Drivers in Santa Maria may experience delays over the coming months due to road repairs. Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes whenever possible.
Repairs on various city streets in Santa Maria could lead to temporary delays for drivers for the remainder of the year. The first phase of work will begin this Monday,
Two women and a man from Santa Maria pleaded not guilty last week to fraud-related charges in which theyâre accused of using a California home to collect more than $390,000 in state medical benefits over more than a decade while living in Nevada.Â
Seferino Hernandez and Eden Bautista, both 59, and Thelma Pedroche, 62, appeared via Zoom before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Patricia Kelly on Dec. 7 and entered their pleas to the charges, including presenting a false Medi-Cal claim and criminal conspiracy.
Additionally, Bautista and Pedroche each received an enhancement accusing them of stealing more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits.
Specifically, Hernandez, Bautista and Pedroche are accused of fraudulently collecting funds from January 2005 to December 2016 for the state s in-home support services program, which allows non-medical personal care for elderly and disabled individuals in their own homes, instead of long-term care facilities, according