Category: keyt-local-news

Jarrod Zinn

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – PG&E is staffed and ready for the wind and rain this week.

There were sunbeams in people’s windows early this morning, but now we’ve got gray skies and shiny pavement.

It’s not the warmest day the Central Coast has ever seen – the clouds have rolled in, the skies are dark, and windshields began to reveal the water droplets just after lunch.

And there’s been a lot of wind.

Local PG&E officials have issued alerts and sent out their workforce to anticipate circumstances that could lead to outages, or worse.

For now, the main concerns are both the rain and the wind.

Over time, especially through long spells of dry, hot weather like we’ve had recently, sedimentary buildup on the power boxes, transformers, and cabling on phone poles all around us everywhere, can create unfavorable circumstances when multiple conditions arise such as high winds as well as rain.

The company wishes to assure the public that staffing has been scheduled accordingly and multiple contingencies are being taken into account.

“Here at PG&E, we want to make sure that everyone is safe. And that includes our customers and that also includes our coworkers.  So give them time. If you do experience an outage and it’s during a storm like this, we need to ensure that our coworkers are safe, too, to be able to assess the issue and then go out and then resurrect the issue and then turn your power back on,” says PG&E spokesperson Neil Hebert.

Officials remind the public that there are tens of thousands of miles of cabling above our heads all around us, and they’re all connected to each other.

So an incident in one place can cause problems in another location.

Remember if you encounter a downed power line, stay as far away from it as you can, and call 911 to notify authorities.

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Relocated fire victims from the Palisades and Eaton fires in the Los Angeles area are finding some relief at coworking spaces on the Central Coast.

At the Paseo Nuevo Mall Workzones Co-Founder, Pam Tanase, says, “we have had a couple of people come in who were impacted by both of the fires down in L.A. and we were happy to have them and welcome them.”

It can stabilize their lives and business  and keep the work flow going.

“Even if it is a few hours and take their mind off of all the other issues going on and stay focused because at the end of the day that is  still something important,” said Tanase.

Fire victims have been offered a complimentary co-working area and a discount on private office space. There’s also a variety of work stations.

It creates a productive environment to get more done in less time alone, in a conference setting or a Zoom meeting. “So you have more bandwith to handle everything else that’s going on in your life,” said Tanase. “Especially if you are in a close quarters because you’re not in your normal own home and to be able to have that time and separation it is really helpful for everyone.”

One of the benefits of coming to a co-working location is you can meet many other people who might be able to help you with short term and long term issues.

The non-profit SCORE is a business mentoring. One member was ready to mentor and assist fire victims for free, and help them recover.

Tom Phillips said, “if someone comes up from L.A. or adamaged area it doesn’t cost them anything just  their time to take and we can help them figure out what to do.”

A co-working space is also one of the better places to brainstorm critical solutions with people who may have experienced similar losses.

Phillips said, SCORE “can walk them through the steps and help them figure out a way to restart it, start it somewhere else restart it  in L.A. and help them that way.”

Co-working spaces have can be just the answer for someone trying to keep their business alive after a fire or any disaster, whether they are in the area they lived or working remotely.

Tanase said, “we’re just happy to have a space that we can offer to to the community at large as well as anyone that has been impacted by the fires.”

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – There’s a solid economic boost in downtown during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

It is underway through February 15th.

“People just like to come out and see what’s going on and it’s also fun to be part of something that is so electric,” said. 

Josh Ellis at M Special Brewing Company.  

The movie stars, including Oscar nominees and their fans are coming out for the 40th anniversary of the Film Festival and it’s expected to create a buzz with thousands of people in motion for the 200 films and tributes.

This event comes at the right time when sales are generally slower.  “People just like to come out and see what’s going on and it’s also fun to be part of something that is so electric.”

Financially the festival comes at just the right time for downtown to start the year, which is normally slow.  

 “Business takes a dip naturally for various reasons and the film festival is the first week where we see a spike in numbers and increase in business,” said. 

Nadia Ajlouni who has owned the Blue Owl restaurant for the last four years. It’s walking distance from the new Film Center.

The new film center is in the 900 block of State Street. It has five theatres and 900 seats. The films will begin in the morning as early as 8 a.m. then go into the late night hours.

“When the film festival comes to town we already see a large increase in business and we expect this will multiple what we’ve seen in the past,” said The Blue Owl restaurant owner. 

“You can take the food from right here and walk over the festival like 200 feet and afterwards when everything else is closed the Blue Owl will be open for you until midnight, Friday and Saturday.”

At each event there’s always a buzz about after parties. Ellis said, “we do have a couple of film makers that will be hosting their own private after party in our location.”

Talking about the films after viewing one and doing it at a local establishment nearby is part of the festival experience. Ajlouni says people come here to digest the shows and talk to each other about what they have just witnessed and have a drink and just settle down.”

This year along with getting the festival crowd the businesses here will also see an increase in foot traffic on Valentine’s day and Super Bowl Sunday, which fall within the festival schedule. “There are always events every year that bring in a critical mass and the film festival is definitely one of them. I think it is extra exciting because there are stars that show up,” said Ellis.

Beth Farnsworth

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson and former Santa Barbara City Councilman Dale Francisco joined Your News Channel for an on-set, primetime segment to share their views on several key topics.

Francisco, a longtime GOP politician, and Jackson, a staunch Democrat, weighed in on border security and immigration and President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants and ramped up deportations, nationwide.