For the first time in Santa Barbara County’s history, a Superior Court judge concluded that the District Attorney’s Office broke a state mandate designed to root out racial discrimination in judicial settings. In mid-August, a hearing to determine former Santa Maria resident and convicted felon Kevin Wayne Burgess’ sentence in a domestic violence case ended […]
District Attorney
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Wrong-way driver awaits sentence for murder
Alerted by more than a dozen 911 calls, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers were on the lookout for a northbound driver in the southbound lane of Highway 101 around 5:15 a.m., on Sept. 8, 2024. One caller described the driver—later identified as Santa Maria resident Kendra Lynn Cordova—as weaving between oncoming cars at 90 miles […]
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County lawsuit ends with $1.2 million penalty for Foods Co. parent company
Questionable and inconsistent calorie counts on some food products’ packaging were at the heart of a multi-year civil suit filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. That suit concluded in early June when Judge Thomas Anderle ordered the Kroger Company, which owns Foods Co. stores in Lompoc and Santa Maria, to pay $1.25 million in […]
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Convicted of patricide, Lompoc resident awaits June sentencing
While responding to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance in 2022, local law enforcement heard a man’s voice coming from inside of the house at 210 North D St. in Lompoc: “Send someone now!” According to court documents, while kicking down the front door, Lompoc police officers heard the man screaming. As soon as […]
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Fatal DUI case closes with probation sentence over District Attorney’s call for state prison time
Convicted of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, 29-year-old Katelyn Fultz will serve less than 300 days in Santa Barbara County jail, followed by five years of probation. At around 6:50 a.m. on May 1, 2025, Fultz crossed over double yellow lines on Highway 154 and crashed head-on into 24-year-old Carly Howard’s vehicle. Howard died within a […]
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Caught on camera: New evidence based on bus video footage led to mistrial, guilty plea in deadly forklift crash case
Nearly two years after pleading not guilty to vehicular manslaughter, Santa Maria resident David Baskett agreed to plead guilty to killing a local resident while driving a forklift. Baskett’s March 24 plea followed new evidence that Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Clausen said contradicted what the 83-year-old originally told Santa Maria Police Department […]
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Santa Barbara County District Attorney charges Lompoc council member with eight felonies
Fraud. Forgery. Identity theft. Allegedly fabricated, a series of counterfeit invoices for construction work is at the heart of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s case against a Lompoc City Council member. On Nov. 19, District Attorney John T. Savrnoch filed eight felony charges against Councilmember Stephen Bridge, including two counts of grand theft of […]
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Rule-bender: One Buellton cannabis grower has paid about $2 million in penalties for air quality violations
In the span of two years, Central Coast Agriculture—a cannabis cultivator with facilities in Buellton and Lompoc—agreed to pay nearly $2 million for breaking state and local air quality laws. That sum doesn’t include two pending violations issued by Santa Barbara County’s Air Pollution Control District (APCD) in 2025 awaiting resolution, according to the agency, […]
