The Poetic Justice Project, a local theater company of formerly incarcerated actors and artists, celebrates the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Reentry Week with a fundraiser dinner on April 24, the first day of reentry week. The national week began in recognition of the demand for effective reentry services for the millions of Americans who […]
Poetic Justice Project holds Reentry Week fundraiser
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria Arts Council calls for artists
The Santa Maria Arts Council has issued a call for artists for an Art in the Park event happening on June 5. The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Santa Maria City Hall, will feature local artists in multiple media showing and selling their work. The event is designed to […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Barbara County County invites locals to vote on Water Wise Video Contest
The Santa Barbara County Water Agency announced that voting is currently open for the People’s Choice Award for the annual Water Wise High School Video Contest. The competition includes 30-second videos submitted by local high school students with official judges awarding tiered distinctions, but the People’s Choice Award is open for judging via the website […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Daytripper: A spur-of-the-moment trip to the middle of Los Padres is the best way to end the weekend
When someone asks you if you want to go to Scheideck (pronounced “shy-deck”), you say yes. Well, you say yes if it’s Sunday, it’s sunny after a couple of days of rain, you just ate a fabulously filling chicken-fried steak breakfast at Pappy’s in Santa Maria, and you feel like an adventure. So I said […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Cabrillo High School Aquarium lets the students teach at open house event
A program that began 30 years ago in an unused classroom at Cabrillo High School has come quite a long way since its infancy. Founded by Dave Long, the lone teacher who began the Cabrillo High School Aquarium along with just one student in 1986, the aquarium has attracted a club of dedicated students across […]
Posted inOpinion
Not all neighbors are created equal
When a truck full of boxes pulls into your development, you never know who you might move in. Not all neighbors are neighborly. Some are downright scary. Residents in Nipomo recently found out just how scary neighbors can be after a fire destroyed a structure intended as farmworker housing. Residents living near the structures weren’t […]
Posted inNews
Burgeoning bloom: Drought-stricken wildflowers attract crowds to California’s Central Coast with a colorful display after the rains deliver much-needed relief
As the Ides of March passed, thirsty shrubs sucked up the moisture granted by the intermittent rains that graced the Central Coast and put their lifeblood to work. Within weeks of the rains the spring bloom came in full force, lighting up hillsides across the coast with blossoming hues of yellow, lavender, and bright orange. […]
Posted inNews
Zodiac Aerospace provides a campus facelift for Tunnell Elementary
On Thursday, April 7, more than 100 volunteers brought out paint, plants, and elbow grease to beautify the Tunnell Elementary School campus. The beautification project was made possible through a Give and Grow Grant provided by Santa Maria business Zodiac Aerospace. The volunteers, many who work for Zodiac Aerospace, painted murals, planted low-maintenance landscaping, created […]
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County honors Classified School Employees of the Year
At its monthly board meeting on April 7, the Santa Barbara County Education Office recognized six professionals from throughout the county as the 2016 Santa Barbara County Classified School Employees of the Year. Teresa Acosta, an administrative assistant in the Lompoc Unified School District was honored in the support services and security category; Foothill Elementary’s […]
Posted inNews
Hobnobbing with Helen: Casino Night goes to the animals
Wow! Four hundred people—give or take 10 or 20—were at the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society’s Casino Night on Saturday, April 9, at the Elks Lodge. That’s a very respectably sized crowd. This event, with a Western theme, had a lot of oomph and a lot of action. It replaced the Humane Society’s longtime traditional […]
Posted inNews
Spotlight on: Santa Maria Taekwondo Academy
For the uninformed, the martial art of taekwondo is not what’s expected. It looks something like kickboxing, but according to Cort Newby, taekwondo is more similar to boxing where it’s common to trade quick jabs than hard blows. “It’s the art of kicking and punching,” Newby said. “That’s literally what it means. It moves a […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch 4/14/16
• A bill by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to set comprehensive limits around the use of drones near critical infrastructure such as bridges and power plants as well as in state parks and wildlife refuges, on private property, and around airports has passed out of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. The April 5 […]