Photo: Kurt Hixenbaugh
April 7, 2021 – Santa Barbara County, Ca.
With vaccinations continuing apace throughout the county, conforming to national and state guidelines regarding business closures has become a true hot-button issue.
Evidence of that came on April 5th with the criminal charges filed against 49-year-old Orcutt resident and business owner Kurt Hixenbaugh. Hixenbaugh, a former sergeant attached to the San Luis Obispo Police Department and now the owner of the popular wine and beer bar “Vino et Amicis,” has been vocal in rejection of state-mandated orders to close his establishment’s doors since they were issued this past winter.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raqeul Zick, an ongoing investigation conducted by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control provided sufficient evidence of Hixenbaugh’s violations for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney to file multiple misdemeanor charges which each “carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a $1000 fine.”
For his part, Hixenbaugh has been more than merely vocal in his defiance of Governor Gavin Newsom’s fiat which ordered the shutdown of all retail, dining, and entertainment venues throughout the state. Hixenbaugh went so far as to post a YouTube video opening critical of Newsom and promising his ongoing defiance to any such orders.
Photo: Courtesy Facebook.com
