A coalition of local activist groups teamed up to host a community town hall to discuss Santa Maria’s general plan on the evening of Aug. 30, asking attendees to share their ideas for improving and guiding the city’s growth. Local residents, activists, organizers, and candidates for City Council came together to brainstorm how Santa Maria […]
CAUSE hosts community town hall on Santa Maria general plan
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Man killed in Santa Maria
A man was shot, stabbed, and killed near the corner of Sunrise Drive and Bradley Road in Santa Maria on Sept. 1. The man was still alive when police arrived just before 1 a.m., according to a Santa Maria Police Department press release, but he eventually died on scene from injuries caused by the gunshot […]
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Santa Barbara County fire chief to retire in October
Santa Barbara County Fire Department Chief Eric Peterson formally announced Aug. 31 plans to retire by the end of October. Peterson, who was appointed to the position in January 2015 by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, said that while he’ll surely miss his work with the fire department, he felt it was time […]
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Farming for Life to use veggies as low-cost diabetes treatment
Santa Barbara County doctors are testing out a new prescription medication to treat residents struggling with type 2 diabetes: veggies. Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, a Santa Barbara-based diabetes research and health care clinic, was recently awarded a four-year U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to continue its investigation into ways to better help local low-income diabetes […]
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Shoes for Students works to address childhood poverty, schedules fundraiser for Sept. 9
Since Kate Ferguson and several of her colleagues launched Shoes for Students in 1998, they’ve received scores of thank you letters from local children, educators, and parents who have witnessed the program’s impacts firsthand. Ferguson saves her favorites in a personal notebook. “You and I can’t even imagine what is going on in some of […]
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Spotlight on: Whalebird Kombucha: Mike Durighello, CEO and founder
The first time Mike Durighello tried kombucha, he didn’t like it. His friend had handed him the fermented tea-based probiotic drink after a day of surfing along the Central Coast. Durighello was unimpressed. “It tasted bad,” he told the Sun. But there was a reason. “I wasn’t familiar with the world of fermentation and what […]
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As USDA tariff relief package details, local ag industry reports only minimal impacts of trade war
No clear end is in sight for the Trump administration’s trade war with China, and while farmers and ranchers across the nation are reportedly feeling its impacts, Santa Barbara County’s agricultural industry has largely made it through unscathed–for now. “For better or worse, the specialty crops that we grow here on the Central Coast are […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Moxie Cafe in Santa Maria keeps it health conscious
We’ve had a lot of conversations in our newsroom lately about eating “healthy,” especially when it comes to dining out. It’s hard to define what that means, exactly. When someone says “healthy,” they could mean any number of things–low fat, low calorie, low carb, low sugar, organic, all-natural. It’s a puzzling little word that quite […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A taste of Honeydrops: The California Honeydrops bring their signature soul sound to the Santa Maria Valley
A blasting horn section, screaming Hammond organ, bouncing baseline, and popping snare drum coalesce in one organic sound, like a party in your ears. It is a party, at least according to The California Honeydrops lead singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Lech Wierzynski. “We try to keep this fun,” he said, “first and foremost.” It’s a party […]
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PCPA jumps into a time warp with Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia starts with a stunningly blunt question, remarkable not for its tawdry nature but for the underlying mystery it presents. It is posed by Thomasina Coverly (Grace Theobald) to her tutor, Septimus Hodge (Luke Myers). The precocious and wildly curious 13-year-old girl asks him, with genuinely devious curiosity, “What is carnal embrace?” The […]
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Artist Chelsea Ward turns her talent into a unique business
Local artist Chelsea Ward is the founder and owner of Sketchy Notions, a card and paper goods business that features her own unique creations. Ward grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley, learning art at a young age. She attended the University of Texas in Austin where she learned printmaking and bookmaking and started her […]
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Solvang City Council eyes smoking regulations following cannabis vote
The Solvang City Council discussed amending city code for its smoking regulations during its meeting on Aug. 28. The talks on where one can and cannot smoke in public were placed on the agenda two weeks prior, when council members adopted the first reading of an ordinance allowing a medical cannabis dispensary to operate near […]
