In the five years Pat Walsh has been police chief in Lompoc, he’s hired 16 people to supplement the city’s understaffed emergency dispatch center. Not a single one works there today. It’s problem he says isn’t new for the Central Coast city. “Before I started here, one chief told me that at one point […]
Lompoc to contract out dispatch center to either county or Santa Maria
Posted inNews
Money fight: Millions pour into the 24th District Congressional race while candidates take aim at each other’s donations
It takes a lot to win a congressional election: A message that appeals to voters, a dedicated staff of paid operatives and volunteers, a well-organized ground game, and lots of money. The race for California’s 24th Congressional District, which includes Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, is no exception. The race, a rematch between […]
Posted inNews
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes campus abortion bill
California universities will not be required to offer medical abortions, according to one of the governor’s last ever vetoes. Gov. Jerry Brown signed and vetoed a slew of his last bills as California’s leader on Sept. 30, and Senate Bill 320 didn’t make the cut. The bill, which would have required each of the state’s […]
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Sheriff’s pot task force destroys thousands of pounds of cannabis in September
It’s been a busy month for the newly activated Sheriff’s Cannabis Compliance Team, the law enforcement arm tasked with eliminating Santa Barbara County’s illegal marijuana cultivation sites. Since Sept. 6, deputies and collaborating police officers destroyed more than 15,000 pot plants with what they said had an estimated street value of $7 million to $9 […]
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Local priests named in California sexual abuse report
Several Catholic priests who worked at schools and churches throughout Santa Barbara County were named as accused sexual assailants in a report on clergy abuse that was released by a national law firm on Oct. 2. The report, which spans 125 pages and lists more than 300 clerics, religious employees, and volunteers who have been […]
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Artists fighting cancer find new meaning in their own work through art therapy
When a doctor told Tonya Schultz she would have to have her arm amputated to fight the cancer slowly creeping through her body, she was determined to find another solution. “[They] told me we don’t have any other treatments, we need to amputate,” she said. “That’s when I said, ‘No, I don’t want to do […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Back up: Rebecca discovers one of the harshest truths about middle age: Your back hurts
My back hurts. Literally right now it is screaming in pain at me, like a bratty child whose mother won’t let it have two cookies for dessert. My back just won’t shut up. In my youth, many people told me many important and serious truths about growing up that I would later find indispensable. Truths […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Elverhoj hosts poetry event
The Elverhoj Museum of History and Art will host a poetry reading featuring local poets on Oct. 6. The Poetry of Transition will feature readings from Steve Braff, Dorothy Jardin, and Teresa McNeil MacLean. Each poet has created work inspired by the Elverhoj’s retrospective Past, Present, and Future. Braff (pictured below) is the co-founder of […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Inside PCPA features conversations with actors and designers
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) will host Inside PCPA, a chance to meet with creative artists from the theater and learn more about their work. Resident actors and designers at PCPA will meet with attendees and discuss their inspiration and work. The event is an opportunity to learn more about how the theater works behind […]
Posted inOpinion
Democracy demands freedom, not license
In his recent Sun commentary, “Democracy demands a free press,” (Aug. 23), New Times Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey says the press “does its very best to be unbiased and fair,” which isn’t true at all. Then he tells his readers not to believe in Trump’s “fake news hype” simply because he fails to understand […]
Posted inOpinion
Thoughts on ‘Thumping Trump’
I found the review of Michael Moore’s new film (“Thumping Trump,” Sept. 27) very informative and well balanced. I remember Moore from his ’80s film on General Motors. He’s made a lucrative career attacking a free market system. I’m glad that he has focused on our dysfunctional political climate. Politically we are juxtaposed between freedom […]
Posted inOpinion
Vote Etta Waterfield for District 4
With the approach of Santa Maria’s first City Council election by district, city voters are faced with a clear choice–do we rely on representatives with deep roots and longtime service to the community, or do we support another incremental step in the plans of those who seek to engineer a radical change in direction for […]