An inmate at the Santa Barbara County Jail suffered a cardiac related medical emergency on Dec. 26 and later died, said Kelly Hoover, the public information officer with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. News of the inmate’s death was released to the public on Dec. 30. According to Hoover, the 69-year-old male inmate was […]
DAVID MINSKY
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Abel to do it? Maldonado considered for cabinet job in Trump administration
The future Donald Trump administration looked to Santa Barbara County for a cabinet pick. President-elect Trump reportedly met with former California Lt. Gov. and Santa Maria Mayor Abel Maldonado in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 28 to discuss the possibility of Maldonado’s leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A local farmer, Maldonado is one […]
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Alleged child molester’s accuser recants story in court
A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge denied bail reduction for a Santa Maria basketball coach alleged to have molested his stepdaughter, even though she recanted her accusation in open court on Dec. 19. Ramoan Blackmon, who is the executive director of Cal Hoops Elite Basketball Academy in Santa Maria, was arrested on Nov. 16 […]
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Police bust alleged prostitution operation at Orcutt spa
A massage parlor in Orcutt offered more than massages, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. On Dec. 22, following a months-long investigation, detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Bureau arrested 38-year-old Jinfreng Xu and 43-year-old Yaqing Yu with the Relax Station Spa on suspicion of prostitution. According to Kelly Hoover, the Sheriff’s […]
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Lompoc City Council rejects marijuana ordinance; forms ad hoc committee
Lompoc City Council members unanimously rejected a proposed ordinance to regulate marijuana cultivation but approved the formation of a committee to explore the subject, at a Dec. 20 public meeting. Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, was passed by voters on Nov. 8. It effectively legalized marijuana in California for adults aged 21 […]
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Spotlight on: PETS Hospital
Joel Conn, veterinarian
Anyone who lives with pets knows that they are family too. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that nearly half of all households have a dog or a cat, with between 37 and 47 percent of those households owning dogs and 30 and 37 percent owning cats. With that many […]
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Much ado about dirt: A pool project in Santa Ynez prompts a discussion of environmental laws among the county planning commissioners
On Dec. 14, a pile of dirt caused a stir among the Santa Barbara County planning commissioners who denied an appeal of the board’s decision to allow a Santa Ynez resident’s pool project. Santa Ynez resident Lonny Maniscalco wants to use the dirt for a pool project in his yard. Sandra Brown, Maniscalco’s neighbor, moved […]
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UCLA museum to return burial artifacts to the Santa Ynez Chumash
Objects excavated by UCLA archeologists from sites along the Central Coast in 1978 are to be returned to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. The public notice issued by the U.S. National Park Service on Dec. 9 identified 132 cultural items, mostly burial objects, which were removed from the site in the Lindero Canyon […]
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Lompoc hopes to regulate personal marijuana cultivation with conditions
Lompoc banned all cultivation of marijuana one year ago but the City Council introduced an ordinance on Dec. 20 that would allow for personal indoor cultivation. The ordinance follows the passage of voter-approved Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), which legalized recreational marijuana in California. While the new law gives […]
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Farmworkers voice concerns at Santa Barbara County forum
On Dec. 5, Santa Barbara County migrant farmworkers received a chance to directly voice their concerns to state officials at an evening forum held at the Joseph Centeno Betteravia Government Administration Building in Santa Maria. The meeting room and lobby were packed as farmworkers expressed their concerns about specific working conditions among the local agricultural […]
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Spotlight on: iRecover
Deon Smit, chief operating officer
When it comes to treating people with addiction disorders and mental illnesses, it’s good to have options, and now Santa Maria has one more. iRecover, which opened at 607 E. Plaza Drive in Santa Maria, offers outpatient mental health and addiction services. Jim Gray started the company in Alberta, Canada. Deon Smit is iRecover’s chief […]
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Warriors in need: Central Coast veterans want the option to use medical marijuana for mental illnesses
Veterans dealing with trauma and stress have a variety of treatment options available to them, but despite its legality in some states—and some say, its superior effectiveness—marijuana is not one of those options. Fred* deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division in 2008, and returned with trauma-induced mental health issues. Though he […]
