Category Archives: General

Santa Maria, North County and all of California were hit hard by the Great Recession. Some places responded with hand-wringing, worrying and sheep-like bleating to elected officials for a government program of one sort or another.  There is no renewed prosperity on that path. Perhaps we have been guilty of some fretting ourselves. Perhaps Santa …

Buellton-Based Civil Engineer One of Four Honored Doug Pike, of MNS Engineers in Buellton, is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy like most engineers.   So to be named Engineer of the Year by the Santa Barbara County Chapter of the California Special Districts Association was totally unexpected.  “I very much appreciate the recognition,” he said.  A …

Santa Maria Airport General Manager One of Four Honored Being selected for the General Manager of the Year Award wasn’t exactly a total surprise to Chris Hastert of the Santa Maria Public Airport, but he still considers it an honor. Hastert was one of four county professionals honored recently by the Santa Barbara County chapter …

Project under way to Improve Emergency Response to Runways Although it’s not yet apparent, work has begun to improve firefighting and emergency response at Santa Maria Public Airport. The first amendment to a contract that will make those changes is among many items the Board of Directors will discuss when it meets at 7:00 p.m. …

A C-17 Globemaster landed at the Santa Maria Public Airport on Thursday afternoon for a private military appreciation day organized by military aviation enthusiast Mike Whitford. The schedule also calls for two F/A-18s to arrive about 10:30 a.m. today. The event, which is not open to the public, is designed to show appreciation to the …

At times over the past eight years Dominic Annecchini wondered if he would ever see Santa Maria again.  A staff sergeant with the Army’s 1st Ranger Battalion, he has spent most of the last decade in war zones — four tours in Iraq and six in Afghanistan.  But on Tuesday, when the plane carrying Annecchini …

Central Coast residents heading for island paradise 2012-11-18T00:15:00Z 2012-11-17T23:18:33Z Allegiant’s first Hawaiian flight leaves SMXBy Brian Bullock / Staff Writer / bbullock@santamariatimes.com Santa Maria Times A jet full of passengers bid “Aloha” to Santa Maria on Saturday as Allegiant Air’s service to the Hawaiian islands took off. The company’s first Boeing 757 full of Central …

Public service is habitual to Hugh Rafferty and Thursday night the Santa Maria Public Airport District Board of Directors honored him for his four years of work. Rafferty finished fourth Nov. 6 in the race for three four-year terms — incumbents Don Lahr and Chuck Adams along with challenger David Baskett won the seats.  Also …

Santa Barbara County and neighboring areas could have new leaders at the helm in the coming months as a result of Tuesday’s election. In other races, longtime politicians will be returning to their seats.  19th Senate District Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson was leading Republican Mike Stoker Tuesday night for the state’s 19th Senate District seat. Jackson …