Author: KEYT

Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Folks on the Central Coast should make room for a least one more sweet treat this holiday season.

This weekend, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is hosting a soft opening for their brand new storefront in downtown Santa Barbara. On December 20th, the 509 State Street location will be serving up its world famous sundaes, chocolate squares, and ice cream.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to open our new storefront along the sunny, scenic State Street in Santa Barbara,” says Lacey Zane, Vice President of Restaurant & Retail at Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. “We’re excited to plant roots in this beautiful community, creating a place to gather with friends and family over an ice cream sundae or enjoy a sweet treat while on vacation.”

But the treats don’t stop there – on January 22, 2026 the official grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting will take place! Starting at 3pm, the first 100 customers in line will receive a free Ghirardelli World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae.

For the special day, guests can purchase a mini sundae for just $5 from 4pm to 10pm. Guests with a purchase of $30 or more will also receive a free exclusive Ghirardelli tote bag.

“With Ghirardelli’s rich history in California, this beautiful location on Santa Barbara’s State Street is the perfect place for us to expand our vision of Making Life a Bite Better for our guests, and we can’t wait to welcome them here soon,” says Zane.

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company State Street location will be open Monday-Sunday from 10am-10pm.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Maria Rotary Club is spreading the word about the next forum raising awareness of human trafficking happening locally.

Members of the Human Trafficking Task Force say that while the forum is a month away, the issue itself is ever-present.

 “Any time that you have someone that deprives another person of their personal liberties by force, fear or coercion,” says Maria Barriga with Santa Maria CHP. “That’s what we’re looking for in the definition of human trafficking.”

A survivor of human trafficking, Alia Azariah, who now works as the Safe House Project’s aftercare director, says Santa Barbara County—including the Santa Maria Valley—is significantly impacted by human trafficking.

“This area of Santa Maria and Orcutt is really hit hard and our kids in this area are significantly vulnerable because of poverty, because of parents just not knowing. I think there’s a lack of information here for parents.

Azariah says online trafficking activities saw a sharp increase during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained high, since kids had no choice but to seek connection via social media.

“There is not enough people to meet with the individuals that are experiencing this,” says Azariah. “We have such a demand for services because we do have so many people that are experiencing this in our county. How far we’ve come, we have a long way to go. But just from my personal experience, if we don’t invest it’ll make the problem worse.”

Data for Santa Barbara county shows nearly 300 human trafficking investigations overall in the last decade, and that the Central Coast is a travel corridor.

“They’re pit stopping in our communities,” says Officer Barriga. “And these women are posting ads if they’re going to pit stop in any of our cities. So it is happening here. It’s not necessarily that it’s born here, they are traveling up and down the state and stopping at all of our cities and working.”

Organizers hope to continue increasing the turnout for the annual awareness and training forum on January 22nd.

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Dave Alley

PISMO BEACH, Calif. (KEYT) – For a second straight year, a low number of monarch butterflies have been counted at the popular Pismo State Beach Butterfly Grove.

“Unfortunately, we’re looking at another low year for our populations for this western monarch butterfly,” said Danielle Bronson, Pismo State Beach Interpretive and Cultural Program Manager. “We had the most recent count was yesterday, and that was a 400. Our peak count for this season was around 480. It’s another low year.”

While the butterfly count remains at a low number for a second consecutive year, Bronson pointed out it is better than was seen five years ago in 2020.

“It is not our lowest year,” said Bronson. “During Covid, that was our lowest year when we had just shy of 200, but we are seeing these low numbers, not just here at Pismo State Beach, but throughout the entire Western monarch population counts that are done by Xerces Society.”

Following the record low in 2020, the monarch population bounced back in a big way the the next three years with 21,000 monarchs recorded in 2021, 24,000 in 2022, and 16,000 in 2023.

“Having that fluctuation is not uncommon with insects,” said Bronson. “We’re just seeing traditional low population numbers when we are tracking them and we really want to see those numbers increase, so running yourself with education, planting native nectarine flowers is wonderful way for the public to help out at home. You can go on to the websites of Xerces Society or Monarch Joint Health. Those are organizations that can provide the public with different educational opportunities on how they can help the species.”

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – There are two things unusual about the cruise ship AIDAdiva off of Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf for the day.

Cruise ships do not regularly stop in Santa Barbara in December and this one comes with a special health clearance.

Recently there were 90 cases of the Norovirus. That causes diarrea and vomiting. The report from the Centers for Disease Control came out earlier this month. The outbreak was first reported on November 30 on the ship.

Since then officials say the ship implemented enhanced cleaning, disinfection procedures, and isolation measures.

The vessel has been cleaned and cleared by health officials as safe. The last case was December 4.

It has 2007 passengers and a crew of 645.

Local waterfront officials and the Santa Barbara County Health Department have reviewed the health concerns and the passengers were allowed on shore.

The AIDAdiva dropped anchor at 7 a.m. and will depart at 5 p.m.

It previously stopped in Los Angeles and San Diego. Prior to that it was in ports in Mexico and Costa Rica and came through the Panama Canal.

Angelica Baur-Schermbach is a passenger who said it is an adventure of a lifetime. “The night, the ship is traveling and  the next day you will be in another country and in another town and it is nice to travel for me.”

After Santa Barbara, it’s onward to San Francisco.

The overall trip is 133 days. It began last month in Hamburg, Germany. It will visit 54 destinations and 27 countries and conclude in March of 2026.

Baur-Schermbach said as far as the illness reports, she said it was not an issue for her. “About 100 people had it but over four weeks.  At the peak only  22 were ill at the same time. We were  always washing our hands.”

The city of Santa Barbara has a total of 11 cruise ship visits on the 2025 schedule.

For the staff on a long journey, they describe it this way.

“We don’t have off for a week like any day off so  you are on shore for a little bit. We have like three or four hours off and then we go back to work,” said Jana Diden who puts out ship communication reports.

Her co worker on board is Annika Doepfner who works with health care. “You work, then you want to go out and see all the things everybody wants to see then you go back to work then you do some Instragram and then you go to bed.”

Walking was a preferred way to see Santa Barbara for the day for many people

Baur-Schermbach said, “yea I walked all day.  Since 9 o’clock I have been walking up there and through the    little streets.   It was really nice.”

They will spend Christmas on the ocean and New Year’s Day in Hawaii.

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Joey Vergilis

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Luc Strong Foundation Director and former UCSB Gaucho basketball player, JD Slajchert, stopped by the Morning news to discuss his new partnership with NMDP (formerly Be The Match), the global non-profit leader in cell therapy working to cure blood cancers and disorders.

For Slajchert, the partnership is deeply personal. His best friend Luc, the inspiration behind his novel Moonflower, received a life-saving bone marrow transplant through the NMDP registry. Now, Slajchert is using his platform to pay that gift forward.

Before diving into the partnership, Slajchert shared his excitement regarding his recent TED Talk.

The non-profit leader described the experience as a “dream come true,” reflecting on the years of preparation and the emotional release of finally sharing his message on such a prestigious stage.

“I mean, just an experience unlike anything I’ve ever thought about, dealt with, gone through. Really a huge wave of emotions, I think, Joey, like walking off of that stage and like you feel a sort of kind of just release of having gone through such a huge moment and how many years you prepare to give something like that.”

However, his focus remains steadfast on the children currently fighting for their lives, particularly those within the sickle cell community.

As part of his new role with NMDP, Slajchert is highlighting the stories of individuals in urgent need of a donor. This December, the spotlight is on Tegan, a 16-year-old described as a “light for so many” and a hero to his younger brother.

Tegan’s journey has been grueling – at age 3, he underwent an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant to treat his sickle cell disease.

Now Tegan is searching for a new donor for a second, life-saving transplant.

“I’m sharing his story to hopefully get some people out there to join the registry,” Slajchert said. “You could potentially be the life-saving match for Tegan.”

Joining the registry is a simple, free process that can be done from the comfort of your home. NMDP is specifically looking for donors between the ages of 18 and 35, as research shows younger donors lead to better outcomes for patients.

To get started:

Text the word MOONFLOWER to 61474.

Receive a cheek-swab kit in the mail.

Spend 30 seconds swabbing your cheek and mail it back.

Once you are in the registry, you may receive a call if you are a match for Tegan or someone else in need. If you are outside the age range for donation, you can still support the mission through financial contributions to NMDP and the Luc Strong Foundation, which provides grants to families of children (ages 1–17) diagnosed with sickle cell disease.

“It’s really simple and free,” Slajchert emphasized. “You’ll receive your kit to potentially save someone’s life.”

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Mike Klan

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (KEYT) – The Central Coast is keeping star football player Caleb Clark as the Arroyo Grande High school senior signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Cal Poly.

Clark along with teammate Dustin Reed took part in a signing celebration at Arroyo Grande High School.

The punter/kicker Reed signed with McPherson College, an NAIA school in Kansas.

(Signature moment for both Reed and Clark. Courtesy photo).

Clark led the Eagles to a CIF-Central Section Division 2 championship with his game-breaking ability from the wide receiver and running back position.

He was at the Cal Poly press conference last week when the Mustangs introduced Tim Skipper as their new head football coach.

Reed kicked the winning field goal in overtime to lift AG to the championship at Bakersfield.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Ralph Molina announced at tonight’s end of the year team banquet that he is not returning as head football coach at San Marcos.

Molina coached the Royals the past five seasons and finishes with a 22-29-1 record.

After KEYT NewsChannel Sports broke the story San Marcos High School put out a press release.

“I am very appreciative of Coach Molina’s time and efforts. He came in and brought us out of the Covid era and to our first playoff appearance in many years,” said Athletic Director Aaron Solis.

“I am grateful for the time, energy, and effort Coach Molina has put into the San Marcos program the past five years,” said Principal Dare Holdren, “We will begin an immediate and extensive search for a dynamic and experienced new head coach, who will take our program to the next level of success.“

With Molina in charge San Marcos snapped a 19-year playoff drought by making the CIF-Southern Section postseason in 2024.

The Royals also made the playoffs this year as well.

In both playoff appearances they lost first round games.

Molina did a good job of getting other athletes in different sports to play football to help revive a struggling program.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) People of all ages got a kick out of a free line dancing pop up on Wednesday night.

The SB Public Market hosted the line dancing at its event center next door.

Instructor Tin Lee of Santa Barbara Event Horizon taught the newcomers how to do it.

They plan to host more line dancing pop ups in the New Year.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Barbara City Councilmembers approved the purchase of an emergency shelter at 816 Cacique St.

The city bought the property from People Assisting the Homeless know as PATH for $3.75 million.

They will spend another $25,000 making improvements, using funding from Measure C.

“Owning this facility gives us the flexibility to innovate and respond more effectively to the challenges of homelessness and to shape a more sustainable and comprehensive shelter system that meets the evolving needs of our residents,” said City Administrator Kelly McAdoo.

The space is large enough to serves about 100 people.

Clients are offered shelter, meals, case management and more.

Mercy House Living Centers, who have a housing-first philosophy, will serve as interim service provider.

For more information, visit Homelessness Initiatives (SantaBarbaraCA.gov/homelessness).

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Gauchos were down 13-4 less than four minutes into the game and they never could catch up in a 67-64 loss at Green Bay(6-7).

UCSB trailed 42-30 at halftime and was able to cut the deficit to 63-62 when freshman CJ Shaw made a three-pointer with :52 seconds left.

Marcus Hall had a game-high 25 points for the Phoenix and his layup with :29 seconds to play pushed the lead to 65-62.

Aidan Mahaney, who led UCSB with 18 points, made a layup with ten seconds to make it 65-64.

But Green Bay’s Preston Ruedinger converted both free throws with :07 seconds to go and UCSB never got a final shot up as they fall to 8-4 on the year.

It was the Gauchos second straight loss as they scored just 15 first half points last weekend in a double-digit loss to future Big West opponent Utah Valley in Salt Lake City.

UCSB has played it’s last three games without starting point guard Miro Little who is sidelined with a foot injury and there is no updated timetable on his return.

The Gauchos host Portland on Monday, December 22nd at 2 p.m.-

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