Allan Hancock College hosted its second annual Student Success Summit on April 3. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the summit gathered faculty, staff, students, and representatives from local high schools—as well as Cal Poly and CSU Channel Islands—to discuss new methods of promoting student success. Marla Allegre, English faculty and co-chair of the AHC […]
Hancock College hosts Student Success Summit
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Pioneer Valley High School student flutists attend flute boot camp
Three of Pioneer Valley High School’s top flute players accompanied 15 other budding flutists from the Central Coast for an all-day flute boot camp on March 28 at Allan Hancock College. Taught by world-renowned Yamaha performing artist and northern Santa Barbara County native Tracy Harris, the students learned a wide variety of flute fundamentals ranging […]
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Spotlight on: Sula Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar
Sally Elias never imagined she’d own a restaurant, but it makes sense given her history with food. She began college at UC Santa Barbara in the early 2000s studying computer science but ended up graduating with a degree in political science. To make money, she found herself making foot-long sandwiches at Subway. Her life shifted […]
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Political Watch 4/9/15
Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order on April 1 imposing the first-ever mandatory drought restrictions on the state. The governor directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory reductions in cities and towns across California to cut water usage by 25 percent. Last year, Brown asked that all the state’s residents voluntarily […]
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Community Notebook 4/9/15-4/16/15
MONDAY, APRIL 13 • 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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Ride along with a Santa Maria city ranger
You may have seen trucks driving around Santa Maria with “CITY RANGER” painted on the side. They look like police cruisers, but they’re not. So what the heck is a city ranger? Formally park rangers, Santa Maria changed their designation to city rangers on Jan. 6. The reason, according to Recreation and Parks Director Dennis […]
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Olive Grove’s charter struggles continue
The Santa Barbara County Board of Education unanimously voted on April 2 to block an appealed charter petition filed by a group of parents and teachers from Olive Grove Charter School. The vote aligned with with the county Office of Education’s staff recommendation that the Cuyama Unified School District’s Feb. 19 denial of the petition […]
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Haggen supermarket will move into Lompoc
Haggen, a grocery store chain based in Washington, was scheduled to take ownership of an Albertsons store in Lompoc in mid-April, but the swap is now pushed out until mid-June. The store at 1500 N. H Street in Lompoc is one of 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores located in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington […]
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Former Pioneer Valley teacher gets sentenced in sex with a minor case, and a Santa Maria High teacher pleads not guilty to possessing child porn
On April 1, Brian Hook—the former Pioneer Valley High School teacher and coach who pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor—was sentenced in a Santa Maria courtroom to serve one year in county jail. Hook, 54, was arrested in February 2014 on suspicion of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student at […]
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EPA reaches 10th settlement in Casmalia superfund site case
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on March 31 that it’s reached another settlement in the cleanup of the Casmalia Resources Superfund Site. The settlement requires 337 companies that formerly used the site for hazardous waste disposal to pay $1.4 million toward the estimated $284 million it will cost to clean up the site. In 1992, […]
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Jury finds all but one defendant guilty in U-Haul murder trial
On April 7, a Santa Maria jury in what’s become known as the U-Haul murder trial found five out of six defendants guilty of the March 2013 gang slaying of 28-year-old Anthony Ibarra. The court clerk read the guilty verdicts for defendants Ramon Maldonado, Reyes Gonzales, David Maldonado, Santos Sauceda, and Jason Castillo. The jury […]
Posted inOpinion
What is your favorite book? Why?
Daisy Gonzales student “I like the Twilight series and Harry Potter—it’s a tie. Harry Potter has the plot twists, but Twilight has the love.” Justin Delgado student “Haroun and the Sea of Stories. It was my first year of high school when I read it, and it was one of those assigned books that you […]
