Month: June 2025

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – With the 4th of July approaching, the City of Santa Maria is once again rolling out a three-pronged approach regarding fireworks this year, which includes education, enforcement and entertainment.

To help inform the public about important information dealing with fireworks both legal and illegal, a bilingual educational campaign is now underway.

As in previous years, information is being disseminated to the public through television and radio public service announcements (PSAs), social media posts, flyers, posters and other forms of communication.

“We want to get the message out to the community that illegal fireworks are dangerous,” said Mark van de Kamp, Santa Maria PublicInformation Manager. “Not only are they dangerous with the loud noises that they make, there’s a lot of people in our community who just don’t deal very well with that. They may be veterans. We have a lot of veterans in Santa Maria, people with autism and with PTSD. It’s the worst day of the year for animals. We are very well aware of the magnitude of the problem. Over the years, people have come to the City Council. I’ve had phone calls with people who are almost in tears because very upset about the use of illegal fireworks, so the City Council has requested and directed the staff to do something about it.”

The Santa Maria Police Department recently started its Fireworks Enforcement Operation, with officers monitoring social media for fireworks sales and actively patrolling neighborhoods for fireworks usage.

“The Santa Maria Police Department is currently teamed up with fire prevention and code enforcement, and we’ve started our enforcement period for fire fireworks enforcement,” said Santa Maria Police Department Lt. Danny Rios. “We are going to start with areas that are known to have a history of illegal firework activity. We’re going to look at those areas first and then branch out from there. This week we have started issuing our admin citations that carry a maximum penalty of $1,000. We are going to continue working with fire and code enforcement to proactively seek out those that are engaging in the use of illegal fireworks. In addition to some targeted proactive enforcement, we’re also going to be monitoring social media accounts for those that are selling illegal fireworks and look to target those, through investigative resources. We also ask that the public report illegal firework activity.”

In addition, the city will hold a new community event on Independence Day called “Red, White and PLAY: A Hometown Celebration.”

The free event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at Elks Field, which is located the Abel Maldonado Youth Center at 600 South McClelland Street.

The city describes the event as an “afternoon of entertainment, engaging activities and patriotic fun for all ages.”

“It’s very family friendly,” said van de Kamp. “We’re going to have a band that’s a tribute band to Santana called Savor and they’ll be playing for a couple of hours. Bring some lawn chairs. Enjoy it. We’ll have food for sale. The pool will be open. The youth center will be open. There’ll be lots of games, painting contests and a watermelon eating contest, so really good stuff. It should be a real draw for for people of all ages.” 

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Ryder Christ

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – Cowboys, live music and stick horse races drew thousands to the Santa Ynez Valley this weekend as the 6th Annual Old Santa Ynez Days Rodeo wrapped up Sunday.

The two-day event, held at the arena near the Chumash Casino Resort, was a PRCA-qualifying rodeo that attracted top-ranked competitors and rising stars from across the country. Events included bull riding, saddle bronc, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and women’s breakaway roping. Junior competitions featured crowd favorites such as mutton bustin’, junior barrel racing, and stick horse races.

“Rodeo is an old, old sport,” said Ralph Lausten, stock contractor for Empire Rodeo. “It’s a traditional sport for this area here, and it’s kind of been missing for a few years. We tried to bring it back.”

Presented by the Santa Ynez Valley Western Heritage Foundation, the event has seen explosive growth since its inception.

“First year we had it, we had maybe 800 people, and yesterday we were sold out,” said Lausten. “We had 4,000 people. The community has really gotten behind it and been really supportive.”

Production Manager Chris Weber credits a recent surge in public interest to pop culture.

“Thanks to TV shows, it’s cool to be a cowboy again,” said Weber. “There’s definitely added interest in rodeo these days. And just being able to showcase the sport and what is so integral in the Santa Ynez Valley is really exciting.”

In addition to honoring Western heritage, the event also raises money for several local and charitable causes. Proceeds benefit the Golden Circle of Champions—a youth cancer foundation founded in Santa Maria—as well as Santa Ynez Valley High School’s FFA and District 7 High School Rodeo programs.

“We are very proud to be a part of this,” said Kevin Murphy, president of the Santa Ynez Valley Western Heritage Foundation. “This rodeo gives back to our youth and to meaningful causes in our region.”

The rodeo was held on land owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, across from the airport off Highway 246. It coincided with the broader Old Santa Ynez Days celebration, including a Saturday morning parade through the historic township.

Organizers say they hope to continue expanding the event in the years to come, keeping the Western spirit alive in Santa Barbara County.

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Jarrod Zinn

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Local veterans held a “Hands Off” protest this morning.

They’re questioning President Trump’s sweeping cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Trump administration released an internal memo in march announcing a drastic reorganization of the VA, according to the Associated Press.

Trump officials say up to 15% of the workforce could be cut, eliminating approximately 72,000 positions.

“The congressman opposes it emphatically,” says Greg Haas, district representative for Salud Carbajal. “He’s a veteran himself, but really, this is about all the veterans. This is one of the things he writes letters about or talks about to the secretaries and directors of we need more staff, We need you hiring more staff.”

It would return the department to 2019 staffing levels, and require staff to work from their offices full-time, eliminating remote and tele-work staff.

“Our veterans need more, not less,” says Haas. “Because they’ve done a great service for us. And we need to recognize that and honor that.”

An assembly of nearly a hundred veterans gathered for a peaceful “Hands Off” protest at the Veterans’ Memorial Building in San Luis Obispo Monday morning, receiving supportive honks from passersby.

“I just think all of these budget cuts are awful,” says Carolyn Biedinger, wife of a Vietnam veteran. “Asking people to go to war and to kill other people and then come home and fit in is very difficult. And so the vets need mental health programs as well as medical care.”

The protesters criticized secretary of defense Pete Hegseth’s treatment of women soldiers, stood in honor of their loved ones who served and died, and expressed hope that the VA will not be gutted.

“I think there’s an encouragement of male dominance and misogyny and that women aren’t equal,” says U.S. Navy veteran Tina Miller. “That’s somewhat antiquated, isn’t it?”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in late March that the cuts to the VA were about efficiency, not slashing benefits or health care.

“Now there’s one thing that’s going on around everywhere I go. And I’m just going to address it upfront,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “No disability benefits are being cut and no benefits of anything are being cut. And no health care budgets are being cut. Those are things that we do inherently.”

All branches of the military were represented by the attendees of Monday’s demonstration, and veterans were present from as far back as World War II.

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