Specialties
The Sun in Santa Maria is Northern Santa Barbara County's free alternative weekly community newspaper, covering news, sports, arts, and food in Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Nipomo, Los Alamos, Lompoc, Buellton, and the Santa Ynez Valley. The Sun releases every Thursday, free to pick up throughout its coverage area, and circulates to 18,000-plus readers each week. The paper is known for in depth reporting on various important local issues and topics, from agriculture and labor to live theater and the visual arts, or the doings of local law enforcement to the struggles of the region's diverse residents. The Sun has received numerous awards over the years for investigative reporting, enterprise reporting, agricultural reporting, performing arts stories, editorial design, sports coverage, columns, and general excellence.