Pets matter to people. Over 80 percent of Americans see pets as part of their family. But when they need help with their companion animals, the people most affected are those struggling with poverty, homelessness, and crime. So when we help people with pets, we are helping our neighbors. For many families, a pet is […]
Animal Services ultimately helps people too
Posted inOpinion
Vicious cycle
I’m so confused. Why didn’t we build the Northern Branch Jail bigger the first time around? The original project—originally set to cost $80 million in 2012 but ballooned to $120 million by the time it was finished in 2021—built a jail with 376 beds and space for 32 medical and mental health beds. Now, just […]
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County continues to support Racial Equity Grant to advance anti-racism work
Barbareno Chumash Tribal Council; 805UndocuFund; Collective Cultures Creating Change Lompoc; Gateway Educational Services; Healing Justice Santa Barbara; Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, Santa Barbara; NAACP Santa Maria-Lompoc; and the Regents of the University of California, Santa Barbara. These are the organizations the Fund for Santa Barbara’s Racial Equity Grant (REG) committee chose to receive money […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: April 10, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) joined a group of House Democrats asking for answers after five regional Head Start offices were shut down, including the regional office in San Francisco that serves Central Coast residents, his office said in a press release. The closures came after the Department of Health and Human Services […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Locally made surf film 300 Waves screens April 14 in the Bay Theatre
300 Waves and Rock to the Pier What’s it rated? Not rated When? Monday, April 14 (5 p.m. doors, 5:30 screening; $10 at the door or online at my805tix.com) Where’s it showing? The Bay Theatre of Morro Bay Local surfers can expect a nostalgic stoke next Monday when the Bay Theatre screens Leslie Girvin’s surf […]
Posted inNews
OmniTRAX enters joint venture with Coast Belle Rail Corporation to improve century-old Santa Maria Valley Railroad
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR) has been in operation for 114 years and survived both the Great Depression and World War II under Capt. G. Allan Hancock’s ownership. After struggling with the rise of trucking, the railroad remained under Hancock’s descendants until the Himoto family acquired it in 2006. According to Rob Himoto, president […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: April 3, 2025
• On March 25, Equal Pay Day—10 years after the passage of the Fair Pay Act—Sen. Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) announced new legislation to bolster the Fair Pay Act and provide workers with the opportunity to earn their “fair share,” according to the senator’s office. Specifically, SB 642 seeks to expand on Limón’s previous legislation, […]
Posted inNews
Los Padres Forest Association projects stalled amid federal staff cuts
As thousands of U.S. Forest Service workers get the axe amid mass federal staffing cuts, the Los Padres Forest Association is also feeling the impacts of loss, slowing its capacity to improve trails and preserve local wilderness. Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA) Executive Director Bryan Conant said that the nonprofit’s primary purpose is to assist […]
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County Animal Services launches livestock registry to help with wildfire evacuations
Cattle, horses, pigs, llamas, and ostriches were listed during a recent town hall in Solvang dedicated to wildfire preparation and evacuation protocols across the Santa Ynez Valley. Sarah Aguilar, Santa Barbara County Animal Services director, was among the March 31 panel’s featured speakers, alongside 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, county fire officials, and elected officials […]
Posted inNews
Man who flew drone over Vandenberg pleads guilty to breaking federal law
A Chinese national who took photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) with a drone pleaded guilty in March to violating the national defense airspace. According to a plea deal reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Yinpiao Zhou—a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States—was sentenced to time served in prison (four […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
If watched for free, Kraven the Hunter is dumb fun
Kraven the Hunter What’s it rated? R When? 2024 Where’s it showing? Netflix Oh, Marvel, what nonsense can’t you spin? Meet Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), whose father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe), is a Russian gangster. Sergei gets mauled by a lion while protecting his half-brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), but the lion drags Sergei to a little […]