A 52-year-old man serving time for non-violent offenses inside the Santa Barbara County jail died at a nearby hospital on June 15, according to officials from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Jail and medical staff responded to a call of a “man down” in the general housing unit of the facility at 12:40 a.m. […]
DAVID MINSKY
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Santa Barbara County officials deny ExxonMobil’s request to transport oil by trucks
It looks like more crude oil won’t be passing through Santa Barbara County on highways after all, at least not for now. Officials from the Energy Division of the county’s Planning and Development Department made the decision in a letter dated June 9. It follows a recent emergency request by ExxonMobil to transport crude oil […]
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Former employee arrested for allegedly vandalizing Santa Maria Univision station
Whatever beef Pablo Quiroz Jr. has with his old employer, he made sure the whole world knew about it on June 15. The former employee of KPMR Entravision, Univision’s Spanish language affiliate in Santa Maria, broadcasted bizarre tweets of himself allegedly vandalizing the TV station during the early morning hours. Pictures posted to the Twitter […]
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Spotlight on: Cottage food operators
Jovy Kurokawa, Taino Sweets owner | Gloria Weeden, Garden of Weeden owner
For a long time, Jovy Kurokawa sold her Puerto Rican confections under-the-table. But that’s common for some stay-at-home Puerto Rican moms raising their kids in American urban communities. In the past 20 years while living in various major U.S. cities, Kurokawa used her home kitchen to produce Puerto Rican style sweets and sold or traded […]
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Burrito time: A Sun writer’s quest to find the perfect Santa Maria burrito
Let’s be honest, Santa Maria is a culinary mecca. The city put itself on the map years ago with its own style of barbecue. And let’s not forget about the wine. Having recently moved from New Orleans, and Miami before that, where food defines cultures, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Santa […]
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Vandenberg contractor appeals $3.25 billion property value assessment
A company responsible for launching rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base is appealing what it’s calling a series of property tax assessments issued by the county. United Launch Alliance (ULA), a Colorado-based company that develops the Delta II, Delta IV, and Atlas V rockets, is disputing a $30 million tax bill stemming from a series […]
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Lompoc signs contract for multimillion-dollar space theme park
With a tiny bit of pomp and circumstance, Lompoc city officials signed a one-year contract with Polish entrepreneur Eva Blaisdell and her company, California Space Center LLC, handing over 82 acres of city-owned property to build a multimillion-dollar theme park. The contract signing took place before the Lompoc City Council meeting on June 2 and […]
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Two killed in Santa Maria domestic dispute
Police shot and killed a homicide suspect on the night of June 5 following an alleged domestic violence incident where a woman was stabbed to death, according to the Santa Maria Police Department. Sgt. Russ Mengel said that police responded to a call at 9:36 p.m. in the 300 block of West Williams Street and […]
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Spotlight on: Amit Sarin, franchisee
If you’ve ever eaten at a Subway restaurant in Santa Maria, Orcutt, or Guadalupe, chances are it’s owned by Amit Sarin. He; his wife, Reshmi; and his father, Vishaw, are franchisees of Subway and own several restaurants in Northern Santa Barbara County. They operate as a company in Santa Maria. Immigrating with his family from […]
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Updated digs: The Sun takes a tour of the SMPD’s new headquarters so you don’t have to
Wearing stained yellow work boots, denim jeans with a tucked-in light blue button-up shirt, Bob Prescott recently led a group of citizens room-to-room through the Santa Maria Police Department’s new headquarters at 1111 Betteravia Road. It’s directly across the street from McDonald’s; you can’t miss it. Prescott looked more like a middle-aged construction worker than […]
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SMPD says teen shooting victim changed his story
The exact circumstances that led to a 17-year-old male being shot in the chest on May 31 are being investigated after the alleged victim changed his story, according to officials from the Santa Maria Police Department. According to Sgt. Eligio Lara, the victim first told police that he was shot that night after someone attempted […]
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Santa Maria settles a wrongful death lawsuit
The city of Santa Maria quietly settled a lawsuit with the parents of Leticia Hernandez-Sanchez, a teenager who was struck and killed by a driver in 2013. Hernandez-Sanchez was crossing the intersection of Newlove and Miller on June 29, 2013, when a car driven by 21-year-old driver, Kelsi Sullivan, hit her. Hernandez-Sanchez died a short […]
