Full of black powder, a can the size of a coffee tin wrapped in duct tape and glued-on nails was inside of Nathaniel James McGuire’s backpack the day he was arrested on terrorism charges in Santa Maria, according to law enforcement. On Sept. 25, 2024, McGuire allegedly threw his backpack into Santa Maria Superior Court’s […]
Santa Barbara County Superior Court
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 […]
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 […]
Practice paradox: Orcutt youth football coach sues Central Coast league after his team was disqualified from competition, he was suspended
After John De Marco received a five-year suspension from coaching, he took the Central Coast Youth Football League (CCYFL) to court, seeking a trial by jury to examine the incident that kicked off the conflict earlier this summer. On Aug. 17, seven young footballers from the volunteer coach’s team—made up of 24 kids total, between […]

