Edison settles case over unpermitted work in Mission Canyon
Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced Dec. 7 that her office has reached a settlement with Southern California Edison over a grading project that caused environmental harm in the Mission Canyon area. Civil and criminal complaints alleged that between Dec. 4 and Dec. 16, 2019, SCE did unpermitted road work along 1.6 miles of Read More →
Cheesecake Factory settles SEC complaint that it misled investors
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Dec. 4 that it settled charges against The Cheesecake Factory for making misleading disclosures about the impact of COVID-19 on its business. The Calabasas-based restaurant chain made statements in its March 23and April 3 filings that it was operating sustainably. According to the SEC, those filings were materially Read More →
New state order could close restaurants, other businesses if ICUs fill up
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a revised stay-at-home order on Dec. 3 that is tied to each region of the state’s intensive care capacity. In areas where the ICU capacity falls below 15%, a stay-at-home order will be implemented for three weeks. Under this new order, the state is broken into five regions, with Ventura, Read More →
Dive boat captain indicted on 34 manslaughter charges
The captain of the dive boat Conception, which was destroyed last year in a fire in the Santa Barbara Channel that killed 34 people, was indicted Dec. 1 by a federal grand jury on manslaughter charges. Jerry Nehl Boylan, 67, of Santa Barbara, faces 34 charges of “seaman’s manslaughter,” and each charge carries a maximum Read More →
Changing of the guard: Totten nears final month as Ventura County District Attorney
After 18 years serving as Ventura County District Attorney, Greg Totten will transition to his new post as CEO for the California District Attorneys Association; Cheryl Temple will serve as a temporary replacement
Inmates may have taken state for $1B in fraudulent unemployment benefits
California’s unemployment benefits system has been rife with fraud since the pandemic began and may have handed out upwards of $1 billion to jail and prison inmates, a coalition of local, state and federal prosecutors announced at a Sacramento news conference on Nov. 24. Tens of thousands of inmates at county, state and federal prisons Read More →
Newsom issues COVID curfew for most of state
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health announced a limited “stay-at-home order” requiring all non-essential work, travel and gatherings to stop between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the vast majority of the state’s population. The curfew order applies to all counties in California that are in the most restrictive, or purple, Read More →
