Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Police Department announced on a Tuesday evening social media post that it was looking for an at-risk man with dementia.
Police were looking for John Linder, 76, of Columbia. He was last seen around 6:15 p.m. in the 200 block of North Stadium Boulevard while driving a dark gray 2025 Jeep Cherokee.
Police wrote at 8:08 p.m. that they had found Linder.
Tracy Lehr
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously passed its next fiscal budget.
“So the budget that the city council passed today is a balanced budget, we are living within our means, we are implementing priority projects that are important to this community, but we still have financial challenges, so what we are doing over the next couple of months, we are identifying ways to replenish those reserves to get us into a place where we are even more financial stable,” said City of Santa Barbara Finance Director Keith DeMartini.
The city’s Finance Director said if they delay passing the budget it would have hurt the credit rating and put capitol projects on hold.
“The city’s General Fund total budget is about $260 million and the total amount that we are below our reserve policy target of around $30 million, but about $6 million of that is the amount that we dipped into our emergency reserves, so that is what the city council talked about today is the priority to replenish those disaster reserves and what they talked about today and gave decisive action was to direct staff and the finance committee is to work towards identifying specific solutions to replenishing those disaster reserves,” said DeMartini.
The goal is to have 25 percent of the fiscal budget in reserves for emergencies such as a weather-related disaster.
The city also passed a motion to direct the finance committee to find a source to fund the local housing trust fund to help with the housing crisis.
The finance director said they are also about to get funding from a streaming lawsuit that allows the city to recoup streaming service taxes to the tune of $2 million that should reduce the use of emergency reserved by a third.
“The city has been successful with some recent litigation where our existing utility users tax is applicable on streaming services like Netflix, like Disney Plus, those services and we have been very successful with that litigation so we are going to see some one time revenue going back 3 years and then we will see some ongoing revenue going forward,” said DeMartini.
During the lengthy meeting the City of Santa Barbara Fire Department started counting about 2200 votes to create a Coastal Wildfire Suppression Assessment District.
Fire Marshall Ryan DiGuilio said it passed by 52 percent.
“Tonight our ballots were returned, we mailed a little over 2,000 ballot to the coastal and coastal interior high fire hazard areas and those parcel owners had a chance to vote on a benefit assessment district which would include things like roadside clearance, chipping programs, defensible space inspections throughout these neighborhoods,” said DiGuilio.
The council passed a resolution to adopt the program after learning the district passed.
That means the owners of parcels will be assessed about $100 a year, starting next year.
A similar program is in the foothill areas for the last two decades.
“We are starting this same kind of program in the coastal and coastal interior high fire hazard areas and it will be a really big benefit to the community for wildland fire prevention,” said DiGuilio.
The interim implementation of the State Street Master Plan was the last item on the agenda and many people at the meeting wore “Open State Street” stickers spoke.
But others spoke in favor of continuing the closure.
“This tug of war needs to stop,” said Robin Elander, the Executive Director of the Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association.
Around 9:30 p.m. the council voted 5-to-2 to reauthorize Title 31, that like a bridge, allows the city to maintain the promenade for now.
Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilmember Eric Friedman voted no.
Both would like to see cars return in some fashion under the master plan.
City staff said the alternative to reopen State Street to cars in the interim would cost approximately $700,000.
Mayor Rowse said he got a message during the lengthy meeting from someone willing to cover the cost to allow cars to return to the business district along State Street.
State Street Master Planner Tess Harris said the vote won’t let municipal code Title 31 expire as it relates to the car-free, pedestrian and bicycle zone.
“So council voted to maintain the promenade in its current configuration until the master plan is implemented so we will be coming back with an ordinance that maintains that,” said Harris.
When the staff does come back councilmembers asked them to address ways to prevent electric bikes from causing problems and to consider one way traffic in the future and ways to perhaps limit the number of blocks closed to traffic.
The council also appeared confidant that parades could return in the future by creating a flexible State Street Master Plan.
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Dillon Fuhrman
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The Yuma Farmers Market is hosting Night Market happening in July.
The event is taking place every Saturday, starting July 11, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the parking lot of C-A-L Ranch store, located at 529 W. 32nd Street.
During the event, there will be food trucks, vendors, artisans, family fun and good vibes, the Farmers Market said.
This will go until the end of October. For more information about the upcoming event, call 928-390-4819.
Haley Meberg
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Cathedral City officials announce today a new $4.5 million grant has been awarded to the city to combat illicit cannabis activity.
Officials say the grant will be used to strengthen cannabis enforcement throughout the area creating improvements that they believe will improve the living standard for those in the city.
“This grant builds on the momentum we’ve created with our new cannabis ordinance and is a direct investment in the safety and quality of life of our residents,” City Manager Andrew Firestine said in a statement.
Some of these changes include the volume of law enforcement officers across various departments, modernizing preexisting city regulatory and permitting systems, expansions on environmental and public health protections; as well as addressing issues of hazardous materials, odor impacts and exposure to youth.
The funding comes as a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 64 grants which awarded the state approximately $227 million to help numerous California communities reinforce responses to public health and environmental issues surrounding illegal cannabis operations.
“The voters created a legal, regulated cannabis market and we have a responsibility to make sure it works as intended. That means continuing to crack down on illegal cannabis operations that threaten public safety, exploit workers, damage the environment and undercut legal businesses that follow the rules,” Newsom said in a statement.
Cathedral City has previously taken action to combat this problem by updating ordinances in 2024 following a number of complaints regarding persistent cannabis odors.
Improvements in odor control measurements, clearer enforcement procedures, and stricter time frames for renewals and licensing have been in practice throughout the city, with more underway.
Stay with News Channel 3 for more updates.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has sent its proposed “A-F” grading system for school districts to the governor’s office.
A Tuesday release from DESE says this submission responds to an executive order signed in January. The release says DESE will give annual grades for districts, school and charter schools.
“The goal for the A–F school grading framework is to provide families and communities with a simple, comparable, and rigorous picture of school performance,” DESE Interim Commissioner of Education Stacey Preis is quoted in the release.
Kindergarten through eighth grade will have “student academic achievement, value-added growth, and growth toward proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA), literacy, mathematics, and science,” the release says. High school grades will include “student academic achievement and value-added growth in ELA, mathematics, and science, as well as Success Ready Graduate measures and four-year graduation rate,” the release says.
