved evacuation plans, more public outreach via social media and […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Viet Kitchen brings traditional Vietnamese food to Santa Maria
Santa Maria just got something it really needs–a new Vietnamese restaurant. The recently opened Viet Kitchen on Skyway Drive is just what Santa Marians on the south side of town need, and from what I can tell, really want. Vietnamese cuisine is some of the world’s best comfort food, and the restaurant is off to […]