AMY ASMAN

Guadalupe’s city leaders are asking residents to vote on some ballot measures this November; one involves taxpayers’ dollars and the other doesn’t, but both are designed to increase the city’s revenues. On June 26, the Guadalupe City Council voted 4-0, with Councilmember Ariston Julian absent, to place two measures on the ballot. One would change […]

Nonprofit hospital system Dignity Health narrowly escaped an employee strike when it reached a tentative contractual agreement with Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) on June 22. The contract covers 14,000 employees at more than 30 Dignity Health facilities in California, including Marian Regional Medical Center and French Hospital Medical Center in San […]

The family of Albert Covarrubias, Jr.—the Santa Maria police officer who was shot and killed in January by a fellow officer at a DUI checkpoint—has filed a personal injury claim against the city of Santa Maria seeking restitution in the amount of $10,000. The claim is believed to be the first step in initiating a […]

Former KCOY/KKFX meteorologist Jim Byrne is suing Cowles California Media Company for allegedly breaching his contract when officials terminated his position at the broadcast news station in January. According to documents filed on April 25 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Byrne entered a four-year contract with Cowles in October 2008. On January 12, 2012, […]

On June 15, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors passed a multi-million dollar budget for 2012-13, using one-time funds to keep open several positions slated for elimination. After listening to a week’s worth of budget hearings packed with pleas from numerous community groups, the supervisors voted to continuing funding for several key departments. This […]

After much public scrutiny over whether it would investigate the demise of the bankrupt low-income housing nonprofit LHCDC, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury released on June 13 a report titled, “A Failure of Oversight: Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation.”  “In January 2012, residents of Lompoc and indeed all of Santa Barbara County were […]

After seven months of bargaining discussions, members of Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW)—the union representing employees at Marian and French hospitals—announced plans to strike against parent company Dignity Health beginning at 11 p.m. on June 26. The strike is scheduled to last 72 hours, ending at 11 p.m. on June 29. “We’ve […]

Celebrate the American Humane Association’s national Adopt-a-Cat Month by picking out a special feline friend at the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society on Black Road in Santa Maria. During the spring and summer months, area shelters take in hundreds of homeless kittens. Of course, there are plenty of older cats that need loving homes, too. […]