Author: KEYT

Tracy Lehr

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – Many members of the Catholic faith are offended by President Trump’s recent posts aimed at Pope Leo.

It puts church leaders in a difficult position.

A Truth Social post from President Trump criticized the Pope, calling him “weak,” and a “loser.”

The Pastor of Mission Basilica San Buenaventura said the timing following Easter should put the focus on peace.

“We are praying for everyone, we are praying for peace and we ask that everyone stop and take a little pause and let their hearts speak to what is important in our lives,” said Fr. Tom Elewaut.

Fr. Tom Elewaut prefers to think about past relationships.

Elewaut recommends the book “A Pope and a President” by Paul Kengor, PhD. about the close relationship between President Reagan and Pope John Paul II.

He has a signed copy and has heard the authors Dr. Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando speak at events at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley and the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

Elewaut also said it is worth remembering Vice President J.D. Vance became a Catholic last just year and visited the Vatican and met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday 2025, the day before he died.

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Andrew Gillies

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Mayor Randy Rowse announced Monday afternoon that he will not be seeking reelection and will finish the remainder of his current term as Mayor of Santa Barbara.

Rowse shared a statement with Your News Channel on Monday:

It has been a pleasure and a great honor to serve the people of Santa Barbara over a nearly 14 year career on Council. While I’m proud of much we have done and mindful of how much there is ahead, I have made the decision to finish my career at the end of this term. My reasons are strictly personal and are not related to any issue or individual, it’s just my time to move on. I will continue to focus on my office and now can do so without the distraction of running and maintaining a campaign simultaneously. I truly love this city and have enjoyed the opportunity afforded to me. I’m not going anywhere and plan to be engaged in city issues and events in the future.

Rowse later took questions outside of his city hall office.

He was surprised the news spread so fast after he visited the clerk’s office.

He reiterated that he put a lot of thought into the decision to drop out of the race.

“I have been thinking about this for a long long time it is nothing to do with any subject, issue or personalities, it is a personal decision, I have some stuff in this stage of my life, I think it is time to move on and do something else,” said Rowse.

He said his family would have supported him either way.

Rowse attended a library event on Monday with Congressman Salud Carbajal and said he will stay involved with the city he loves.

“I plan to stay engaged, I might be more effective on the outside than the inside and I really like the ability to help people from time to time, but I really think I can do that on the outside as well,” said Rowse.

He recalled being on the council for 9 years and then taking a break before running for Mayor of Santa Barbara.

Rowse said after some negative campaign adds he received more campaign contribution.

He ended up raising about $315,000 for a job that pays $75,000 a year.

The former owner of the Paradise Cafe had a business owner’s perspective.

“Being in business doesn’t confer genius on anybody, but it gives you perspective and when you’ve signed the front of paychecks and when you’ve had to have the pressure of making payroll, from time to time, it’s a different, a different perspective, it’s something that you can’t get otherwise and so very few of us really get to have that perspective.”

The city’s 51st mayor hasn’t always been on the winning side of close controversial votes including votes to keep a portion of State Street closed or the 4-3 vote to create a Rent Stabilization ordinance, but he has high hopes for Santa Barbara.

He said he won’t miss the long meetings, but he will miss being mayor when the time comes.

Due to the city’s move to even year elections his 5th year as mayor comes to a close in 2027.

Rowse, 72, told Newsmakers with Jerry Roberts via zoom Monday evening that he will have time to write, sail and do other things septuagenarians do.

He mentioned he has had knee replacement and has been called “The Grumpy Old Walrus.”

Interested candidates have until this July to file the paperwork with the City Clerk’s Office in order to make the ballot.

With Mayor Rowse’s departure, the race to be the next Mayor of Santa Barbara currently comes down to City Councilmembers Eric Friedman (District 5) and Kristin Sneddon (District 4) who are the only two candidates to file campaign finance paperwork for the now-open race confirmed the Santa Barbara City Clerk’s Office Monday.

Friedman walked by Mayor Rowse during his comments outside city hall, but chose not to comment on the Mayor decision.

Rowse will try to get things done with the budget before his term comes to close.

The mayor plans to enjoy his role without the pressure of a campaign until the next mayor takes the oath of office.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A simple stop in downtown Santa Barbara could help save lives.

A community blood drive is returning to Paseo Nuevo, giving residents and visitors an easy way to donate and support patients in need. The Vitalant bloodmobile will be set up Friday at De La Guerra Place, right in front of the Paseo Nuevo Cinemas.

Organizers say the goal is to make donating as convenient as possible, with both appointments and walk-ins welcome throughout the afternoon.

Incentive is also part of the push. Anyone who donates blood between April 6th and April 30th will be automatically entered for a chance to win one of two ten-thousand-dollar gift cards.

Community leaders say events like this bring people together while making a direct impact on local healthcare needs.

The drive runs from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., with sign-ups available online through Vitalant.

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – UCSB is making a bold move to leave the Big West and the Gauchos will rise in the west with the West Coast Conference.

At a press conference at UCSB, WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson announced “When you enter a place like this today, you get a little bit of a sense of the energy and the excitement for what this day brings. But I will say this to you that today is an exciting day for the West Coast Conference as well. I’m honored to officially announce that UC Santa Barbara has accepted our invitation to join the WCC.”

Jackson said the WCC tried in the past to lure UCSB but they were turned down. But the change of UCSB leadership in 2025 from Chancellor Henry Yang to Chancellor Dennis Assanis produced a different tone.

“We first reached out to UC Santa Barbara well over a year ago with no success, and when the change in leadership happened we decided to take a shot again,” said Jackson. “We found an enthusiastic caller on the other end of the phone this time, certainly it’s been a process to get to this day, but it’s one that was done with like minds in terms of coming together as partner to this day.”

“We have been at places both, me and my wife Eleni where athletics is indeed the front porch of the university,” began Chancellor Assanis. “When we arrived, the first event we had with students was at our Thunderdome. We basically said, look, we have everything here. It’s brewing. It’s ready to ignite. Let’s give them the opportunity. Yes, that was an active objective from day one. Again, we believe it’s such a catalyst for other wonderful things that can happen for the university, the ability to tell our story and share it with audiences nationally. I was looking very quickly, talking with our athletics director. How can we relay this story to other audiences and can we do it right now in the conference. Where we are, which we obviously value, but it does have some geographic limitation that doesn’t quite fit the vision we had. We really want to expand and compete at the highest levels, and give others the opportunity to do that. We’re attracted to the fact that the WCC gets multiple bids to get in the big dance. Those were factors, but as to how the dancing happens, we were not the ones who danced first. I know the WCC has expressed interest in Santa Barbara before, so the rest is history.”

Kelly Barsky, The Arnhold Director of Athletics, added “We’ve been going through a national landscape for a couple of years now of change and adjustment. Our focus has always been around how do we support the student athletes, the coaches, the programs, the people, the community of UCSB and ensure that we’re positioned strategically and appropriately. In terms of when is the moment, there’s been an open evaluation for a number of years as we continue to look at what UCSB needs, what do we bring, and how do we continue to grow, and then a moment all aligned. A moment aligned with, I mentioned the great leadership of Chancellor Assanis, it aligned in working with Stu. It aligned in working with some of the WCC, presidents, colleagues. There, that is we looked at for all the reasons we talked about the markets being able to share our story, the alignment in investment academics, athletically.”

UCSB will become a full member of the WCC on July 1, 2027 and will be the 12th school along with UC San Diego, Loyola Marymount University, University of the Pacific, Pepperdine University, University of Portland, Saint Mary’s College, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University Seattle University and Denver University.

The Gauchos will still compete in the Big West during the 2026-’27 season.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – One century of memory meets a life still moving forward.

“The whole world should stop because it’s my birthday,” said Stanley Clothier of Santa Barbara.

Clothier is 105 years old, carrying a lifetime of perspective from one of the most transformative eras in modern history.

“3/4 of the years in the United States Navy, and almost all of it in schools at one time doing things that were a major interest,” said Clothier.

During World War II, his work helped advance early unmanned aircraft designs—technology that would one day evolve into modern drones.

“To me World War II was a very interesting part of my life … and it was very important to the development of my personality,” said Clothier.

His daughter Joanie Saint Denis believes humility has always defined his story.

“He’s living life eating well,” said Saint Denis.

“My absolute favorite thing to drink is water,” said Clothier.

“He’s got great friends and he really believes in Community. He loves people,” said Saint Denis.

His strength comes not from achievements, but from the way he sees the world.

“He’s going for the record … 116 I think is what he wants to do,” said Saint Denis.

For Stanley, each birthday is less about age, and more about perspective.

“First thing is you gotta do is you gotta choose your parents carefully, hahaha,” said Clothier.

Beyond his accomplishments, Clothier credits his longevity to a lifelong sense of optimism and perspective.

His outlook, combined with strong family connections, continues to inspire those around him.

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Dave Alley

NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) – A multi-phased modernization project to replace aging portable classrooms at Nipomo High School is now underway.

Over spring break last week, Lucia Mar Unified School District began work with the removal of eight portable classrooms that were located in the middle of the campus, with an additional nine to be moved in the near future.

“This is relatively a new school that opened in 2002,” said Nipomo High School Principal John Denno. “However, over 80% of the classroom buildings were portable and so this is long overdue for us to actually get some permanent structures on our campus. We have 17 classrooms that are being removed and we’ll have 17 brand new classrooms here in about 18 months.”

Once all of the portables are removed, the ensuing construction project will replace the old buildings with brand new “stick frame” constructed classrooms.

“Permanent, structures are really nice because each of these portable classrooms are 20 feet by 40 feet,” said Denno. “It’s a rectangular build and sometimes it makes it very challenging for teachers to configure their classrooms in the best learning environment to engage students. The new stick built classrooms will be more square in shape that allow for much more engaging classroom space.”

Denno, who has been principal at the school since 2014, added the new classrooms will provide students several more advantages to their overall educational experience, as well as the school and district.

“Not only for just the morale of the campus, and the pride that the community has,” said Denno. “We have a lot of permanent buildings at the entry points of our campus, but once you’re on the campus, we’ve got a large percentage of our classrooms are portable. They are not energy efficient. In fact, Nipomo High School has one of the largest energy bills in the district due to the fact that portable classrooms don’t retain heat and they don’t retain cool air. They’re a much better educational setting. The configuration being a little more open, a little freer for teachers to reconfigure classrooms. Teachers will kind of get away from that, row and column structure, and have forward facing classroom space where students can work more collaboratively and focus on those 21st Century skills.”

Once completed, classrooms will be inside three different buildings that are expected to have a lifespan for several decades.

“Our goal over the next seven or eight years is replace as many of those as possible,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “Ideally, we’d like to replace all of them with stick built construction. Stick built is always going to be better than portable classrooms. Portable classrooms are not built with the same insulation. They’re not built on a permanent foundation. They’re meant to be temporary, and as a district grows over time, sometimes you don’t have the funds to go with stick built because it is more expensive. Our overall aim is to eliminate as many portable classrooms as possible and build stick built classrooms that will be economical and be a good value to the taxpayers that gives us 60 to 70 years of life.”

With students off campus last week, construction began on the project that is expected to take a year-and-a-half to complete.

“Over spring break, we removed half of the portables that we plan to remove, and we’ll remove the rest this coming summer,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “This coming summer is the first phase of the project with rerouting of utilities. The project will begin in earnest from a construction standpoint, probably in early fall. This first phase, we anticipate that we’ll be able to move into these classrooms in approximately 18 months.”

Stenson added the cost of the project’s first phase is slated to be $13 million.

The school district was fortunate to pass Measure H back in November of 2024,” said Stenson. “That provides a funding stream for this project. In addition to that, we will go through the process to apply for state matching funds, and with some luck, we should be eligible for about $5 million in free state match money on this project.”

A second phase of the project is the addition of a new multi-purpose building that would serve as a secondary gym, not only for Nipomo High School, but also Central Coast New Tech High School, which is located next door.

“It has been approved by our school board for an additional multi-purpose room to be,” said Denno. “We will still require the state to approve that project, but it be centralized between New Tech and Nipomo High School will be a shared space for the both campuses benefit.”

While construction is ongoing, Denno indicated there will be no disruption to any existing class this semester or for any others in the future while work is being done

“We’re fortunate at a point with our current enrollment that we don’t have to bring in temporary housing to accommodate our current classes,” said Denno. “Some of the things that we have been able to do was embrace a new special education model that’s allowed us to consolidate classrooms. We have some other spaces that previously were vacant. Our ASB class is in a temporary location for at least the next year and a half and so we’ve been pretty fortunate to not have to displace too many people.”

The start of construction on the new classrooms continues a series of positive events to happen at the school over the past couple of months.

Recently, Nipomo High School was named a California Distinguished School, an honor achieved this year by only one other San Luis Obispo County school, Mesa Middle School in rural Arroyo Grande, which serves as Nipomo’s feeder campus.

In addition, the school’s acclaimed Future Farmers of America (FFA) program was honored by the state, FFA instructor Russell Zimmerman was named California’s 2025-2026 “Ag Educator of the Year” during the California FFA State Leadership Conference in Ontario, plus two Nipomo athletic teams, boys soccer and girls wrestling, each claimed CIF-Central Section championships.

“Our (school) team has done some incredible work,” said Denno. “We’ve been fortunate enough in athletics as well as activities. Our FFA program was recently ranked number four in the State of California. We’re excited about the things that are happening at the bottom line. This is an incredible community. We’ve got great students and we have an incredible staff, and so seeing the improvements on our campus, I think really goes a long way, it, helps support that Titan Pride and team spirit and community spirit. We know that there’s a bright future ahead of us!”

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Jarrod Zinn

BUELLTON, Calif. (KEYT) – The city of Buellton’s Farmer’s Market had a very strong start for its first month.

It could be sticking around for a long time.

Buellton’s one-month-old farmers market just received a new schedule, right on time for the warmer seasons.

“I have more people coming,” says event organizer Brenda Browning. “So this will all be completely full in the in the next month. There won’t be any open spaces.”

Each Monday along Avenue Of The Flags, the Farmers Market will set up from 3 to 7pm, taking advantage of longer daylight hours for spring and summer.

“We don’t have a lot of things to do around here,” say Erely & Emily Palacios, who live in Buellton. “So I think it makes it more like fun. We usually come here on Mondays and I just get coffee and our matcha.”

City leaders have hinted that if the event continues to be as successful as it has been in the first few weeks, it will most likely be sticking around.

“We have some organic farmers that are local here in Buellton that are coming,” says Browning. “So, we’ll have more and more. We just got a new knife sharpening guy. We’ve got someone here, she won Cupcake Wars on TV, and she’s here. She’s new this week.”

Event organizers say one of their favorite things to see each week — in addition to the fresh food and artisan vendors — are the kids enjoying the bounce houses.

“I really wanted this market to be family friendly,” says Browning. “This is for families. So I wanted to bring something to this community that was for families to come to. I feel like this community is up and coming, and they need more things to do here.”

The popular and convenient location right off the 101 freeway exit puts Buellton on the map in whole new way.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A one-of-a-kind art project is now coming alive as fresh paint hits the asphalt in downtown Santa Barbara.

It comes from a special grant, which couldn’t have been delivered at a better time for the city. It is in the process of reimagining the downtown promenade corridor.

Santa Barbara was one of only four cities to get this Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative grant in the U.S.

The City of Santa Barbara, in collaboration with the County Office of Arts & Culture, was awarded $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Outreach and demonstrations took place in January at the Saturday Farmers Market which takes place at this intersection.

Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture Executive Director Sarah York Rubin says there will be designs that will likely show community, the ocean and other aspects of the people and region that will, “integrate those ideas into a design that’s a design for the street.” With the project at the Farmers Market site she says “to do design based on Mixtec textiles because so many of of the workers and people who work at the farmers market are Mixteco and Zapotecs”

Lead artists Eddy Jimenez and Irene Ramirez provided an introduction to Zapotec textiles and designs.

Lead designer Irene Ramirez said four colors were chosen. “so the pink color for example was inspired by bougainvillea and the blue could be ocean and sky, It’s very Santa Barbara blue . “

Many people walking by saw the teams of workers, the rollers with paint, the yellow tape blocking some access and the new art appearing right in front of them. Nick Hartley is a downtown worker who said, “it’s going to look interesting. I think it gives a little bit more vibrancy to State Street. Anything that is beautiful and thought provoking is going to bring people here to look. I think it fits the motif of the town.” Erin Guerena is a business owner who said, “I own a bike store so if it does decrease traffic and make biking a little safer in Santa Barbara that’s great .”But she cautions, “I don’t think that this is going to change or impact downtown consumerism and make it vibrant enough that businesses are going to come in, because rent is too expensive. “

With the project underway traffic is being reduced to one lane in each direction.

Along with the intersections, there will be work on the curbs, planters and lighting fixtures.

This has proven to be a way to reduce traffic problems and increase pedestrian safety.

Friends of State Street is collaborating with supplies needed for the project.

For more information go to : Bloomberg Art

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The budget preparation workshops have begun in Santa Barbara County with a “clear eye discussion”.

That was the first message from County Chief Executive Officer Mona Miyasto. She said there are always mandates expectations and great complexities.

“The hardest decisions we make are about what to stop not what to start,” said Miyasato.

The county has a projected deficit of about $70-million. Last year, departments were warned and asked to begin coming up with solutions.

The final budget hearings will be in June for the new budget July 1.

Departments looking to make cuts or have proposed hiring freezes could include the Sheriff’s Office, Health, Housing and Human Services and other essential services.

Some of the cities in Santa Barbara County have a contract for first responders instead of having their owner police and fire but it all has to be provided by those departments for the cities and area that are unincorporated.

Funding from federal and state sources are being cut and locally there will be changes to balance the local budgets.

One of the first hearings will deal with Santa Barbara County Health. Cuts could reduce clinic operations and that could send more people to a more expensive solution at the emergency rooms locally.

Some of the speakers will be talking about cuts to Cal Fresh and other support programs for the poor.

Many say the new budget needs to prioritize kids.

“I always look at it through the lens of of our children. And just how are the cuts going to ultimately impact the next generation? You know, not just my children, but their children, you know, and the children of this county, because it’s tough,” said Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps.

“Today’s children will be tomorrow’s adults, and we want to have stronger adults, a stronger community,” said First Five Executive Director Wendy Sims-Moten.

“What we know about young children, especially, is, 90% of brain development happens in the first five years of life. So if we can get it right when they’re young, that will continue on later. And, there’ll be return on investment and cost savings later on,” said First Five Deputy Director Michelle Robertson.

Monday the focus was on mental health, but important revenue questions around artificial intelligence, cannabis, and the jail system will take place on Wednesday and Friday.

Supervisors spent the day reviewing department budgets and asking questions, but no final decisions were made.

Final decisions are expected in June.

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Mike Klan

CORVALLIS, Oregon. (KEYT) – Easton Talt hit a walk-off RBI single to cap off a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as #7 Oregon State edged Cal Poly 3-2 to complete a 3-game sweep.

The slumping Mustangs held leads in all three games but fall to 18-16 on the year. Cal Poly has dropped 9 of their last 13 games.

Cal Poly got a solo home run in the fifth inning by Dylan Kordic to tie the game at 1 and then went in front on another solo home run by Nate Castellon in the sixth inning.

The Mustangs outhit Oregon State for the second straight game 11-6 but could not break through in the win column.

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