Month: October 2025

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A major construction project along De La Vina Street is shaking up Santa Barbara’s local business scene, forcing shops and restaurants to adapt as daily operations take a hit.

The two-year bridge widening project, designed to improve safety and traffic flow, has instead slowed traffic and limited customer access, leaving some business owners worried about staying afloat.

“We’ve definitely seen fewer customers coming in,” said Maria Ortiz, manager at Cris Market. “Tighter parking makes it harder for people to stop by, and it’s been a challenge to adjust.”

From restaurants to coffee shops, business owners along De La Vina Street are finding creative ways to adapt, but uncertainty remains as the construction continues.

As the noise of jackhammers and heavy machinery fills the street, Santa Barbara’s local businesses are learning to navigate a new, disrupted rhythm of daily life.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The News Channel 12 Turkey Drive kicks off on Monday, starting a four-week campaign to help support thousands of Central Coast families and community members in need.

The annual fundraiser is scheduled to run through Tuesday, Nov. 20 and will once again benefit clients with Good Samaritan Shelter and the SLO Food Bank.

“We are so excited to kick off another season,” said Kirsten Cahoon, Good Samaritan Shelter Homeless Services Director. “It’s our favorite time of the year around Good Samaritan to just really see our community and see how much our community supports us and the people that we serve every day.”

The Turkey Drive has been an important outreach campaign for News Channel 12 for more than 20 years and has helped provide a traditional holiday meal for thousands of families and individuals over the past two decades.

“Giving out turkeys is yes about nutrition, but mainly it’s about dignity and the ability for people to celebrate during a time when people have time loved traditions, that they want to participate in with their families,” said Savannah Colevans, SLO Food Bank Communications Senior Manager. “By donating a turkey, by donating money, that allows us to buy turkeys and you’re really helping people be able to participate, instead of having an empty table.”

Online contributions can be made now through Nov. 20 with donors able to select which non-profit organization they would like to support financially.

“We always encourage folks to donate online,” said. Colevans. “The SLO Food Bank has a lot of purchasing power through food rescue, through buying in bulk through, deals that we get through various connections, and so with your funds, we’re able to multiply them to buy multiple meals with each dollar provided.”

The fundraiser culminates with an all-day collection on Thursday, Nov. 20 with several in-person drop-off locations, including at the News Channel 3-12 Santa Maria station, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Lompoc and SLO Food Bank warehouse in San Luis Obispo.

“These donations are so important,” said Cahoon. “Every year the need just grows and the amount of people that are asking us for assistance grows, so we’re really excited to see the community come out like they always do. I am so incredibly grateful every year to see the community and so many familiar faces that have really made this their tradition with their families or their businesses. It’s really beautiful and really shows the season of giving for us. It just really makes me grateful to be part of this amazing community.”

Another way to contribute is through the purchase of a “Turkey Buck” at participating area markets, including California Fresh Market in San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach, and Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo.”

Turkey Bucks purchased in San Luis Obispo County will be directed to the SLO Food Bank, while those in Santa Barbara County will go to Good Samaritan Shelter.

For more information about the NewsChannel 12 Turkey Drive or to donate, click here.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A temporary water intake line will be going through repairs for about four weeks in the coastal waters off Santa Barbara where it starts the flow into the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant.

The Offshore Desal Pump Platform Stabilization Project is a vital link to two offshore intake pump structures.

The pump structures are located about half a mile offshore in approximately 35 feet of water just east of Stearns Wharf.

Pacific Maritime has a 270-foot-long barge named Ocean Protector loaded with necessary equipment and materials.  The barge will be to the East of Stearns Wharf for about a month.  That includes the rocks, the crane and the crew which will be on board 24 hours a day.    There are also divers.    It will be a 50-year strengthening plan.

The plant was constructed in 1991 as part of the original plan to add a new water source. After some use, the plant went quiet.

In 2016-2017 the plant was reactivated. City of Santa Barbara Director of Water Resources, Joshua Haggmark said desal is,  “behind the scenes, quietly providing about 30 percent of the city’s water so it’s playing a really important part of that.”

It was then discovered that one of the screen platforms were suspended about 18 inches above the sea floor, leaving space beneath the structure. They are not braced properly for the strongest storms. 

The project will implement a permanent repair in part using the large rocks around the pipeline at the precise location where sea water is brought in.

The Federal Government provided 75 percent of the project  cost of just over $5-million dollars, plus there’s financial help from a partner, the Montecito Water District. 

Now was the time to do the work, not during an emergency or a break.

Haggmark said, “and that could really compromise our ability to operate our plan and take a long time to coordinate and get out there  we have to do a lot to protect the environment when we are out there and it is  much better to do it in a planned situation.”   

From the facility on Yanonali Street the desal water is not blended with existing water. “it goes right into the system and pretty much anyone in the downtown area is primarily getting desal water right now,”   said Haggmark. The desal plant process had sophisticated filters used worldwide. Some minerals are added back into the water.

The actual screens at the intake were carefully designed and are regularly cleaned to make sure they are efficient and sea life is protected.

Haggmark said, “it’s a tight weave but it really keeps anything out from being pulled into the system.”

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Jarrod Zinn

LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) – Residents in Vandenberg Village are becoming increasingly concerned about the welfare of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.

Now the FBI is involved, and the search radius has grown significantly.

We’ve learned Melodee’s father passed away when she was a baby, and posts on social media indicate her mother Ashlee is known to struggle with her mental health.

The young girl was reported missing on October 14th by administrators at Lompoc Unified School District, after observing an unusually long extended absence.

Law enforcement officers say Ashlee Buzzard, mother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard is being uncooperative with the investigation, and her family says she won’t even speak to them, despite their efforts to check on Melodee.

“Throughout the investigation and up to this point, Ashlee has not been cooperative with the investigation, has not been able to provide us a reasonable explanation or evidence of Melodee’s well-being or location for that matter,” says Raquel Zick, spokesperson for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

In cooperation with the FBI, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has determined through investigation that Melodee was last seen in a rental car with her mother Ashlee on October 7th.

“We’ve been able to confirm a sighting as recent as October 7th, so we’re now looking from October 7th to when she was reported as missing to law enforcement on October 14th,” says Zick.

Detectives have determined that Ashlee may have driven Melodee in a white Chevrolet Malibu outside of Santa Barbara county, possibly as far away as the state of Nebraska.

The rented Chevy Malibu is no longer in Ashlee’s possession.

“That’s the thing,” says Kandice Valrie, who lives In Lompoc. “If she’s out of state, she has to be with, hopefully somebody that’s a family and there’s no known relatives for the mother. Other than her mother. And we don’t know where she’s at. I haven’t heard anything from her.”

Despite the community’s high level of interest, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office is asking them to stand down from their own search efforts to allow investigators to do their jobs.

“Our job is not to interfere with the investigation,” says Valerie. “We’re just trying to find Melodee. We don’t want to cause any harm or mess up anything.”

The most recent known photograph is reported to be approximately two years old, and neighbors say her hair may be shorter and she may be thinner than in the photo.

If any members of the public have seen Melodee or if they have any information at all, they are encouraged to contact the sheriff’s criminal investigations division. 

Those wishing to remain anonymous can provide information through the tip line at (805) 681-4171 or online by clicking here.

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