Cover Story

Each year, as the days get shorter and the nights get longer, we at the Sun turn our thoughts toward nonprofits. Early sunsets mean it’s time once again for our annual wish list, highlighting local people and groups who make a difference in this community—and need someone to make a difference for them in return. […]

A group of men gathers to pray in a corner room of a second-story office building on East Plaza Drive in Santa Maria. On the street below and a few blocks over on Broadway, someone has hung Christmas decorations and twinkling lights, signifying the beginning of the Christmas holiday. But unlike many of their neighbors, […]

Prompted by half a year of steady gang-related violence on city streets, public support for a gang injunction in Santa Maria is gaining steam from a small but vocal group of residents. In recent weeks, a movement spearheaded by members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps led to locals petitioning the City Council. They also […]

Books loom large over Sheila Butterworth as she shifts a volume here and there in her store. The shelves at the Bookworm are wall to wall, floor to ceiling, making her seem even more petite than she is—but she has complete control over her towering inventory. Ask her for a specific book—say, something fondly remembered […]

Ah, Thanksgiving. Mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, and … tofu-based turkey substitute? Don’t look so surprised, you carnivores. There are plenty of people out there who will be giving thanks without the turkey. And while meat eaters may roll their eyes at the mere thought of a tofurky, that infamous veggie-friendly substitute isn’t necessarily as prevalent […]

It’s noon on the final day of wine-grape harvest, and Berta Gonzalez and Maria Cerna eat their homemade tacos, sharing stories and laughing together as they sit in the shade of an unusual trailer parked at the edge of a local vineyard. It beats crouching in the dirt in the hot sun at lunchtime, Mendoza […]

Suicide is a complex issue. It’s also a subject many people don’t want to talk about because of its painful and taboo connotations. But according to many experts, it’s that very societal need to keep suicide—and the thoughts and feelings surrounding it—secret and shrouded in shame that partly drives people to the point of taking […]

The face of health care is changing. As Congress readies for a historic vote on a universal health-care bill, many in the health-care system are wondering how a government-run public option would impact their services and those patients currently with little or no health insurance.   The repercussions of such a plan might be felt […]

Whether you think of it as a gateway drug or miracle medicine, you have to admit: Marijuana has been in the news lately.   From the debate over a proposed marijuana dispensary in Orcutt, to the 30,000 plants found near the origins of the Los Padres fire in August, to the recent Santa Maria arrest […]

Tamales, mole, bread, candies, and tequila, set against a backdrop of bright orange marigolds, candles, and colorful flags—together these treats make up a feast fit for a king of yore, but these days, such a spread is likely intended to pamper the dead.   Dia de Los Muertos is a holiday Latinos set aside to […]

It’s a  busy day in the bullpen of the Santa Barbara Police Station. Officers swarm about the room—a blur of navy blue and paperwork—absorbed in their latest cases. There’s a steady hum of a department at work: the shrill chorus of ringing telephones, the urgent murmur of detectives deliberating motives, the rustling of case files. […]