Author: KEYT

Andrew Gillies

GROVER BEACH, Calif. – A 62-year-old Grover Beach man was arrested Sunday night after he allegedly rammed a police patrol vehicle head-on while drunk and attempting to avoid arrest.

On the night of Feb. 2, officers were dispatched to the 400 block of Leoni Drive for a reported disturbance involving a vehicle stated a press release Monday from the Grover Beach Police Department.

Arriving officers found that a driver, later identified as a 62-year-old Grover Beach resident, of a 1974 Ford pickup truck had collided with another vehicle in the area detailed the Grover Beach Police Department.

According to Grover Beach Police, officers attempted to make contact with the driver who evaded the first arriving officer and attempted to leave the area in his truck when a second officer arrived at the scene and activated his overhead lights in an attempt to stop the truck.

The 62-year-old driver then accelerated his truck, steered it towards the second patrol unit, and intentionally collided head-on with the officer and his vehicle explained the Grover Beach Police Department.

The three images below, courtesy of the Grover Beach Police Department’s Facebook page, show the course the driver took from the perspective of the second responding officer’s dash cam.

Both vehicles had major damage after the collision and the officer received medical aid for minor injuries at a local hospital after the collision shared the Grover Beach Police Department.

The 62-year-old driver was arrested without further incident, was found to be under the influence at the scene, and was booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on the following charges:

PC 664/PC 187(a)-Attempted Murder

PC 245(c)-Assault with a Deadly Weapon on a Peace Officer

VC 23153(a)-DUI with Injury

Caleb Nguyen

ISLA VISTA, Calif. – Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office deputies are requesting public aid to investigate an overnight burglary at the Isla Vista CoOp Community Grocer reported after 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

Between the store closing and opening that morning, surveillance footage revealed someone broke in and stole various items, according to the SBCSO.

Security video also showed the suspect as a male in his late teens to early 20s with chin-length hair, wearing a dark Oakland A’s baseball cap, a brown coat with a tan liner, blue jeans and retro white Nike Dunk sneakers with a dark trim.

Those with additional information on identifying the suspect are asked to contact the Isla Vista Foot Patrol.

Mina Wahab

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — “Why push away so many people who want to work, who want money, and who want to have a better life for themselves?” asked Derek Garcia, a Santa Barbara resident.

It’s a question that has brought thousands of workers together in a day of (in)action, standing in solidarity with undocumented workers.

These workers are removing themselves from the workforce to highlight their impact.

It’s all part of a nationwide movement called “A Day Without Immigrants.”

“For the minority and Hispanic Latino community that is often overlooked and unseen, I think them not showing up to work today—not being in the fields picking your vegetables and fruits, not cooking in restaurants, not making your food, not doing all the things the industry relies on them for—makes a bigger impact,” said community advocate Annalisa Rivas.

On Monday, the absence of migrant workers could be felt—from Milpas Street in Santa Barbara to the fields of Oxnard.

Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners, a well-known business on Gutierrez Street near State Street, felt the impact.

Forty employees chose not to come to work, leaving the usually busy business operating with a much smaller staff. Despite the lack of workers, owner Sasha Ablitt fully supported her employees’ decision.

“We were open today because we felt if someone wanted to work, we wanted to give them the option. And we also support them in their choice to be active in this way,” said Ablitt.

She also noted that many other businesses in the area were unaware of the silent protest taking place.

But can one day really make a difference?

“If it’s a pyramid and you take out the bottom, everything collapses,” said Garcia.

Immigration advocates say just one day without undocumented workers has the power to send a strong message to policymakers.

“Some of these immigrants have been here for years, and they’re still not documented. It’s not attainable. The pathway needs to be structured in a way where everybody can access the resources they need to become documented,” said Rivas.

There is still a lot of fear in the community surrounding immigration enforcement, but community members say this movement helps put power back in the hands of undocumented workers.

“In solidarity… we’re more powerful,” said Rivas. 

Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Dons left no doubt who is the top team in the Channel League.

Behind a sensational and suffocating defense, Santa Barbara led 39-8 at halftime and cruised to a 73-37 victory to wrap up the outright league title.

San Marcos could have gained a piece of the league title with a win but the Dons were not in the sharing mood.

Point guard Diesel Lowe set the tone by scoring the Dons first 8 points that included a fast break dunk.

(Diesel Lowe scores 2 of his 19 points. Entenza Design).

UCSB-commit Luke Zuffelato sank back-to-back three-pointers as the Dons ended the first quarter up 18-6.

(UCSB-commit Luke Zuffelato makes a first quarter three-pointer. Entenza Design).

The Dons allowed just 2 points in the second half as Carter Battle, Zuffelato and DJ Wilson locked down the Royals top three offensive players Brody Green, Koji Hefner and Danny Diaz.

After a scoreless first half, Hefner ended up with 12 points with ten of those coming in the third quarter.

But the Dons kept their foot on the gas and never let the Royals get any momentum.

Zuffelato scored a game-high 23 points, Lowe added 19 points while Battle tallied 16.

(Carter Battle not only scored 16 points but he played great defense. Entenza Design).

Santa Barbara finishes 13-1 in the Channel League and heads to the playoffs with a 23-5 overall record.

San Marcos will be the second seed out of league as they finish 11-3 in the Channel League.

The CIF-Southern Section playoff pairings are released Saturday, February 8th at noon.

The first round games are Wednesday, February 12.

Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Girl power was on full display at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.

The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table hosted their annual Women in Sports event with hundreds of local female high school and college student-athletes attending the luncheon.

UCSB Director of Athletics Kelly Barsky moderated a discussion that included key note speakers Adrienne Binder Brown and Katie Spieler.

Binder Brown was a standout swimmer at San Marcos High School and went on to be an All-American at Auburn University helping the Tigers win three national championships.

Spieler starred in volleyball at Dos Pueblos High School before playing at the University of Hawai’i and professionally on the beach on the AVP Tour.

She now runs the popular East Beach Volleyball Academy.

The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table also honored the Female Athlete of the Week Charlotte Raisin.

The superstar girls water polo player from San Marcos scored 11 goals with 7 assists in two wins against rival Dos Pueblos as the Royals locked up the Channel League title.

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is celebrating its 40th year.

The Arlington Theatre marquee is already shining bright.

It promoted the opening night film: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

The film, directed by Laura Piani, is named after the witty English novelist, known for social commentary.

Actors and filmmakers, honored to be part of this year’s festival, will be walking the red carpet during 11 days of film screenings and tributes.

Honorees include Angelina Jolie, Ralph Fiennes, Zoe Saldaña, Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Colman Domingo, and more.

Some have been to Santa Barbara before, others have homes in the area.

The tribute recipients include past Oscar winners and current nominees.

There is something for everyone and every budget, including free screenings and seminars for film enthusiasts and up and coming filmmakers.

Some events will take place at the former Fiesta Five Theater that has been transformed into the new Santa Barbara Film Center.

The SBIFF poster promoting the festival this year was created by Mary Heebner, who studied art at University of California, Santa Barbara.

It represents resurrection.

The choice seems fitting since the festival has partnered with Direct Relief to help with the recovery following the devastating L.A. Fires.

Your News Channel will have more on opening night during live reports.

The festival runs from Feb. 4-15, 2025.

For screening and tribute ticket information visit https://.www.SBIFF.org

Dave Alley

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Several members of the public raised concerns about the soon-to-be-completed Nipomo battery storage facility on Tuesday morning at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Located at the southern end of Nipomo on Joshua Street, Caballero Battery Storage Project has been under construction for several months and is now close to completion.

The intent of facility is to store excess renewable energy produced during the day and later release the power back into the grid during peak demand hours from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

According to a release from operators Fengate Asset Management and Alpha Omega Power, when completed, the six-acre project will provide enough energy to power more than 100,000 homes for up to four hours during daily peak electricity demand periods.

In light of the recent fire at the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant in Monterey County, the project is causing some residents in Nipomo and nearby areas to worry about the safety of the facility.

“This will be a huge impact if there ever was an incident in this area,” said Victor Guiterrez, who lives directly behind the plant and spoke during Tuesday’s board meeting. “There’s talk about the fire department being trained and all that. That’s fine and dandy, but there is no fire department anywhere that is trained for any type of catastrophe like what happened in Moss Landing.”

Gutierrez, who worked as a firefighter for more than 30 years before retirement, pointed out the potential hazards from the plant are not confined to the Nipomo area.

“It’s the community of Nipomo, and the Santa Maria and northern Santa Barbara County,” said Gutierrez. “If an event happens there, just think about the evacuations. It is near impossible to evacuate that many people, let alone the greater population of Santa Maria. We know that the Moss Landing incident affected people 10, 20 miles away. Schools were closed 70 miles away, so this is a huge impact. We are concerned and that we were never notified. The community was never notified of the potential risk. I know the fire department’s trying to do as much as they can to mitigate some of these issues, but there is nothing out there that can mitigate a runaway thermal fire and that’s our biggest concern.”

During the public comment period of the meeting, several people expressed additional concerns about what they described was the lack of open communication about the facility during its approval, and later, construction process.

“We didn’t find out about it until it was already built,” said Terri Stricklin, who has lived in Nipomo for more than 40 years. “That’s unacceptable. Normally, when something as controversial as this project is being proposed, the county supervisor notifies the public that we need to come to these meetings. This is an important issue and we weren’t given that opportunity, which is why it had no opposition, because we didn’t know about it.”

Fourth District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding pointed out during the meeting, as well as on social media a few days earlier, the project did meet all the requirements as it was being reviewed before earning final approval in 2023.

“This project was approved by our planning commission,” said Paulding. “All of the county’s current procedures were followed to give notice to the surrounding neighbors, the residents, who lived within a 300 foot radius. It was posted in the paper. There was a South County Advisory Council meeting to discuss this project, but it was during it was done in 2021 during Covid and I think somebody raised that point today during public comment and I think they made a good point. What I want to see is that we expand those notification requirements to people who live within 1,000 foot radius moving forward.”

As for safety, Paulding has said CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo County Counsel, San Luis Obispo County Planning and Building, and an Independent Fire Protection Engineer have reviewed and approved the Emergency Response Plan.

He also pointed out on his social media multi-agency training was conducted in October 2024 with CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo County, SLO Haz Mat, local law enforcement and neighboring fire agencies, and additional onsite emergency training drills are planned, with invitations extended to fire agencies that were unable to attend the first session.

“I know many folks are very concerned about the safety of this facility,” said Paulding. “This facility is going through the final testing process, CAL FIRE and their fire protection specialist are reviewing the project against all of the fire codes to make sure that it’s safe and are working on an emergency response plan.  There will be more to learn in terms of what that consists of and I’m here to help to try to get as much information out to the community as possible.”

During public comment, many speakers urged supervisors to do what they can to potentially temporarily halt or stop the Caballero plant from starting operation.

“We are asking them to pause,” said Gutierrez. “We want this stop. We want to see what happens in Moss Landing to the life, property and the environment of that community before we continue and having this thing ever up in our backyard.”

An attempt to stop the project was not considered by the supervisors, particularly due to potential litigation the county could face if they were to try and reverse the approval it was given three years ago.

“Because the project was approved, this particular developer has what’s called vested rights,” said Paulding. “They have a contract to proceed with the project, so even if we wanted to pause it, pending further evaluation of the safety around these types of facilities, if our Board of Supervisors did that, we would incur financial and legal liability stopping a project that’s already been approved.”

According to the operators of the project, completion is expected sometime in early 2025.

News Channel reached out to Alpha Omega Power and asked for an interview and additional information about the Caballero Battery Storage Project, but did not receive a response as of Tuesday evening.

Jarrod Zinn

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – PG&E is staffed and ready for the wind and rain this week.

There were sunbeams in people’s windows early this morning, but now we’ve got gray skies and shiny pavement.

It’s not the warmest day the Central Coast has ever seen – the clouds have rolled in, the skies are dark, and windshields began to reveal the water droplets just after lunch.

And there’s been a lot of wind.

Local PG&E officials have issued alerts and sent out their workforce to anticipate circumstances that could lead to outages, or worse.

For now, the main concerns are both the rain and the wind.

Over time, especially through long spells of dry, hot weather like we’ve had recently, sedimentary buildup on the power boxes, transformers, and cabling on phone poles all around us everywhere, can create unfavorable circumstances when multiple conditions arise such as high winds as well as rain.

The company wishes to assure the public that staffing has been scheduled accordingly and multiple contingencies are being taken into account.

“Here at PG&E, we want to make sure that everyone is safe. And that includes our customers and that also includes our coworkers.  So give them time. If you do experience an outage and it’s during a storm like this, we need to ensure that our coworkers are safe, too, to be able to assess the issue and then go out and then resurrect the issue and then turn your power back on,” says PG&E spokesperson Neil Hebert.

Officials remind the public that there are tens of thousands of miles of cabling above our heads all around us, and they’re all connected to each other.

So an incident in one place can cause problems in another location.

Remember if you encounter a downed power line, stay as far away from it as you can, and call 911 to notify authorities.