Santa Maria Sun

For decades, New Times Media Group has asked local photographers to send their best shots our way as part of the annual Winning Images contest. This year, our judges sifted through 374 images to narrow them down to the top three in eight categories.

Winning Images 2026 - Santa Maria Sun For decades, New Times Media Group has asked local photographers to send their best shots our way as part of the annual Winning Images contest. Covering categories from Animals and Landscape/Seascape to In Motion and People, the images capture the beauty and strangeness across the Central Coast and....

Trends have changed drastically since Amy Marlan posed for her high school senior portraits.

A Central Coast photographer receives recognition from a national magazine’s photo contest - Santa Maria Sun Trends have changed drastically since Amy Marlan posed for her high school senior portraits. She remembers wearing the same pearls and drape as the rest of the women in her class. The men put on the top half of a suit. Then, their family photographer took some shots of Marlan on a film camera, but [...

Two 12-foot-tall puppets designed by a Lompoc artist are making a big trip to LA.

Giant puppets made in Lompoc are heading to World Cup watch parties in LA - Santa Maria Sun Most people have never been the puppeteer inside a 12-foot-tall puppet, but Jennifer Racusin has. “You are completely surrounded by fabric, and you have this big, heavy wooden thing attached to you,” Racusin recounted. “You don’t feel like yourself at all because you’re hidden inside of th...

Tamara Warren has a selectively superb memory. When it comes to her passion for baking, she has muscle memory.

A crowd favorite at the Route One Farmers Market offers cookies, cheesecakes, pies, and more - Santa Maria Sun Tamara Warren has a selectively superb memory. When it comes to her passion for baking, she has muscle memory. Anything else, and it can get a little murky. The baker doesn’t keep an ingredient list or measure anything out. Recently she debuted a banana chocolate chip cookie, and somebody asked he...

For SunBuggy Fun Rentals owner Randy Jordan, when the Oceano Dunes reopened to vehicle traffic and campers on May 21, it meant his business could start renting out ATVs, dune buggies, and side-by-sides again.

Ride on: After being closed for more than a month the Oceano Dunes reopened to vehicles and camping - Santa Maria Sun For SunBuggy Fun Rentals owner Randy Jordan, when the Oceano Dunes reopened to vehicle traffic and campers on May 21, it meant his business could start renting out ATVs, dune buggies, and side-by-sides again. “I think it’s great, and I think you really know how much you’re going to miss someth...

Gayraoke is one of Santa Ynez Valley Pride’s staple community activities throughout June.

The Maverick Saloon hosts Pride-themed karaoke nights for the fifth year in a row - Santa Maria Sun Calling all singersPut yourself out there at the Maverick Saloon during gayraoke on Tuesday nights in June at 8 p.m. located at 3687 Sagunto St. in Santa Ynez. Follow karaoke DJ Sam Silva on Instagram . For more information about Santa Ynez Valley Pride activities, visit syvpride.org o...

Visit Lobo Butcher Shop in Roy’s Liquor and Market at 770 Guadalupe St. in Guadalupe.

A Guadalupe butcher cuts up quality meats for barbecuers on the Central Coast - Santa Maria Sun Ernesto Valle used to be known as the guy who cuts meat in the middle of nowhere. He opened Lobo Butcher Shop in Guadalupe four and a half years ago when the economy was still hurting from the pandemic. “For a couple months, I thought I was going to shut down in my first year,” […]

June means one thing for the LGBTQ-plus community across the Central Coast and beyond: It’s Pride Month! That translates to events in Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo that celebrate the season, including drag shows, concerts, and even plays.

June 4 – June 11, 2026 - Santa Maria Sun June means one thing for the LGBTQ-plus community across the Central Coast and beyond: It’s Pride Month! That translates to events in Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo that celebrate the season, including drag shows, concerts, and even plays. For our annual Pride issue, Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wis...

Before finishing high school, 26 Orcutt students graduated with two associate degrees from Allan Hancock College.

Orcutt students graduate with high school diplomas and Hancock associate degrees in a new college readiness program - Santa Maria Sun Jackson Payne took his first college class when he was a freshman in high school. He arrived around 7 a.m. to Orcutt Academy High School. The campus was quiet except for his 29 other classmates in the Early College Cadre program. Soon enough their professor showed up and introduced the group members...

Director Alexandria Corn and many former dancers in the Pacific Legends felt a hole in their lives when the group disbanded during the pandemic. Corn took charge in 2025, starting to teach Polynesian dance classes and schedule community performances.

With help from her mentor, a Lompoc native reunites the Polynesian dance group she grew up performing in - Santa Maria Sun Michelle Lujan looks back at her wedding day with bittersweetness because although she didn’t know it at the time, the December day in 2019 was the last time the Pacific Legends danced before the pandemic exploded. “To me, that’s like the marker of when it ended, but we had no idea,” Lujan t...