Cover Story

IIt’s always a beautiful day in one of the state’s most iconic destinations, and a wedding set in a vineyard or on the coast will never disappoint. While the location is a large part of planning a wedding, there are a lot of little things that can make or break the big day. For this […]

Health and Wellness isn’t just about exercise and diets, it’s also about accessing medical health care and knowing how to protect your body. But not everyone knows how to obtain preventative care, and youth don’t necessarily graduate from high school with the information they need to understand sex or the proper ways to safeguard themselves. […]

Half of the country’s unsheltered population resides in California, according to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development report. In December 2022, the state had 171,521 people experiencing homelessness.  “This is more than nine times the number of unsheltered people in the state with the next highest number, Washington,” the December 2022 report stated. “In the […]

Neighborhood safety, home value, drug use, and density concerns met local leaders on Jan. 25 as they introduced Santa Maria residents to a new proposal to put an interim housing facility near the Betteravia Government Center.  At the community meeting, one neighbor shared worries about loitering in nearby parks, neighborhoods, and shopping centers. “The people […]

The muddy water inside Orcutt resident Rob Draper’s home was up to his knees by the time he and his family evacuated their house, during the night of the Jan. 9 storm. Upon exiting the front door with as many belongings as they could carry, the family of five attempted to reach one of their […]

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to more than 400 calls related to service, with more than 100 of them involving rescues from Jan. 9 to 9 a.m. on Jan. 10, Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told the Board of Supervisors during its Jan. 10 meeting.  “There are no injuries or anyone missing reported. Our […]

Santa Maria is about 100 acres shy of meeting its parks-to-residents ratio—3 acres of accessible park or open space land for every 1,000 residents—but officials said the city needs more cash from developers to hit the target. Typically, fees levied against new housing developments fund Santa Maria Recreation and Parks’ purchasing power. Developers either build […]

As we gaze back at what 2022 brought with it, the big issues that stick out include homelessness, opioid overdoses, and rural crime—all of which were exacerbated in the wake of the pandemic and are still waiting for solutions from public officials. As we head into 2023, expect those conversations to stay on the agendas […]

There never seems to be a perfect place for a homeless shelter, Santa Barbara County 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said.  “There’s no golden choice, it’s not one [location] is better than the other, but I can’t live with the status quo,” Lavagnino told the Sun in February.  More recently, Lavagnino said he felt like […]

Sam Dudley replayed the Montecito debris flow over and over in his head driving to and from work for months after the 2018 disaster.  “A lot of things really stacked up that made that experience really hard,” the Santa Barbara County firefighter said. “Finding children severely injured, and specifically we found one child deceased. That […]

’Tis the season to spend some money on loved ones, friends, and possibly frenemies—if you’re into that kind of thing. But let’s not be boring. No socks, ok? Having trouble coming up with something else? We’ve got you covered with our annual Last Minute Gift Guide, which keeps the focus hyper local and very fun. […]