On Oct. 6, the city of Santa Maria issued a formal notice canceling the City Council’s regular meeting scheduled for that evening. Originally described as “due to a lack of quorum,” the short-notice cancellation prompted a more specific explanation from the city in an Oct. 8 release. “For further clarification, the meeting was canceled per […]
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State and local leaders condemn ICE arrest on Hancock campus
A resolution to acknowledge National Immigrants Day hit the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ desk nearly 24 hours to the minute after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a father of five in Santa Maria. “While dropping his daughter off at Allan Hancock College, he was taken into ICE custody. The circumstances of his […]
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Santa Maria court bomber pleads guilty
The 22-year-old man arrested for detonating a bomb inside of a Santa Maria courthouse pleaded guilty to the crime, about one week shy of the incident’s two-year anniversary. As part of a recent plea agreement, Nathaniel James McGuire admitted that he walked into Santa Barbara County Superior Court’s Santa Maria division on Sept. 24, 2024, […]
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Husband, wife convicted of drug dealing at Lompoc prison
A multi-month drug smuggling scheme that ended with a $6,600 payday for one Lompoc couple could cost them a combined 10 years in federal prison. On Aug. 5, former correctional officer Paul Betancourt and his wife, Sylvia Betancourt, each pled guilty to periodically sneaking contraband into Federal Correction Complex (FCC) Lompoc over the course of […]
