The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission members and members of the community will meet to discuss arts in Santa Maria for an Arts Talk event scheduled for May 16 at the Minami Community Center. The talk will be hosted by 5th District Arts Commissioners Doug Jenzen and Dennis Smitherman. Fifth District County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino […]
Santa Maria hosts 5th District Arts Talks
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Elverhoj Museum hosts Nancy Yaki exhibit
The Roadside Series, a new art exhibition of recent works by artist and art teacher Nancy Yaki, is set to debut at the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art on May 12. A reception is scheduled on opening day from 4 to 6 p.m. and is open to the public. The exhibit features Saki’s landscape […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Steven Lewis’ photography exhibit at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery highlights his passion for small details
The photos on the wall at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery tell a quiet story. The story could be about a mysterious world preserved in an almost ancient landscape. Or it could be about the commonplace nature of the outside world. But the tale the pictures really tell is the story of Steven Lewis, the renowned […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Robert Randolph & The Family Band brings funky, bluesy pedal steel guitar sound to Presqu’ile Winery
The pedal steel electric slide guitar is an instrument that immediately brings country music to mind, from its warm low end to its clear high range. But for Robert Randolph, his first first experience with the versatile instrument wasn’t in a honky-tonk, but in church. Randolph grew up in New Jersey, attending the House of […]
Posted inOpinion
Strange days indeed
Did you ever think you’d live to see days quite like these? I know I didn’t, and I’m counting time in bird years! Some of the stories are astounding and inspiring, like the recent NASA launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, which is sending the InSight probe to our neighbor planet, Mars. It’s pretty cool […]
Posted inOpinion
The Founding Fathers and guns
In the last few days I have seen letters to the editor referring to our Founding Fathers. In my opinion they had more smarts than the total combined assembly of both houses of Congress today. John Kennedy had this to say at a dinner in Washington back when he was president: “I think this is […]
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc faces serious issues
Another month and another attempted murder in Lompoc; what the in the world is going on? Lompoc has always been a relatively quiet place to live crime-wise. Sure, there were petty thefts or home and business burglaries, but the level of violent crime was always low. Domestic violence was the exception. Disputes were settled with […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Bailey Killough
Allan Hancock College sophomore Bailey Killough’s most recent softball season earned her a spot on the California Community College Fastpitch Coaches Association All-State Team for the second year in a row. The Arroyo Grande High School graduate ranked sixth in her conference this season with a .430 batting average and second with eight home runs, […]
Posted inNews
Bill to lower textbook costs passes Assembly committee
In a survey of 609 students conducted by Allan Hancock College’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness in 2017, 65 percent of students said they had dropped a class due to the price of a required textbook. Sixty-one percent of students surveyed said they spend at least $200 on textbooks each semester, and 45 percent said they […]
Posted inNews
Thomas Fire, mudslides not to blame for spike in valley fever
A recent investigation into an uptick of reported cases of valley fever in Santa Barbara County concluded that the trend was not caused by the county’s earlier natural disasters. During the study, which was released by the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on May 8, county officials reviewed 56 cases of valley fever reported […]
Posted inNews
Spotlight on: Santa Maria Valley Wine Trolley
Santa Maria’s favorite wine trolley is coming back to the valley. The Santa Maria Valley Wine Trolley‘s official second season begins Memorial Day weekend. The public transportation is the product of a collaborative effort between the Santa Maria Valley Visitors Bureau and Santa Maria. The 28-passenger trolley is an extension of the city’s downtown trolley […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 5/10/18
• Gov. Jerry Brown joined California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Air Resources Board on May 1 to announce that the state of California would lead an 18-state coalition to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to “preserve the nation’s single vehicle emission standard,” according to a release from Brown’s office. “The states […]