Cover Story — Despite acres of vineyards and clusters of houses, the Santa Ynez Valley still bears telltale signs of cattle country. Hay-spattered pickup trucks dominate the byways, “Beef” bumper stickers abound and conversations often run to breeding, branding and the price of feed. Nancy Williams and her son Jerry are third and fourth generation cattle [...]
Naturalist Neal Taylor remembers it well. A busload of school children had come to visit the Nature Center at Lake Cachuma. They gathered in a group, and one of the children picked up an object he saw lying on the ground. He approached Taylor. “What’s this?” he asked, holding out his hand. “Why, everyone knows [...]
As the summer months speed by, I have been spending some time around our pond, cutting down weeds and observing the insects that fly in and around the habitat. Around here the prettiest insects we see is the blue damselfly; we spot them near streams and ponds. It has an oblong head with bulging eyes [...]
Business Profile — An innovative emporium of treasures and treats, the Los Alamos Depot Antique Mall & Wine Pub offers more than 20,000 square feet of furnishings and collectibles. Located in the Pacific Railway’s last surviving depot—three vast rooms built in 1882—the mall boasts a wildly varied inventory ranging from fine glassware and pottery, to movie [...]
Business Profile — Computer technology services have come a long way since the days when users called for help when something went wrong and paid technicians an hourly fee. Mike Limotta, owner of Limotta Internet Technologies, aptly refers to this type of service as the “break/fix model.” The break/fix model evolved into cash retainers for on-call [...]
Business Profile — Originally located in a quiet corner at the end of Atterdag Road, Manny’s Mexican Restaurant first opened in Solvang in 1989. A family affair, the restaurant was run by Manuel Tovalin Sr., with help from his wife and five children. It was famed as a friendly place where staffers often greeted customers by [...]
Business Profile — Boasting a fine arts degree and a career path that has taken her from a New Jersey bead store to Hollywood film sets, Patti Pagliei Simpson makes heirloom-quality jewelry to be worn, treasured and collected. Handcrafted from mixed metals and a variety of antique-inspired fabrications, each piece tells a story of spiritual, sentimental [...]
