Author: KEYT

Patricia Martellotti

GOLETA, Cali. (KEYT) – A hopeful scene unfolded along the Central Coast this week as a group of rehabilitated seabirds returned to the wild after weeks of specialized care.

Wildlife rescuers report the release comes during a troubling increase in starving seabirds arriving at rehabilitation centers. Teams are seeing more pelicans and other coastal birds suffering from severe malnutrition, exhaustion, and distress.

Because of the growing number of emergencies, rescuers are urging the public to act quickly when they spot an injured, sick, or struggling seabird. Calling trained responders right away can make the difference between life and death.

“Really amazing to see 11 pelicans ready to go on the same day,” said Ariana Katovich, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. “This is the most joyful part of our work—giving these animals their second chance.”

Rescuers believe this wildlife release highlights both the challenges facing local seabirds and the lifesaving impact of community support.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The City Of Santa Maria has filled its vacant council seat, left open when former District One councilman Carlos Escobedo abruptly resigned last month.

The new city councilman was born and raised in the district he now represents.

Ricardo “Richard” Batalla was appointed and sworn in at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Numerous supporters stayed late including his wife and kids, several to speak in support of his appointment.

“He is here to really represent the youth and the families in the community,” said one Santa Maria resident, Jaimie Cruz. “I just wanted to say that on behalf of me as a new resident from Santa Maria wanted to make sure I support Ricardo Batalla for city Council.”

A few other residents shared their own opinions and some alternative suggestions for how the council should be handling the issue of the vacant seat.

“We feel it’s extremely important to fill the City Council District One vacancy with an applicant that will be responsive to the needs of all District One residents,” said resident Gary Hall. “Along with the residents of some 650 mobile homes, 650 mobile homes are in District One.”

One resident said he felt Santa Maria could afford the special election, to give the decision to the people who live in the district.

“The argument that it would be too expensive is not true in this case,” said Gale McNeeley. “$14,500 to let the people of district one choose someone is not much to pay.”

But at the end of the evening Batalla was formally appointed and sworn in.

“I was born right here in district one on West Williams Street and attended Oakley Elementary,” says Santa Maria District One’s new interim City Councilman Ricardo “Richard” Batalla. “I currently serve as a Youth Development director for the Santa Maria Valley YMCA, where I oversee programs serving over 2000 students supervising more than 150 staff. I’m also proudly bilingual in Spanish and English, allowing me to better connect with and represent our diverse community.”

Batalla will be serving at least through the primary election this November.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The City of Santa Maria has received $1.2 million in federal funding to help expand Fire Station 1, which is located in the heart of city in the downtown area.

The federal award was recently secured and announced by Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) and will help Santa Maria fund the project that is slated to cost $6 million.

“On behalf of the City of Santa Maria and our 110,000 residents, I want to extend our deepest thanks to Representative Carbajal for securing $1.2 million for the Fire Station 1 Expansion Project,” said Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino. “This funding brings us significantly closer to completing a project that will strengthen emergency response in our downtown core and serve our community for the next 25 years. We appreciate that we have such a dedicated partner in Washington.”

According to the Santa Maria Fire Department, Fire Station 1 handled approximately 5,400 calls last year, making the it the busiest fire station in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

“The Station 1 expansion was designed and developed for the growing need of our population right now, and expanding the services that we provide here in the downtown area” said Santa Maria Fire Chief Brad Dandridge. “What we’re looking at is adding additional four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a weight room and a battalion chief facility where a battalion chief is going to be able to respond here in a fire service environment, as opposed to across the way in a repurposed, administrative classroom.”

Located at the intersection of West Cook Street and South Pine Street, Fire Station 1 was built in 2002 when the overall population of Santa Maria was 79,000.

Less than 25 years later, the size of Santa Maria has risen to 110,000 and thousands more are forecast to increase the population over the next two decades

“Santa Maria is expected to grow between 25,000 to 40,000 people in the coming years by 2024” said Dandridge. “What we’re looking at is trying to stay ahead of the curve. We’re building now for the future. Station 1 right now houses a truck and an engine, but in the future, we may need to house additional personnel here.”

With the city still short in funding, the timeline for construction and completion is still to be determined.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A long-idle armory in Santa Barbara may soon be transformed into a career training center aimed at preparing students for local job opportunities. District leaders are exploring ways to repurpose the historic site into a hub for career technical education, focusing on hands-on learning and real-world skills.

The vision includes creating pathways that connect students directly to in-demand careers in the region, helping bridge the gap between education and the workforce. Officials say the project is still in its early stages, with community input expected to play a major role in shaping the final plan. Public meetings are scheduled to begin this spring, giving residents a chance to weigh in on the proposal.

However, questions remain about the project’s cost, potential enrollment, and whether the long-term need justifies the investment. Environmental considerations and historic preservation requirements could also impact how the redevelopment moves forward.

Despite these uncertainties, the armory — once a dormant structure — could soon take on new purpose, serving as a gateway for students to build skills and pursue future careers.

From Santa Barbara Unifed School District:

Santa Barbara Unified Launches “Designing the Armory Together” Campaign; Seeks Vital Community Input on New CTE Center

SANTA BARBARA, CA — Santa Barbara Unified needs your ideas and your voice. We’re asking students, families, and residents to help shape the future of the historic Armory site.

The District is launching a comprehensive community listening tour and survey to define the vision for the 4.7-acre property located at 700 E. Canon Perdido Street.

The project is envisioned as a 21st-century learning hub. By transforming the site situated between Santa Barbara Junior High and Santa Barbara High School, the District aims to create a professional bridge for students throughout the District

“This project represents an incredible opportunity to fill a gap between our classrooms and the workforce. Our students will benefit the most, but we cannot build this bridge alone,” said Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado. “We need to hear from our community to ensure this facility complements our existing successful programs while meeting the future needs of our local economy.”

Community Listening Tour Schedule (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.):

April 16: La Colina Junior High

April 21: Goleta Valley Junior High

April 27: La Cumbre Junior High

May 12: Santa Barbara Junior High

The District is seeking feedback on a variety of potential uses for the site, including state-of-the-art CTE labs, workforce housing for staff, and more.

Information gathered during this Spring 2026 feedback window will be presented to the Board of Trustees in Fall 2026 to guide the formal schematic design.

How to Get Involved:

Residents are encouraged to attend a listening tour session or take the community survey.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – For four decades the Santa Barbara Independent has been publishing the news of Santa Barbara, and now you can reflect back on some of the most iconic covers ever to hit the racks.

A special display is up and filling the walls at the Santa Barbara Library’s Faulkner gallery.

It was a lengthy effort to decide which covers were going to be in the presentation considering there were more than 2000 editions.

At a special reception, the staff of reporters and editors along with photographers and art directors were all acknowledged for their enterprising and creative work since 1986.

Santa Barbara Independent Editor in Chief Marianne Partridge said, “this whole great big long Independent family has been putting together the Independent for 40 years and God be praised it will be another 40!”

Around the room she said, “If you look through all of this you will see our reporters have been covering oil, immigration the arts….so much.”

The staff says the covers and the content have documented the history of Santa Barbara for the last 40 years.

Every print issue has gone out weekly the entire time without missing a deadline, even during the pandemic.

Some of the covers feature the areas many fires, the Refugio Oil Spill, and the Montecito Debris Flow. The paper has also compiled years of Santa Barbara International Film Festival issues and annually it puts Old Spanish Days in the highlighted position.

There are also covers with noted faces in town including politicians and entertainers.

The exhibit at the library will run through May.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif (KEYT) Bees are back inside a Pepper Tree in front of Santa Barbara City Hall

The crew from Super Bee Rescue and Removal spent the day trying to remove them.

They say the tree, near the city hall steps is hallow and has plenty of room for bees.

Recent rain has increased their calls for service.

They hope to encourage the bees to find a new place to live.

For more information visit https://superbeerescue.com

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Barbara City Council plans to go through the process of renaming Calle César Chavez.

Following accusations of sexual abuse about the late activist, the street could go back to its prior name “Salsipuedes” or the community could come up with new name.

But the council says it is not a fast process due the changes that will have to be made at Post Office and on local maps.

The council also directed staff into looking into changing the name for César Chavez Day or offering city workers a floating holiday.

Chicano Historian Michael Montenegro spoke about the need to involved the community in the process.

Neighbors along César Chavez and community members will be part of the discussion process.

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Nate Vargas and Corey Nunez each slugged solo home runs as UCSB defeated #14 USC 5-1 in front of a sellout crowd.

Vargas was the hitting star as he was a triple shy of the cycle.

“It was awesome,” Vargas said. “I’m just happy to be out there and compete with my guys. I’m glad that we were able to get a good win against a ranked team today. During my time off, I just used the time to make sure I’m staying ready so that when I did get an opportunity like today, I made the most of it.

Honestly, I think the oppo off the fence,” Vargas said was his favorite at-bat of the night. “For me, that just felt like vintage me. That’s what I do, and at the end of the day, I don’t want to get too excited because I expect that of myself, but at the same time I want to kind of congratulate myself for putting in the work and seeing it pay off.”

Last week UCSB lost at USC 7-6 so the Gauchos were able to split the season series with the home win.

Calvin Proskey pitched a scoreless first inning in his first action of 2026.

Proskey, AJ Krodel, Van Froling, Raymond Olivas and Cole Tryba — combined to allow just one unearned run.

(Proskey threw 16 pitches allowing one hit and striking out one. Entenza Design).

“The real highlight for today is Proskey being back and having an inning,” UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts said. “Throwing a clean inning and looking like himself, healthy and stuff looked solid, so hopefully we can continue to extend him an inning each time he goes out or two innings and he can turn into a legitimate extra starter for us, whether that’s on Tuesday or end of the weekend if we have to make a change, which I’m not anticipating, but it’s a luxury to have that fourth starter.

That’s what we talk about with the bullpen, is make sure you pass the baton and hold on to it. All the guys did their job, and I thought guys came in and did their job making clutch pitches with runners in scoring position and didn’t allow the guy was out there before, his runs to come in. And then you know, Tryba being Tryba changes the game for us. To be able to give the ball to somebody with a lead at the end of the game and feel pretty comfortable that it’s over, his last three outings have been like that. We’ve gotten him a lead, and it’s been over.”

(Cole Tryba closed out the game pitching 1.2 innings with 2 strikeouts. Entenza Design).

Vargas slugged a solo home run off the video board in right field to give UCSB a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Nick Husovsky knocked in the second run in the frame with a ground out to plate Ryan Severns.

In the fourth Nunez drilled a solo home run to left to put UCSB up 3-1.

(Noah Karliner greets Nunez at the plate after his blast over the left field fence. Entenza Design).

Rowan Kelly delivered a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and Liam Barrett singled in Vargas in the eighth inning to finish up the scoring.

UCSB is now 20-10 on the season after beating their third ranked team on the season.

UCSB hosts Big West leading UC San Diego this weekend for three big games beginning Friday at 4:35 p.m.

(UCSB Athletics contributed to this article).

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Mike Klan

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – Seniors Josephine Grossman and Rylie Cook each scored four goals to lead San Marcos past Dos Pueblos 15-7 and into first place in the Channel League.

The Royals are 4-0 in league and DP is 4-1.

The Chargers were led by senior standout Linnea Clapinski who tallied a game-high 5 goals.

San Marcos never trailed as Grossman and Cook scored in the opening minute of the game.

It was 3-0 Royals before Clapinski scored her first goal.

San Marcos led 8-1 at half and 12-3 at halftime.

Royals goalie Carly Grant made 11 saves as they improved to 10-3 overall.

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Mike Klan

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – Sean McGrath earned his first collegiate victory with five scoreless innings while Alejandro Garza notched his fourth four-hit game of the 2026 season as Cal Poly defeated San Jose State 11-4 on Tuesday inside Baggett Stadium.

A freshman right-hander, McGrath (1-2) struck out six, scattered five hits, one in each of the innings he pitched, and issued no walks before giving way to four relievers in the midweek non-conference contest. Josh Morano, Troy Cooper, Chris Downs and Arlo Pendleton each tossed an inning as Cal Poly improved to 4-1 in midweek games.

Cal Poly improved its overall mark to 18-13 with its fifth straight win over the Spartans. San Jose State fell to 13-19, losing for the seventh time in its last 10 games.

With his fifth game of three or more hits over the last three weeks, Garza has elevated his batting average 59 points to .336. The two-time All-Big West first-team honoree singled four times Tuesday, scoring twice and driving in one run in the seventh inning.

Dante Vachini, Ryan Tayman, Gavin Spiridonoff and Jake Downing all added two hits as Cal Poly outhit the visiting Spartans 16-8. One of Tayman’s hits was a run-scoring double in the first inning while Spiridonoff hit his second home run of the year in the third frame, a two-run shot to left-center field.

Cal Poly sprinted to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with Tayman’s double, a two-run single by Antonio Castro and a sacrifice fly by Dylan Kordic. The Mustangs added three more runs in the third frame on a run-scoring single by Kordic and Spiridonoff’s two-run home run.

Garza singled leading off the sixth inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Mustangs added three more in the seventh on a Spartan fielding error in the outfield and RBI singles by Garza and Cam Hoiland for an 11-1 advantage.

San Jose State scored a run in the sixth and added three unearned runs in the eighth. Alex Fernandes, Peyton Rowles and Rocco Caballero each produced two hits for the Spartans.

Suffering the loss was San Jose State starter Tyler Albanese (1-1) as the junior right-hander allowed four runs and three hits in the first inning, his only frame of the game. Spartan head coach Brad Sanfilippo used seven pitchers in the game.

Tuesday’s game will be the lone meeting between the two schools this season. Another game scheduled for Feb. 17 at Excite Ballpark was rained out and will not be made up.

Cal Poly plays its next two weekend series on the road, visiting No. 7 Oregon State for three non-conference games this weekend and Big West leader UC San Diego on April 17-19.

Sandwiched between the two series will be a midweek game versus Pepperdine next Tuesday (April 14) at Baggett Stadium, starting at 5 p.m.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)

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