The Santa Ynez Valley Foundation is accepting nominations for its 2016 Youth in Service awards along with its 2016 Man and Women of the Year awards. The Youth in Service award is a recognition program created to applaud young people who are making a difference through volunteer community service in the Santa Ynez Valley and/or […]
Santa Ynez Valley Foundation accepts Youth in Service nominations
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Santa Maria school district raises funds for charity
On Dec. 17, the employees of the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Office came together to award more than $12,600 they had raised over the past four weeks for various local charities. The third annual fundraising Reindeer Games, as they are known, culminated in a luncheon where representatives from the nonprofits were invited to receive the donations and […]
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Knights of Columbus donate to Special Olympics
The Queen of Angels and La Purisima councils of the Knights of Columbus in Lompoc gave a check for $3,300 to the Special Olympics Northern Santa Barbara County during a ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at the Queen of Angels Catholic Church. The funds are a result of the annual Tootsie Roll Drive. Lompoc Special […]
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Political Watch 1/7/2016
• On Dec. 29, at the North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Library, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette, an advocate for equal pay, as well as legislators, representatives of California businesses, and advocacy groups joined Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to discuss her Senate Bill 358, the nation’s strongest equal pay law for women, and what […]
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Community Notebook 1/7/16 – 1/14/16
MONDAY, JAN. 11 • The Santa Maria City Block Grants Advisory Committee has its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room, 110 E. Cook St., Santa Maria. • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. agendas are available at […]
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Hobnobbing with Helen: Hats for Hope holiday fundraiser packs the Santa Maria Country Club
So many people! Hats for Hope had a huge turnout for its third annual December fundraiser, Christmas with Holly, held on Sunday, Dec. 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. The Santa Maria Country Club was packed. Around 275 people showed up to hear Holly Williams sing. I wasn’t the only one awed by the size […]
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Spotlight on: Central Coast Ink Dolls
Their motto is “to help, to give, to aspire” and the goal of the Central Coast Ink Dolls is to help less fortunate kids in Santa Barbara County. And that’s what they try to do with charity events throughout the year. On Dec. 19, Santa Maria Rancho Bowl hosted the Ink Dolls’ second annual toy […]
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Going with the flow: Environmental groups seek Clean Water Act compliance with landfills in Santa Barbara County
Leading up to the global weather event that is El Niño, several environmental groups filed civil actions—essentially lawsuits—against governments in Santa Barbara County out of concern that massive amounts of rainwater could carry polluting runoff from landfills into nearby streams, where endangered steelhead trout reproduce. The Waterkeeper Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit with affiliates on […]
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Alleged carjacker steals two BMWs during high-speed chase to Orcutt
What are the chances that an alleged car thief will steal two of the same type of car during a scrambled effort to evade police? That’s what reportedly happened to 27-year-old Christian Gomez who was arrested Jan. 2 following a high-speed car chase from the Chumash Casino to Orcutt, according to the California Highway Patrol […]
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Santa Maria Jiffy Lube franchisee pens protest to city’s artificial turf law on Facebook
California’s technically still in a drought, and while there is a push to conserve water by replacing lawns with water-efficient plants or landscapes, you may want to think twice about completely depending on artificial turf—at least in Santa Maria. All Jiffy Lube franchisee Sean Porcher was trying to do was conserve a little water by […]
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Sheriff’s Office investigating case of cattle mutilation near Los Alamos
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a bizarre case of animal mutilation that occurred the day after Christmas on a ranch located near Los Alamos. According to Kelly Hoover, the Sheriff’s Office public information officer, the caretaker of the ranch was checking on the property on Dec. 26 when he discovered the carcasses […]
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Santa Maria youth still missing after birthday disappearance
A Santa Maria youth went missing from his home on Dec. 26, the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) declared in a statement released on social media, and the boy’s distraught family has yet to receive any indication of his whereabouts or well-being. Ivan Nunez went missing from his home during his 16th birthday party on […]