Author: KEYT

Jarrod Zinn

GROVER BEACH, Calif. – A Grover Beach police officer is being praised for his alertness and quick action this last weekend.

Local residents can rest easy knowing authorities are present, alert, and quick to respond to any kind of situation, even in the dead of night.

The officer saved a family from a house fire, that they weren’t even aware of yet.

On Sunday just after midnight, officer Reyna of Grover Beach Police was on routine patrol when he detected the distinct odor of smoke in the air.

“He smelt something that was similar to something burning, which is at that time of night or early morning is kind of unique, especially when it’s not cold and people don’t have their fireplaces going,” says Jeremy Douglas, Grover Beach Police patrol sergeant.

Officer Reyna was able to awaken the two adults in the house and get them safely out while five cities fire authority responded quickly, putting the fire out right away.

“It was a single family residence. Two adults that lived there. No children or no one else that I’m aware of,” says Sgt. Douglas.

The specific cause of this particular fire is still under investigation and undetermined. But officials do have some important safety reminders for the public. 

“In this instance, there wasn’t a smoke alarm. So we highly encourage check your smoke detectors, change your batteries out every time you change your clocks. Really be diligent about maintaining orderly cleanliness in your homes. If you’re running extension cords only do it for a temporary purpose, not for permanent. If you are having electrical work done, make sure you have it done by a professional,” says Craig Angello, Five Cities Fire Authority battalion chief.

Both departments have acknowledged their strong working relationship with each other, and they pay their compliments to officer Reyna’s alertness and quick actions, which spared lives and property.

The power is back on and the residents are back in their home while the investigation into the cause of the fire continues.

Mina Wahab

OXNARD, Calif. — Between undocumented farm workers not showing up for work, to the slew of fires a few months ago, it’s been a difficult year for farm owner Uriel Hernandez.

“We kind of leave the politics outside of farming, but unfortunately, you kind of get dragged into it,” said the Oxnard-based Seacliff Farms Owner.

Now, the biggest concern for Hernandez is the tariffs. “As it is, the margins for a small operation like myself are small. You put a 10%, 15% tariffs on top of some of the items we need to produce. I mean, it’s going to squeeze us quite a bit more,” said Hernandez. On Wednesday, President Trump issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs with most countries, in order to allow trade negotiations with those countries. But China’s sky-high tariffs remain in effect.

“A lot of people don’t understand that China doesn’t pay the tariffs. They just charge more. Okay. So, the consumers end up getting that cost for the most part,” said Oxnard resident, Bruce Kelly. Many are worried these tariffs will hurt working class Americans the most. “It is a little more difficult for those that are working here, though, who are making minimum wage to like afford and save for that because we can be here like countless hours, but like there’s only so much that we can like make,” said Honeycup Coffee Manager, Alyssa Vega.

Something as simple as buying your favorite fruit like a strawberry could go up depending on what happens with these tariffs. “I am kind of scared to see a rise in the prices of everyday goods, even groceries. Living is just going to be so expensive now,” said Bianca Santos, who lives in Oxnard. Still, some are hopeful that the tariffs will help American businesses. Others like Haas, an Oxnard based machine tool manufacturer, say they feel they’re being penalized for buying parts from China they can’t buy from anywhere else.

They say they will ultimately have to decide between raising their prices, which will make them lose market shares, or maintaining current pricing, which means losing money.

Patricia Martellotti

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Ventura County Fire is making a new addition to its life saving effort involving blood.

For the first time, the agency’s rescue ambulances are now carrying whole blood to save lives.

“We’re only one of three agencies in the state of California to offer whole blood in a pre-hospital setting for traumatic injuries and will definitely help save lives, especially trauma, but also in medical cases too,” said medical director Dr. Neil Canby of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Fire officials believe this new blood transfusion program marks a significant advancement in prehospital emergency care.

“Blood is always critical it’s critical for this program but it’s critical all the time … every day there are emergencies and traumas … for cancer … for all kinds of in hospital treatments and we need to have it available for patients,” said regional director Susan Noone of Vitalant.

Fire officials say paramedics had to undergo special training for the new program.

“Just takes a lot of collaboration to get approval from the state to procure the blood that we need here also,” said Canby.

By carrying whole blood, firefighter paramedics can deliver life-saving transfusions at the scene, and significantly improving patient outcomes when every second counts.

“My hope is that the patients who are in desperate need of a transfusion pre-hospital will get that transfusion and we will save lives,” said Noone.

Right now, less than two percent of EMS agencies in the nation have blood transfusion programs.

John Palminteri

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara has won the state’s top honor for voter registration after a massive drive to get students to sign up last fall.

The college ballot bowl is a multi-layered competition for schools to take part in as a way to encourage their entire student body to be active in an election.

The campuses had representatives attend the orientation sessions with voter registration forms. They encouraged all students to register or re-register if they had moved to a new address and then on election day polling places were crowded as a result.

The Secretary of State Shirley Weber said “the winner of 2024 California University and College Ballot bowl competition is the University of California Santa Barbara.”

Also honored was Cal Poly with the highest percentage of student body population that registered to vote.

Overall, 234 colleges took part in the competition.

The Secretary of State presented the award on campus today. She said, “the fact that we over the years have changed it to 18 (years old). It makes it a college thing. I was 21, and folks thought they could wait until they became adults. Now we’re doing this and you can vote at 18. You can pre register at 16 and 17.”

After her visit at UC Santa Barbara, Weber went to Los Angeles to talk about voter registration with high school students. This is a focused week for voter registration outreach for high school students to pre register so materials will arrive after they are eligible.

The engagement was impressive both on the campus and in Isla Vista nearby. Weber said, “this is what we are about in terms of participating in the process making sure that this nation survives.”

Kaitlin Andrade  works as a UCSB Restorative Justice Coordinator and in Civid and Community engagement. She says the honor involves the commitment by the students who realize how many issues directly impact them and they need to begin voting as soon as possible. “Being able to have such a large pool of students who aren’t registered to vote because  they just turned 18 or just moving to  a new community, most people don’t live in Santa  Barbara  that are coming on to the campus. That is such a big deal in order for us to have all these people to register to vote,” she said.

UCSB Dean of Student Life Katya Armistead helps the students find an area where they can make a difference and getting involved in voting is one of many steps. She said, “I can help  model and help them engage in  lifelong civic engagement and really understand where they can make a difference and something they really care about.”  

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A sheep and a goat are on duty at one of the most historic buildings in California to do some landscaping work.

With the recent rains, a new crop of grass and weeds popped up at El Cuartel in Santa Barbara’s Presidio District.

The building is the second oldest in California.

The goats are feasting to bring the weed levels down and tidy up the property bite-by-bite.

They have also been popular with passersby going for food or retail shopping in the area.

El Cuartel is part of El Presido de Santa Barbara in the State Park System dating back to 1780s.

Dave Alley

PISMO BEACH, Calif. – Pismo Beach businesses are banking the city’s recent place atop a national poll of best small coastal cities in the nation will attract more visitors to the popular tourist destination.

This week, Pismo Beach was named the number one Best Coastal Small Town in America in USA TODAY’s 2025 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

“We’re excited that USA Today has recognized what all of us have always known, which is Pismo Beach is an amazing place to be,” said Jorge Garcia, Pismo Beach City Manager. “We are now officially the country’s best small coastal town.  It’s a great thing to be on that list and it’s a validation and confirmation of all of the amazing investments that we’ve been doing.”

With the national attention the article brings to Pismo Beach, local businesses are hoping it will boost the number of travelers who will visit the popular tourist destination.

“With this number one ranking of Pismo Beach, we are hoping and we’re praying that this brings lots more tourism to our businesses,” said Denise Holt Wasson, Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce Vice Chair/Vice President. “Our entire little town relies on tourism. Our hotels, our businesses rely on tourism. If we didn’t have the tourists, we wouldn’t be able to thrive like we do and our chamber loves all of our businesses. We promote all of our businesses for that very reason, and now with this ranking, we’re so excited to see what the future brings in for Pismo Beach.”

The honor comes two years after Pismo Beach earned a third place ranking in the same readers poll and a second place showing seven years earlier in 2018.

Pismo Beach wasn’t the only San Luis Obispo County city to earn a place on this year’s top 10 list.

Morro Bay finished in fifth place in the poll, trailing only Pismo Beach, as well as Cedar Key, Florida, Castine, Maine and Bar Harbor, Maine.

“It’s great for the county,” said Jed Bickel, Sea Crest Ocean Front Hotel General Manager. “The county and Visit SLOCAL, they work really hard to collaborate and make sure that all the cities are represented. It’s a great thing about the cities in this county, you can you can hop to each one. You can stay in Pismo, but then you can go visit Morro Bay, so that’s something that the county works on collaboratively, and we’re really excited to see Morro Bay be right there with us. It’s just going to help the area as a whole.” 

According to USA Today, the national recognition celebrates the beauty and spirit of coastal communities. 

The coastal cities in the national rankings were selected by a panel of travel experts and winners were determined by public vote.

Jarrod Zinn

LOMPOC, Calif. – A new option for affordable housing in Lompoc cut the ribbon this morning.

The Housing Authority of Santa Barbara County, or HASBARCO, has been helping those in need for 84 years. 

“In the early years, very few people had heard about us affordable housing was not really on people’s radar. And over the past number of recent years, we’ve become better known and we’ve also had more opportunities to develop affordable housing,” says John Polanskey, HASBARCO director of housing development.

Thursday morning, they cut the ribbon on their newest complex, at Cypress & 7th in Lompoc.

“Right now we own and manage nearly 1700 units countywide,” says Polanskey. 

The mission behind this equal housing opportunity provider is to hand someone a key to their apartment as the priority, in addition to helping them stabilize and succeed further.

“We really appreciate the support that we receive from the county Board of Supervisors, city of Lompoc, for this particular project. But then also, you know, the various cities, the elected officials, that’s how we get approved for what we do,” says Polanskey.

This latest addition to HASBARCO’s family of buildings includes 16 living spaces, a community center and onsite services such as counseling and career support. 

“My God, this is incredible,” says resident Maria Garcia. 

The site is already filled with grateful residents who are taking bold steps in life.

“Being able to be stable. Being able to get my mail somewhere, being able to stay out of danger. And a special thing is about being able to have my kids come over. Because before it was embarrassing. Know having them, I couldn’t tell them the truth. You know, that I was staying out there. I was homeless. We want to have reunions. Especially with my grandkids,” says Garcia. 

HASBARCO is planning another ribbon cutting in a few weeks in Guadalupe.

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Community Environmental Council is offering a chance for anyone to lead environmental change.

“It’s important for the community to come together and learn about what they can do personally and the climate Stewart’s course is designed for that,” said communication and operations manager Jasmin Tupy of Heal the Ocean.

The CEC team is getting ready for its next Climate Stewards Environmental Course happening next week.

Tupy is an alumni of the course.  

She believes it helped her to take action on climate change. 

“And for me, it really improved my communication skills because issues feel like a really big burden and you don’t know where to start and this gave me a point on how I can communicate more effectively to the lay person,” said Tupy.

In light of the government’s new directive on cutting nonprofit funds, the CEC believes it’s even more critical to recruit stewards for the wellness of our local environment.

“It will trickle down to everything because there will be more pollution … there will be less protection for the outdoor spaces that we love a few people working at those places you know it’s an endless of impacts,” said director of outreach and education Kathi King of the Community Environmental Council.

The CEC team says they’re hoping to create a ripple effect of climate action throughout our community. 

“Helps them to able to talk through how they feel about climate change and create a space for them to understand how they can take action and move forward,” said King.} 

“It teaches you how to effectively communicate because I’m a believer that you could have all the ideas in the world and all the climate solutions but if you can’t communicate that then it might not go anywhere,” said Tupy.

The next Climate Stewards Environmental Course webinar is happening next Wednesday, April 16.

 From the Community Environmental Council:

Community Environmental Council (CEC) is now enrolling for the next session of its Climate Stewards certification course, designed to engage and empower any individual on the Central Coast to take action on climate change. CEC is proud to be the first and only nonprofit in the region to deliver the Climate Stewards certification program in partnership with the UC Environmental Stewards program, and one of only a handful across the state.

“If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to lead environmental action in your community, that time is now! Grassroots action is now more critical than ever to combat climate change and protect our communities. Our Climate Stewards program is designed to foster connection, confidence, and inspiration for community-based environmental action.” said Kathi King, Course Instructor and CEC’s Director of  Outreach and Education.

The Spring 2025 course will meet weekly from April 16 through June 4, 2025. Prospective participants are invited to sign up online to join the next cohort of Climate Stewards. The eight-week program empowers individuals to advance equitable climate solutions in their communities. For more details about the Climate Stewards program and what to expect, the public can view this webinar for more information:https://cecsb.org/blog/cec-climate-stewards-local-activists-creating-waves-of-action-atw8f 

Class sessions are held online via Zoom; the course also includes a few in-person field trips, mostly on Saturdays. Each cohort consists of a diverse group of approximately 20 individuals. The 40+ hour course curriculum includes online modules, peer-to-peer discussions, small group activities, hands-on and inquiry-based activities, and experiential learning over an eight-week period. Participants will gain access to climate action resources and opportunities to join the movement — and will graduate with a better understanding of the psychology and science behind climate change, the tools necessary to forge greater community connections, and the knowledge to effectively communicate the climate crisis.

The course curriculum also includes a  stewardship project that provides participants an opportunity to explore a passion project. Previous projects have succeeded in adding climate programs and messaging at foundations, large nonprofits, city governments and retirement communities. Many course graduates have gone on to integrate climate action into their professional and volunteer efforts. 

“Becoming a Climate Steward gives you ‘climate credibility’ if you want to pursue other climate-related efforts in the community. The course also connects you to like-minded people who want to learn about climate impacts and address both adults’ and kids’ anxieties about the climate,” said Maureen Ellenberger, Climate Steward Alumna.

Maureen joined forces with CEC Climate Projects Associate Ana Rico for their course project to develop bilingual curricula for school teachers that introduces young students (and their parents) to climate-related careers and connects local schools to climate professionals. Through their project, Maureen and Ana are delivering curricula and organizing several guest speakers — including some of their fellow Climate Steward alumni — at El Camino Elementary School in Goleta and La Colina Junior High in Santa Barbara.

The course fee is $350 and covers the cost of instructor time for classes and field trips, as well as UC Environmental Stewards program course fees. Scholarships are available for those who express financial need, and no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. 

Learn more about CEC’s Climate Stewards program and sign up here: cecsb.org/climate-stewards

About the Community Environmental Council (CEC) 

CEC advances rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis —including ambitious zero carbon goals, drawdown of excess carbon, and protection against the impacts of climate change. CEC was recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and a City of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, and is led by CEO Sigrid Wright who was recently named 2022 Congressional Woman of the Year. CEC has worked since 1970 to incubate and innovate real life environmental solutions that directly affect the California Central Coast. Our programs lead to clean vehicles, solar energy, resilient food systems and reduction of single-use plastic. Learn more about the work of CEC and why it receives high ratings from both Charity Navigator and Guidestar atCECSB.org/impact. Find CEC on the web at CECSB.org and on Facebook.com/CECSB, Instagram.com/CEC_SB, and Linkedin.com/company/cecsb/.