Cover Story

Men wearing green jumpsuits stand in the elevator, descending 60 feet into a bunker deep under the ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The door opens to a dim, cave-like structure. The ceiling is low, the air is cold, and the walls are painted with murals of custom-designed mission patches. Beyond the darkness is a […]

You don’t need much help to find the rehearsal space where Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) actors and students prepare for their productions. I followed a loose list of directions, turning down the small asphalt road behind Costco’s tire service center, convinced for a brief moment I was lost. A small group of people was gathered […]

While the passage of Proposition 64 in November made it legal for adults ages 21 and older to possess, use, and personally cultivate recreational marijuana, the matter of taxing growers and purveyors of legal cannabis is an issue local government bodies are scrambling to address. The state will begin issuing business licenses for growers and […]

“We work in the public interest.” Karen Velie repeated a credo that many journalists live by from her seat on the witness stand in SLO County Superior Court. As she answered another pointed question from an opposing attorney, Velie—a reporter, owner, and cofounder of CalCoastNews—was flanked by the massive display of a 2012 article she […]

Deafening silence filled the parking lot of Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Lompoc. Rows of law enforcement and military personnel in formal uniform stood at attention, all awaiting the removal of Miguel Grijalva’s casket from the hearse parked there. Only the occasional gust of wind or passing car dared break the somber calm at […]

Farooq Husayn sits up straight in his chair, one leg draped over the other, hands folded neatly in his lap. Behind him stretches a small, green-walled room, decorated sparingly with bookshelves and framed Arabic scripts on canvas. Voices shouting above loud music leak through the wall from the Mexican restaurant next door, and the building’s […]

Feb. 6 was a confusing and worrisome day for undocumented peoples in Santa Barbara County. The Los Angeles Field Office of Enforcement and Removal  for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swept a seven-county area and arrested at least 160 undocumented immigrants, including five in North Santa Barbara County. The operation coincided with raids throughout the […]

An abandoned mattress. A rotting wooden pallet. Crumbling cement parking stops. Graffiti. Plastic Solo cups. Broken glass. These are the things to avoid when skateboarding the spot where the Nipomo Community Center used to stand. It burned down in the early 2000s. The building was privately owned at the time—no longer part of the community—and […]

Twilight coated the valley as Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) officers responded to a 9:36 p.m. call reporting a possible domestic violence situation at a home on the 300 Block of West Williams Street on June 5. The caller reported that the suspect may have stabbed a victim inside the home. Upon arrival at the […]

When a group of organizers in San Luis Obispo decided to hold a march in solidarity with large demonstrations scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., and other major American cities, they expected a small turnout of about 200. On Jan. 21, the day of the National Women’s March, the size of the crowd that […]

In the back of a darkened room, a light burns hotly into a small corner. Crouched near a desk is a man, his face flustered, with a look of searing fear and anticipation fixed in his eyes. He takes a deep breath, but before he can make a move, a sharp voice pierces the room. […]