Month: September 2026

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Barbara fifth grader is turning her fascination with orcas into something other kids and families can experience.

Ten-year-old Malia Westheimer is the voice behind Kiko, a curious young orca at the center of the new children’s podcast “SuperPod Kids.”

From a home studio in Santa Barbara, Malia and her father, film and television composer Cody Westheimer, are bringing Kiko’s underwater world to life through storytelling, music and sound.

“She tries new things. She’s the main character and she learned stuff,” Malia said.

The father-daughter duo created “SuperPod Kids” together, drawing partly from Malia’s own childhood adventures and experiences.

“It’s about a young orca named Kiko, who is loosely based on Malia and her childhood adventures and the kind of developmental milestones she’s navigated,” Cody said.

Malia helped shape the characters and performs in the series. Cody writes, directs and builds the music and sound around them, turning their ideas into an ocean adventure for young listeners.

The stories follow Kiko as she navigates friendship, fear, family and belonging while introducing children to the ocean and the animals that live there.

“My hope is that families can find some joy in listening, but also learn some emotional lessons,” Cody said.

The podcast is geared toward young children and also includes activity materials and guides designed to help parents and teachers continue conversations beyond each episode.

For Malia, the hope is that Kiko’s adventures encourage other children to explore their own interests and ideas.

“My hope is that they hear this story, get inspired and tell other people,” she said.

The first season of “SuperPod Kids” is available now.

Learn more about the podcast, activity books and parent and teacher resources at superpodkids.com.

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CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) – One of the biggest hurdles for the Surfliner Inn project in Carpinteria could take place tonight after years of reviews and public meetings.

It will be before the Carpinteria Planning Commission at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

This is a 36-room boutique hotel in the parking lot currently used for the Carpinteria AMTRAK station.

The city’s Architectural Review Board recommended the design for approval for the two-story building in December 2024. 

Opponents are concerned about parking impacts and the loss of mountain views.

Supports say it is a good fit in the city where there was once a depot building. It is also said to have the potential to be a revenue generator on various levels – adding up to an estimated $1.42 million annually for the City of Carpinteria through Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), lease payments, and local sales tax from those visiting and staying at the hotel.

For those concerned about the loss of parking, the developers have a nearby site they will convert before constructing the inn. That will be a new $2 million parking lot and restroom to serve the beach, parks and downtown at no cost to taxpayers.

The Carpinteria Planning Commission project details can be found on the city’s web page.

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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Maria hardware store destroyed by a fire is setting up a temporary location to stay in business.

Santa Maria Supply serves a lot of local customers specializing in manual labor.

The store’s long-standing building on Blosser Road experienced what the fire marshal declared an accidental electrical fire about a week ago in the early hours of a Saturday morning.

The extensive damage caused by the fire led officials to declare the building a total loss.

“It’s really hard seeing something that you and your family have worked so hard for, just basically turning to dust,” says Johnny Maravilla, a Santa Maria Supply co-owner.

The family who owns and operates Santa Maria Supply, as well as their local customers, say it would be difficult to find other nearby stores that sell the same products.

“We have customers that come down all the way from Paso,” says Maravilla. “We have customers as far as Lompoc, Santa Barbara area that come down because they still farm in those areas, but it’s not as big. And they know that we have a lot of different supplies that they need.”

The store serves the needs of industrial laborers, construction and farm workers, landscapers, welders and more, who rely on its unique inventory.

Some of their primary items are branded and industrial grade work attire like heavy duty rain boots, safety vests, and nitrile gloves bought by the case (extra thick for berry harvesters).

“We sell a lot of just different tools like sod cutters, buckets for harvesting blackberries, raspberries, a lot of industrial Igloos, canopies,” says Maravilla. “We sell a full line of portable sanitation supplies.”

The owners worked with their insurance company and the City Of Santa Maria to open a temporary location here at 111 West Chapel Street, just off Broadway.

“I would say we’re about maybe 75% open at this point,” says Maravilla.

The store’s owners expressed gratitude for local firefighters, city leaders, and community members who acted quickly so customers can experience as little impact from the loss of the Blosser building as possible.

“Hopefully by the end of this week, we’ll be back up to 100%,” says Maravilla. “In the long term, I think we’re going to look back at it and be like it was a speed bump.”

As they stock the temporary location, the store’s owners are doing as much business as they can through their online services, which can best be accessed through their Instagram page by clicking here.

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ISLA VISTA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Isla Vista economy, quiet for the last two months, is waking up again.

Thousands of students have arrived for the new school year at UC Santa Barbara nearby, which starts later this week.

Over the weekend, the new and returning residents on and off campus were busy bringing their belongings in and getting their living areas organized. That includes dorms, apartments and shared homes.

The businesses in the area, in a summer slump are now ramping up with more customers and say they calculate their business on a 12-month cycle but also know the weeks when the students are not around will be significantly slower.

Off campus there will also be a boost in sales in Goleta at Target on Hollister Ave. and across the street at stores such as Costco, Home Depot and Ross Dress for Less with the student population stocking up.

To manage all of this on Saturday and Sunday, extra staff was on hand to help shuttle large carts full of belonging to the dorm rooms and assist students and their families.

(More details, video and photos will be added here later today.)

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