Author: KEYT

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The 82nd Annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Parade has once again attracted an elite field of rodeo competitors, including budding young superstar Wacey Schalla, who is currently the world’s top ranked bull rider.

The 19-year-old from Arapaho, Oklahoma is not only ranked first in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world standings in bull riding, he’s also ranked second in the overall standings.

On Wednesday night, Schalla kicked off the Elks Rodeo by capturing first place in the Xtreme Bulls competition, with a top score of 89.5 points.

For Schalla, who is coming off his first trip to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas last December, this marks his first ever trip to Santa Maria.

“That’s the best thing about rodeos,” said Schalla. “You get to go see tons of different places and cool places like this, right next to the coast. It’s beautiful country and I’m excited to come back next year.”

With the way he has performed over the first two nights of the Elks Rodeo, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Schalla returning back to the Central Coast year after year.

On Thursday, he also earned the top score in the bareback competition with a score of 85.5 points.

“I can’t complain,” said Schalla. “I’ve been super blessed. I won the Xtreme Bulls the first night and then and made a good bareback ride. We’ll see how it holds.”

Schalla noted the Santa Maria weather is much different than he’s used at home in Oklahoma and in many of the other places the rodeo circuit takes him to, but added he is impressed with what he has experienced so far with the Elks Rodeo.

“They accommodate you,” said Schalla. “It’s an accommodating town and the rodeo overall makes us want to come back. Whenever you get off your horse and throw your arms up in the air, and you can’t even hear yourself, you know you’re in the right place.”

With the Xtreme Bulls win already under his belt, Schalla is hoping to add even more to his already growing collection of victories and payouts when the Elks Rodeo finishes on Sunday.

He’s aiming to add a pair of wins in both the bull riding and bareback riding competitions.

For more information about the 82nd Annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Parade, click here to visit the official website.

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – The 14th annual FCA All-Star Classic is set to kick off this Saturday, where the best of the best in High School football will battle it out on the field.

The event will showcase top graduating seniors, as standout athletes from San Luis Obispo County face off against their counterparts from Northern Santa Barbara County in a highly anticipated showdown.

All-star game chairman, Greg Dickinson, stopped by the Morning News to preview the big game and discuss how the community can support and give back to participating schools.

Tickets are avalible online and in-person. All walk-up tickets sold will benefit FCA, but fans who purchase online can designate which school they want those funds to go to. Proceeds from online ticket sales for the game go directly back to the participating high schools athletic departments.

Athletes from up and down the coast will represent their schools, including Lompoc High running back Jacob White, and players from Pioneer Valley, Santa Maria, Righetti, Arroyo Grande, Santa Ynez, Nipomo, and many more.

The San Luis Obispo squad will be lead by Morro Bay head football coach Robert Dougherty, while the North Santa Barbara squad is lead by Santa Ynez head football coach Josh McClurg.

“What’s unique about it is we ask at least one coach from each school to be at each of the practices in the game,” Dickinson says. “So we’re modeling not only the players coming across rival lines to work together to be future Central Coast leaders, but we’re asking the coaches who often were rivals themselves to spend a week together and and coach the game.”

“So it’s it’s very unique model and it’s paying dividends for the community.”

The 14th annual FCA All-Star football classic will take place THIS Saturday, May 31st starting at 6:00pm at Santa Ynez High School.

Tickets are available online.

For those who can’t attend the game, Santa Ynez High School will be live streaming the event for free on their Youtube Channel.

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John Palminteri

ISLA VISTA, Calif.  – Residents of Isla Vista who are leaving soon, mainly students, are selling off their belongings this weekend in the community wide yard sale.

It is taking place for the third year, and will make an impact at every address.

The yard sale is coordinated by the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD). Public Works and Sustainability Director Jenna Norton says, “”it’s well known that Isla Vista, produces tons and tons of waste every year during move out.”

The event is expected to divert waste from dumpsters in their community and eventually to the landfill.

It is being held in anticipation of the time when when classes end at UC Santa Barbara. That usually means about 15,000 students leave their apartments and take only what they can stuff in their cars or hauling trucks.

It comes with a website, information about signing up and a map that points out locations where sales will be taking place with specific addresses and also what will be for sale.

There will also be a general “swap meet” type sale at the IVCSD parking lot.

“We have had more sign ups than ever this year.  I also anticipate that we will have a very big turnout of shoppers as well, ” said Norton.

Items for sale include clothing, furniture, kitchen ware, household necessities, cooking grills, electronics and bikes.

The IVCSD is promoting the event and the proceeds go directly to those sellers.

 The past yard sales were impressive.Henry Sarria a longtime resident. “And, we’ve seen the trash go down. Actually, I’ve got documented proof of it, too. That’s a wonderful thing, you know. It’s reuse, recycle, repurpose. You know,  it’s great for the environment. It’s great for the community. “

Friday several items in front of homes and apartment buildings both large and small were left out for the taking which is what the IVCSD does not want to see. They included a toaster, cabinet, couch, ceramic animal, kitchen items, a lamp and a broken TV.

“Yes, people put things on their curbs to be thrown away. And yes, sometimes people will drive by, find something they like and pick it up. But that’s not always guaranteed,” said Norton.

One resident Tillie Rubin says she is ready to sell. “It’s great that I have an easy way to kind of make a little bit of cash without just having to go through like Facebook Marketplace or some other source.”

One of her seven roommates Christina Holmes said, “We’re all looking through our clothes and preparing for the yard sale. We all have a bunch of stuff. Even in our own house means giving each other things, so it’ll be cool to expand it to other people.”

Many of the items are lightly used. “We’re reusing perfectly good items, making community members a bit of money and just creating a fun event that all community members can participate in together before the school year ends,” said Norton.

Rubin said, ” I have a lot of clothes that I want to get rid of, and also some furniture that I can’t take with me.  So that’ll be nice to have a place to for it to go. “

The event will be four hours on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2.

Shopper notes:

The event runs  Saturday, May 31 from 10 AM – 2 PM

Use the Yard Sale Map to plan your route.

Bring bags and boxes if you need them.

Have cash.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Several new animals have arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo this month.

Ruby the red panda arrived in Santa Barbara in May from Seneca Park Zoo in New York

Her birthday is June 27, 2024.

Tamur the Amur Leopard also arrived at the zoo this month. The new cat is a rare Amur leopard.

He is 5 years old and has access to the public and private areas of his enclosure.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –

CIF-Central Section Baseball:

Division 1: Centennial 9, St. Joseph 8

Division 3: Fowler 10, Morro Bay 1

CIF-Central Section Softball:

Division 3: Madera 12, Pioneer Valley 6

Division 5: Orcutt Academy 3, Dos Palos 0

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Andie Lopez Bornet

VENTURA, Calif. — A construction mishap caused a large chunk of pavement to collapse in Ventura, leaving residents shocked by what they saw and heard.

Doug Danavick, feed manager at The Wharf, was across the street when it happened

“Well, unfortunately, we hear loud noises here a lot,” Danavick said. “But at first it was more about watching the people and how they were reacting, which you could see was alarming to them.”

Soon after, people began posting about the collapse on social media, referring to it as a sinkhole.

“Yeah, I didn’t see anything, but I was at home catching up on emails and all of a sudden I hear a big boom and a lot of screaming, commotion,” said Ventura resident Michael Hanrahan. “And I’m like, ‘What’s that?’ Then I saw my phone — sinkhole. That’s what that noise was.”

But the City of Ventura is not calling it that. City officials say the ground collapsed due to a temporary shoring failure at a construction site on Front Street near Kalorama.

Crews have been working on a luxury apartment building for Aldersgate Investment. The company said it could not provide a comment when contacted by NewsChannel.

Another real estate company, Commune Capital, is also involved in the project. In an Instagram post, Commune Capital Co-President Mikey Taylor acknowledged the incident, saying the company is working with the City of Ventura to determine what happened.

“I don’t know who is responsible, but I’m sure someone is getting fired, so that’s one thing,” Hanrahan added.

Johnny Flores, who lives behind the site, said he spoke with a city employee who explained the issue was not technically a sinkhole.

“He said that technically it wasn’t a sinkhole — that these beams here that were supposed to hold up this dirt gave way. It was just too heavy for it,” Flores said. “And I noticed that the same type of beams are only like five feet away from the back of my house.”

The City of Ventura has red-tagged a nearby residential structure and part of a commercial property as a precaution. Officials say they are now working with construction engineers to assess the damage and determine how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Buena star golfer Brady McHenry won the CIF-SCGA So Cal Boys High School Championship in a playoff over Hill Wang of La Serna.

McHenry, a Texas Tech-commit, fired a 7-under par at Los Serrano Golf Club and qualified for the State Championship at Poppy Hills GC, Pebble Beach, CA June 3rd.

Past CIF-SCGA Champions include Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickleson.

Dos Pueblos senior Teddy Vigna also qualified for the State Championship after he tied for fourth place with a 5-under par 69.

Vigna birdied 3 of his first six holes but entering his 17th hole of the day he was sitting just outside of the cut line.

(Teddy Vigna is all smiles after qualifying for State Championship. Courtesy Photo).

After a good tee shot, he made an outstanding approach shot from 230 yards away. Vigna hit a 4 iron to 10 feet and drained the putt for eagle, vaulting him into a tie for 4th and inside the cut line.

He would par his final hole.

San Marcos sophomore Austin Downing ended up 3-under par and just missed the cut.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Mitch Wisnowsky is looking for a new NFL home after the San Francisco 49ers released the 33-year old punter.

Wishnowsky was a fourth round draft pick by the 49ers in 2019 out of the University of Utah.

The Australian punted at Santa Barbara City College as a freshman in 2014 before transferring to Utah.

He missed the final eight games of the season last year as he went on injured reserve with a bad back.

Wishnowsky went to the Super Bowl twice with the 49ers and has been one of the best punters in the NFL at pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line.

(Wishnowsky at a media session before Super Bowl LVIIII)

In 2023 Wishnowsky averaged a career-best in gross yards (47.7) and net yards (42.7).

But last year he slipped to 30th in the NFL in gross average (45.2) and 34th in net average (36.3) with injuries a factor.

San Francisco signed 39-year old punter Thomas Morstead as they continue to overhaul their special teams unit.

 He averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season with a 40.7 yard net average.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The 82nd Annual Santa Maria Rodeo and Parade continues on Thursday night with a second day of exciting rodeo action set to take place inside the Elks Event Center.

On Wednesday, the Elks officially opened its first-ever five-day long rodeo with a performance that featured Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Xtreme Bulls.

The bull riding only show was the first of its kind in Santa Maria, and according to Elks Recreation, the non-profit organization that operates the rodeo, the night was a big success.

“We had a great show,” said Peter Sterling, Elks Recreation President. “I think it was one of the best. It was brand new for us to have this additional event. And we are very pleased with how it came out.”

With the show taking place on a cool Wednesday night, Sterling added the Elks weren’t sure how the evening would turn out, but those questions were quickly answered when a near-capacity crowd filled the grandstands and surrounding tent areas.

“It was a great way to kick off our rodeo for this year,” said Sterling. “We seem to really have some really good momentum last night, and everything just seemed to click together. The bull riders were excellent. I know the bulls always seem to win, but you know, we had a great time and we are really excited about what what lies in front of us again because if we get the support we got from last night, we’re going to be great. It was awesome. We really appreciate everybody that came out and everybody seemed to have a really good time.”

While the bulls had their way most of the evening, a handful of cowboys were successful in handing for the required eight seconds to earn a score.

Coming out on top was none than Wacey Schalla, the 19-year-old Oklahoma native who is currently the world’s top ranked bull rider.

Schalla was the last rider of the night and just hung on long enough to score 89.5 points to capture first place and a cash prize of about $7,000.

With one night down, four more days remain, including the second night on Thursday, which will feature this year’s debut of the traditional rodeo format the Elks have held for decades.

“We’re going to have bull riding as part of that,” said Sterling. “We’re also going to have our calf roping and rough stock bareback, saddle bronc riding and the whole the whole rodeo and the whole package, so it should be a really great rodeo.”

The entire show on Thursday through Sunday will feature the always popular mutton bustin’, plus six PRCA events, including team roping, bull rding, bronc riding, bareback riding, tie down roping, steer wrestling, and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) barrel racing and breakaway roping.

The rodeo will also include several specialty acts, the Flying Cowboys motorcycle stunt team, junior breakaway roping, Elks team roping and more.

For more information about the 82nd Annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Parade, click here to visit the official website.

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