Act naturally Visit eislynnwines.com or demetriaestate.com for more info on Eislynn Wines or Demetria Estate, respectively. Both brands are based in the Santa Ynez Valley. On Saturday, April 26, Eislynn Wines will be among the featured wineries at the Natural Coast, a Santa Barbara-based wine festival, from noon to 5 p.m. at The Factory, located […]
Local winemaker Emily Myers makes a name for herself through two SYV brands
Posted inNews
Students at four Santa Maria-Bonita schools finally get their playgrounds
After months of playing on concrete slabs, students at Alvin, Fairlawn, Ontiveros, and Tunnell elementary schools are now jumping, swinging, and climbing on new equipment. On March 20, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District announced that construction, which started last summer, was finished at those four schools and that all of the district’s schools either have […]
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Got odor?: County’s updated cannabis ordinance establishes threshold for odors from indoor grows
While standing on the property line of a licensed cannabis grower in a little more than one year’s time, a trained operator of a Nasal Ranger device will need to measure 4 or less D/T—dilution over threshold—for three minutes to determine whether the grower complies with the now amended cannabis ordinance. Arriving at this number […]
Posted inOpinion
‘Let’s have a conversation’ is the least productive political phrase in common use
You hear the phrase “let’s have a conversation” a lot as the liberal arm of our political class confronts problems. Does it solve anything or is it an excuse for doing nothing? When I was a kid in 1950s Los Angeles, the six local TV stations would haul their large cameras down to “skid row” […]
Posted inOpinion
In action
It looks like Allan Hancock College is reaping the rewards of its long-standing effort to bring a four-year-degree program to Santa Maria. The school launched a partnership with Cal Poly at the beginning of this school year on its first bachelor’s degree program in sociology and just added a business major with two more as-yet-to-be-decided […]
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Santa Barbara County boosts transportation access for wheelchair users
Every time a Santa Barbara County resident books a ride through a transportation network company (TNC) like Uber or Lyft, a 10 cent fee is collected to support the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments’ (SBCAG) Access for All program, which aims to enhance reliable, on-demand transportation for people with disabilities and mobility challenges. Care […]
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Political Watch: March 20, 2025
• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a group of 31 senators demanding a reversal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cancellation of food purchase programs across the country, according to a March 17 statement from Schiff’s office. The senators warned that the cancellations would have far-reaching negative […]
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Santa Maria mayoral candidate files small claims suit over a critic’s letter to the editor
One of Santa Maria’s 2024 mayoral candidates is taking a critic to small claims court for a letter published in Noozhawk last October. Diana Perez, who lost her bid for mayor to Alice Patino, filed the claim in January, alleging that Yvette Valadez-Andrade owes $12,500 for defaming “my campaign for mayor of Santa Maria 2024 […]
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Santa Ynez residents sue Solvang over Wildwood development
A group of landowners filed a lawsuit against the city of Solvang on March 7 over a development that is still in the planning process. The Santa Ynez Valley Residents Association (SYVRA) is asking the court to vacate the city’s December 2024 determination that the Wildwood project application is complete, saying the city violated one […]
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Cal Poly commits to three new bachelor’s programs at Hancock College’s Santa Maria campus
Less than a month after introducing a new bill centered on postsecondary education, Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) withdrew from pushing it forward. Without reaching a single hearing, the proposal itself helped solve the problem the bill aimed to fix, Allan Hancock College President Kevin Walthers said. On March 17, Walthers shared a stage with […]
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Precarious permits: Sable awaits Santa Barbara County’s decision on whether it can take over operator permits from ExxonMobil
About a month after Santa Barbara County supervisors voted 2-2 on the appeal to Sable Offshore Corporation’s permit transfer application, the county is still trying to decide what it means. “We are still considering the issue internally, and I do not have an update on our final determination yet,” county Energy, Minerals, and Compliance Deputy […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Amada Cellars opens wine tasting room in Los Alamos, making decades-old dream a reality
Opening soon On April 19, Amada Cellars will host the grand opening for its tasting room at 490 Bell St., No. 104, in Los Alamos. The event will feature a selection of their wines and live music. For more information on the new tasting room, visit exploretock.com/amada-cellars. Seated at a picnic table at Sequoia Grove […]