Sun, March 28, 2024

BY TAYLOR O’CONNOR

Contents

Revenue from cannabis taxes in Santa Barbara County have slid backward and future projections are dicey, which is why the county might change up the way it taxes growers, who currently self-report their gross receipts and are taxed 4 percent. Discussions are ongoing, but one county supervisor isn’t necessarily on board with the proposals so far. Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor talks to 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino and county cannabis staff about the issue, which would need to go before voters for approval [6]

You can also read about who Santa Barbara County’s new supervisor will be starting in 2025 [4], a local one-man show featuring a Archy the cockroach [18], and a lounge-style spot in Lompoc offering wood-fired pizza [21]

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• The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced legislation that prevents Coast Guard Academy cadets from punishment when reporting an incident of sexual assault, and language in that legislation was proposed last year by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), according to a March 22 statement from Carbajal’s office. The bill advanced by the committee also includes language proposed by ranking member Carbajal and Subcommittee Chair Daniel Webster (R-Florida) to strengthen sexual assault and harassment protections for members of the Coast Guard. The fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act required the Department of Defense to implement Safe-to-Report policy for collateral misconduct involving a midshipman or cadet who is the victim of an alleged sexual assault at Department of Defense Military Academies, which does not include the Coast Guard Academies. In August 2023, Carbajal introduced legislation to ensure that the Coast Guard Academy implements an identical policy to prevent cadets from being punished for minor offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice when reporting an incident of sexual assault. “Every single day, the Coast Guard goes to work on the broad range of missions that keep our nation and its citizens safe. They mind the safety of our seas and the security of our waters, protect our seafarers and our beachgoers, and reinforce our national defense,” Carbajal said in the statement. “As a veteran and the top Democrat on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee I’m proud to build on our previous actions taken to protect our servicemembers doing these critical missions by advancing bipartisan legislation aimed at holding the Coast Guard accountable for reforms needed to eliminate sexual assault and sexual harassments from its ranks.”

• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), alongside Senate and U.S. House colleagues, announced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to facilitate cybersecurity and telecommunications upgrades for the 17 oceanographic vessels in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, according to a March 13 statement from Padilla’s office. The Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research (ANCHOR) Act would require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to plan improvements for these critical oceanographic research vessels. The fleet includes three vessels in California, which recently discovered extensive World War II-era munitions on the seafloor at the San Pedro DDT dumpsite. These ships and their submersibles play a central role in important priorities such as exploring our ocean, studying climate change, and improving national security, according to the statement. First commissioned decades ago, these ships need new infrastructure and maintenance, Padilla’s office said, especially with naval cyberattacks from Russia and China on the rise. “The U.S. Academic Research Fleet is a global leader in performing groundbreaking oceanographic research, which is critical for navigating rising climate threats,” Padilla said in the statement. “But with increasing cyberattacks on these vessels, we urgently need to upgrade crucial cybersecurity and telecommunications infrastructure. This cost-effective, bipartisan solution will lead to better science and better conditions for our crew members while saving money by allowing vessel repairs in real time.”

• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Big Three automaker Stellantis—whose brands include Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and more—has agreed to a series of initiatives that will reduce pollution and ramp up clean vehicles on the roads, according to a March 19 statement from Newsom’s office. “This partnership with Stellantis will help California achieve our ambitious goals to drastically cut pollution and get more clean cars on the roads,” Newsom said in the statement. “The biggest and most influential companies in the world understand that this is how we can fight climate change together, and it’s another example of the private sector joining California to help millions of people get into clean vehicles.” Under the agreement, Stellantis will avoid up to 12 million additional metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through the 2026 model year—equivalent to the emissions from more than 2.3 million vehicles driven in an entire year. Stellantis will also comply with California’s zero-emissions lightduty vehicle sales requirements through 2030 and invest $4 million to deploy public charging infrastructure in California’s rural areas and in federal, state, and county parks plus an additional $6 million in other states that have chosen to adopt California’s greenhouse gas emission standards. m

Roy Lee elected as new 1st District Supervisor

Incumbent 1st District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams called candidate Roy Lee on March 14 to congratulate him on becoming the next supervisor representing Montecito, Summerland, Carpinteria, and Cuyama come January 2025.

“I wanted to do what none of my opponents in 21 years had done, actually have a personal concession and wish him luck,” Williams told the Sun on March 21. “There’s still thousands of ballots left to count, but, in my view, not enough to overcome a 500 ballot difference.”

According to Santa Barbara County’s preliminary election results, 47 percent of voters in the 1st District had their ballot counted, with nearly 51 percent of the vote (12,745 ballots) going to Lee and 48.7 percent (12,180 ballots) to Williams. Certified Santa Barbara County election results are due to the secretary of state by April 4.

“Statewide, this was the second lowest turnout for a presidential primary in history. Only 47 percent of the voters turned out in District 1. By comparison, in 2020 it was a 65 percent turnout and that difference—18 percent of the electorate were folks who overwhelmingly supported us,” Williams said. “Republican turnout was 10 percent higher than Democratic turnout countywide, which made a more conservative electorate.”

According to preliminary results, 54.9 percent of Republican voters turned out for the primary compared to 44.6 percent of Democrats.

“Whether you vote or not, it does have consequences. When I was early in my work in politics, when I was working on my first election … on a campaign that lost by eight votes,” Williams said. “I hope other young folks and folks who want to change the vote for the better take this as a lesson that we always [have to] turn out the vote.”

Williams served as a Democratic representative for Santa Barbara County both as a county supervisor and at the state level as an Assembly

member for more than 21 years where he focused on environmental protections, public safety, and affordable housing. He helped the county design its cannabis ordinance and corresponding tax model, and helped lead both the 2018 Montecito Debris Flows and the 2023 winter storm response and the county’s Housing Element.

Lee told the Sun that many South County constituents were frustrated with Williams due to a lack of cannabis odor abatement and mitigation for operations’ proximity to homes and schools; issues facing the Montecito Debris Nets put in place after the 2018 debris flow; and the 642-unit La Cumbre Plaza housing project in Santa Barbara.

“I can’t let this guy continue on; he’s not there for the right reasons. I know I could do better, and I took the chance,” Lee said. “It was very difficult: You have to raise money, you have to work hard, you have to put yourself out there.”

Lee served as a Carpinteria City Council member for six years and owns Uncle Chen Restaurant. His family emigrated from Taiwan in 1986, and his parents were farmers in the ag industry both in Taiwan and in Santa Barbara County, he said.

He joined the race as a moderate Democrat who wants to see more cannabis odor control measures and effective enforcement; affordable housing development while preserving agriculture and open space; and enhancement of Santa Barbara County’s economic development by creating an economic development department and supporting new agricultural technologies and practices for industry innovation.

Former District Attorney Joyce Dudley, former Santa Barbara city Fire Chief Pat McElroy, and former county Undersheriff Barney Melekian, among others, endorsed Lee, giving him momentum in the race, Lee said.

“Part of my strategy, I knew primaries were low turnouts, and I could focus on communities where I wanted a strong turnout such as Summerland, Carpinteria, and Montecito,” he said.

As supervisor, he plans to draft a cannabis odor abatement ordinance, support changes to the cannabis tax model, and push back on the state to give the county more time to meet its regional housing needs allocation numbers for its housing element.

“I’m here to serve the community, I’m here to do what the community wants, and I’ll do my best to carry that out. I’m not a career politician, and I think that’s what people want,” Lee said.

—Taylor O’Connor

County grand jury finds fault with Visit Lompoc’s financial reports

Previously disputed by Lompoc’s legal counsel, a local resident’s 2023 complaint against the city’s tourism board and its accounting practices ignited a Santa Barbara County grand jury investigation.

In a report released on March 22, the jury

concluded that the Lompoc Tourism Business Improvement District’s annual reporting “shows hundreds of thousands of dollars in unaccounted-for funds” between 2020 and 2022.

The cumulative amount of under-reported funds—$537,165.09—was verified by the jury, the city of Lompoc, and the tourism district’s financial services firm, according to the report, which includes an outline of discrepancies between the jury’s calculated savings and the tourism district’s reported savings.

The report reveals that the jury also discovered that a total of $800,000 was “previously transferred to money market accounts that, while earning a higher level of interest, are not accounted for in the required annual reports submitted to and approved by the Lompoc City Council.”

Lompoc’s Public Information Officer and Community Relations Manager Samantha Scroggin told the Sun that the city “will issue a response to the Santa Barbara County grand jury report regarding management of the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District within the 90-day time period allotted.”

The grand jury’s inspection of the Lompoc Tourism Business Improvement District—Visit Lompoc LLC (Explore Lompoc)—began with a request from Lompoc resident Martin Bender, a U.S. Air Force veteran with a law degree who first spoke against the district during public comment at the Lompoc City Council’s March 21, 2023, meeting and again at its April 4, 2023, meeting.

On April 20, 2023, Bender summarized his allegations—raised after he independently investigated public records—on Visit Lompoc LLC’s annual reporting in a blog on lompoctoday. com and encouraged other community members to submit complaint forms to the Santa Barbara County grand jury.

“If enough people submit complaints, it will put pressure on the grand jury to investigate the claims,” Bender blogged.

On May 2, 2023, Lompoc City Attorney Jeff Malawy issued a formal response to Bender’s allegations.

“After review, staff has determined that the majority of Mr. Bender’s claims are without merit,” Malawy stated.

In response to Bender’s claims of inaccuracies in Visit Lompoc LLC’s financial reporting, Malawy said the discrepancies could have resulted from “a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, a difference between accrualbasis accounting and cash-basis accounting methodologies, timing differences, or errors in Visit Lompoc’s bookkeeping.”

The grand jury stated in its March 22, 2024, report that “accounting is not a disappearing act and neither cash nor accrual methods can cause year-over-year carryover discrepancies of this magnitude.”

“Transparency in the reporting of funds collected from Lompoc businesses for tourism enhancement should clearly show how these funds are being used to promote Lompoc,” the report states.

On behalf of Visit Lompoc LLC, Special Counsel Michael G. Colantuono sent the Sun a statement on March 26 addressing the grand jury’s investigation and the reported $800,000 transferred to money market accounts.

“Visit Lompoc could not market Lompoc during COVID when there were few tourists to attract. Our nonprofit saved money until we could spend it well—and we are pleased it is earning interest while we await opportunities to spend it to market the Lompoc community,” Colantuono wrote. “While we welcome public oversight and transparency, we believe that saving money for a better time to market our amazing region should be viewed as good planning, not otherwise—particularly during a time when countless businesses and nonprofits could not sustain themselves.”

—Caleb Wiseblood

NEW FACE ON THE DAIS: Carpinteria City Council member and restaurant owner Roy Lee will step up as Santa Barbara County’s 1st District Supervisor in 2025 after incumbent Das Williams conceded to Lee with 500 votes separating the two.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WADE COOPER

Rancho La Laguna withdraws appeal, Superior Court preservation ruling stands

After a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge ruled that the Board of Supervisors acted within its rights to deny the 4,000acre Rancho La Laguna subdivision project, attorneys representing the developers filed an appeal to the decision.

That appeal was short-lived as the developers later withdrew it, letting the Superior Court decision stand, said Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center.

“It maintains the current precedent, which is [that] these large ranches are zoned for ag,” Krop said. “The county has all of these programs to try to keep these large properties in agriculture; they’re really important for food production and maintaining the rural character of the county.”

Rancho La Laguna first went before the county in 2010 with a proposal to subdivide 4,000 acres of ranch land near Foxen Canyon Road bordering Los Padres National Forest into 13 parcels for high-end residential estate development, according to previous Sun reporting. It was the first of its kind since the Board of Supervisors denied a similar project in 1995.

The Environmental Defense Center and the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) got involved because the county hadn’t required an environmental impact report. After the county agreed and required an environmental impact report, the project went before

the Planning Commission, which denied the project. The applicants appealed that decision to the Board of Supervisors, and then to the Superior Court, after repeated denial.

“In court, we had four separate hearings. The judge took claims one by one and we won four times,” Krop said. “It’s a huge relief and it sends a strong message countywide.”

Attorneys representing Rancho La Laguna Company and Rancho La Laguna LLC couldn’t be reached before the Sun’s deadline.

While SBCAN board member Carla Frisk said she’s thrilled that the ruling stands and the trial’s over, she’s keeping her eyes out for what comes next.

“When you get a denial of a project like this it’s not a denial forever; it’s only a denial until the next project comes along,” Frisk said. “You just don’t know whether someone will propose something completely different, and we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Frisk has fought the Rancho La Laguna development since it first went before the county, she said. As someone who also works in land preservation, she said the only way agricultural parcels can be protected in perpetuity is through an agricultural conservation easement—which is a legally binding contract that limits activities on the property to only agriculture. Easements are typically carried out by the landowner and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, she said.

“The person is buying the property as it is restricted by the easement. The easement does not run with the owner, it runs with the land,” Frisk said.

“It’s a nice way of preserving the property without giving it away; it’s really the best of both worlds.” m

—Taylor O’Connor

Entertainment Menu

March 29th - April 6th

Appetizer

Friday, March 29th

Mestizo - 8pm

Second Course

Saturday, March 30th

Knee Deep - 8pm

Main Course

Friday, April 5th

Banda Toro - 8pm

Dessert

Saturday, April 6th

Green Jello - 8pm

www.FCBallroom.com

Entertainment so good you’ll say “more please”

Tax troubles

Santa Barbara County looks at new cannabis tax models after revenue transparency and forecast concerns

BY TAYLOR O’CONNOR

When Santa Barbara County opened the doors to legal cannabis operations in 2017, officials designed a tax system without precedent.

“There was no model to work from because we were the first ones in the boat,” 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said.

During this time, consultants presented the county with two options: taxing the gross receipts or taxing by square footage, he said.

Gross receipts take a percentage of operators’ revenue, and square footage sets a dollar amount per operating square foot with prices varying between indoor and outdoor cultivation, he said. While many other counties with cannabis operations went with a square footage tax because of its simplicity, Santa Barbara County set a gross receipts tax and takes 4 percent of an operator’s earnings.

“What I like about a gross receipts tax is when the market’s great and the growers are making a lot more money, we bring in more. When the market is down, we also feel that and we don’t enjoy the profits,” Lavagnino said. “The problem with the gross receipts tax is you’re … holding the grower to say how much [they] grew and how much [they] made, and [we] get 4 percent of that.”

The gross receipts tax goes into the county’s general fund, helped establish a cannabis enforcement team to hinder illicit cannabis activities, and created positions in the TreasurerTax Collector’s Office that work full-time on cannabis projects. In five years, Santa Barbara County has generated $50 million—the second highest revenue in comparison to the top six cultivators in California: Monterey, Humboldt, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma.

However, tax compliance challenges, a lack of a forecasted revenue, and tax reporting transparency concerns— specifically regarding the value of an operator’s product per pound— are bringing the cannabis tax back to the drawing board, Santa Barbara County Deputy Executive Officer Brittany Odermann said.

“A bunch of people have said to me, ‘Nothing gets scrutinized like this [cannabis],’” Odermann said. “It’s confidential and self-reported in all businesses in the county, not just cannabis. That’s been a frustration for the industry, but my job as staff … is to say this rate looks really low because the process by which these folks are taking this product and sending it out of the county, they are valuing that product at a rate that appears to be lower than it should be.”

While the treasurer-tax collector’s new audit system should help identify if cannabis operators undervalue their products, the county Board of Supervisors directed staff in 2023 to explore other options that would improve transparency, provide more certainty to operators, and create greater predictability in forecasting revenues, according to county documents.

During the March 12 Board of Supervisors meeting, the County Executive Office presented a square footage tax or cannabis product weight tax as options to

bring to the voters as a ballot measure in the November general election.

After more than two hours of discussion, supervisors voted 4-1 (with Lavagnino dissenting) to direct staff to conduct further research into a square footage model and come back with a hybrid option that would blend the gross receipts model with a flat square footage rate. The County Executive Office is set to come back to the board in May to discuss their findings, and four out of the five Supervisors must approve the measure for it to go on the November ballot, Odermann said. The measure would then need a simple majority vote for it to be adopted.

“If [we] don’t get it on the November ballot, it’s another two years with the system we currently have—that might be a good thing or a bad thing,” Supervisor Lavagnino said.

Lavagnino added that he dissented because the gross receipts model has only been in place for five years—not enough time to get an accurate picture of incurring revenues nor enough time to see the results of the treasurertax collector’s recently established audit system.

“It’s been proven out over the five years we are one of the top counties in revenue, and I don’t want to mess with it,” he said.

While taxing by square foot is one of the most common methods used by local jurisdictions, price declines and state cultivation tax resulted in growers owing more in taxes than they earned in revenue, causing operators to close, according to the March 12 county staff report.

Square footage tax breaks down prices by indoor cultivation, outdoor cultivation, and nurseries. Prices are adjusted annually by the consumer price index or with a Board of Supervisors vote.

While it’s straightforward, Lavagnino

said that this route runs into challenges with outdoor cultivation because weather impacts may cause people to lose their crops one year, and operators may have to pay more than what they made because cannabis products are valued at different rates depending on how they are processed.

Monterey County adopted a square footage tax when the county established its system in 2016. It charged operators $15 per square foot for indoor operations, but didn’t have outdoor grows at that time, according to county documents. In eight years, Monterey’s adjusted its cannabis tax six times and now charges $2.13 per square foot for indoor grows, and 71 cents per square foot for outdoor grows.

Lake County started off with a $3 per square foot indoor tax and $1 per square foot outdoor, and reduced their rates by 50 percent, according to county documents. Other counties did a “tax holiday” where they aren’t charging anything, Lavagnino said.

“I think there are too many holes; when I look at other counties with that system, it’s not the cure-all, it’s not the golden pill,” he said.

During the March 12 discussion, 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann suggested a hybrid between the gross receipts model and a square footage tax, where the county would set a minimum tax based on square footage with a gross receipts tax if operators exceed a certain threshold in revenue.

“For our county concessions for example at Jalama, it’s a percentage rent so there’s a base rent and we share in the gross receipts, and that might be something to think about in the light of cannabis,” Hartmann said during the meeting. “It seems that we still have to figure out what rate and that gets tricky, but I think the structure of going on a square footage at a minimum and gross receipts, it has some benefits for us.”

The county can still share in the good times, but there will still be a base amount and it provides flexibility for the growers as well in terms of cultivation, Hartmann said.

Lavagnino told the Sun that the hybrid model would be an interesting option, but he’d hate to “be the first person in the pool.”

“I’d like to see it fleshed out, but that might be the way you do it where you create an alternative minimum tax that everybody has to pay and if you exceed something you share in the profit,” he said.

Odermann told the Sun that there are a couple of counties that have hybrid models, but their ordinances are written where they have more flexibility in how they administer the tax.

“Nevada County has a minimum tax that says for up to this amount of canopy you pay this amount per harvest. They look at cultivation cycles, then it’s tiered for how big the operation is, and the price goes up,” she said. “At the end of the year, they report their gross receipts and if they owe anything they get a bill; if they don’t, they pay the minimum and they’re good.”

Santa Barbara County is trying to figure out the simplest way to implement this without burdening current staff dedicated to cannabis, she said.

“You are now implementing two processes, you potentially have more staff resources needed to ensure that it’s all going smoothly given you are going to do billing on the front end and reconciling and doing billing on the back end,” Odermann said. “This adds another component that we currently don’t do.” m

Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at toconnor@santamariasun.com

PUSH TO THE BALLOT: If Santa Barbara County wants to change its cannabis tax to a new model, four out of five supervisors must support the measure and voters need to pass it in the November general election.

FILE PHOTO BY JAYSON MELLOM

tax woes

United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County

in-person tax filing.

The program launched about 18 years ago with United Way helping file taxes in Lompoc, and later moving to Hancock to reach more Santa Maria Valley residents, said Cary Gray, United Way’s site coordinator for both the Hancock and Oceano operations.

“The IRS estimates for each return we do it’s about $300 per family, and so far we’ve saved, in just savings to families, we’ve saved almost a quarter million dollars with the 800 people we’ve served so far,” he said. “That’s 800 people who can use that money for their families, car payment, whatever.”

With the April 15 IRS tax filing deadline approaching, United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County will hold its final tax assistance services on March 30 and April 13 by appointment only, Gray said. Residents coming in will fill out a three-page intake form, and volunteers will check their W-2 and 1099 tax forms and identify potential returns.

“We get them out in an hour and 15 minutes rather than dropping them off at another tax preparer and coming back in a few days,” Gray said, adding that preparers typically charge about $300 for a basic family return.

The people partnering with the United Way to do tax preparation participate in a twoweek tax law training seminar followed by an eight-hour IRS software training before the seven weeks of tax season. Trained, graduating Cal Poly accounting students go to Hancock to volunteer and help people file their tax returns, and people with higher levels of expertise do a final look to make sure everything is correct before filing, Gray explained.

“Some people can come and not do taxes at all. We still need intake people to check people in, check to make sure they have their paperwork, and the others just do the taxes,” he said.

Alongside tax returns, United Way helps residents who don’t have a Social

Security number but still pay taxes to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which is difficult to find throughout the region but required if people want to see any tax returns, he said. The free ITIN assistance saves people between $300 to $500 in legal fees.

“We have a CAA [Certifying Accepting Agent] who’s authorized by the IRS to examine documents, authenticate them, and that way people don’t have to send their passports or birth certificates or consular card, and that’s a really great service because they still have their identification, and the IRS knows it’s correct,” he said.

While the in-person operation ends April 13, the United Way will continue to help community members through myfreetaxes.org all year long and help with the free ITIN applications, Gray said.

“People love coming in and helping local [residents] and love telling families that they are getting $5,000, $6,000, or $7,000 back in tax returns. It makes you feel like you are doing something really good for the community,” he said.

Visit myfreetaxes.org to set up an appointment with the United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County.

Highlight

• The Lompoc Public Library system encourages everyone to visit the local libraries during National Library Week, April 7 to 13, to explore the services the library has to offer. The Lompoc Library offers a wide array of programs, classes, and resources for all ages at the main branch, the Village Library, and the Charlotte’s Web Bookmobile. In addition, libraries play a pivotal role in economic development by providing resources and support for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses—with Lompoc providing services like computer help, internet access, and databases, plus connections to other local resources. Children and teens can participate in reading challenges and hands-on activities like magic shows and traveling animal exhibits. Beyond books, the Lompoc Library offers day passes to local museums and state parks, which can be checked out at lom.blackgold.org. m

After making an appointment with United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley residents can go to Allan Hancock College (pictured) to

What do you think of the voter turnout this primary?

50% I’m not surprised. More people vote in general elections.

33% I was hoping we’d reach over 50 percent this year.

17% I’m excited to see the turnout in November.

0% I’m happy to see how many people showed up.

6 Votes

Vote online at www.santamariasun.com.

BY JOHN DONEGAN

Winston Churchill famously observed that Americans will always do the right thing, only after they’ve tried everything else. It seems that San Francisco may be trying to emulate Churchill’s pithy observation.

Yes, this is another rant about San Francisco’s descent into dysfunction and squalor. Criticizing the mess in San Francisco is so easy that I sometimes feel like one of the Italian partisans who put the last few bullets into Mussolini’s lifeless body as it hung from a street lamp. With the publicized flight of business and residents from the city and the sprawling homeless encampments, and with crime and drug use having made a ghost town out of the oncethriving downtown, it seems hardly sporting to challenge their policy choices.

But perhaps San Francisco is finally getting desperate enough to try “the right thing,” after trying enabling approaches like needle exchanges, safe injection sites, lavish support, and lax policing. In the recent election, San Francisco voters passed Proposition F, a measure promoted by progressive mayor London Breed, which requires welfare recipients to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits and to undergo treatment if they test positive. If they fail to, they will lose their benefits, which range up to $712 per month in cash.

Trent Rhorer, the executive director of the San Francisco Human Service Agency that administers the benefits, said in a Feb. 5, 2024, Associated Press story, “To give someone who is addicted to fentanyl $700 per month, I don’t think it helps improve their lives.” A handout of that much cash, and San Franciscans wonder why they have so many addicted homeless? In 2023, 800 San Franciscans died of fentanyl overdoses.

This is not a new idea. Conservatives have been pushing such plans for decades, much to the indignant howling from the

left about punishing addiction and marginalizing communities, and the usual chorus of leftist rhetoric and jargon from the homeless-support industry. Of course, what is new is that it is now being pushed by progressives who are under intense political pressure from outraged citizens to finally do something about San Francisco’s condition, flummoxing the leftist activists who aren’t as nimble at reversing course as are the jobprotecting politicians.

Other proposals to allow the police to pursue suspects in property crimes and to use drones and surveillance—two previously forbidden practices—also passed.

Not long ago, San Francisco voters surprised many by throwing out a hard-core progressive district attorney who disdained prosecuting criminals, preferring to prosecute cops for misconduct charges. His more conservative replacement outraged many of the progressive true believers by refusing to prosecute a Walgreens security guard who, after being attacked by a shoplifter who was Black, transgender, and homeless, shot the attacker. The voters also surprised many by dumping three school board members who fixated on renaming schools honoring such notorious “racists” as Abraham Lincoln and on eliminating merit admissions in the city’s prestigious top academic school.

Statewide, reliably blue California now has trial mental health courts in several counties, which can order the involuntary institutionalization of those with addiction and mental health problems, something which has long been an anathema to liberals. The intractable homeless crisis and the unwillingness of many homeless to accept treatment have caused many liberals to reconsider their dogma.

In Oregon, the Legislature reversed its disastrous brainfart legalizing hard drugs and recriminalized possession.

In New York, Chicago, and other “sanctuary cities,” which are in crisis mode after being swamped with illegals, we are seeing a realization that perhaps an open border isn’t such a good idea.

Nationally, we have seen an abandonment of the “defund the police” craze which had infatuated the left just a couple of years ago, replacing it with demands for additional funding for the police. With the war in Ukraine, we have also seen the instinctively pacifistic left come to an improbable recognition of the need for a strong military to repel aggressive tyrants.

The common element here is, of course, the return to pragmatic, clear-eyed, and effective conservative policies, after having “tried everything else.” Human history is a pattern of having to relearn the same hard lessons again and again, after trying out various more attractive alternatives that ultimately proved unworkable. Many of the unsuccessful approaches were more fun, kinder, or less demanding, or promised to create a utopian world, making them seem more appealing. But there is a big difference between what people want to do, and what they need to do.

Instead of reacting with your usual derisive hoots, jeers, and epithets, you could have saved a lot of damage, money, and lives if you had just listened to conservatives in the first place, instead of instinctively rejecting conservative counsel, engaging in wishful thinking, and charging off on your latest big new thing. m

John Donegan is a retired attorney in Pismo Beach whose guilty pleasure is smugly saying “I told you so.” Respond with an opinion piece by emailing it to letters@santamariasun.com.

Biden will see our country through its current challenges

I wrote President Joe Biden a letter early last year with regard to our current threat to democracy and the attempted coup of Jan. 6, 2021. I sent him copies of excerpts from The FBI Story as published in 1957, which indicates that our country’s balance of power would never allow a tyrant to take over our country, as there were too many checks and balances in place. In order for our nation to fall, our justice system, for example would need to be wielded as a political cudgel against our enemies foreign and domestic, both real and perceived. Since that story was written, dangerous changes have occurred including the Supreme Court’s decision to evaluate former President Trump’s case regarding absolute immunity from prosecution over acts committed while he was president.

President Biden answered my letter and agreed with me that those who would seek to illegally interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to a duly elected president of the United States of America must be stopped. I was very impressed with President Biden’s State of the Union address and believe that that version of Biden can successfully save our democracy and freedoms that two out of five Americans seem to take for granted based on voting statistics concerning general election participation.

President Biden has the experience and determination to see our country through our present challenges and beyond. Please consider that he is devoting his life’s energy to make the future better for us all.

Gregory Klein Santa Maria

The cannabis industry isn’t what it was cracked up to be in California.

With bigtime dispensaries like MedMen going down, legal grow operations not raking in the amount of money they were projected to, and a thriving illegal market—what gives?

Hey, word on the street is that it’s still illegal at the federal level, which makes it hard to beg and borrow, but not steal.

However, even with an influx of national and international cash, the industry would still be uber-regulated, over-taxed, and on thin ice with many cannabis businesses simply trying to stay afloat.

Everyone saw dollar signs when pot was first legalized. Those days have slipped away.

Santa Barbara County, which was a pioneer in grow operation proliferation and raked in the corresponding tax money that came with the industry’s rapid expansion, is once again rethinking that revenue stream. While the county has pocketed $50 million in gross receipts taxes from growers in the last five years, that funding is drying up, county staff doesn’t believe growers are being honest in their estimation of their crops’ value, and there might be a new ballot measure to contend with in November.

If you ask 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, the county shouldn’t reinvent the wheel and be “the first person in the pool,” again.

“There was no model to work from. We were the first one’s on the boat,” he said of the 4 percent tax on growers’ gross receipts (revenue) that the county implemented in 2017. “It’s been proven out over the five years we are one of the top counties

in revenue, and I don’t want to mess with it.” It’s actually the second highest cannabis tax collector in the state, pun intended. So why mess with it? The county wants more dough, duh. The issue is that the revenue source isn’t as predictable as the county wants it to be. If countybased growers can’t sell all of their product, or if cannabis flowers sell for less one year than the next, or if growers decide not to grow at all—the county’s gross receipts tax doesn’t bring in as much money. The other problem is that the county doesn’t seem to trust that growers are being honest about their revenue, staff believes that growers should be valuing their product higher than they are.

To combat the latter concern, the county Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office recently established an auditing system—and the first round is expected to be finished this year, so it hasn’t really been tested out yet.

What are the options? Taxing per square foot of cannabis, which isn’t necessarily working in other counties because the cannabis industry is in a state. It’s not making the money everyone thought it would, and growers are on the struggle bus. A hybrid model suggested by 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, which would combine gross receipts and a square footage tax and ensure that the county at least always makes something it can pocket.

Nothing can really happen without voter input, though, because it’s a special tax. So even if the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors decides to revamp the cannabis tax program it’s been making minor tweaks to since 2017, county voters will have the ultimate say.

Stay tuned for the debate and possibly a ballot measure. m

The canary is delinquent on birdseed taxes. Send help to canary@santamariasun.com.

2015 Lance 1575 Travel Trailer

If you’re looking for a small trailer that feels big, this is the one for you. Measuring under 20’, this model with a slide-out is hard to find but easy to tow. This trailer is in excellent shape and trip ready!

4-SEASON TRAVEL TRAILER with block foam insulation thoroughout, dinette/bed slide out, power awning, power jack, 24” LED Jensen 12v TV, Jensen stereo radio/ DVD/Aux, Indoor/outdoor speakers, acrylic tinted thermopane eruro windows, combo screen/shade on windows, round galley sink, 3-burner propane range and oven, range hood and light, microwave oven, HDTV Over-the-air antenna, roof top air conditioner, forced air furnace, 5.3 cubic feet capacity refridgerator/freezer, smoke alarm, carbon monoxide/propane leak detector, tankless water heater, private bathroom with door/shower/shower curtain/tub/fresh-water flush toilet/ medicine cabinet/vanity light/ mirror/skylight/ceiling power fan, Fantastic power fan/vent over the queen-size bed, sconce lighting, exterior wash station, dinette conversion bench seating, cable TV inlets, exterior propane connection, fresh water system, fresh/grey/black water tanks, black tank flush system, stabilizer jacks, aluminum wheels, radial tires, spare tire, diamond plate lower front gravel gaurd with hitch light, swing-out entry assist handle, wardrobe closet, 5 lower cabinets, 3 overhead cabinets, interior dimming lights, interior and exterior power outlets (available when connected to shore power), patio light, large pass through exterior cargo area, additional exterior cargo area. Misc RV supplies available also (water hoses, bins, 30amp power cable, 50 to 30 amp adaptor, surge protector, large patio mat, sewer hoses/connectors, trailer and wheel covers, etc.) Text or call (805) 235-5732.

$16,500

• Sleeps 4 • Length - 19’ 6” Interior Height - 6’ 6” • Gross Weight - 3700 lbs • Cargo Weight - 1000 lbs

• Fresh Water capacity - 26 gallons Black Water capacity - 25 gallons

• Slides - 1

• Furnace BTU - 18000 btu

• Exterior width - 7’ 1”

• Hitch weight - 205 lbs

Hot Stuff

TIDES OF MARCH

Spring into 2024—Gallery Los Olivos’ latest group exhibition— opened in early March and will remain on display through Sunday, March 31. The exhibit’s three featured artists are fine art photographer Felice Willat (whose work is pictured), oil painter Ginny Speirs, and jewelry designer Patricia Watkins. For more info on the showcase, call (805) 688-7517 or visit gallerylosolivos.com. The gallery is located at 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. —Caleb Wiseblood

ARTS

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

BALLROOM, LATIN, AND SWING DANCE

CLASSES Social ballroom, Latin, and swing lessons for all ages. Beginner and advance classes. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m. $45-$55. 805-928-7799.

Kleindancesarts.com. KleinDance Arts, 3558 Skyway Drive, suite A, Santa Maria.

DANCE CLASSES: EVERYBODY CAN

DANCE Classes available for all skill levels. Class sizes limited. ongoing Everybody Can Dance, 628 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria, 805-937-6753, everybodycandance.webs.com/.

FREE BOOK SUNDAYS FOR AGES 0-17

Visit the Youth Services Desk on the first Sunday of each month to receive a coupon for a free book of your choice from the Library Bookstore. For ages 0-17. First Sunday of every month Free. 805-9250994. cityofsantamaria.org/services/ departments/library. Santa Maria Public Library, 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria.

LEARN CALIFORNIA’S OFFICIAL DANCE:

WEST COAST SWING Learn west coast swing in a casual, friendly environment, taught by Texas state swing champion, Gina Sigman. Free intro from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Beyond the Basics ($10) is 7 to 7:45 p.m. $10 entry includes social dance (7:45 to 8:15 p.m.). Tuesdays, 6:30-8:15 p.m. 832-884-8114. Cubanissimo Cuban Coffee House, 4869 S. Bradley Rd., #118, Orcutt.

MARCH MADNESS BOOK SALE The Friends’ Library Shop on the second floor of the Santa Maria Town Center across from Rock ‘n Jump is having its March Madness Sale. Buy one ($3 or less), get one free (equal or lesser value; does not include children’s books). Every 8 days, 11

a.m.-5 p.m. 805-925-7116. fsmpl.gov. Santa Maria Town Center, 142 Town Center East, Santa Maria.

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY

CALIFORNIA’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE:

THE WAY OF WATER Featuring more than 20 large-format documentary photographs of the Golden State, this timely exhibition showcases George Rose’s recent expansive documentation of California’s dramatic water story. Through July 8. California Nature Art Museum, 1511-B Mission Dr., Solvang, calnatureartmuseum.org.

POETRY IN PAPER Karen Bit Vejle’s gallery show. Make sure to experience this unique gallery exhibit before the show ends. Through May 7 Elverhoj Museum of History and Art, 1624 Elverhoy Way, Solvang, 805686-1211, elverhoj.org.

SPRING INTO 2024 Gallery Los Olivos presents three distinct artistic voices: Ginny Speirs, Patricia Watkins, Felice Willat. An award-winning photographer, oil painter, and jewelry artist share the spotlight at the venue. Mondays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through March 31 805-6887517. GalleryLosOlivos.com. Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

THE BABY DANCE Coastal Performing Arts Foundation introduces The Baby Dance by Jane Anderson. Richard and Rachel, a well-off California couple, have everything except a child. They locate Wanda and Al, a desperate poor couple in Louisiana, who agree to let them adopt their baby. Viewer discretion advised. March 28 7-9:30 p.m., March 29 7-9:30 p.m. and March 30 2-4:30 & 7-9:30 p.m. $25-$30. 805-489-9444. clarkcenter.org/ shows/players-west-the-baby-dance/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

BEST OF THE SAN FRANCISCO STANDUP COMEDY COMPETITION Established in 1976, this competition brings together the finest comedic talent from all corners of the country, with notable alumni that include Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, and Ellen Degeneres. March 30, 7:30-10 p.m. $35-$55. 805-489-9444. clarkcenter.org/ shows/san-francisco-comedy-spring/.

Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

THE FISH WHISPERER A mysterious outsider plots to fix a small fishing town’s sudden bad luck when it comes to fishing. Through May 11 Great American Melodrama, 1863 Front St., Oceano.

PAINT PARTY Paint at your own pace. Choose from six paint-by-number canvasses. Spend an evening relaxing and laughing with your friends. 100 percent of your donation supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of South SLO County. Limited space available. March 28 , 6-8 p.m. $25. 805481-7339 ext. 410. bgcslo.org/events. Boys and Girls Clubs of South San Luis Obispo County Clubhouse, 1830 19th St., Oceano.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

ADAM PARKER SMITH: FOR THE TIME

BEING This exhibition will feature several works made throughout the artist’s career as sort of a mid-career retrospective.

Adam Parker Smith has a unique ability to address complex themes in a whimsical, light-hearted way that makes his work incredibly accessible. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 805543-8562. sloma.org/exhibition/adamparker-smith/. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

ALEX HISCHIER: ART AFTER DARK Join The Bunker SLO for Art After Dark featuring original artwork by Alex Hischier. April 5 5-8 p.m. my805tix.com/. The Bunker SLO, 810 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo.

ALL AGES SCULPTING WITH JOHN ROULLARD John a retired school teacher who patiently guides potters of all ages to sculpt and work on details and design. Saturdays, 1:30-3 p.m. $40. anamcre.com. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

APRIL BANKS: OUTLANDISH Los Angeles-based artist April Banks is a creative strategist working across visual art, social engagement, and exhibition design. Her practice sits intentionally between image, space, and experience. April 5 -July 29 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. 805-543-8562. sloma.org/exhibition/aprilbanks/. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

ART IN THE GARDEN/SPRING PLANT

SALE Features more than 25 local artists, plus a huge selection of drought-tolerant plants perfect for the Central Coast. Enjoy food and live music with the Jill Knight duo all weekend. March 30 and March 31 Free. 805-541-1400. slobg.org/upcomingevents/aigplantsale/. San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

ART OF LIZ MARUSKA: AWAKEN TO BEAUTY Immerse yourself in a place held together by breathtaking sunlight and sparkling water. Discover a stunning painting and awaken to the wonder of art. Connect with beauty through Liz Maruska’s exhibition. Through March 31, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Free. 805-439-4298. SLOProvisions.com. SLO Provisions, 1255 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

ARTIST RIKI SCHUMACHER AT ART

CENTRAL GALLERY Schumacher’s work is pensive and introspective, inspiring one to take a solitary walk on a cloudy day. Wander in to reflect on her “delicious, wistful landscapes.” Mondays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, 12-4 p.m. Free.

805-747-4200. artcentralslo.com/galleryartists/. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

BARRY GOYETTE: MULBERRY For his exhibition at SLOMA, San Luis Obispobased artist Barry Goyette shows a series of portraits taken by a very specific mulberry tree as a site for portrait photography guided by the models, of varying stages of life. Through June 3, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. 805-543-8562. sloma.org/ exhibition/barry-goyette-mulberry/. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

BEYOND THE BASICS OF WATERCOLOR WITH VIRGINIA MACK This is a class for those who love imagining ways to further their visual expressions. A watercolorbased course, but one that branches out into other media. Fourth Thursday of every month, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $35 per class. 805-747-4200. artcentralslo.com. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

CREATE A ONE-OF-A KIND SILK SCARF

Dive into the creative process of botanical dyeing. Venture into the garden and forage for a variety of plants that you will then use to create a physical memory imprinted onto a silk scarf. March 30, 1-4 p.m. $125 non-members. 805-541-1400. slobg.org. San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

FIRST FRIDAYS Visit SLOMA on the first Friday of each month for exhibition openings, music, and wines provided by regional winery partners. Admission is free and open to the public. First Friday of every month, 5-8 p.m. Free. 805-543-8562. sloma.org/events/first-fridays/. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

FOUR-WEEK ADULT HANDBUILDING

AND WHEEL SERIES Learning both handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques. Students will get a taste of all things clay in this four-week series. Clay/ firing included; beginner friendly. Please sign up online in advance. This series is offered each month (check website for availability). First Saturday of every month, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $180. anamcre.com/ booking. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

GO FISH! BEGINNER ACRYLIC WITH LINDA CUNNINGHAM In this workshop, you’ll receive step-by-step instruction for creating a beautiful koi fish acrylic painting. Beginners are welcome and no experience is necessary. Relax and have fun. April 7 12:30-3:30 p.m. $40 per person. 805-478-2158. artcentralslo.com. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY AND ART

Owen and Kyoko Hunt from Kyoto, Japan offer classes for Japanese calligraphy (Fridays, 5:30-6:30 p.m.), a Japanese art called “haiga” (Fridays, 10-11:30 a.m.) and more at Nesting Hawk Ranch. Fridays $45. 702-335-0730. Nesting Hawk Ranch, Call for address, San Luis Obispo.

LEAH ROSENBERG Rosenberg works across artistic media to spark new experiences of color. Using painting, installation, printmaking, sculpture, performance, and video, she invites viewers to consider how color can be perceived both multi-sensorially and multi-dimensionally. Through April 1. Free. 805-543-8562. sloma.org. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1010 Broad St., San Luis Obispo.

LEARN TO WEAVE MONDAYS An opportunity to learn how a four-shaft loom works. You will get acquainted as a new weaver or as a refresher with lots of tips and tricks. This class includes getting to know a loom, how to prepare/dress a loom, and much much more. Mondays, 1-4 p.m. $75 monthly. 805-441-8257.

Patricia Martin: Whispering Vista Studios, 224 Squire Canyon Rd, San Luis Obispo, patriciamartinartist.com.

MEAN GIRLS A ferociously funny new musical from an award-winning creative team. The show tells the story of a naïve newbie who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies. April 1 , 7:30-9 p.m. $94-$119. 805-756-2787. calpolyarts.org/20232024events/meangirls. Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo.

PAINTING MORRO ROCK WITH DREW

DAVIS Visit site for more info and tickets to this painting class. March 28 1-3 p.m. my805tix.com/. Drew Davis Fine Art, 393 Pacific St., San Luis Obispo.

COURTESY

PHOTO BY FELICE WILLAT

PAINTING SHELL CREEK WILDFLOWERS

WITH DREW DAVIS

Calling all art enthusiasts and aspiring artists. April 7, 1-3 p.m. my805tix.com/. Drew Davis Fine Art, 393 Pacific St., San Luis Obispo.

SCULPTURE CLASS WITH ROD PEREZ

This weekly sculpture drop-in class gives an opportunity for potters to take on new projects and learn new techniques relating to sculptural work. Additionally, every first Friday of the month, a new project will be taught by Rod Perez for beginners. Fridays, 10 a.m.-noon $40. anamcre.com. Anam Cre Pottery Studio, 1243 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

UPCYCLING COMPETITION Sign up for this Upcycling Competition open to all ages. April 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. San Luis Obispo Library Community Room, 995 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, 805-781-5991.

VIRGINIA MACK: BEGINNING

WATERCOLOR This is a watercolor class designed to let you jump in and try out this engaging medium through experimentation. It’s designed for beginners and those with watercolor experience who wish to expand their knowledge of painting in watercolors. To enroll please contact Mack via email: vbmack@charter.net Wednesdays, 1:303:30 p.m. $35. 805-747-4200. artcentralslo.com/workshops-events/. Art Central, 1329 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo.

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME

Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful play she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Thursdays-Saturdays, 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays, 2-4 p.m. through April 14 $20-$40. 805-786-2440. slorep.org/shows/ what-the-constitution-means-to-me/. SLO Rep, 888 Morro St., San Luis Obispo.

FLOUR POWER

The Cuyama Buckhorn’s Wild Flour Celebration runs April 5

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

AQUARIUS 2024 Central Coast Watercolor Society’s annual juried exhibit features a wide array of watermedia art from experimental to traditional. Through April 1 Free. ccwsart.com/aquarius-2024-show. Art Center Morro Bay, 835 Main St., Morro Bay, 805-772-2504.

JEWELRY, SMALL WORKS, AND ART BY HOPE MYERS Myers is an award-winning watercolorist, collage artist, and jewelry crafts person. She has been creating her artwork on the Central Coast for more than 30 years. Hope’s jewelry features vintage beads and crystals and is assembled in Los Osos. Gallery open daily. Mondays, Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through April 29 Free. 805-772-1068. galleryatmarinasquare.com. Gallery at Marina Square, 601 Embarcadero suite 10, Morro Bay.

OIL PAINTINGS BY JEFF ODELL Odell’s paintings of Morro Bay span across more than 40 years. They are a historical archive of the changes through those years. Odell’s frequently seen with his plein air easel and paints. His original oils are on canvas and wood. Gallery open daily. Mondays, Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through April 29 Free. 805-772-1068. galleryatmarinasquare.com. Gallery at Marina Square, 601 Embarcadero suite 10, Morro Bay.

PHOTOGRAPHER GRANT KREINBERG

Kreinberg: “I favor nature and the outdoors of Northern California. I live in Northern California, and I’m always looking for a new road or a new area to explore.” Gallery is open daily. Mondays, Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through March 29 Free. 805-772-1068. galleryatmarinasquare.com. Gallery at

Marina Square, 601 Embarcadero suite 10, Morro Bay.

PROCREATE MONTHLY ARTIST

GROUP Learn the basic tools for using the iPad app, Procreate. Every month, group focuses on a different way to use Procreate, sometimes starting with a “how-to” video. Join a supportive community and navigate the digital world together. First Wednesday of every month, 1-3 p.m. through March 6 $10. 805-9278190. cambriaarts.org. Cambria Center for the Arts, 1350 Main St., Cambria.

SANDRA SANDERS: ACRYLIC PAINTINGS

In Sanders’ words: “The stress of life just seems to go away while I’m painting a beautiful seascape or a snowy mountain scene. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed painting them.”

Mondays, Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through March 29 Free. 805-772-1068.

galleryatmarinasquare.com. Gallery at Marina Square, 601 Embarcadero suite 10, Morro Bay.

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

ANDROID PHONE CLASS First Thursday of every month Oasis Center, 420 Soares Ave., Orcutt, 805-937-9750.

BOARD GAME AFTERNOON Visit the Youth Services Desk to borrow a board game to play while at the library. Play a favorite or try something new. April 7 805-925-0994. engagedpatrons.org. Santa Maria Public Library (Altrusa Theater), 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria.

BOUNCING BABY STORY TIME Explore pre-literacy skills through music, movement, and visual stimulation, and promote a healthy bond between baby and caregiver. Learn, connect, and grow with other babies and caregivers. For ages 0-12 months. This program runs approximately 30 min. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. through April 10 805-925-0994. engagedpatrons.org. Santa Maria Public Library (Altrusa Theater), 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria.

CENTRAL COAST CORVETTE CLUB Open to Corvette owners and enthusiasts. First Thursday of every month, 7 p.m. Free. 805-934-3948. Home Motors, 1313 E. Main St., Santa Maria.

EASTER SUNDAY AT PACIFIC CHRISTIAN

CENTER Looking for a place to worship on Easter Sunday? Come and be a part of an amazing celebration at Pacific Christian Center. Services will be held at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Easter Egg Hunts follow each service. March 31 , 9-10:30 & 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 805-934-3491. pacificchristian.net. Pacific Christian Center, 3435 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria.

FEEL GOOD YOGA Tuesdays, Thursdays, 8:30-9:30 a.m. 805-937-9750. oasisorcutt. org. Oasis Center, 420 Soares Ave., Orcutt.

FIRST FRIDAY First Friday of every month facebook.com/firstfridayoldtownorcutt/. Historic Old Town Orcutt, S. Broadway and Union Ave., Orcutt.

FREE BOOK SUNDAYS FOR AGES 0-17

Visit the Youth Services Desk on the first Sunday of each month to receive a coupon for a free book of your choice from the Library Bookstore. For ages 0-17. First Sunday of every month Free. 805-9250994. cityofsantamaria.org/services/ departments/library. Santa Maria Public Library, 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria. GROUP WALKS AND HIKES Check website for the remainder of this year’s group hike dates and private hike

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE continued page 14

offerings. ongoing 805-343-2455. dunescenter. org. Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center, 1065 Guadalupe St., Guadalupe.

PETE THE CAT: STORY TIME Do you love Pete the Cat? Come for “stories, crafts, and fun with Pete and friends.” April 3 , 2 p.m. 805-925-0994. engagedpatrons.org. Santa Maria Public Library (Altrusa Theater), 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

35TH ANNUAL EGG HUNT AND FESTIVAL

For all ages. Free egg hunts. With carnival games, contests, food trucks, balloon art, pony rides and petting zoo, face painting, photo opportunities, free hot dogs by Elks 2504, and more. March 30 10 a.m.-1 p.m. $0-$15. 805-4735472. arroyogrande.org. Elm St. Park, 380 S Elm St., Arroyo Grande.

BEGINNER GROUP SURF LESSONS AND SURF CAMPS Lessons and camp packages available daily. All equipment included. ongoing

Starts at $70. 805-835-7873. sandbarsurf.com/. Sandbar Surf School Meetup Spot, 110 Park Ave., Pismo Beach.

CITY OF PISMO BEACH EGG-STRAVAGANZA

Hop on over to Dinosaur Caves Park for this family-friendly event which includes egg hunts, bounce houses, games, crafts, a magic show, and more. March 30 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. 805-773-7063. pismobeach.org/73/Recreation.

Dinosaur Caves Park, 2701 Price St, Pismo Beach.

WEEKLY WATER SAFETY LESSONS Facility advertised as open and safe. Give the office a call to register over the phone. MondaysFridays $160-$190. 805-481-6399. 5 Cities

Swim School, 425 Traffic Way, Arroyo Grande, 5citiesswimschool.com.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

BEYOND MINDFULNESS Realize your potential through individualized meditation instruction with an experienced teacher via Zoom. This class is for those who wish to begin a practice or seek to deepen an existing one. Flexible days and times. Certified with IMTA. Email or text for information. Mondays-Sundays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Sliding scale. 559-905-9274. theartofsilence.net.

Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

BIRDS AND BOTANY MONTHLY WALK AT SLO

BOTANICAL GARDEN The Garden is excited to present a monthly bird walk series on the fourth Thursday of every month which explores the intersection of birds and botany. Fourth Thursday of every month, 8-11 a.m. $10 for Garden Members; $40 for general public. 805541-1400. slobg.org. San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

BUNNY TRAIL AT THE DOWNTOWN SLO

FARMERS’ MARKET Enjoy some free, familyfriendly springtime fun. Bring the kiddos downtown to collect treats from downtown businesses and meet Downtown Bunny. Bunny Trail coincides with the normally-scheduled Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market. March 28 , 6-8 p.m. Free. downtownslo.com/events/ bunnytrail. Downtown San Luis Obispo, Corner of Santa Rosa and Pacific St., San Luis Obispo, 805-549-0355.

CAL HOPE SLO GROUPS AT TMHA Visit website for full list of weekly Zoom groups available. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays calhopeconnect.org. Transitions Mental Health Warehouse, 784 High Street, San Luis Obispo, 805-270-3346.

CENTRAL COAST DIALYSIS ORGAN

TRANSPLANT SUPPORT GROUP Not faith based. All are welcome. Please wear a mask. First Saturday of every month, 9:30-11:30 a.m. St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church SLO, 650 Pismo St., San Luis Obispo.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO ROUNDTABLE

“Serving as Executive Director or CEO is hard work. At times, it can be lonely work.” In this roundtable, you’ll gather with other Executive Directors and CEOs to share challenges, brainstorm solutions, gain facilitation skills, and build connection with each other. April 4 , 12-1 p.m. Free for Spokes members; $10 for non members. spokesfornonprofits.org. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

FAMILY DAY AT THE DALLIDET Visit site for more info on this family event. April 7, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. my805tix.com/. Dallidet Adobe and Gardens, 1185 Pacific St., San Luis Obispo, 805-543-0638.

GARDEN FOUNDER WALK AND TALK Walk and talk with Eve Vigil in the Botanical Garden each month on the first Wednesday. Free garden

tour with paid admission to the Garden. Free for members. No need to RSVP, just show up and enjoy. First Wednesday of every month, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Free with $5 Garden Entry. 805-541-1400.

slobg.org. San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

HEALING DEPRESSION SUPPORT GROUP A safe place to share life experiences with those who have depression or have had and recovered from the devastating effects of depression. Mondays, 6-7 p.m. through Dec. 30 Free. 805-528-3194. Hope House Wellness Center, 1306 Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo.

HOP ON OVER

LEARN TO SOLDER WORKSHOP Learn how to use a soldering iron and the materials used in soldering, including types of solder, flux, and soldering iron tips. You will put together and take home two small refrigerator magnet kits with LEDs that blink. Adults only. March 28 5:30-7:30 p.m. and April 6, 10 a.m.-noon $5-$20. alpenglowindustries.com/ pages/workshops. Alpenglow Industries, 3485 Sacramento Drive, Ste. F, San Luis Obispo, 805242-8158.

The Cliffs Hotel and Spa in Pismo Beach hosts its Easter Brunch on Sunday, March 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Attendees of the celebration can look forward to a brunch buffet, live music, and the opportunity to meet a special bunny guest. Tickets to the event are available in advance at my805tix.com. Call (805) 773-5000 or visit cliffshotelandspa.com for more details. The Cliffs Hotel and Spa is located at 2757 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach. —C.W.

LGBTQ+ FED THERAPIST LEAD SUPPORT GROUP (VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM) A prorecovery group offering space to those seeking peer support, all stages of ED recovery. We understand recovery isn’t linear and judgmentfree support is crucial. Share, listen, and be part of a community building up each other. First Wednesday of every month, 7-8 p.m. Free. galacc.org/events/. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION (ONLINE MEETING) Zoom series hosted by TMHA. Thursdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon Transitions Mental Health Warehouse, 784 High Street, San Luis Obispo, 805-270-3346.

Q YOUTH GROUP (VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM) This is a social support group for LGBTQ+ and questioning youth between the ages of 11-18. Each week the group explores personal, cultural, and social identity. Thursdays, 6-8 p.m. Free. galacc.org/events/. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

QI GONG FITNESS ONLINE Qi Gong is a gentle but powerful way to strengthen body, mind, and spirit. Great for balance. Instructor: Gary West, through Adult School, San Luis Coastal Unified School District. An online class. Wednesdays, 9:35-10:35 a.m. through May 22 $90. 805-5491222. ae.slcusd.org/. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

SLO SKIERS MONTHLY MEETING SLO Skiers, a local nonprofit sports and social club for adults, meets monthly. Food and drink at 5:30 p.m. social hour. Meeting follows. Activities all year. First Tuesday of every month, 6:30-7:30 p.m. through Dec. 2 free; $65 annual membership. 805-528-3194. sloskiers.org. Dairy Creek Golf Course, 2990 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo.

SUNDAY EVENING

RAP LGBTQ+ AA GROUP (VIRTUALLY VIA

ZOOM) Alcoholics Anonymous is a voluntary, worldwide fellowship of folks from all walks of life who together, attain and maintain sobriety. Requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Email aarapgroup@gmail.com for password access. Sundays, 7-8 p.m. No fee. galacc.org/events/. Online, See website, San Luis Obispo.

TEEN MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP Learn more about mental health and coping skills to help you through your journey towards wellness and recovery. Thursdays, 4:30-6 p.m. Free. 805-540-6576. t-mha.org. Hope House Wellness Center, 1306 Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo.

TRANS* TUESDAY A safe space providing peer-to-peer support for trans, gender nonconforming, non-binary, and questioning people. In-person and Zoom meetings held. Contact tranzcentralcoast@gmail.com for more details. Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m. Free. GALA Pride and Diversity Center, 1060 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, 805-541-4252.

WOMEN VISIONARIES SYMPOSIUM Join accomplished women visionaries for a powerful evening of spiritual and business alignment, with inspiring speeches and soulful connection.

April 7 4 p.m. my805tix.com. The Bunker SLO, 810 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo.

NORTH COAST SLO COUNTY

CENTRAL COAST WOOD CARVERS Learn the art of wood carving or wood burning. Join Central Coast Wood Carvers in Morro Bay at St. Timothy’s. Open for beginners, intermediate, or advance. Learn a wide range of techniques and skills. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, 962 Piney Way, Morro Bay, 805-772-2840, sttimothymorrobay.org.

CITIZENS FOR ESTERO BAY PRESERVATION:

MONTHLY FACE-TO-FACE MEET-UPS

Representatives from “Citizens for Estero Bay Preservation” will be on hand to discuss current news and events surrounding efforts to stop the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Morro Bay and the industrialization of the Embarcadero and waterfront. “No Batteries by the Bay” yard signs available. Email preserveesterobay@gmail for more info.

First Tuesday of every month, 10-11 a.m. Free. Buttercup Bakery and Cafe, 430 Morro Bay Blvd., Morro Bay.

CLIMATE SOLUTIONS COMMUNITY FORUM

Learn from community members how to be part of the solution for climate change. See first-hand report from Antarctica. Learn about low-impact, low-cost housing opportunities. Discover regenerative agriculture that’s good for the planet. Gain free resources to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and save money. April 6 2-4 p.m. Free. 805-772-4667. stbenslososos.org/events. St. Benedict’s Church, 2220 Snowy Egret Ln., Los Osos.

CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS MEETING

Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a Twelve Step recovery program for anyone who desires to have healthy and loving relationships with themselves and others. Meeting is hybrid (both in person and on Zoom). For information, call 805-900-5237. Saturdays, 1-2:15 p.m. Free. thecambriaconnection.org/. Cambria Connection, 1069 Main St., Cambria, (805) 927-1654.

ELECTRIFY YOUR LIFE: AT HOME AND ON THE ROAD A free, informative and electrifying event. Learn how to save money while

converting your home and car to be safer, more affordable and eco-friendly. Learn about local, state, and national rebates and credits starting this year. April 6 , 10 a.m.-noon Free. eventbrite. com. Morro Bay Library, 625 Harbor St., Morro Bay, 1-805-772-6394.

LIONESS CLUB ANNUAL DOG PARADE

The Lioness Club of Cayucos will be hosting its Easter Dog Parade, starting at the Cayucos pier. This free, fun-filled event benefits the Cayucos Lioness Club who supply Mutt Mitt bags to the community. March 30 12-1 p.m. Free. cayucoslioness.org. Cayucos Pier, Ocean Front Ave., Cayucos.

LOS OSOS VALLEY GARDEN CLUB SPRING

PLANT SALE Tomato, landscape, and flowering plants will be for sale, along with mosaic, driftwood, and teacup gardens. Tomato plants can be preordered online through March 30 at 10 a.m. Pickup at the plant sale, which is a fundraiser to benefit the club. April 6, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free entry. lovgardenclub.com. First Baptist Church of Los Osos, 1900 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos, 805-528-3066.

SOCRATES: DISCUSSION GROUP Group members present interesting and thought provoking topics of all sorts. Topics are selected in advance and moderated by volunteers. Vaccinations are necessary. Enter through wooden gate to garden area. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. 805-528-7111. Coalesce Bookstore, 845 Main St., Morro Bay, coalescebookstore.com/.

FOOD & DRINK

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS AT COSTA DE ORO

Featured vendors in the series include Cali Coast Tacos, Cubanissimo, Danny’s Pizza Co., Chef Ricks, and more. Call venue for monthly schedules. Fridays 805-922-1468. costadeorowines.com. Costa De Oro Winery, 1331 S. Nicholson Ave., Santa Maria.

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS AT WINE STONE INN

Fridays, 5-8 p.m. Wine Stone Inn, 255 W. Clark Ave., Orcutt, 805-332-3532, winestoneinn.com/.

FRIDAY NIGHT FUN Karaoke with DJ Nasty. With Beer Bucket specials. Kitchen stays open late. Come out and sing your favorite song. Fridays, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Roscoe’s Kitchen, 229 Town Center E, Santa Maria, 805-623-8866.

PRESQU’ILE WINERY: WINE CLUB Call or go online to make a reservation to taste at the winery or find more info on the winery’s Wine Club offerings. ongoing presquilewine.com/ club/. Presqu’ile Winery, 5391 Presqu’ile Dr., Santa Maria, 805-937-8110.

SIPPIN’ SUNDAYS Every Sunday, come cozy up inside the tasting room and listen to great artists. Sundays, 1-4 p.m. Free. 805-937-8463.

FOOD & DRINK continued page 16

THURS-FRI, MARCH

FRIDAY, MARCH

SATURDAY,

SATUDAY, APRIL 6 The

Viva La Cerveza: SLO Beer & Taco Festival

SATURDAY, MAY 25

Madonna Expo, SLO

Shamanic Morning Rituals for Vitality

FRIDAY, MARCH 29

Aurora Meditations & Rituals, Morro Bay

& Paint Party

SATURDAY, MARCH 30

Harmony

The

SATURDAY, MARCH 30

SATURDAY, APRIL

SLOFunny Comedy Show, Hosted by Mateen Stewart FRIDAY, MARCH 29

JUSTIN Downtown Tasting Room, PR

SATURDAY,

Easter

SUNDAY, MARCH

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

Flower City Ballroom, Lompoc

FRIDAY, MARCH 29 Templeton Mercantile

SATURDAY, MARCH 30 SLO

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

SATURDAY,

FRIDAY, MARCH

SATURDAY, MARCH

FRIDAY,

“Chicago” Steve Barkley

SATURDAY, APRIL 6 Paso Lounge, Paso Robles

FRIDAY, MARCH

SATURDAY, MARCH

FRI-SUN,

SATURDAY, APRIL

Cafe at the Pewter Plough, Cambria

Green Jelly: Greatest Hit Tour

Only Ocean, Zampkamp, & more!

Humdinger Brewery, Arroyo Grande

Brunch at The Cliffs 2024

31

The Cliffs Hotel & Spa, Pismo Beach

Improv Comedy Show: House Teams & Ensemble

MARCH 30

The Bunker SLO

The Ragged Jubilee, Nightjacket, & Watashi Wa

APRIL 6 Templeton Mercantile

TaikoProject: Benzaiten

29 Clark Center, Arroyo Grande

Banda Toro with La Chaparrita de Oro y Su Groupo Norteño

APRIL 5 Flower City Ballroom, Lompoc

Eleemosynary : A Reader’s Theatre Event

APRIL 5-7 Private Residence, Atascadero

Knee Deep: Back at the Castle

30 Flower City Ballroom, Lompoc

A 35th Anniversary Tribute Honoring Roy Orbison

6 Clark Center, Arroyo Grande

Marine Science Spring Camp: Sea Explorers

28-29 Central Coast Aquarium, Avila Beach

SLOFunny Comedy Show, Hosted by Mateen Stewart

MARCH 30 Dairy Creek Golf Course, SLO

Mestizo: Live Latin Music

29

Flower City Ballroom, Lompoc

Wine & Dine: MCV Pairs with Chef Candice

6 MCV Wines, Atascadero

Shawn Clark Family Band, Fistful of Nickels, & more!

Brass Mash First Friday in April 2024

Liquid Gravity Brewing Company, SLO

Sugaray Rayford with Blues Asylum

Veteran’s Hall

Comedy Night headlining

Bone Crown, Gouged, No Warning Shots, & more!

29 Dark Nectar Coffee, Atascadero

Musical Improv Comedy Show

Bunker SLO

Best of the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition

30 Clark Center, Arroyo Grande

Friday, April 5th: Duo

Stockyard

Gates open at 5pm

Mark & CJ come out on stage for a duo at 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

Sunday, April 7th: Full Band

Stockyard

Sell tickets on My805Tix, Store & Gate Gates open at noon Mark & his band come out at 1pm & play to 3pm.

cottonwoodcanyon.com. Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard And Winery, 3940 Dominion Rd, Santa Maria.

TACO TUESDAY Tuesdays, 5-8 p.m. Wine Stone Inn, 255 W. Clark Ave., Orcutt, 805332-3532, winestoneinn.com/.

THURSDAY EVENING BAR TAKEOVER

Call venue or visit website to find out about featured vintners. Thursdays stellerscellar.com. Steller’s Cellar, 405 E. Clark Ave., Orcutt.

WILD FLOUR CELEBRATION AT CUYAMA

BUCKHORN Celebrate the stunning superbloom of wildflowers that graces the Cuyama Valley. Enjoy a weekend of culinary delights, education, and reveling in splendor. April 5, 3-9 p.m., April 6, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and April 7 9-11 a.m. Check site or call for details. 661-766-2825. cuyamabuckhorn.com. Cuyama Buckhorn, 4923 Primero St., New Cuyama.

WINE AND DESIGN CLASSES Check

Wine and Design’s Orcutt website for the complete list of classes, for various ages. ongoing Varies. wineanddesign.com/ orcutt. Wine and Design, 3420 Orcutt Road, suite 105, Orcutt.

LOMPOC/VANDENBERG

HEAD GAMES TRIVIA AND TACO

TUESDAYS CLASH Don’t miss Head Games Trivia at COLD Coast Brewing Company every Tuesday night. Teams can be up to 6 members. Earn prizes and bragging rights. Kekas will be serving their delicious local fare. Fun for all ages. Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m. Free. 805-819-0723. coldcoastbrewing.com. COLD Coast Brewing Company, 118 W Ocean Ave, Lompoc.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

EASTER BRUNCH AT THE CLIFFS 2024 Indulge in an alfresco brunch buffet, vibe to live music, and meet a special bunny guest. Usher in the spirit of Easter with the beautiful oceanfront view as your backdrop. March 31 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. my805tix.com/. The Cliffs Hotel and Spa, 2757 Shell Beach Rd, Pismo Beach, 805-773-5000.

TRIVIA NIGHT Join BrainStew Trivia for a hilariously witty evening of trivia in Pismo. Teams of 1 to 4 people. Prizes awarded to the first and second place teams. Kitchen is open until 7:30 p.m. for brain fuel. Beer, cider, wine, and non-alcoholic options available. First Thursday of every month, 6:30-8 p.m. Free to play. 805-295-6171. kulturhausbrewing.com. Kulturhaus Brewing Company, 779 Price St., Pismo Beach.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

BOUNTIFUL FARM-FRESH EASTER

BRUNCH BUFFET Hotel SLO’s Piadina will host a bountiful, farm-fresh Easter Brunch Buffet curated by renowned Executive Chef Ryan Fancher. March 31 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $69 for adults; $34.50 for children 12 and younger. Piadina, 877 Palm St., San Luis Obispo, 805-592-1510.

HANDS-ON BREAD MAKING CLASS:

FOCACCIA BREAD AND PIZZA DOUGH

If you love focaccia bread and you’d like to be guided through making it, this is the class for you. You’ll take your own hand-kneaded dough home baked to enjoy. San Luis Obispo County Friends of Italy hosts the event. April 6 10 a.m.-1 p.m. $70. 619-537-9082. House of Bread, 1025 Farmhouse Lane, San Luis Obispo, houseofbread.com.

PIÑATAS ON THE PATIO What is more festive than a piñata? Join for some brunch drinks and a couple of good hits to a piñata (or two). Good times and goofy prices promised. Turns will be determined on a first come, first served basis. First Sunday of every month Free. Rambling Spirits, 3845 S. Higuera St. (inside SLO Public Market), San Luis Obispo, drinkramblingspirits.com.

STILL TAKEOVER: GIN WORKSHOP

FEATURING CALWISE SPIRITS CO. Part of the Distillers Education Series, a unique craft spirit workshop presented by the Paso Robles Distillery Trail. April 3 , 6-8 p.m. $50. Hotel Cerro, 1125 Garden St., San Luis Obispo, 805-548-1000.

BREADY OR NOT

In collaboration with San Luis Obispo County Friends of Italy, House of Bread in San Luis Obispo is holding a hands-on bread making class—focused on focaccia bread and pizza dough—at its Farmhouse Lane location on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission to the workshop is $70. Visit houseofbread.com to find out more. The bakery is located at 1025 Farmhouse Lane, San Luis Obispo. —C.W.

MUSIC

SANTA MARIA VALLEY/LOS ALAMOS

LADIES NIGHT OUT Music by DJ Van Gloryious and DJ Panda. Features delicious daiquiri specials. Thursdays, 8 p.m.-midnight Roscoe’s Kitchen, 229 Town Center E, Santa Maria, 805-623-8866.

MARK MACKAY AND FULL BAND Enjoy live music, outdoor games, food, drinks, and more. April 7, noon my805tix.com/. Blast 825 Brewery, 241 S Broadway St., Ste. 101, Orcutt, 805-934-3777.

MUSIC AT ROSCOE’S KITCHEN Live DJ and karaoke every Friday and Saturday night. Featured acts include Soul Fyah Band, DJ Nasty, DJ Jovas, and more. Fridays, Saturdays, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Roscoe’s Kitchen, 229 Town Center E, Santa Maria.

MUSIC LESSONS AT COELHO ACADEMY

Learn to play piano, drums, guitar, base, ukulele, or violin, or take vocal lessons. 805-925-0464. coelhomusic.com/ Lessons/lessons.html. Coelho Academy of Music, 325 E. Betteravia Rd., Santa Maria.

OLD TIME GOSPEL SING-ALONG All are welcome. Call for more details. Last Saturday of every month, 5-6 p.m. 805478-6198. Roscoe’s Kitchen, 229 Town Center E, Santa Maria.

SUNDAY NIGHT FUN End the weekend with some good vibes. Music by DJ Van Gloryious. Sundays, 8 p.m.-midnight Roscoe’s Kitchen, 229 Town Center E, Santa Maria, 805-623-8866.

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY

LIVE MUSIC SUNDAYS Sundays, 2-6 p.m. Brick Barn Wine Estate, 795 W. Hwy 246, Buellton, 805-686-1208, brickbarnwineestate.com.

WINE DOWN WEDNESDAYS

Wednesdays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Brick Barn Wine Estate, 795 W. Hwy 246, Buellton, 805-686-1208, brickbarnwineestate.com.

LOMPOC/VANDENBERG

BANDA TORO A legend of Latin music. April 5, 8 p.m. my805tix.com/. FCB, 110 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc, 805-810-0714.

GREEN JELLY LIVE An American comedy heavy metal musical group from Kenmore, New York. April 6, 7 p.m. my805tix.com/. FCB, 110 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc.

KNEE DEEP: BACK AT THE CASTLE An evening of R&B, pop, soul, funk, and more. March 30 7 p.m. my805tix.com/. FCB, 110 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc, 805-810-0714.

MESTIZO An intimate evening of smooth Latin tunes and music to get you up and dancing. March 29 8 p.m. my805tix. com/. FCB, 110 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc, 805-810-0714.

YOUTH OPEN MIC NIGHT A fun, welcoming environment for first time performers and an opportunity for kids and teens to showcase their talent. Prizes awarded every month for Outstanding Performer. Last Friday of every month, 6-8 p.m. certainsparks.com/. Certain Sparks Music, 107 S. H St., Lompoc.

SOUTH COAST SLO COUNTY

KARAOKE EVERY FRIDAY Enjoy some good food and karaoke. Fridays, 5-8 p.m. 805-723-5550. The Central Grill, 545 Orchard Road, Nipomo.

KARAOKE EVERY WEDNESDAY A weekly event with barbecue offerings and more. Wednesdays, 4-8 p.m. Rancho Nipomo BBQ, 108 Cuyama Ln., Nipomo, 805-925-3500.

THE ONLY OCEAN AND MORE Part of Anomaly House’s Alt-Space concert series. March 30 8 p.m. my805tix.com/. Humdinger Brewing, 116 W Branch St., Arroyo Grande.

TAIKOPROJECT: BENZAITEN The only American group to win the prestigious Tokyo International Taiko Contest, TAIKOPROJECT produces music rooted in the rich traditions of Japanese drumming, but expressed through the lens of its members’ American experiences. Benzaiten is the Japanese goddess of wisdom, beauty, and dance. March 29, 7:30-10 p.m. $25-$65. 805-489-9444. clarkcenter.org/shows/taikoproject/. Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

SLO BLUES SOCIETY PRESENTS

SUGARAY RAYFORD SLO Blues Society presents Sugaray Rayford. Blues Asylum will open the show. For ages 21 and over. March 30 7-10 p.m. Advance tickets $32; $40 at door. 805-541-7930. sloblues.org. San Luis Obispo Vets’ Hall, 801 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo. m

ARTS BRIEFS

Songwriters at Play hosts contest finales in Solvang and Cambria

Mid-April will mark the conclusion of two local music competitions, both organized by Songwriters at Play.

The featured musicians slated to perform at the two finale events—scheduled for Saturday, April 13, at Solvang’s High Roller Tiki Lounge and Sunday, April 14, at the Cambria Center for the Arts Theatre—were juried finalists from monthly Songwriters at Play contests held in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties over the course of a year.

Like the monthly contests, each finale event will include a panel of judges who will determine the competitions’ grand prize winners. Each contestant at either event will have the chance to perform two original songs.

The April 13 lineup includes musicians Jess Bush, June Clivas, Ricky Berger, Tina Tara, Julie Lee, Jayden Secor, Peter Claydon, Michael Wilds, Paddy Marsh, and Jean Mann. Marsh and Mann will compete at the April 14 finale as well, alongside featured contestants Karyn Ann, Chris Mariscal, Ted Nunes, Cate Armstrong, Bev Praver, Miss Leo, Wildflower, and additional acts to be announced.

Admission to the April 13 showcase is $20 in advance at my805tix.com. Tickets to the April 14 event range between $23 and $28 at cambriaarts.org. Both finales are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Check songwritersatplay.com for updates on the two upcoming shows and info on other programs hosted by Songwriters at Play, led by husband-and-wife team Steve Key and Bonnie Nelson-Key. The prolific music duo organizes several concerts at various venues along the Central Coast. Visit highrollertiki.com for more info on the High Roller Tiki Lounge, located at 433 Alisal Road, Solvang, and cambriaarts. org to find out more about the Cambria Center for the Arts Theatre, located at 1350 Main St., Cambria.

Flower City Ballroom presents Green Jellÿ, live in concert

New York-based heavy metal and comedy group Green Jellÿ will perform at the Flower City Ballroom in Lompoc on Saturday, April 6, at 7 p.m.

According to press materials, Green Jellÿ has touted itself as “the world’s worst band” and attracted a cult following during the 1980s and ’90s for its cartoonish style and use of props and costumes during performances. The group was originally known as Green Jell-O but changed its name due to trademark infringement concerns. Tickets to the upcoming concert are available in advance at my805tix.com. Flower City Ballroom is located at 110 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc. m

Arts Briefs is compiled by Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood. Send information to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.

Pest in show

Local thespian Gale McNeeley brings a poet cockroach to life

BY CALEB WISEBLOOD

For better or worse, some actors are inseparable from certain roles they play well, often, or both.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, for example—or X-ample.

This year’s Deadpool & Wolverine will mark his umpteenth appearance as the husky mutant, whose adamantium claws Jackman first donned in 2000’s X-Men

In similar fashion, local stage actor Gale McNeeley is synonymous with an animalistic character he’s portrayed on and off since the ’80s.

“My friend told me, ‘You’d be playing a singing, dancing cockroach,’ and I thought, ‘Well … that sounds like fun,’” recalled McNeeley, who was approached by a colleague to play Archy the cockroach in a 1980 production of archy & mehitabel.

Soon after getting the offer, McNeeley did a deep dive on the musical and its origins.

“When you’re preparing for a show, you go to the root material. So I went to the poems,” said McNeeley, who then began reading oodles of stories penned by Don Marquis, the creator of Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the alley cat.

Marquis originated the characters in a daily column in New York’s Evening Sun newspaper in 1916.

Described as a cockroach with the reincarnated soul of a human poet, Archy is introduced as a personified insect that sneaks onto a typewriter at Marquis’ office late at night to type out his own poems and short stories, often in first person. Mehitabel is one of multiple recurring characters from Archy’s daily life who he decides to write about.

The reason Archy’s name and poems are usually stylized without uppercase letters—such as in the musical archy & mehitabel—is because he can only hop onto one letter at a time, preventing him from holding down the shift key to capitalize anything.

While McNeeley first played the role of Archy in an iteration of the

aforementioned musical, he later developed his own distinct stage adaptation of the Marquis’ poems in the form of a one-man show—which he’s bringing to the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall in late March.

“I haven’t done this show locally for a number of years. It’s fun to bring the material back,” said McNeeley, who plays Archy, Mehitable, and more than a dozen of Marquis’ other characters during the two-act program he first arranged in 2016 in celebration of the original newspaper column’s 100th birthday.

For his upcoming performance on March 30, McNeeley will present a free, abridged one-act version of his show—cut to about 50 minutes long—at the Grange Hall. The actor described the local venue as capable of accommodating the level of intimacy he’s aiming for.

“It’s fun to do a stage version, but it’s also very intimate material, so it’s better not to have a huge space,” said McNeeley, who’s previously performed the show at libraries across the Central Coast and occasionally outside the state. “[The Grange Hall

Catch the show

Email friendssyvlibrary@gmail.com for more info on Gale McNeeley’s upcoming one-man show, sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley, at the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall. To find out more about McNeeley, visit galemcneeley.org.

is] an intimate space, and the acoustics are good, so you don’t need sound equipment.”

Hearing McNeeley during the performance is crucial, as he’ll use different voices along with physical mannerisms for each character he’s playing.

“Each character has a certain physicality and vocality,” said McNeeley, who described Archy’s voice as high and Mehitabel’s as low and growly. “How I found Mehitable I’ll never know.”

Over the phone with the Sun, McNeeley teased his take on Archy’s alley cat companion with a Southern drawl-infused delivery of the line: “I’ve had my ups and downs.”

Aside from his prolific acting career, McNeeley is locally best known for his teaching work with Youth ARTS Alive, a Santa Maria-based program he founded in 2017 to provide free arts classes for children.

“We train over 200 kids each summer,” McNeeley said, “in dance, music, theater, and visual arts.”

McNeeley’s latest version of his one-man Archy show is sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley, which will hold its annual meeting at the Grange Hall in conjunction with the program.

Guests of the performance will have the chance to learn about the organization’s upcoming plans and meet its newest board members. While McNeeley recommends the event to anyone interested in learning about the group’s resources, he especially encourages those who are unfamiliar with the cockroach and alley cat and Marquis’ other column characters to attend.

“If you’ve never met Archy and Mehitabel, this is a great way to meet them,” McNeeley said, “and chances are you’re going to want to go read about them after.” m

Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood’s favorite cockroach is Vincent D’Onofrio in Men in Black. Help him feel less alienated at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SONGWRITERS AT PLAY

PHOTO COURTESY OF GALE MCNEELEY

A BUG’S LIFE: Gale McNeeley first played Archy, a personified cockroach with the soul of a human poet, in 1980. In 2016, he celebrated the source material by creating a two-act program to honor the 100th anniversary of Don Marquis’ newspaper column. In 2010, he performed an earlier iteration at the University of Pittsburgh (pictured).

IMAGE COURTESY OF CAREY MCKINNON

STAGE PRESENCE: In conjunction with its annual board meeting, the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley presents a free one-man show with Gale McNeeley.

ONE MAN, MANY HATS: Local actor Gale McNeeley enjoys sporting a bowler cap whenever he gets the chance to play Archy the cockroach in his one-man show, adapted from poems by Don Marquis. McNeeley plays more than a dozen different characters during the program, which he’s staged periodically at various venues over the past several years.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GALE MCNEELEY

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE FLOWER CITY BALLROOM

Mad love

Rose Glass (Saint Maud) directs a screenplay she wrote with Weronika Tofilska about Lou (Kristen Stewart), a gym manager who falls for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an indigent and itinerant bodybuilder hitchhiking and picking up odd jobs on her way to a competition in Las Vegas. The two move in together, but soon they’re embroiled in family drama involving Lou’s criminal father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris); Lou’s sister, Beth (Jena Malone); and Beth’s abusive husband, JJ (Dave Franco). (104 min.)

Glen: File this one under the “weird but fascinating” category. Set in 1989, it depicts a world where neon-clad gym rats smoke and drink after workouts and where gun fanatics blast away at a barely supervised gun range. Both businesses are owned by Lou Sr., a gunrunner, with a local cop, officer Mike (David DeLao), in his pocket and a penchant for dispatching “business” rivals with a bullet to the head and dumping them in a remote chasm. Lou Sr.’s daughter, Lou, hates her father, hates her sister’s abusive husband, JJ, and barely tolerates Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), a needy and jealous lesbian with the hots for Lou. These characters coalesce into a hornet’s nest of crime and corruption as Lou and Jackie become lovers, and as Jackie takes a job waitressing at the shooting range bar. Dysfunction junction, what’s your function? It’s violence, baby. Violence.

THE GENTLEMEN

What’s it rated? TV-MA

When? 2024

Where’s it showing? Netflix

Anna: Are these two better off for meeting one another? I guess for Jackie it meant having a warm bed and for Lou it meant a break from loneliness, but things just seem to spell disaster for these two, no matter what. Lou has never left her small town in Nowheresville, USA, and Jackie fled the house of her adoptive family who didn’t want to accept her being anything but a God-loving farm girl. Instead, she’s a buffed-out fitness junkie with her eye on the prize and her head in the clouds, it seems. When Lou offers up some leftover steroids, Jackie’s world unfortunately opens up to a whole new level of muscle mass—but the consequences of her heightened rage and strength soon spell trouble for the pair. There was a group in our theater that seemed to find this film to be either lighter or funnier than I did—I thought it was a dark dive and a pretty sad story. I will say this, the film is superbly acted.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING

What’s it rated? R

What’s it worth, Glen? Full price

What’s it worth, Anna? Full price

Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Regal Arroyo Grande

Glen: I think the laughter may have been discomfort and disbelief. There are a few particularly violent and grisly scenes as well as a couple fantastical moments I think are representative of Jackie’s ’roided-out agitation. It all borders on the absurd. Despite everyone being compromised in some way, Glass guides viewers to sympathize with Lou and Jackie. There’s something primal about their attraction, and both characters identify as underdogs, victims, and outsiders who want to rise above their station. Harris and Franco are both terrific villains, and Malone is infuriating as the beaten wife who refuses to leave her unbearable husband. Likewise, you just want

to strangle the simpering Daisy. Props to Baryshnikov for making her so believably awful. Nearly a horror film, Love Lies Bleeding has a vibe like Men (2022), Mandy (2018), and Only God Forgives (2013). It’s an uncomfortable watch, but Stewart and O’Brian are magnetic. Anna: They definitely have an undeniable dynamic, a hunger for each other. There are a few moments that felt less heavy—without giving too much away, I’ll just say the end scene has some pretty great physical work by Stewart, and some of the more fantastical

moments give an out-of-this-world vibe to the characters. All in all, this is a story about two lost souls finding each other. Now, I can’t say I endorse this relationship—they seem pretty codependent, and everything is kind of a mess right from the start, but Lou and Jackie can’t help but be watched. They are two sparrows in a hurricane. I hope they make it out alive. m

New Times Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

Guy Ritchie (Snatch Sherlock Holmes, The Covenant) created this action comedy TV series, which is a spinoff of his 2019 film of the same name, about newly minted 10th Duke of Halstead Eddie Horniman (Theo James), who inherits his father’s 15,000-acre estate only to discover it houses a sprawling underground marijuana cultivation enterprise run by imprisoned crime boss Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone) and managed by his daughter, Susie (Kaya Scodelario).

Eddie, a former United Nations peacekeeping officer, ended up with the title and estate after his ne’er-do-well elder brother, Freddy (Daniel Ings), was passed over due to his cocaine addiction and general inability to manage his life. Eddie discovers he needs to bail his brother out of debts while also trying to extract his family from involvement with the Glass crime family, which has no intention of leaving and has similar operations under other cash-strapped royal estates.

Naturally, there are all manner of eccentric criminal characters about, as well as dangerous and violent situations, and much of the fun is watching assured and

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DUKE IT OUT: Theo James stars as Eddie Horniman, the new Duke of Halstead, who discovered his inherited estate houses a criminal weed growing enterprise, in Guy Ritchie’s TV series The Gentlemen

capable Eddie navigate this unfamiliar criminal world while juggling his buffoonish brother. (eight 45- to 60-min. episodes)

—Glen

THE PROGRAM: CONS, CULTS, AND KIDNAPPING

What’s it rated? TV-MA

When? 2024

Where’s it showing? Netflix

Masked as schools with a focus on “healing troubled teens,” Ivy Ridge and its sister schools run by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (known as WWASP) aren’t out to help teenagers become better people, they’re out to manipulate parents into spending incredible amounts of money and suppressing their captives until they break.

Filmmaker Katherine Kubler is herself a survivor of Ivy Ridge, and this three-part docuseries seems to be a tool for her in her journey not just toward healing herself, but in also making her family understand the horror of what she went through under the guise of their helping her. Kubler brings together a group of survivors who venture back to Ivy Ridge— now defunct and abandoned.

The series explores the cult-like mentality that parents are manipulated into, the horror of the students’ everyday lives, the people who’ve gotten rich off the “troubled teen” industry, and the origin behind how it became such a lucrative and unregulated business that preys on desperate families. (Thanks a lot, Nancy

TEEN TORTURE: Netlfix’s new docuseries, The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, examines the mistreatment of students at The Academy at Ivy Ridge, purportedly a therapeutic school for troubled teens. PHOTO

Reagan!) As someone who knows people who have been locked into these systems, I found it hit on authentic survivor trauma. (three 61- to 66-min. episodes) m —Anna

Lic. #874418

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LOVE BURN: Bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian, left) and gym owner Lou (Kristen Stewart) fall for each other and into a world of violence in Love Lies Bleeding, screening in local theaters.

PHOTO

, streaming on Netflix.

NECESSITIES:

BY CALEB WISEBLOOD

Pepperoni. Pineapple. Prime rib. Pear slices. Curry sauce. Some wood-fired pizzas at Off Base at Hangar 7—a cozy pub and wine bar in Old Town Lompoc—adhere to age-old topping norms, while others are adorned with less traditional trimmings.

The lounge-style eatery’s rotating menu of pizza specials, designed for patrons to pair craft brews and other libations with, allows room for chef Paul Kwong to experiment with a plethora of ingredients.

Born and raised in England, Kwong is well-known locally as the owner of Mee Heng Low Noodle House in

San Luis Obispo and for his prior roles at other restaurants in the area. A graduate of the renowned Birmingham College of Food, Kwong has worked with various types of cuisines throughout his prolific career and schooling, with the exception of his latest endeavor.

“Even with that experience, he said he’d never done pizza before,” said Leslie Gullikson, Kwong’s partner since 2010 and the owner of Off Base at Hangar 7.

Gullikson bought the venue originally known as Hangar 7 from its previous owners during the summer of 2023, and Off Base had an official ribbon cutting ceremony in November.

“[Hangar 7’s founders] really created something special, and I feel really fortunate that I fell into it,” Gullikson said. “It was kind of serendipitous that it happened.”

The opportunity to buy Hangar 7—and inherit its wood-fired pizza oven—coincided with Gullikson

and Kwong’s hunt for a new place to live. The couple originally considered moving to Atascadero from their last home in San Luis Obispo but ultimately decided on Lompoc, where Gullikson was born and raised.

“It was like coming home to me to be able to do this,” said Gullikson, a retired nurse whose father ran a barbershop in Old Town Lompoc for about 60 years.

Kwong was also technically retired, from cooking at least, when the chance came about to help his partner reboot Hangar 7 and spearhead Off Base’s food offerings.

“He really encouraged me, and I wouldn’t have done this without him,” Gullikson said of Kwong, who still owns Mee Heng Low while his son Russell manages it.

Between 2017 and 2020, Kwong’s Noodle House regularly hosted live jazz events, which Gullikson organized on the restaurant’s second floor space. Put on hold during the pandemic without fully resurfacing yet, the program seems to have followed Gullikson and Kwong to Lompoc, as Off Base occasionally

hosts live shows with the Ray Chang Trio, led by jazz trumpeter Ray Chang.

The three-piece band will hold its next concert at Off Base on April 15, and is under consideration for a bimonthly residency at the pub.

“If it’s well received by the community here, we’re going to continue to have them on the second and fourth of every month,” said Gullikson, who hopes to expand the event offerings at Off Base in the future by hosting more live music gatherings as well as collaborations with local vendors and fundraisers for nonprofits.

As part of its grand

PRIME TIME: Off Base

PEAR

Arugula, bacon, and pear are among the ingredients featured on one of chef Paul Kwong’s wood-fired pizza specials, offered on a rotating basis, at Off Base at Hangar 7 in Lompoc.

at Hangar 7 periodically hosts special dinner events with meals not normally available on the menu, such

opening back in November, Off Base hosted a wood-fired pizza fundraiser to benefit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a national organization with local chapters dedicated to providing beds for children in need. Within a four-hour stretch, the pub sold 65 pizzas and was able to raise $650 for the nonprofit.

“It was a lot of pizzas in a short amount of time,” Gullikson said before adding that the venue’s oven only allows for one wood-fired pizza to cook at a time. “That [65 pizzas in four hours] was pretty much our capacity.”

One of Gullikson’s favorite small joys about running Off Base, only a few blocks from her and Kwong’s home, is being able to bike to and

from work. When the two first met, they were neighbors in SLO who began bonding over their mutual affinity for bicycling.

Halloween 2010 marked their first dinner date at Gullikson’s place.

“I had no idea he was a chef at the time. I knew he had his restaurant, but I didn’t know he was a classically trained chef. … I would have never invited him to dinner [had I known],” Gullikson said with a laugh, before describing their meal as a bit overcooked that night.

“When I found out what he was and his background, I was mortified.” m

Send tricks, treats, pizza, and noodles to Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@ santamariasun.com.