Category: keyt-local-news

Mina Wahab

SOLVANG, Calif. (KEYT) —Natasha Ruiz calls herself the “Tattoo Artist for Hats.”

She is the owner of Flame Kissed — a full-service mobile hat bar.

She left the world of law and accounting in 2023 to blaze a new trail, quite literally.

Each hat is carefully treated with heat to create singed edges, smoky gradients, and charred textures.

The result? – A one-of-a-kind piece that reflects each client’s personality.

“Every hat tells a story. Every hat is done differently. You can go very fine with the burning, or you can go very thick and hot with the burning. It gives different effects. And also we torch it. We distress the hats. There’s a lot of fun things that we can do,” said the pyro artist and milliner,” said Ruiz.

The majority of hats are made from wool.

“So leather requires a lot more energy and lot more heat to actually get a deep burn than the felt does. I burn very hot on felts, so I can I can go faster. I can doodle faster,” said Ruiz.

Many of the hats showcase the beauty of the Central Coast.

“So wildflowers definitely by far, anything that grows in California — a lot of people are very crazy about the local wildlife here. So, flowers, hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies… poppies,” said Ruiz.

The customization is what makes it special.

“When I talk to people, I’ll hear a story coming through. Tattoos often give it away. That’s where I usually start. If someone has a little tattoo here or there, I’ll be like, ‘hey, do you want that on there [the hat]?’ ‘What is your connection with, let’s say, a butterfly or something?’ And then we start a story on the hat,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz’s hat tells a story of resilience and forging a new path.

“This is actually my grounding hat, as I’d like to call it. It’s got the North Star, as in finding my own North. I went through a lot of hard times. A nasty divorce to add on top. And that North Star is always been one thing. It’s like you have to find your own path in life,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz is currently working out of her home in Buellton, but she will be opening up a store front called Flame Kissed Atelier on Grand Avenue in Los Olivos in May.

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Mike Klan

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KEYT) – The Mustangs took a 3-run lead into the bottom of the eighth inning at Loyola Marymount but left LA with an 8-7 loss.

Former Santa Barbara City College player DJ Ghiorso won it for the Lions with a walk-off hit off the wall in left field to score Jaxson Wall in the bottom of the ninth inning as they celebrated an end of a 7-game losing streak.

It was a wild eighth inning that saw Cal Poly scored four times to lead 7-4. Dante Vachini singled in two runs in that frame. He had 3 hits and 3 RBI for the Mustangs who drop to 14-9 on the season.

But LMU answered back with a 3-run 8th inning setting the stage for Ghiorso.

Cal Poly left 11 runners on base.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The underdog had plenty of bite and talent but Bishop Diego could not pull off the upset over large school San Marcos.

The Royals held off the Cardinals in four exciting sets (25-17, 28-26, 23-25, 25-18) in a matchup of two teams that are undefeated in their respective leagues.

Owen Willer led San Marcos with 16 kills while Matteo Burdick added 13 kills as they improved to 17-2 on the season. The Royals lead the Channel League at 6-0.

(Owen Willer delivered a big performance for the visiting Royals. Entenza Design).

Bishop Diego got huge performances from their two outside hitters Damien Krautmann and John Michael Flint who tallied 24 and 21 kills respectively.

The Cardinals are 14-4 on the year and lead the Tri-Valley League at 5-0.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Mental health professionals, media literacy advocates, parents and teens applaud the landmark verdict against social media platforms.

The Los Angeles case that held Meta and Google liable began 3 years ago when the plaintiff was just a teen.

The now 20-year-old said she was under 10 years of age when YouTube and Instagram platforms led to depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia that causes people to focus on perceived flaws.

Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness leader, Suzanne Grimmesey, said parents can help their children by setting a good example when it comes to screen time.

“It is always good conversations to have with children to understand the negatives, that a large amount of screen times can have and that is everything from your eyesight to the negativities of just being too connected to that world,” said Grimmesey.

Starshine Roshell, who was recently named The California State Advocate for Media Literacy Now, said this holds platforms accountable.

“These lawyers for this case went after the architecture of the platforms; looking at how they are built and how the algorithms are actually designed to keep us watching, and to have consistent scrolling, and these beauty filters, and all of these different things built into the tool that can really impact the mental health of our students,” said Roshell.

She said media comes at kids like a firehose daily, especially those with phone in their pockets.

A section the Communications Decency Act called Section 230 treated social media platforms as publishers that are not responsible for the content that their user’s posts.

Roshell calls the young woman at the center of the California case courageous.

“Attorneys put up a 35 foot picture of all of her social media pictures over the years and asked the jury to take a look at that and that was really impactful for them, I think it had a big impact, but I also think that must have been really hard for her to see that,” said Roshell.

She said the $6 million penalty is nothing for the tech giants, but the other case in New Mexico is much larger.

That case orders Meta to pay $375 million for failing to prevent child predators on the site.

Media Literacy Now is advocating for the passage of a California Assembly Bill 2071 to add digital literacy instruction for students.

Roshell plans to write about it in an upcoming “The Truth Fairy” column in the Santa Barbara Independent.

Radio broadcaster Lisa Osborn co-created “Moment of Truth” media literacy workshops.

Osborn also noted that social media content flowing across platforms has been shielded by Section 230 that went into effect before Facebook and other platforms were created.

She said now is the time to revise it.

“Now it’s been proven, we see tech giant manipulating their users in ways that can be harmful, even deadly,” said Osborn, “This jury verdict should be a wake up call to parents and lawmakers to set reasonable guidelines.”

A high school senior visiting to tour UC Santa Barbara, feels encouraged by the recent court rulings.

Katlinh Do, of Riverside, said just being outside, strolling on State Street with her mother, helps her take a break from social media that can be distressing.

“I really like going out and I feel like it is good to take a break from social media because I personally don’t think it is good for me, I feel a lot of the time I end up obsessing the detail because of it,” said Do.

She know nature and the outdoors are good for mental health.

Even though the tech companies plan to appeal, these high profile cases could convince them to change how they do business.

For more information on Assembly Bill 2071 Pupil instruction:digital wellness, visit https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – As the extended heat wave continues to bring unseasonable weather conditions to the Central Coast, it’s also presenting challenges for the local agriculture industry.

“It is has been extremely challenging this March,” said Satellite Farms owner, Randy Sharer. “We’ve come through what will be the warmest March along the Central Coast in the last 150 years, and it’s had a dramatic affect on what we do out here in the country.”

Sharer, who has farmed the Santa Maria Valley for more than 40 years, described how the crops try and stay cool while they sit under the bright sunlight for hours.

“Plants being a living thing, they’d sure like to get in the shade, but plants don’t have legs, so they’re stuck (in the ground),” said Sharer. “Humans and mammals sweat, but plants transpire, which is they’re pulling moisture out of the ground and circulating through their plant to stay cool and maintain moisture just like we humans do.”

According to Sharer, some of the crops are more resilient to the heat, such as strawberries and broccoli, others are more susceptible to damage.

“We have trouble with lettuce,” said Sharer. “As lettuce is transpiring, they’re also pushing salt out to the tips of the leaves,” said Sharer. “Broccoli, we don’t ship leaves, but lettuce has leaves and that’s where we get temperature burn, so it is problematic to deal with quality in the marketplace.”

Another recent concern Sharer added has been the higher than usual nighttime temperatures.

“Plants resperate in the evening when it’s warm, much like a dog does during the day,” said Sharer. “If you’ve ever been around a hot dog panting a lot, that’s what plants do when they’re resperating carbon dioxide, which in turn, that carbon dioxide isn’t available to convert to photosynthesis in the morning, so it really does have an effect on what we do as far as production.”

Another significant issue the heat brings to the fields each day is the toll it takes on the people who are working for hours in the challenging environment.

“This heat is just difficult for folks to be working in,” said Sharer. “We make sure we have plenty of ice every morning to keep the flow of water going into our folks, and we provide shade during their breaks, and we’re constantly monitoring the weather for the safety of the folks that work out here in the country.”

As for the local grape crop, the warmer than normal conditions have not been detrimental to the health of the plants.

“The heat really has accelerated everything growth wise,” said Kevin Merrill, Mesa Vineyard Management Manager. “We’re two weeks to even more ahead of schedule here. As you can see, the vines are growing really fast. They look great. We’re a little nervous for this time of year, though, for having them out so far.”

Merrill worried should the weather take a dramatic turn in temperature in the days or weeks ahead, it could potentially cause significant issues to the crop.

“At this time of year, we’re so susceptible to frost damage here,” said Merrill. “April, we can get quite a few freezes. We have the frost protect the vines, and at this stage, it makes it tricky because the vine the growth is so tall that if we turn the sprinklers on now, you could break these canes. You could lose the fruit set and so that’s a real concern, and as far out as these grapes are to get a frost now would be devastating.”

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Scott Hennessee

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – The U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame inducted Master Yun at a ceremony in Costa Mesa Saturday, honoring him as Leading Martial Arts Master of the Year. Master Yun also received special recognition for his expertise in Praying Mantis Kung Fu.

Yun Chao Zhang has practiced martial arts for more than 50 years, beginning when he was six years old in China.

“I think Chinese Martial Arts is very good for health,” the 58-year-old Yun said. “Not only for fighting.”

Master Yun teaches traditional Chinese Martial Arts at his Santa Barbara studio downtown at 921 State Street. Classes are available for people of all ages and abilities in Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and Qigong.

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Two drivers were involved in a rollover crash Wednesday along Shoreline Drive, sending three juveniles to the hospital.

Santa Barbara City Fire were called out around 12:40pm to help assist along Shoreline Drive just south of La Marina, where lucky, no one was seriously hurt. There it was found that a white Toyota SUV had struck an Audi sedan traveling in the opposite direction.

The department says the driver of the SUV, along with two juveniles were able to climb out of the vehicle uninjured. The driver of the Audi and her infant were also uninjured

All parties involved were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

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Alissa Orozco

ORCUTT, Calif. (KEYT) – On Wednesday afternoon, Santa Barbara County Sheriff officers reported to Pine Grove School following reports of a firearm on campus.

According to the department, a student had alerted a staff member that another student had brought a firearm to school. Law enforcement was contacted, and officers made their way on-site around 1:08pm. Officers safely recovered the firearm which was found to be unloaded, and no additional ammunition was found.

The department believes the student had no intent to harm anyone, adding that because there was no ammunition, the firearm could not be fired.

The names of the students were not released as the case remains under investigation. The department added a follow-up will be handled in coordination with school officials.

Although Wednesday’s incident turned out to be non-life threatening, the Sheriff’s Office encourages students, parents, and community members to remember: If you see something, say something.

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Alissa Orozco

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) – The family of a missing local teenager is asking for the public’s help to locate her.

On Wednesday, your News Channel received a tip regarding 14-year-old Janel Carranza Pacheco, a Oxnard teen not seen since March 23rd.

Janel Carranza Pacheco

The family of the young girl say she was last seen by Gonzalez Road in Oxnard around 11:00am, wearing a blue stamp jacket and leopard print pajama pants.

Anyone with information about Pacheco and her whereabouts is encourage to contact the Oxnard Police non-emergency dispatch at (805) 385-7740.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Central Coast industrial farmers are beginning to use large drones designed specifically for conservation.

For the first time in 25 years, the U.S. Drought Monitor declared the state of California 100% drought free, thanks to the winter storms.

But that quarter century of persistent drought conditions has led to the development of farm technologies focused on conservation.

Drone manufacturer Hylio, Inc. has developed large drones designed specifically to increase output while reducing input, and they already have some clients on the Central Coast.

Conservation is always on the minds of industrial farmers.

“Basically a 10 to 1 water usage ratio,” says Arthur Erickson, CEO of Hylio. “So whatever a tractor might use for a similar application, the drone needs a 10th of that to be as effective, if not more effective. You go from 20 gallons an acre with a tractor to 2 or 3 gallons per acre with the drone. It’s obvious who the winner is here for, for doing applications.”

CEO of Hylio Arthur Erickson says this drone technology is here to stay, and can be instrumental in maintaining California’s status as drought-free.

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