Santa Barbara CA

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch announced that Judge Kristy Imel sentenced Aloysius James to the maximum sentence allowed by law of life without the possibility of parole. A jury returned a verdict on February 27, 2026 of guilty of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder in the commission of the rape of thirty year-old Ofelia Sandoval, who...

A jury on April 13 found Joe A. Garcia, of Lompoc, guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of torture, for the murder of his father and for setting a dog on fire, according to Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch. On Tuesday this week, following a separate...

Details have emerged about a California couple who died unexpectedly . John Ruskey and his wife, Kristen, owned a farm and coffee company based in Goleta. The couple was attending a birthday party for friends at a home that wasn’t theirs on the night of February 7, 2026. After heading to a bedroom for the night, things took a turn from celebratory to tragic. In...

SpaceX and the California Coastal Commission have settled a lawsuit over the state agency's attempts to regulate rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. The City of Santa Barbara is excited to announce the upcoming Via Lucero Wastewater Force Main Replacement Project, a critical infrastructure improvement project designed to ensure continued reliable wastewater service for the community. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in late April and is expected to be completed by December 2026.

With tumultuous global affairs keeping our economy on the constantly stressful brink of disaster, who doesn’t want a deal right now?. For the next 10 days, your dollar-saving savior should be Santa Barbara Restaurant Week (SBRW), in which 11 restaurants are offering specially priced dinner menus from April 24 to May 3. The three-course (appetizer-entree-dessert) prix-fixe menus start at...

A drunken driver who admitted to killing a Santa Ynez woman and injuring another person in a 2025 crash was sentenced last week to probation and less than a year of jail time, a sentence the Santa Barbara County district attorney called “shocking” and unusual for a DUI case that resulted in someone’s death.

This 8,847-square-footer with five bedrooms, swanky pool deck, and tennis court on a 2.09-acre lot previously sold for $18 million in April 2023. Listed: $27 million in September 2025. Closed: $25.5 million. ·············. Off-market floops of a five-bedroom...

Flying Goat Cellars, represented by the Goldwater Institute, is challenging Santa Barbara County's wine business improvement district, or BID, which requires wineries to pay a 1% assessment on certain direct-to-consumer sales and join the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association. The mandate was approved in February 2025 by the Santa Barbara...

Investigators in Santa Barbara County are asking for the public’s help in identifying three suspects connected to an arson nearly a year and a half ago. The Dec. 5, 2024, fire happened at 478 4th Place in Solvang, at the site of the former Sear Steakhouse, according to a news release from the Santa Barbara […]