Betsy Schaffer is the best choice for county auditor-controller. My name is Jim McClure, and I spent almost 30 years in the Navy as a supply corps officer and have an MBA from Stanford. After retiring as a captain in the Navy, I began a second 20-year career in county government, first as a division […]
Vote Betsy Schaffer for auditor-controller
Posted inOpinion
Hillary won
When will any journalist say that, while Hillary Clinton was being dragged through every investigation invented by Republicans in Congress and the media, the FBI, CIA, and NSA erred on the side of silence about Donald Trump’s conspiracy with the Russians? When will writers and TV personalities admit Bernie Sanders was never vetted and given […]
Posted inOpinion
Theft of $2 million from county is cause for concern
Lynn Hogan, a county employee since 1988, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from the county. Over the past nine years, an employee with a drug addiction outsmarted the Santa Barbara County Auditor-Controller’s Office. Their lax internal controls, antiquated financial systems, and incompetence led to theft that went on for nearly a […]
Posted inOpinion
Only one auditor-controller candidate is qualified
There are two candidates running for auditor-controller, and I have supervised both the candidates. After six years working in the office, one candidate left to become the treasury investment officer. That position is much more suited to her background and her degree in finance. You have to ask the question: How does investing over a […]
Posted inOpinion
AERA Energy’s efforts at greenwashing don’t fool cancer survivors
As someone who has watched her mother battle breast cancer twice, I am outraged by polluters that try to greenwash their image by donating to charities that fight the disease—all while using known carcinogens in their oil extraction methods. A $20,000 gift from AERA Energy last month to Mission Hope Cancer Center at Marian Regional […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Gabriela Rivas
After four years of varsity wrestling at Pioneer Valley High School, senior Gabriela Rivas plans to continue her career at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, next fall. Rivas, who hopes to study education and English in college, earned several league honors throughout her time at Pioneer Valley, and helped her wrestling team win various […]
Posted inNews
Future Leaders of America call on district officials to align A-G and high school graduation requirements
Shortly after Dioceline Araujo moved from New Cuyama to Santa Maria during her freshman year of high school, a guest speaker visited one of her classes to discuss college. “‘Who here knows about A-G?’” Araujo said the speaker asked. As hands around the classroom shot up, Araujo sat still in confusion. “Like the alphabet?” Araujo […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 5/24/18
• Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order on May 10 designed to address forest recovery and wildfire prevention, and support forest management. The order includes doubling land actively managed through vegetation thinning, launching new training and certification programs for controlled burns, boosting education and outreach to landowners about fire safety and prevention, streamlining permitting […]
Posted inNews
Santa Maria to increase food truck enforcement in June
Santa Maria city officials plan to crack down on food trucks and enforce regulations in June after receiving an influx of food truck-related complaints. Since the beginning of last month, Code Compliance Officer Joy Castaing said city officials have been “bombarded” with various community complaints and concerns regarding truck parking times, locations, and other impositions […]
Posted inNews
Former Santa Maria City Councilmember and county Supervisor Tom Urbanske passes at 88 years old
Former Santa Maria City Councilmember and 5th District County Supervisor Thomas “Tom” Urbanske passed away on May 17, leaving those in local government reflecting on the longtime teacher, advocate, and public servant’s legacy in Santa Maria and North County. Urbanske was 88 years old. “He really cared about people and he was a very good […]
Posted inNews
School resource deputy position reinstated at San Marcos High School
There’s a new deputy on campus at San Marcos High School. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced on May 11 that Deputy Jaycee Hunter will serve as the school’s new school resource deputy. The decision came just three days after the Santa Barbara Unified School District voted to fund the campus law enforcement position […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
PCPA delivers a solid production of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’
When reviewing plays (or films) from classic source material, I often find myself mulling over what its creator would make of contemporary productions. What, for example, would William Shakespeare make of productions of Hamlet reimagined as a Western or Richard III set in a fascist England? And what about Victor Hugo, the esteemed French poet […]