Thousands of Central Coast residents will have to look for new health insurance next year after one of the area’s biggest providers announced that it will no longer offer plans through the state’s insurance marketplace in most California counties. Health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross said it is pulling out of all but three of […]
Anthem nixes ACA coverage plans on Central Coast
Posted inOpinion
What do you do to prepare for wildfire season?
Jan Debruin retired “Keep the yard clean and get rid of dry weeds.” Jordyn Thomas student “We water our plants and rake up all the dead leaves.” Jim Murman retired “We make sure to keep our weeds cut down.” Janelle Murman sales “We make sure to keep the fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in working […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 8/3/17
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in sending a letter to White House Counsel Don McGhan seeking answers from the White House regarding a recent decision to publish emails containing sensitive personal information from citizens concerned about President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. According to […]
Posted inNews
Burn rates: The Alamo and Whittier Fires required tens of millions of dollars to fight, but those aren’t the only costs
The drive into Tepusquet Canyon from its south end offers rolling hills, ranch homes and ancient oak trees, coyotes dodging between grape vines, and deer grazing in pastures. But on the approach from Santa Maria, a long skyline of bruised black hills reveals the devastation wrought by the Alamo Fire and the real threat it […]
Posted inOpinion
A tax exemption that is no longer justified
When Congress originally established credit unions in the 1930s, they were granted a federal tax exemption because they existed to provide small-dollar loans to close-knit groups of people of modest means. However today, many credit unions are virtually indistinguishable from taxpaying community banks, and they have leveraged this taxpayer subsidy to aggressively grow—becoming a $1 […]
Posted inNews
Growing concerns: Community members speak out on cannabis cultivation at county scoping meeting
Aside from a few knowing glances, snarky scoffs, and rolling eyes, the tone of Santa Barbara County’s July 27 environmental scoping meeting remained passive-aggressive, if not submissive, despite many attendees’ vehement concerns over the meeting’s topic: cannabis cultivation. Noise, traffic, odor, water—roughly 10 community members shared their most pressing cannabis-related fears at the meeting in […]
Posted inNews
Spotlight on: Lily Stitches
Lisa Adam remembers telling her mom when she was in her 20s that she hated sewing and she’d never do it. Her mother replied with a skeptical “OK,” and since then, Adam has sewed every day. Now, she’s made a business out of it. Adam opened Lily Stitches last year, which started as an embroidery […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Dank dinner served: Weed-infused wedding fare makes for a high time
I’m at an undisclosed location nestled off a dirt road atop a hillside across the way from the SLO airport. With a quaint yellow farmhouse, rolling green lawn, and epic sunset view, the setting feels very much “the Central Coast wedding venue.” On this evening, everything is decked out like a bride’s dream Pinterest board: […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Adult children
My youngest offspring—my only daughter, my little girl, the apple of my eye—turned 18 recently. This means I’m old. I can’t run around and act like a kid if my own kid isn’t a kid anymore and is actually an adult. I only have myself to blame for this situation because years ago, when my […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Local musicians can submit new albums and songs to the New Times Music Awards
It’s that time of year again, when local singer-songwriters, bands, rappers, and composers seal their EPs, albums, or recordings with a bow and send them into the New Times Music Awards. Is this the year you’ll finally enter, or are you going to watch someone else take home the coveted Newtie? The competition is open […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Allan Hancock College receives Makerspace grant
Allan Hancock College was one of 24 colleges to receive a CCC Maker Implementation Grant from the California Community Colleges (CCC) Chancellor’s Office. The college was awarded $350,000 to build an inclusive makerspace community in collaboration with the Santa Maria Public Library and the Santa Maria Discovery Museum. In January, CCC Maker awarded Hancock an […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria Public Library awarded bilingual book grant
The California State Library’s Immigrant Alliance Project gave the Santa Maria Public Library System a $7,500 grant to purchase bilingual children’s books for the main library and all branch library locations. The books will feature printed text in both Spanish and English, to help meet the needs of families in various local communities. The library […]