Month: October 2025

Tracy Lehr

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) — A suicide awareness walk took place at Goleta Beach Park, honoring lives lost and reminding participants that no one walks alone.

The 2025 Out of the Darkness Suicide Awareness Walk on Saturday brought hundreds together to reflect, connect, and find comfort in community.

“You will be okay,” was the message echoing across the beach during the annual event, led by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and supported by local sponsors.

“It takes a lot of strength for everyone that’s here to be here today. There are a lot of emotions that come, it can be the heartache of missing a loved one, it can be joyful pain, but it’s hard to stand and be here,” said Suzanne Grimmesey with the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness.

The event began as a small local gathering but has since grown significantly. “The first one I went to had maybe 35 people at it,” said Angela Parker, a participant. “Right now, I think we’re well over 350 people walking and an incredible amount of funds have been raised for suicide awareness research,” added Grimmesey.

During the ceremony, walkers held up colored beads to represent their personal connections to loss. “As we call out your bead colors, hold your beads high so we can see who you are walking for today,” said one event speaker. “Purple represents the loss of a friend or relative. We thank you for being here, and we honor your loved one.”

For Linda Silva, the walk was deeply personal. “It makes me feel good that we’re raising awareness so that no other parent or family or sibling has to go through what I’ve gone through,” Silva said. “We have a team of about 60 of us, and they’re all here to support us, in memory of my son.”

Others said they found unexpected healing through the event.

“My brother committed suicide. My mother wanted to come to the first one that we heard about, and I took her out of obligation,” Parker said. “I thought this was going to be the most depressing day of my life. But I came back so uplifted. The emotion is actually comfort, you see other people going through the same thing. It’s everybody. It’s not a type of person or a color of a person. Every family can experience it, and it makes you feel less alone.”

That message of resilience carried throughout the morning. “I’m not okay,” said Elliot Davis, an Out of the Darkness speaker. “I will be. You keep getting up. You keep fighting. And even though you’re not okay today, I promise you, if you do the work, you will be.”

For help, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

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Jarrod Zinn

BUELLTON, Calif. (KEYT) – There are new banners along the Avenue of Flags in the city of Buellton.Local artists of all ages are being featured.

The Arts & Culture Committee of the City of Buellton has just unveiled the newest series of banners for its community art project.

This year, the theme is taking creativity “Up In The Air.”

“I really like this theme,” says returning artist and Buellton sixth-grader Millie Firey. “It’s just so colorful and it’s awesome.”

Over the past two months, last year’s ocean-themed designs have come down, making way for this year’s fresh, aerial-inspired exhibit.

“I tried a unicorn and I thought it would be cool,” says Buellton resident Carina Sanchez. “So I just went for it.”Since the project launched in 2022, it’s soared in popularity showcasing nearly 100 local artists over the years.

“I like drawing and I think it’s a really fun way to get people into drawing,” says artist Valentina Torres.

Thanks to continued generosity from the Buellton City Council, additional sponsors like PG&E have enabled the addition of the Zazzle store where you can purchase pieces of the featured artwork.

“Check it out,” says PG&E representative Eric Daniels. “You can purchase some of this art on other types of products and support the kids and residents who are involved in it.”

This year’s collection features 70 artists ranging in age from just 5 years old to 80.

“It makes me feel proud that my it’s up there and made me feel proud that somebody really liked it so much,” says Firey.

“I wish this program would go for, like, 230 years or even more,” says another artist from Buellton, Hazel Hawthorne. “It’s just so fun!”

City officials hope visitors will see Buellton as an outdoor gallery featuring local talent and community spirit.

For details on how to purchase some of this art, or to support the city’s Arts and Culture Committee, you can find their website by clicking here.

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John Palminteri

ISLA VISTA, Calif. (KEYT) – It may be the beach location, or the demand for rooms, but housing prices in the Santa Barbara top a new list of expensive college towns in America.

It was put out by Redfin.com.

Specifically in Isla Vista, thousands of students cram themselves into a small community. Some homes on Del Playa Drive overlooking the Pacific Ocean with 40-foot bluffs, have in excess of 40 beds.

The housing price on average for the Santa Barbara South Coast is valued at about $2-million.   

UC Santa Barbara nearby has a rotating population of about 25,000 students looking for a place to live either in college dorms or off campus housing.   It has put a strain on the nearby community of Goleta. Also, campus leaders have been working on large dorm plans, some that have had hours of discussion and pushback from people critical of the design ideas.

Redfin says next in line is Boca Raton, FL, home to Florida Atlantic University. It has over 30,000 students, and has a median home-sale price of more than $820,000. 

These costs translate down to rent costs.

“Home prices–and, by extension, rent–in some college towns have climbed so high they’re increasingly out of reach for students, faculty and staff,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “In a place like Santa Barbara or Flagstaff, high housing costs may push faculty and staff to live far from campus, and it also deters some professors from teaching there altogether. For students, high costs may mean they have to take on more debt and/or live far from campus.”

On the flip side, the study shows the least expensive college town in the U.S. is Dayton, OH, home to two major schools: Wright State University and the University of Dayton.   Dayton’s median home-sale price is roughly $137,000, making it not only the cheapest college town to buy a home, but one of the cheapest places to buy a home in the U.S.

In Isla Vista UCSB student Ajah Butler has housing without a burden, but says, “I have a friend who got a housing contract last minute and if she didn’t get the housing contract I don’t know, she would have probably been homeless.”

A former student Seth Husselstein, “I have a hard time focusing in general, so when you have a roommate playing “league” at 3 in the morning you’re trying to cram an econ assignment, you’re trying to knock that out sitting there you can’t focus, you hear screaming and yelling.”

A mom who has three teens ages 17, 18, 19 says, “I have never seen like this for young adults. I actually think this something  that they often think about they often feel like they don’t experience the same things at home  that they would   on their own but   that’s really not an option for them in this town,” said Laura Costilla.

  One luxury we’re told, for a student in a house of seven, is paying about $1500 a month for her own room. “But is just a little cube but it is just my bed  and I have a little walking route around my bed but it’s worth it.”

Redfin research: 

Most Expensive College Towns, By Median Home-Sale Price (2025)

Town
Notable college
Median home-sale price
Median home-sale price, YoY growth

Santa Barbara, CA
University of California, Santa Barbara
$1,964,170
4%

Boca Raton, FL
Florida Atlantic University
$822,701
9.3%

Flagstaff, AZ
Northern Arizona University
$695,902
6.3%

Corvallis, OR
Oregon State University
$568,507
2.1%

Orem, UT
Utah Valley University
$517,224
6.8%

Eugene, OR
University of Oregon
$501,571
1.7%

Provo, UT
Brigham Young University
$474,745
7.9%

Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan
$464,495
-3.4%

Manchester, NH
University of New Hampshire, Manchester and Southern New Hampshire University
$456,096
6.9%

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Santa Barbara singer-songwriter, businessman, and philanthropist, Pete Muller, joined your Morning News to previews his upcoming album release and performances!

Muller will be performing at SoHo Restaurant & Music Club tonight in Santa Barbara alongside Stephen Kellogg.

On November 14th, Muller’s 7th studio album “One Last Dance” will be released, featuring artwork from a local artist right here in Santa Barbara.

For tickets to Mullers show at SoHo restaurant, you can visit his website.

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