The Central Coast doesn’t always get a lot of rain during the winter, but it consistently sees warm, dry weather come summertime. For those who have a garden to tend to, this can be problematic. Not enough water, and the plant dies. Too much time in the sun, and the plant dies. So what should […]
Drought-tolerant plants still a wise choice for local gardens
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Courtney Tuskan
Female rock climbers from around the globe, including Lompoc resident Courtney Tuskan, gathered at Owen’s River Gorge in Bishop, Calif., for the 2017 Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing Festival. “During those three days, I met and camped out with some amazing women from all over the world,” Tuskan told the Sun. “The climbing community are generally […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
On the big island
Ah, summer! The time for frolic and fun in the sun. Best of all—no school! And if you’re a kid, that’s the best part of summer. Then there is the family vacation. You either love them or hate them. I have a certain nostalgia for family vacations. These meant spending time together, often in close […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Wildling Museum hosts tree-themed photography competition
Some of the images are hard to pinpoint at first. A speck of red stands out in a cluster of black matter. A broken branch stretches out into a stark sky. In another, a cluster of twisted and fragile paper-like eucalyptus stand out against a tranquil blue sky. For such a straightforward organism, trees can […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
St. Louis de Montfort hosts concert by French Boys’ Choir
The Catholic Church looms large in the history of Western art music, and why shouldn’t it? The church is responsible for written music notation, some of the earliest codified harmony, and of course polyphony and counterpoint. It all goes back to Gregorian chant, and the monks who sang low on one melody line during worship […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Guadalupe hosts annual Obon Festival
Guadalupe Buddhist Church welcomes the public to the annual Japanese Obon Festival. Members of the church hold the event to express gratitude and honor to their ancestors who first initiated the observance and pay respects to those who passed during the year. Attendees will have a chance to taste authentic Japanese cuisine, listen to taiko […]
Posted inNews
Animal Services, community help find temporary homes for evacuated pets and livestock
When Jen Ellis told her children they wouldn’t be going home, they cried. After a long Saturday spent preparing for 4-H competitions at the Santa Barbara County Fair in Santa Maria, Ellis and her children made their way home to the Cachuma Village near Santa Ynez. But as the family pulled through town, Ellis said […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
PCPA receives NEA grant
The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) received a $10,000 Arts Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. PCPA was one of 133 organizations to receive funding from the NEA this year. In the spring of 2017, Art Works granted almost $4 million in theater and musical theater grants. The NEA grant will go toward […]
Posted inOpinion
Worldwide whine
Things sure have changed since I began fluttering around newsrooms, chasing down leads, and covering local news. For one, I don’t actually have to go to a bunch of local meetings—they stream online now! I’ve got to admit, it’s nice listening to county Supervisors Steve Lavagnino and Das Williams, or Peter Adam and Janet Wolf, […]
Posted inNews
Tiny houses, big dreams: CET plans to donate houses to those without
Steve Del Real said he watched his students at the Center for Employment Training (CET) build miniature, almost fully working homes for years as a part of the hands-on learning experience provided in Del Real’s curriculum for the Green Building Construction Skills class. The students would build the homes up, only to have the projects […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Benchwarmer shares her adventure at Zion National Park, Utah
By definition, the word “zion” means paradise. If there is a paradise on this Earth, I think it exists in Zion National Park. Tucked into the southwest corner of Utah, the park regally stands as one of the oldest national parks in America. It’s a place I have visited with my family since I was […]
Posted inOpinion
God of fire is pleased
Having written nearly 2,000 opinion columns during my career, there is one particular subject that I have repeated over and over. It has to do with the dangers and implications of wildland fires. I characterize these observations by way of the subject line “fires, floods, and fools.” Fire, of course, leads to the watershed being […]