Author: KEYT

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The Santa Maria Fairpark continues to search for a new chief executive officer at the same time the facility’s biggest annual event takes place this week.

Earlier this year, former CEO Caitlin Miller announced her departure in March in order to begin a new position with a local produce company.

Since then, the 37th District Agriculture Association (DAA), which operates the Santa Maria Fairpark, has been looking for a replacement.

Miller’s departure came just weeks ahead of the Santa Maria Valley Strawberry Festival and just a few months before the Santa Barbara County Fair.

To help guide the facility through its two biggest annual events, interim management has been brought in including those from Kern County and the Antelope Valley.

“Our plan is to get through the fair,” said Santa Maria Fairpark Board of Directors President, Kevin Merrill. “We’re lucky we’ve got some help from neighboring fairs that come down and give us a hand. Once that’s done and the board will focus on getting a new CEO in place and working with our great staff.”

Merrill indicated the Board of Directors is hoping to fill the position as soon as possible following the conclusion of the fair, which runs through Sunday.

“I think we’re excited where we’re are right in the middle of a new CEO search,” said Merrill. “We have a great staff here to be able to put the fair together and maintain the quality we always enjoyed. I think the people can look forward to us continuing to be a great part of the community and a partner with the community, because other than the fair, we’re here all year round doing other things too. We have a great staff. We’re looking forward to a new CEO and and moving forward.”

For more information about the Santa Maria Fairpark and the Santa Barbara County Fair, click here to visit the official website.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The Santa Maria Fire Department has joined surrounding communities with a 24-hour staff of on-call fire investigators.

This fills a critical gap found in recent assessments.

Investigators have deemed what was once Lassen’s Natural Foods store on Broadway as unsafe, and it will soon be scheduled for demolition.

For many years here in Santa Maria, the firefighters with their boots on the ground, the first responders, have often had to reach out to surrounding communities for investigative support.

Now, we have our own 24-hour team.

As of June 28th, there is an on-call staff of skilled fire investigators working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, covering all of Santa Maria.

We had a community risk assessment analysis along with some other in-house analysis that determined that the there was a gap for having a qualified fire investigator available at all times,” says Santa Maria’s fire marshal Jim Austin.

Prior to that, scenes of incidents often cooled for hours before an investigator was able to arrive on scene, adding challenges to the already grueling jobs of first responders.

So we get to see the impacts of the fire as it’s occurring, which helps with our investigation as well,” says Francisco Santos, one of Santa Maria’s fire investigators. “If we’re on call and there’s a tone for a structure fire and it’s confirmed the structure fire, we’re automatically going to be dispatched.”

Recent incidents such as the devastation of Lassen’s Natural Foods store on Broadway, as well as suspicious carport fires and dumpster fires within a specific vicinity of the city since then remain unsolved, leaving locals still feeling edgy.

“No matter what happens, like I said, we are here to bolster our public and also help out our guys on the engines,” says John Mata, another of Santa Maria’s fire inspectors.

A shift rotation helps the investigators avoid burnout, as they must often lose sleep and be away from their families.

“It has boosted the confidence in the firefighter because they know the programs in place,” says Marshal Austin.

While the investigators have no significant updates on the mentioned cases at this time, they are continuing those investigations, actively monitoring people of interest and tracking any new activities.

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John Palminteri

CARPINTERIA, Calif. – The Carpinteria City Council held an emergency meeting Thursday night and approved $5,000 in emergency funding to support nonprofit organizations assisting residents impacted by recent federal immigration enforcement actions.

The funds, allocated from the city’s General Fund, will go toward community-based groups that are often the first point of contact for affected individuals and are currently providing legal aid, emergency assistance, and resource navigation. The council also plans to establish criteria for selecting which nonprofits receive the funding.

The special meeting was called after videos showing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Carpinteria circulated earlier this week, sparking alarm throughout the community.

“This is incredibly important—to hold this meeting, to listen to the community, what’s important to them, and show them we are listening and working hard to solve this issue,” said 1st District County Supervisor Roy Lee. “That’s just insane.”

Although the meeting was planned earlier in the week, it took place the same day as large-scale federal raids at Glass House Farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo. Ten people were detained from the Carpinteria site.

“I’m out here standing up for parents of my students who could get deported today,” said Carpinteria teacher Andrea Carrillo. “I’m scared for them. I’m worried for them—that they’re going to go home and not have a single adult at their house.”

Hundreds gathered outside Carpinteria City Hall, holding signs and sharing emotional testimony.

“I’m 20 years old. I should not be standing in front of my community,” said resident Natalie Vilchez. “I graduated high school two years ago. I should not be scared for my people.”

Later, Vilchez added, “I believe that a community and a village is what makes everything in life. You can never stand alone, and in these moments, it’s most important. Even just standing here—if you don’t use your voice—your presence is more than enough.”

Carpinteria Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano was also in attendance. She reportedly suffered a scrape on her arm after being knocked down by a flash bang earlier in the day.

Solórzano, who drew national attention in June for remaining seated during the Pledge of Allegiance at two council meetings, continued her protest Thursday night. She previously stated the action was in response to the Trump administration’s bombing of nuclear sites in Iran and the deployment of Marines to Los Angeles following immigration protests.

Public comments during the meeting reflected a united message of support for immigrants and condemnation of the raids.

“We are a very strong community with a very strong base—wonderful people of all nationalities,” said one speaker.

“This city and this country are better because of mi familia mexicana,” said another.

The council typically meets every other Monday but convened this special session amid rising tension and calls for immediate action.

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Mina Wahab

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Multiple complaints of FARO Center “mismanagement” — including reports of unhoused individuals urinating in public, trespassing, and yelling — have increased pressure on the city to take action.

City Administrator Kelly McAdoo says the FARO Center was originally designed to serve a specific subset of the homeless population — those actively seeking housing.

She says its purpose was to focus on housing navigation and workforce development. “We had made a commitment that it would be folks who are really on the pathway to housing, and that’s a very different client than a pure drop in center,” said McAdoo

Kelly McAdoo says the FARO Center’s current drop-in model — which allows people to come and go freely to access food and other resources — is contributing to neighborhood complaints.

“There are other individuals who are experiencing homelessness who maybe aren’t ready for housing at this time, whether they’re facing mental health challenges, addiction, other issues that would prevent them from, you know, really being on that direct pathway to housing or they’re just resistant to services altogether,” said McAdoo.

McAdoo says that for things to work— SB ACT needs to switch to a referral only program.

But SB ACT Executive Director Rich Sander says that’s not how solving homelessness works.

“The whole point of this as a drop in center in the heart of downtown is to make it easy and accessible to everyone,” said Sander.

SB Act says that they’re still just in the first year of the program. Within that year, they’ve helped over 1,300 people. One hundred of those helped have already transitioned into housing.

“I have heard repeatedly that people don’t want housing or they want to be homeless. And I’ve been in this work for 20 years, and I can tell you without a doubt that is categorically untrue,” said Sander.

The FARO Center says that by canceling their lease and by changing the entire operational model, the city is essentially jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding. “ I just don’t think now is the time to stop or have a new operator come in and lose all that funding and all the momentum that we currently have. we have raised over $500,000 around the basis that we are a drop in center, because that’s what everyone agreed to,” said Sander.

The city is planning on downgrading the lease terms to a month-to-month agreement while simultaneously looking for new leadership to run the center.

When it comes to homelessness, SB ACT says they’re the experts. They fear that changing the model from drop in to referral only is going to hurt a lot of the people who need their services most. 

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Michael Yu

Santa Barbara, Calif.- SB Humane’s Chief Operating Officer Dori Villalon joined your morning news team with Jazzie, a 3-4 year old husky mix.

Jazzie is known to be friendly, easy-going and plays well with other dogs.

SB Humane also shared their adoption goals for the year and what they reached last year.

Last month, they placed 245 in a new home, including 63 animals on California Pet Adoption Day.

They have set a goal for 2500 animals this year. Currently, adoptions are up and the average length of stay is just 10-12 days.

On July 19th, SB Humane will host an open house at their Santa Maria campus from 12-3pm. The event is to celebrate over a decade of serving the Santa Maria valley.

The open house will feature dog training, veterinary demos, free gently used dog supplies, and refreshments.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The new kid is alright!

Playing in just his second game with the Santa Barbara Foresters, Xavier Esquer of UCSB, snapped a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with a 3-run homer to left and that is how the game finished up 5-2 over San Luis Obispo.

(The Foresters celebrate the 3-run home run by Esquer. Entenza Design).

With the win the Foresters improved to 4-2 against the Blues to clinch the season series with one game remaining between the rivals which is Thursday at 6 p.m. in San Luis Obispo.

Foresters pitcher Nic Abraham from the University of Tennessee improved to 2-0 after working 5 innings with seven strikeouts.

(Nic Abraham struck out the side in the first inning. Entenza Design).

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Alissa Orozco

VENTURA, Calif. – A Ventura County jury has convicted Francisco Garcia of Oxnard of second-degree murder in the fatal DUI crash that killed a woman back in 2018.

On July 22, 2018, several individuals had exited their vehicles to assist and offer aid in traffic collision that happened earlier in the day on Pleasant Valley Road in Oxnard. Garcia was driving eastbound when he plowed through the scene, killing Elicia Lopez-Hernandez and seriously injuring another person.

Both were assisting in the previous incident.

Garcia reportedly fled the scene on foot, but was later located on a rooftop near the Oxnard Police Department.

Garcia was found to have been heavily drinking throughout the day, and his blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.24% hours after the crash.

In California, the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for drivers is 0.08%.

Garcia had a prior DUI conviction in 2009 and had been issued a ‘Watson’ advisement from the court. According to the Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko, “a ‘Watson’ advisement is a warning given to drivers in California convicted of DUI, stating that if they drive under the influence again and someone is killed, they could be charged with murder.”

Nearly seven years after the crash, the DA announced Garcia’s second-degree murder charge.

“The jury’s verdict today recognizes the devastating consequences of the defendant’s actions,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Edward Andrews said. “The defendant took the life of a woman who only sought to help others, grievously injured another good Samaritan, then he fled rather than face what he did. After a long and challenging process, these convictions bring a measure of closure to the victim’s family. It also sends a clear message: repeated acts of drinking and driving can be deadly. This conviction enhances public safety for our Ventura County community.”

Garcia faces 22 years to life in state prison. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 6, 2025, at 9:00 am in courtroom 26 of the Ventura County Superior Court.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — People out and about in Santa Barbara on Wednesday may have noticed police officers ticketing some e-bike riders and impounding a motorcycle that is not allowed on the road.

In the afternoon, motorcycle officers impounded a Surron electric bike near the Dolphin Fountain. Thomas Towing hauled it away.

A Surron is an e-motorcycle or dirt bike capable of reaching speeds up to 60 miles per hour. These bikes usually lack functional pedals and are often referred to as pocket bikes, which are not permitted on any public roadway.

The rider, who was not present during the towing, received a standard traffic citation. The Surron will be impounded for 72 hours.

Commander Chris Payne said the enforcement effort is not necessarily a direct response to the recent Grand Jury report investigating the dangers some riders pose to public safety.

“This is the municipal code [10.52] that was passed earlier this year, and now that it has been through the warning period, we are actually conducting enforcement when we have the additional officers to do so,” said Cmdr. Payne.

He emphasized the importance of e-bike riders following the rules of the road, including those that apply to the open portion of the 400–1200 block of State Street, referred to as the promenade, which is closed to vehicle traffic.

The fine for a first offense is $100. A second offense is $200, and a third within one year is $500.

“If the individuals being cited are minors, we also have the Youth Diversion Program, where they don’t have to pay a monetary fine,” Cmdr. Payne added.Instead, minors attend a safety class.

In June, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury issued a strongly worded report calling for increased enforcement in the wake of e-bike crashes, including a fatal accident on State Street in May. Police began enforcement in May and have recently been able to increase efforts, making it more visible to the public.

Cmdr. Payne said enforcement depends on officer availability and call volume. Typically, it is carried out by motorcycle and bicycle officers.

Shanae Sarah witnessed several citations being issued along State Street.

“I saw five e-bikes getting pulled over by a motorcycle cop, and some of them were getting tickets,” said Shanae, who preferred to use only her first name.

She said it would be helpful if there were designated spaces for more recreational e-bike use.

“They should create a different place where you can go do tricks and practice doing wheelies and things like that,” she suggested.

Josie Ruggles said her mother, a motorcycle rider, taught her the importance of always wearing a helmet.She said she loves riding her e-bike and takes extra precautions, especially around pedestrians.

 

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations are continuing up and down the coast. As parents are taken by ICE, their children are not only dealing with losing parents, they are also dealing with sudden shock.

One recent example was in Oxnard.

The Ventura County Star reports a 6th-grade boy’s parents were taken during raids where farm workers were working on June 10th.

Long-time immigration attorney Vanessa Frank, says now is the time for kids to know plans and phone numbers.

“It’s really important to make sure that everybody knows everybody’s phone number by memory,” said immigration attorney Vanessa Frank. “You know your phone can be taken away from you or broken or somehow lost and so it’s important to have several phone numbers memorized in your head. It’s important for kids, and to have that conversation with your kids now in the most, you know, age appropriate.

Frank also says keeping extra copies of car keys and teaching kids directions to guardians houses is also important.

“We’ve seen a lot of people getting stopped and taken away and their truck with all their tools is on the side of the road, just think through if I were just sort of just disappeared, what would happen?” said Frank. “Does the family know where the money is? You know, which bank? What bank account? Can anyone else be signer on that account to take money out of that account?”

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News Channel 3-12

Below is a press release from the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation regarding the start of the 16th Annual Asian American Film Series

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Please join the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) on three Friday evenings in July for our sixteenth-annual Asian American Film Series at the historic Alhecama Theatre.

The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 Asian American Film Series (AAFS) features four recently released, captivating documentary films that were carefully selected by SBTHP’s Asian American Affinity Group. Whether you’re a film enthusiast, a supporter of lifting AAPI perspectives and voices, or just looking for an inspiring and entertaining cinematic experience, this year’s AAFS will not disappoint!

2025 AAFS OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:

JULY 11HOME COURT (6:00pm)Home Court is the coming-of-age story of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy in Southern California whose life intensifies as recruitment heats up. (2024, 95 min) Q&A with filmmaker Erica Tanamachi and reception will follow this screening.

JULY 18NOBUKO MIYAMOTO: A SONG IN MOVEMENT (6:00pm)Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement tells the story of a changing community through one of its most beloved storytellers as she reflects on decades of groundbreaking cultural work and a life that has bridged coasts, industries, families, and history. (2024, 57 min) Short intermission reception will take place between film screenings

THIRD ACT (7:30pm)As father and son, Asian American filmmakers Robert and Tadashi Nakamura use their shared medium to explore generational trauma, expressing previously silenced emotions. (2025, 93 min) Q&A with filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura will follow this screening.

JULY 25STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF (6:00pm)A family documents how their immigrant father Jerry, a recently divorced and retired Florida man, was recruited by the Chinese police to be an undercover agent. (2023, 75 min) A special presentation (and Q&A) about recognizing and avoiding scams, and a reception will follow this screening.

2025 AAFS GENERAL INFORMATIONWhen: July 11, 18, & 25, 6:00-9:00pmWhere: Alhecama Theatre (215 A East Canon Perdido Street)$5 Suggested donation / Free for SBTHP membersSeating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis (No RSVP required)

Free parking behind PANINO Restaurant (834 Santa Barbara St.)For more information visit: sbthp.org/aafsQuestions? (805) 965-0093 | kevin@sbthp.orgMake sure to follow @sbthp for AAFS and other programming updates!SBTHP’s Asian American Film Series is made possible by the generous support of the George H. Griffiths and Olive J. Griffiths Charitable Foundation and brings AAPI-centered stories and filmmakers to the Santa Barbara community each July.

ABOUT THE SANTA BARBARA TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATIONFounded in 1963 by Dr. Pearl Chase, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) stewards the past and present of the Presidio Neighborhood and inspires preservation advocacy throughout the County in order to create a more vibrant community. SBTHP operates El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park, Santa Barbara’s 18th century birthplace, under an agreement with California State Parks. In addition to portions of the Spanish fort, El Presidio SHP includes the Alhecama Theatre (1925) and the campus of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts, and Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens (1947) the last visible connection to Santa Barbara’s Chinatown. The organization also operates Casa de la Guerra, the 1820’s adobe home of Presidio Comandante José de la Guerra, and the Santa Inés Mission Mills near Solvang, CA. SBTHP produces dozens of community and school programs throughout the year to provide access to these special historic places. SBTHP is 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; learn more at sbthp.org

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