Author: KEYT

Joey Vergilis

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Barbara Humane dropped by your Morning News with Shorty, an 2-year-old mix!

Shorty was transferred to SB Humane in late October. He’s a affectionate, active and a great companion for another dog.

You can visit Shorty and see if he’s the right fit for your family at SB Humane’s Santa Barbara campus located at 5399 Overpass Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93111.

This Sunday – weather permitting – join SB Humane for a free, family-friendly car show and donation drive at their Santa Maria Campus benefiting animals and our community pet food pantry.

Los Viejitos Car Club will showcase their classic cars, bringing a one-of-a-kind display for car lovers of all ages. Attendees are encouraged to bring much-needed donations – including dog and cat food, cat litter, and toys for pets in need.

SB Humane’s mission is to be champions for animals and the people who love them, helping to nurture and support the human-animal bond.

The non-profit has been finding animal’s Fur-ever homes since day 1 and as this year wraps up, SB Humane is closing in on their 2025 goal of placing 2,000 animals into new homes.

They only need to place about 300 hundred more animals to reach their goal that’s well within reach.

Help them go beyond their goal for 2025 by heading to their website or visit their Instagram.

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Andie Lopez Bornet

A big storm system is headed for the Central Coast and is looking to arrive in San Luis Obispo county by Thursday afternoon. The system will move further south tonight into Friday before giving the region a break Friday afternoon.

This system is a trough of low pressure coming from the North bringing cold temperatures, cold winds and moderate to heavy rain, resulting in an atmospheric river. Now is the time to over prepare rather than under prepare. The first drop of rain fall is expected to hit San Luis Obispo county by 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. and move down south until Friday midday. One thing to keep in mind with this system is that it is slow moving. Because it is slow moving, timing of this storm has been changing through the process, so be sure to have those umbrellas and rain coats ready.

As the system moves south, it’ll hit Santa Barbara and Ventura county with moderate to heavy rain, Thursday night into Friday morning. Right now rain total amounts are showing about an inch and close to an inch of rain from Thursday night until Friday midday. Pockets of heavy rain may produce localized ponding or flooding.

A wind advisory has been issued for San Luis Obispo county for 8 a.m. Thursday morning until 6 p.m. Thursday evening with wind speeds 20-30 mph and gusts up to 45-50 mph. It is very possible the advisory will be extended as the system continues to hit the region.

Friday afternoon the region gets a break from the rain, but by Friday night the low pressure system retrogrades right back to Ventura and Santa Barbara county and brings bands of moisture and rain amounts will increase. Rain is expected Thursday lasting until Sunday with at least spotty showers.

A high surf advisory is issues for early Friday morning until Saturday afternoon for San Luis Obispo and Ventura county beaches. Breaking waves will be 10-15 feet with dangerous rip currents.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) –

CIF-SS Division 1 boys water polo semifinal:

Loyola 11, Dos Pueblos 10

CIF-SS Division 8 girls tennis semifinal:

Bishop Diego 10, Tahquitz 8 (BD will play Santiago/GG on Monday’s final

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A dozen student-athletes from San Marcos High School will play their chosen sport at some of the top athletic and academic universities in the nation.

San Marcos hosted a signing ceremony to honor this ‘dynamic dozen’ that are headed to schools in the Big Ten, the SEC the Ivy League and other prestigious institutions.

Mason Crang, Baseball, Fordham

Samantha Fallon, Beach Volleyball, LSU

Bethany King, Water Polo, Harvard

Avery Leck, Track and Field, Yale

Cora Loomer, Beach Volleyball, UCLA

Evyn Miller, Beach Volleyball, San Jose State

Charlotte Raisin, Water Polo, USC

Solana Sandoval, Softball, CS Monterey Bay

Grace Stone, Volleyball, Emory University

Will Stuart, Water Polo, Pepperdine

Lila Westmacott, Volleyball, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Sophie Yonker, Water Polo, Michigan

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Mike Klan

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – Dos Pueblos boys water polo teammates Ben Fuhrer and Aricin Marshall along with softball outfielder Anastasia Brunner and lacrosse player Linnea Clapinski were recognized at a short signing ceremony.

Fuhrer signs with Loyola Marymount, Marshall commits to Fresno Pacific, Brunner is headed to Idaho State while Clapinski will play at D’Youville University in New York.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Laguna Blanca High School celebrated star swimmer Bennett Sullivan in a signing ceremony on campus.

Sullivan commits to Pomona College where he will double-major in math and economics.

Bennett carries a 4.76 GPA and helped the Owls win CIF-SS Division 3 championships last year in both the 400 and 200 freestyle relays.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Teens with the Youth Leadership Council are raising money to help families in Santa Barbara enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.

They’ve launched a fundraiser to collect $1,500 for pre-cooked meals for families in the Police Activities League program.

The students discovered some families don’t have access to a working kitchen or oven this holiday season.

Their goal is to make sure everyone can still share a warm meal together.

The group hopes to deliver the meals just in time for Thanksgiving Day.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Ashlee Buzzard, mother of missing 9-year-old Vandenberg Village girl Melodee Buzzard, was arraigned at the Santa Maria courthouse on Wednesday morning on a charge unrelated to her missing daughter.

“If I were to see her in the street, to be honest with you, I would never recognize her,” says Lilly Denes, a sales executive for KEYT and Telemundo–and Melodee’s paternal grandmother. “She looked so different. Lost a lot of weight and no hair.”

The felony charge of false imprisonment involved Tyler Brewer, a legal document assistant and owner of Family Paralegal Associates, after Ashlee used a box cutter to prevent him from leaving her home on November 6.

On Wednesday morning, the judge released Ashlee on GPS supervision with pre-trial later this week and a hearing for Wednesday November 19th in Lompoc.

Brewer shared the following statements with Your News Channel regarding what happened between him and Ashlee Buzzard:

When Melodee was reported missing, I contacted Ashlee Buzzard solely to offer assistance in locating a missing child. I am a legal document assistant, process server, mandated reporter, and perceived officer of the court. In that capacity, I immediately reported all concerning communication and inconsistencies directly to law enforcement.

On November 6th, during an interaction at her residence, the situation escalated. Ms. Buzzard became visibly distressed after sharing information she appeared to regret disclosing. A box cutter was produced, and despite multiple requests to be allowed to exit the home, I was not immediately permitted to leave. The door was secured by several locks, which delayed my ability to exit. This incident was reported to law enforcement.

I am also in communication with Melodee’s father’s family, who share the same objective — locating her and ensuring her safety.

I will not provide further details at this time, as this remains an active investigation and search effort.

My position has never changed:

Find Melodee. Protect the investigation. Bring her home safely.

Brewer also provided this follow-up email when reached for further comment from Your News Channel about reporting in other outlets:

I have no further comment regarding Ashlee Buzzard’s arrest.

I made one brief statement that has since been misrepresented, taken out of context, and used as fuel for speculation. I am the victim in this matter, and I am entitled to privacy. I was assured my name would remain confidential. The district attorney chose otherwise.

What’s circulating now—particularly on Facebook and TikTok—is not facts. It is fiction, assumptions, AI-generated content, and manufactured narratives from people who do not know me and have no actual information.

I have fully cooperated with law enforcement, including providing all information I had. My only hope is that the FBI and police are able to use it to help bring Melodee home.

This has never been about me. It will never be about me.

The only priority that matters is Melodee.

She deserves attention, urgency, and focus.

“Where’s my granddaughter? I don’t care what she’s here for,” says Denes. “You know, I’m sorry that she did that to this gentleman that I never heard his name before. But I’m here for my granddaughter. What’s going to happen?”

Santa Barbara county sheriff’s investigators and the FBI are asking for the public’s help in locating Melodee.

The Santa Barbara county D.A.’s office is also assisting in the investigation.

If you have seen Melodee or have any information, you can call the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division (805) 681-4150.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can provide information through the tip line at (805) 681-4171 or online at https://www.sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A major infrastructure project is in the works to build a new interchange at the busy intersection of Highway 101 and Broadway (Highway 135) in Santa Maria.

The planned project would replace the current two-lane bridge and also create an entirely new design for the on and off ramps to the freeway.

“What the city is looking at is building a new interchange over Highway 101, at Broadway and Highway 135,” said Brett Fulgoni, Santa Maria Public Works Director. “It’ll connect the two sides of the city, and we’ll connect all the way over to Seaward Drive on the on the eastside of Santa Maria, along the levee.”

The main goals for the project will be to enhance traffic flow throughout the area, as well as improve safety and accessibility.

“There’s tens of thousands of cars that use this intersection,” said Fulgoni. “As the city grows, that will continue to grow, and so this is long term planning that’s coming to actual construction. The other part of this project is we do plan to do a, a transit park and ride there. And so as, as transit grows, this will be become a transit hub as well forthe region.”

While the project is still many years away from start of construction, the City of Santa Maria, along with Caltrans, and Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) are currently working on the advancement of the environmental review, as well as preliminary engineering.

Along with the stakeholders, the public will also be allowed to participate in the design process over the next several months.

Tonight, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, the City of Santa Maria will hold a public workshop where the people will have the opportunity to view project exhibits and conceptual layouts, ask questions and share feedback directly with representatives from the Santa Maria Public Works Department, Caltrans, and members of the design team.

“There’s going to be there will be many, many public meetings on this project,” said Fulgoni. “Today’s the first one. We want to make sure that what we build, Santa Maria actually wants and that it’s going to solve a problem that we need to solve. When engineers design a project, we all have blind spots, and we rely on the public to make sure that we’re meeting their needs. That’s the really important part of the public engagement piece is making sure that we’re seeing things from all angles. There could be things that we haven’t considered and that’s exactly what we’re looking for today.”

The cost for the project is currently estimated to be $70 million, with the funding to come from several different sources, including from Measure A, the transportation-focused sales tax increase Santa Barbara County voters passed in 2008.

“We have about $10 to $20 million between the Measure A and the regional gas tax funding,” said Sarkes Khachek, SBCAG Programming Director. “The other funding that we’re going to need, the $40 to $50 million, we’re going to be pursuing outside funding. There are federal and state competitive programs that we will look to start applying for in the next year or so as we get through project development and the project gets ready for construction. We want to be at a point where we’re going to leverage that funding with measure and regional funding to get the outside grant to fully fund the project.”

With the project just now beginning to ramp up, there are many more hurdles to clear before the public will see any kind of construction taking place at the intersection.

“We’re at the early stage,” said Khachek. “We’re in 2025 with the environmental document. We look forward to designing the project in a couple of years and then the project will be construction ready in 2029. Once construction starts, we’re looking at a two to three year construction period from there, so we’re hoping to have it all done by 2032 or 2033.”

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Now is the best time to pick up a bottle of wine to bring home for the holiday season. If you’re having trouble figuring out the best choice for the occasion, wine connoisseur Jamie Knee has got you covered!

Central Coast is home to some of the best holiday wines – from sparkling to white to merlot to Grüner Veltliner – Jamie joined your Morning News to show what will pair best with your favorite holiday dish.

“Santa Barbara, just the Central Coast, is known for its cool climate. It’s known for its wonderful sunshine, so it really gives us wines that speak to the Thanksgiving table. They’re crisp, they’re vibrant, and they go with all those delicious meals that we’re going to have this holiday season,” Knee says.

Jamie Knee is a globally recognized wine writer, wine media personality, and curator of bespoke wine journeys around the world. She is the founder of The Petite Wine Traveler, and was named one of the top 50 most influential women in wine hospitality and top wine travel media.

Her suggestions? Pair your white meat turkey with a nice Grüner Veltliner. Green bean casserole goes great with a nice white wine, and you can never go wrong with a good sparkling wine.

If you want to see more from Jamie, you can visit Petite Wine Traveler.

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