Santa Barbara County Sheriff deputies had roughly nine months’ worth of funding to raid illegal cannabis grows alongside federal authorities in the Los Padres National Forest. Now that the money has run out and although Sheriff’s officials say other illicit sites remain, at least 100,000 illegal pot plants will never enter the black market. Lt. […]
SPENCER COLE
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Santa Barbara County pot growers walk a fine line between staying legal, angering their neighbors, and getting raided
A U-Haul van packed with pounds of freshly harvested marijuana eases its way down the narrow winding road on the back side of Cebada Canyon. As it rolls and bucks against uneven terrain, the driver brings the vehicle to a complete stop on the right shoulder to let a gunmetal Honda Accord pass by. “That’s […]
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Solvang shores up smoking ordinance
City administrators and council members tried to clear the air permanently in Solvang by tightening its smoking regulations. On Oct. 9, the Solvang City Council gave tacit approval to restrict smoking to streets and parking lots. The public’s response was largely positive. “It will be nice to not walk through a cloud of smoke or […]
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Vandenberg site of historic booster landing
It was a night for the history books. And it definitely wasn’t aliens. First, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully blasted out of Earth’s atmosphere from Vandenberg Air Force Base a little after 7 p.m. on Oct. 7. Conditions were relatively clear as the craft carrying an Argentine radar satellite arced across the Southern California […]
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Spotlight on: Domestic Violence Solutions
Julia Black, communications
For more than 40 years, Domestic Violence Solutions (DVS) has provided resources for Santa Barbara County families in need of protection from abusive spouses. The nonprofit is the area’s sole full-service operator with 24-hour emergency shelter and services for domestic violence victims. DVS currently manages three shelters in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, and Lompoc. The […]
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Lompoc to contract out dispatch center to either county or Santa Maria
In the five years Pat Walsh has been police chief in Lompoc, he’s hired 16 people to supplement the city’s understaffed emergency dispatch center. Not a single one works there today. It’s problem he says isn’t new for the Central Coast city. “Before I started here, one chief told me that at one point […]
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Sheriff’s pot task force destroys thousands of pounds of cannabis in September
It’s been a busy month for the newly activated Sheriff’s Cannabis Compliance Team, the law enforcement arm tasked with eliminating Santa Barbara County’s illegal marijuana cultivation sites. Since Sept. 6, deputies and collaborating police officers destroyed more than 15,000 pot plants with what they said had an estimated street value of $7 million to $9 […]
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County considers fuel management and community defense plans for fires
A hearing designed to provide the public with information about fuel management and defensible space for fires in Santa Barbara County revealed differing philosophies between government officials and environmental groups. “The purpose of this is primarily to clarify and explain a fairly complex and in my opinion needlessly controversial part of what we do,” County […]
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Spotlight on: A Heart’s Desires Bridal
It’s been a confusing couple weeks for A Heart’s Desires Bridal and its newest location at 2125 S. Broadway (suite 103). Upon first moving into their Santa Maria office, manager Ashley Pacheco discovered that some customers were being directed by Google and other search engines like Yelp! to a store that no longer exists. “There’s […]
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Lompoc triage center set to close on Oct. 10
They had arrested three by the first week. Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh told the City Council members on Sept. 18 that the individuals had been found roaming the borders of the homeless triage center on the north side of River Park. They were charged with trespassing. A few days later, officers made their fourth […]
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Lompoc to declare ‘shelter crisis’
In a bid to mitigate costs for its extensive homeless cleanup and relocation project, Lompoc’s government is prepared to declare it is in a “shelter crisis.” The announcement is expected to come at the next City Council meeting on Oct. 2 and will open the door for tens of thousands of dollars from the state’s […]
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Solvang City Council fine with accessory dwelling units, but will regulate
Solvang’s housing stock will be bolstered by accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for the foreseeable future, but first the city must grapple with how best to regulate them. “This is a big discussion happening all around the United States,” said Holly Owen, the city’s Planning and Community Development director. Owen told City Council members on Sept. […]
