Santa Maria, CA

One restaurant was storing produce in an employee restroom. Another was washing dishes in a bucket. And a third was using a hose from the mop sink in its food preparation. Those were some of the notable conditions San Luis Obispo County health inspectors found in June during hundreds of surprise visits to eating and drinking establishments.

Unsealed court documents in the Kristin Smart murder case include allegations of a discovery of human blood and witnesses who claim to have seen suspicious activity at the family home of the suspects. Smart hasn't been seen since disappearing on the walk from a party to her dorm on Memorial...

Central Coast residents covered by Anthem Blue Cross are discovering that they cannot receive their regular in-network care at Dignity Health locations after a contract between the two entities was severed earlier this month. This means that Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, as well as French Hospital Medical...

San Luis Obispo County added 253 new coronavirus cases over this past week, the Public Health Department reported Tuesday, continuing a troubling trend in which new weekly cases have nearly doubled from one week to the next for the past three weeks. Over the past month, new weekly COVID-19 cases...

Solvang’s Mission Santa Inés was evacuated on Sunday afternoon after a call to 9-1-1 stated a Hispanic male was walking into the garden area with a handgun in his hand. The man was arrested around 5 p.m. without incident once Sheriff’s deputies had evacuated visitors and church volunteers and established a perimeter. They expressed gratitude for a clear description of the subject as wearing a red-and-black flannel shirt and a gray hat worn backward. Jeckson Murcia, 23, of Solvang had a replica handgun tucked into his waistband when taken into custody. He was booked into the Main Jail and released without bail.

All California State University faculty, staff and students will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 if they access campus facilities during the fall, according to a news release sent out on Tuesday morning. The pending mandate encompasses all 23 CSU campuses, including Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. The...

National health experts on Tuesday recommended that people vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear face masks indoors to prevent the spread of coronavirus in areas where transmission is “substantial” or “high.”. So what does that mean for San Luis Obispo County?. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued...

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man Sunday afternoon for brandishing a replica gun at the Santa Ines Mission in Solvang. At about 4:45 p.m., a 911 caller reported a man walking in the garden area of the mission with a handgun in his hand. The caller said the suspect was a Hispanic man with a red and black flannel shirt and grey hat turned backward, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.