LAW AND DISORDER
Twenty days after the election, Sheriff Jim Anderson finally
conceded defeat and pledged to work with his opponent, Lompoc
Police Chief Bill Brown, to ensure as smooth a transition as
possible. Brown beat Anderson by about 8,100 votes; 3,000
provisional ballots are left to be counted. Anderson’s campaign
manager, Richard Cochrane, has complained that the election results
were marred because “the playing field was neither fair nor
balanced,” claiming that 47,000 campaign postcards mailed in the
last week of the campaign were delivered to the wrong people
because of faulty lists provided by county elections officials.
County elections czar Joe Holland acknowledged that the names were
wrong, but said the fliers all arrived at the right addresses and
in a timely fashion.
Sylvia Vasquez appeared in court to hear attorneys argue over
what evidence can and cannot be used in her upcoming trial on
charges that she abused her four adopted children. Judge Frank J.
Ochoa ruled that the jury will be allowed to view a cage taken from
Vasquez’s home, and may hear testimony regarding an incident that
occurred 20 years ago in which Vasquez allegedly abducted a child
from Mexico and later singed her tongue with a match. Evidence that
will not be allowed at trial includes testimony from Vasquez
alleging that her oldest adopted son sexually abused his sisters
and was violent toward animals, justifying his confinement to a
linen closet beneath the stairs. The trial is set to begin in
January.
The Santa Barbara News-Press and city officials are in
a face-off over some illegal fencing the News-Press
installed. The newspaper never obtained permission for the fence
and has been asked to take it down, but has opted to negotiate with
the city, claiming that the fencing is meant to protect pedestrians
from a routine power-washing with a hose. Among News-Press
staff, the new addition has inspired the nickname “Wrong-Wall
Wendy” for owner Wendy McCaw, who one employee said should have put
up a wall between herself and the news staff some time ago.
