Jury selection for the Anthony Ibarra murder trial began at the Santa Maria Fairpark on Nov. 17. More than 2,100 Santa Barbara County residents were summoned to the park to begin selection for the jury that will judge the six defendants and one juvenile accused of the gang-related torture and murder of Ibarra last March. […]
DAVID MINSKY
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Two people are seriously injured in a vintage Mustang wreck
A vintage Shelby Cobra Mustang wrecked at the corner of Broadway and Enos the afternoon of Nov. 14, seriously injuring the driver and a pedestrian, creating a scene that backed up traffic in all directions. The accident drew dozens of people with smartphones in hand, who recorded the events as they unfolded. A blue Mustang […]
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Challenge thy neighbor: Santa Maria’s Pennsylvania Street lies at the heart of a 40-year-old dispute
Pennsylvania Street is a dead-end, unpaved street with a few potholes. Among the half-a-dozen evenly divided properties that line the street branching off of Newlove east of Miller Road is one that boasts a 7-foot-high wooden fence bordering a backyard overflowing with lush greenery punctuated by purple morning glories. A small, dried-up flowerbed sectioned by […]
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Spotlight on: Wine Country Airlines
Patricia Kerrigan, owner
Forget about Napa. Santa Barbara County is becoming more of a wine destination, attracting enthusiasts from every pocket of California, and even visitors from out of state. Patricia Kerrigan, a former airline industry consultant and long-time resident of the county, found a niche market and established Wine Country Airlines, which could be making flights out […]
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Former Taco Ranchero employee files a lawsuit
Teresa Lopez, a long-time employee of Taco Ranchero in Santa Maria, wants her wages and tip money back. In a lawsuit filed in Santa Maria Civil Court in early November, Lopez alleges that her former employer, Francisco Fernandez, garnished her wages and tips and denied her proper rest periods during her shifts. Under California law, […]
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Classified Delta 4 Rocket arrives at Vandenberg
Vandenberg Air Force Base received its new Delta 4 rocket on Nov. 5. The delivery came via cargo ship from a manufacturing plant in Alabama, according to a press release from the base. The Delta Mariner cargo ship brought the rocket, which was manufactured at the United Launch Alliance plant in Decatur, Ala. The harbor […]
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Brokers tout commercial development in Santa Maria
Several hundred people, including workers in blue shirts and safety goggles, lined up in the parking lot of the Airpark Drive Zodiac plant around noon on Oct. 31 to get a free lunch of hot dogs and tacos. Pacifica Commercial Realty broker Jerry Schmidt and Santa Maria Planning Commissioner Etta Waterfield were handing out the […]
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Santa Maria sees its first significant rainfall in months
Ask anyone around Santa Maria when the last time it rained was, and they likely won’t remember. That all changed on Halloween night. The storm brought anywhere between a half inch in Buellton to almost 1.5 inches in Santa Maria. The rain may have been needed, but also caused some minor problems throughout the county. […]
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Etta Waterfield wins a Santa Maria City Council seat
A steady stream of voters of all ages cast ballots at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center polling location on Park Avenue in Santa Maria last night, voting to elect city Planning Commissioner Etta Waterfield as the city’s newest council member. Along with Waterfield—who won the majority with 34 percent (6,077 votes)—incumbent Jack Boysen (26 percent, […]
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Bob Lingl is Lompoc’s mayor
The challenger to incumbent John Linn won the election to become Lompoc’s new mayor with a margin of more than a 1,000 votes. It was quiet at the Trinity Church of the Nazarene polling location on D Street, where the last votes trickled in the night of Nov. 4. The final ballot was cast at […]
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Spotlight on: New Lows
Ben Barrick, owner
Walking into New Lows on West Ocean Avenue in Lompoc’s old town, you will most likely be greeted by the smooth sound of reggae coming from the back of the shop. Owner Ben Barrick listens to the music as he scrapes globs of ink onto T-shirts through screens that rotate on a contraption made up […]