National Player of the Week
Hypnotic performance
UCSB baseball’s Kirtley earns honor - A3
Hypnotist James Kellogg Jr. to lead volunteers in on-stage adventures at Santa Barbara Fair and Expo - B1
Our 167th Year
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T U E SDAY, A PR I L 18 , 2 023
SpaceX ready to soar again After Friday’s successful launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, SpaceX prepares for upcoming flight test for Starship from Texas
Sentencing delayed for Santa Maria drug dealer Detectives confiscated about 17,000 pills laced with fentanyl By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
GAVIN STAY / SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-PRESS
Westmont Observatory is in the foreground of this photo taken of Friday’s SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Westmont student Gavin Stay took this photo and emailed it to the News-Press.
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
The sky’s the limit for SpaceX — as long as the weather cooperates. Weather conditions postponed SpaceX’s launches repeatedly last week at Vandenberg Space Force Base until finally, close to midnight Friday, the Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 4E and brought the Transporter-7 mission into orbit. Weather conditions were much better on Friday night than on Thursday, Jesse Anderson of SpaceX told people watching the livestream at SpaceX.com. She was speaking
from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne. She said the flight marked SpaceX’s 24th launch for the year. The launch happened without any problem, with an announcer saying, “Go, Falcon! Go, Transporter” as the bright flames lit up the night. Over in Montecito, Westmont College student Gavin Stay took a photo of the long trail of flames, as seen from the night sky with the Westmont Observatory in the foreground. And a sonic boom — the result of SpaceX flying faster than the speed of sound — was heard throughout Santa Barbara County. On board the flight were 51 spacecraft,
including CubeSats, MicroSats, hosted payloads and orbital transfer vehicles. SpaceX’s adventures are continuing at Starbase in Texas as Elon Musk’s company prepares for Thursday’s launch for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket. The 62-minute launch window is scheduled to start at 6:28 a.m. Pacific time. The launch will stream live at SpaceX.com, but like all SpaceX flights, it could be delayed by the weather. Starship is designed to transport astronauts and cargo from Earth to the moon — and eventually to Mars and beyond.
A convicted Santa Maria drug dealer will have another month and a half to wait until he knows how long he’ll be sentenced to serve in federal prison beyond the time he’s already spent behind bars in Santa Barbara County Jail and the federal Men’s Detention Center in Los Angeles. That’s because the longawaited sentencing of Victor Anthony Olivera Hernandez, 22, was postponed Monday. “The defendant’s sentencing hearing was continued to June 1 at 8 a.m. in Los Angeles,” Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told the News-Press. Mr. Olivera Hernandez had been scheduled to stand trial in February after he initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, but he switched his plea to guilty on Dec. 8. He faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison to a maximum of life imprisonment when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court. Detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Bureau of Investigations arrested Mr. Olivera Hernandez on Aug. 4 after collecting evidence and
surveilling him selling drugs, starting in July. When they stopped his car, officers found two clear plastic bags, each containing approximately 10 blue “M30” pills of suspected fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, in his pants’ pocket. Blue “M30” pills are often counterfeit oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl. Then they searched his house and backyard in the 100 block of Curryer Street in Santa Maria. During their search, detectives confiscated about 17,000 pills laced with fentanyl, 22.5 pounds of cannabis flower, 27 grams of MDMA or Ecstasy, 218 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, three grams of cocaine and hundreds of acid tabs. Some of the drugs seized were found in areas accessible to children living there. Mr. Olivera Hernandez told detectives that all he sold was marijuana, and that the other drugs they found did not belong to him and that he was holding them for another individual. He originally was prosecuted locally, but then the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached out and said it wanted to prosecute him on federal charges. Santa Barbara County prosecutors readily agreed. email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com
dmason@newspress.com
Bonta announces 17 felony arrests in connection to mass shootings By TOM JOYCE THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Yuba City Police Chief Brian Baker and Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupré announced 17 felony arrests in California after a months-long investigation into rival criminal syndicates on Monday. The groups committed many crimes, including five attempted murders in Sutter, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Yolo and Merced counties. Additionally, members of these groups allegedly had involvement with a mass shooting at a Stockton Sikh temple on August 27, 2022, and a Sacramento Sikh temple shooting on March 23, 2023. Law enforcement prevented two more shootings from occurring due to its investigation, according to a press release from Mr. Bonta’s office. The investigation culminated on Sunday when law enforcement agents issued search warrants at 20 locations and seized 41 firearms. “Today, California is safer thanks to collaboration,
determination, and swift action by DOJ agents and our law enforcement partners in Sutter County,” Mr. Bonta said in the release. “No family should ever have to worry about drive-by shootings or other forms of gun violence in the neighborhoods where their children live and play. As a result of this joint law enforcement effort, we’re taking guns off the street and putting suspected gang members and their associates behind bars. Together, we’re putting public safety first. Thank you to our law enforcement partners across the state for working with us day in and day out to protect the people of California.” The investigation started in February 2023. It was a cooperative effort with the Yuba Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force (NET5), Yuba City Police Department, California Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Operations Unit, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Special Operations Unit, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Sutter County District Attorney’s Office,
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Santa Barbara Airport staff will discuss the master plan update today before the Santa Barbara City Council.
SB City Council to hear update on airport plan By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Attorney General Rob Bonta
techniques to work alongside local law enforcement to enhance investigations into violent criminals and organized crime throughout the state.
Santa Barbara Airport staff today will provide a progress report to the City Council on SBA’s Master Plan Update, the first of a four-meeting blitzkrieg they are unleashing this week to garner support from city officials and the public. The council will meet at Santa Barbara City Hall, 735 Anacapa St., starting at 2 p.m. “This informational item is the beginning of the public outreach on the process and an invitation to participate in the future of the
SBA and possible new projects,” airport staff said. The objective is to provide the community and public officials with proper guidance for future airport development, which will satisfy aviation demands and be wholly compatible with the environment. Informational meetings will also be held with the Airport Commission on Wednesday, the Planning Commission on Thursday and the public at an airport open house, also on Thursday. The draft plan will be Please see COUNCIL on A4
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in s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
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according to the release. The investigation also received assistance from the California Highway Patrol, Woodland Police Department, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Merced County Sheriff’s Office, Vacaville Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Stanislaus Special Investigations Unit, and several local, state, and federal task forces. When law enforcement officials took action on Sunday, they also received assistance from the California Highway Patrol, Stockton Police Department, Ceres Police Department, Manteca Police Department, Merced Police Department, Sutter County Sheriff’s Office, and the Tracy Police Department. “Through collaboration, the California Department of Justice’s Special Operations Unit provides statewide enforcement for combating violent crime, organized criminal activity, gangs, and organized crime groups, as well as intrastate drug trafficking,” the release from Bonta’s office said. “The unit uses the latest technology and advanced investigative
Sudoku................. B3 Sports ................A3-4 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 17-30-31-36-46 Mega: 1
Monday’s DAILY 4: 7-9-8-2
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 23-27-41-48-51 Mega: 22
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 8-11-16-23-27
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-02-08 Time: 1:42.18
Monday’s POWERBALL: 23-25-35-63-64 Meganumber: 25
Monday’s DAILY 3: 5-3-7 / Midday 8-9-9