Month: July 2025

John Palminteri

CARPINTERIA, Calif. – Buckets and bags of trash and other items have been retrieved on Central Coast beaches since the 4th of July weekend in focused cleanups.

Thousands of people came out at many popular seaside locations including Carpinteria City Beach, Butterfly Beach in Montecito, West Beach in Santa Barbara and Shoreline Park.

Although city and county officials saw less widespread trash, there were overflowing trash cans and many areas that had discarded items without an attempt to clean up.

Some efforts were led by the City of Santa Barbara and the non-profit groups, Channel Keeper and Tidy Seas.

At each location, hundreds of pounds of trash was collected either during organized clean ups, or over the three-day weekend by both volunteers and community members in the area.

Both Carpinteria and Santa Barbara have a designated group for volunteers to clean up specific sites. . They are “Carpinteria Beautiful” and “Santa Barbara Beautiful.”

The city of Santa Barbara also has a forward planning Sustainability Department that works with its staff, volunteers, and other departments on these types of projects at the beach, nearby streets and creeks. Extra trash cans and boxes were added in areas expected to have large crowds over the weekend.

Preplanning was done weeks in advance by the Waterfront, Public Works and the Parks and Recreation Departments.

Monday morning, 150 Junior Lifeguards in Carpinteria who are taking part in seven weeks of activities, learned about environmental responsibilities and joined in on a clean up. They marched from their starting point in search of leftover bottles, cans, paper and microplastics. The kids came back with their discoveries and took part in a prize raffle for their efforts. The effort was supported by Mountain Air Sports and the Santa Barbara Landing with staff and many giveaway gifts.

City Councilman Wade Nomura visited the program to see what the Junior Lifeguards were learning. “Seeing the youth getting involved in this especially at our beach and oceans is outstanding. We try to train them but then we get programs like this,  it makes a huge difference,” he said.

Ryan Wong with Tidy Seas came with pop-ups, buckets and special trash pickers donated by the City of Santa Barbara and Sherwin Williams paint.  As he filled up large bags he said, “we got cigarette butts,  we have candy wrappers. beer bottles,  beer cans a lot of fireworks shrapnel and a kids chair found on the bike path.”      

Sunday morning The Tidy Seas non profit was out between the harbor and the wharf with a solid load of larger items and all the way down to micro plastics. “Staying busy this weekend, cleaning up the beach and educating from the young to the old,” said Wong.

Lexi Persoon is with the City of Carpinteria Aquatics and Junior Lifeguards program. She says, “I think once you teach children when they are young  how to take care of the earth they will do that into their adulthood. I think a lot of them already have those values now but to reenforce those behaviors is something we want to do in our program.”

Members of the Carpinteria Rotary were out Sunday evening on the city beach for a cleanup effort followed by a pizza party on the sand as the sun set.

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Jarrod Zinn

TEMPLETON, Calif. – A piece of Templeton’s history was destroyed in a fire over the 4th of July weekend.

It was started by an illegal firework, and investigators are now looking for the people responsible.

For more than a century, Templeton Feed & Grain has been a community staple, and a visual icon – making its mark even on the city’s emergency service vehicles, which display an image of the structure.

“It’s been here 121 years and someone decided that this year they were going to burn it down, which is terrible,” says Nick Perez, who grew up in Templeton and now lives in Atascadero.

On Friday night, an illegal firework was thrown at the historic building, sparking a massive fire.

Residents were advised to conserve water while firefighters battled the blaze.

“My crews arrived on scene, and they actually saw active smoke and fire,” says Tom Peterson, chief of the Templeton Fire Department. “They upgraded it to a commercial response. When I arrived on scene, I asked for a what was called a second alarm because we had fire actually coming out through the roof of the Feed and Grain itself.”

Three days later, firefighters are still trying to put out hotspots while a full demolition is taking place simultaneously.

“Unfortunately, due to the amount of damage, it became unsafe,” says chief Peterson. “So, yeah, it has to be completely taken down.”

A group of 4 to 6 individuals dressed in dark clothing, one carrying a backpack, are of interest to authorities, as well as a group of people who may have spoken to them just before the fire broke out.

“It’s the—kind of the icon of our, our community. Yeah, it’s a hit,” says chief Peterson. “It was a firework. Yeah, an illegal firework. I want to make that really clear. it was an illegal firework.

Authorities are asking for anyone with additional information, images or video footage to contact the Templeton Fire Department or SLO County Sheriff’s Office.

“You don’t just accidentally burn a place like this down, you know,” says Perez. “There has to be intent behind it. There’s no—it’s no mystery here.”

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Mina Wahab

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Locals were decked out in red, white, and blue, soaking up the sun and snapping Instagram worthy shots.

Many have escaped inland summer heat and are enjoying water sports like kayaking and surfing.

Others have gathered to listen to live music at Santa Barbara’s waterfront.

“We’re going to go and try and see some fireworks somewhere. We’re not too sure,” said a family visiting Ventura from Bakersfield.

But beneath the picturesque scenery is a harder reality that locals are still processing.

“I teach American history. So this is kind of like, you know, we celebrate it because we love this country. But at the same time, we know a lot of things are happening within it That’s, you know, going to affect a lot of people. And it just makes me sad,” said Christina Saucedo, who lives in Ventura.

During these polarizing political times, many are reflecting upon what it means to celebrate America’s birthday.

“I love this country because I escaped from a communist country and America took me in, became my second country, my beloved country. And I’m glad and I’m thankful to America that they took me in and gave me my freedom,” said Borek Volarik, who Lives in Northridge.

Elizabeth Blair says despite political unrest, she’s glad she has freedom of speech.

“We decided to reclaim the flag. And so we decided we kind of feel like it’s not our norm to do red, white and blue. But today, actually, we decided we’re going for it and we’re proud to be American,” said Blair, who lives in Goleta.

At the end of the day, locals say the true message of July 4th is that of unity and community.

“We’re going to barbecue and stay in the sun, make memories,” said Jami Hughes.

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Santa Barbara crowned a champion during week one of the Santa Barbara National Horse Show this weekend. The show is one of the city’s biggest and celebrated traditions with a variety of activities, tours and photo ops. This weekend was the multi-breed show and a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Alum was named champion.

“I’m super proud of him, it’s really hard on them to go into that arena with that many horses with the loud speakers and all that kind of noise that’s going on,” said champion Rebecca Lisberg. “So for them to be able to contain themselves and to stop and walk is a really big ask, so I’m very proud of him for doing that. I’ve owned him for about four years now and so since I’ve got him, I’ve been trying to work on like pivots and the extended gates and all that kind of stuff.”

July 9-13 is week two of the National Horse show at the Earl Warren Showgrounds and continues with its hunters and jumpers category.

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Patricia Martellotti

GOLETA, Calif. – As search teams continue looking for survivors after the deadly flooding in central Texas, Direct Relief here in California is sending aid.

Direct Relief is working with local health centers, camps, and search and rescue groups to support the emergency response in Texas.

Historic flash floods swept away homes, cars, and camps over the Fourth of July holiday weekend – killing at least 80 people.

More than $114,000 in medications and supplies have been delivered to community partners.

These partners include Texas Lions Camp and Raphael Community Free Clinic in Kerr County, as well as Lirios Pediatrics and Hope Medical Clinic in Travis County.

We supply regular medical aid to healthcare providers across the state, including in Kerr County.

This aid is immediately available to support patients and communities impacted by the flooding.

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