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After 4 1/2 hours of public comment and discussion at its Feb. 5 meeting, the Santa Maria Planning Commission voted 3-1, with Commissioner Robert Dickerson dissenting, to approve a planned development permit for construction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Santa Maria. Dickerson said he opposed the project because he thought it […]

Santa Maria Police Commander Phil Hansen just confirmed to the Sun that officers have arrested three juveniles suspected in multiple strong-arm robberies that happened this week in Santa Maria. Hansen said the boys allegedly snatched purses from elderly women in the Santa Maria area earlier today, and on Monday and Tuesday. Officers are in the […]

On Dec. 17, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested the girlfriend of one of the suspects in the Anthony Ibarra murder trial for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail in Goleta, as well as child endangerment. Detectives served a search warrant around 9 a.m. at the home of Banesa Gutierrez, 25, in […]

Santa Maria Energy finally received a green light to go ahead with its well expansion project, but it comes with a price that might make the project economically unfeasible. The price the energy company will pay for the project—should it become a reality—is in the form of emissions. After months of discussion over what should […]

         The blinds behind five defendants and their attorneys opened with a whoosh. Sitting on the other side of the glass were four more defendants with attorneys standing next to them. Another defendant huddled in the hallway leading into the courtroom. Yet another sat on the opposite side of the courtroom.          All 11 are […]

The blackout that left approximately 149,000 Central Coast residents without power the evening of June 23 was most likely caused by an equipment failure at the Morro Bay switchyard, PG&E spokesman Blair Jones told the Sun. Blair called the incident a “transmission-level outage” because the equipment failure caused two large transmission lines to go offline. […]

The city of Santa Maria is rich in baseball tradition. On June 11 at City Hall, the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Commission heard a proposal from an investment group hoping to bring some of that tradition back to Santa Maria. The purpose of the meeting was to present the idea to the commission and […]

The trial of Rhonda Wisto and Frank York is over. On May 8, the last of five defendants who faced conspiracy and murder charges in the killing of 15-year-old Santa Maria teen Dystiny Myers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the speedy hearing, a standing-room-only courthouse filled with green-ribbon-wearing […]

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced on March 12 that her office found no evidence of criminal violations committed by Santa Maria Police Department personnel in connection to the shooting death of officer Albert Covarrubias, Jr. Dudley’s office conducted an independent review of the matter in response to Police Chief Ralph Martin’s decision […]

         News surfaced the afternoon of Feb. 28 that the Obama administration planned to file an amicus brief in support of efforts to overturn Proposition 8. Within hours, a copy of the brief, which calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, appeared on the Internet.          The administration […]