Category: keyt-local-news

Christer Schmidt

VENTURA, Calif – Ventura High School locked down after a student reported that they saw the outline of a potential gun in another student’s waistband.

Ventura Police Department say the suspected student was detained.

After an extensive search with K9 units, the police say they found no weapon.

Police lifted the lockdown about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and classes resumed.

The Ventura Unified School District shared that the incident has has an emotional impact on students, staff, and parents and it has made counseling available for those impacted by Wednesday’s lockdown.

This is the second time a lockdown has happened at the school this month.

The previous lockdown occurred after a hoax bomb and shooting threat was made to the school by two students earlier in May.

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Christer Schmidt

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – A motorcyclist died Tuesday after leaving the roadway and hitting a large electrical pole.

Paramedics say they found motorcyclist Matthew Estrada on Erbes Road north of Tubbs Street at 10:20 p.m. according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

They attempted life saving measures on the scene. The motorcyclist was brought to a hospital but was pronounced deceased when they arrived.

Thousand Oaks Traffic Investigator Christ Riggs says anyone who witnessed the collision or has any additional information about the collision is encouraged to contact them at (805) 494-8271 orChristopher.riggs@ventura.org

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A popular butterfly exhibit is back open in Santa Barbara.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History just kicked off its popular Butterflies Alive! exhibit, featuring a variety of more than two dozen tropical butterfly species from Costa Rica.

This is an immersive experience where guests can walk through a garden while some 1,000 butterflies fly around them.

Visitors can also explore butterflies at an earlier stage of life at the Santa Barbara Gallery.

Most recently, the exhibit was named amongst the Best Butterfly Gardens by USA TODAY.

The Sprague Butterfly Pavilion is ADA accessible.

For more information about the butterfly exhibit, click here.

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Dave Alley

NIPOMO, Calif. – A legal settlement has been reached between the developer of the Dana Reserve project in Nipomo and the two groups who filed a lawsuit against the planned housing and retail community.

On Wednesday, a joint press release was sent out by project developer NKT Development, as well the Nipomo Action Committee (NAC), and the California Native Plant Society (CNPS).

In the release, it was revealed the three sides has agreed to a deal that will, if approved, establish a revised Dana Reserve Specific Plan, which will create a smaller, less environmentally impactful development.

Some of the key elements of the agreement include the reduction in housing units by 229, which equates to an approximately 16% smaller project size.

The smaller design will result in a new perimeter to the development layout, which the parties said will help address some neighborhood and community concerns.

The release also indicated the the project will still include deed-restricted, affordable housing units, with first priority given to Lucia Mar Unified School District employees, as well as other housing types.

Other notable benefits that will remain in place are the down payment assistance program, local priority, and on-site childcare.

Another key element of the settlement will be a newly created offsite biological mitigation effort, which the parties said will help support long-term protection of sensitive manzanita habitats outside of the project boundaries.

The new design will now protect additional sensitive plant species and 195 coast live oak trees, as well as contribute financial resources for public benefit specific to Nipomo, which will overseen by the Nipomo Action Committee.

“We have worked closely with NAC and CNPS to modify the project in a way that is mindful of the community concerns and still provides a meaningful ladder of housing,” said Nick Tompkins, Nick Tompkins, Dana Reserve Managing Partner. “We appreciate our local representatives who make land use decisions. Our hope is that the commissioners and supervisors will support the settlement and recognize the time, effort, and compromise it took to reach this agreement.”

“We worked tirelessly in this settlement process with all parties,” said Alison Martinez, Nipomo Action Committee Director. “We appreciate all the work and support of our community members and are ready to move forward. This settlement will provide significant financial resources to address future priorities of our community. I anticipate this settlement, as agreed, will now proceed through the county approval process.”

The Dana Reserve has been much-discussed and much-debated in the Nipomo area, as well as throughout San Luis Obispo County since the project was first planned nearly 10 years ago.

The Dana Reserve proposal is a 288-acre master-planned community that featured in its original plan up to nearly 1,400 residential units, 110,000-203,000 square feet of commercial and non-residential (Visitor Serving/Hotel, Education) floor area, a minimum of 55.6 acres of open space and 6.3 acres of recreation, and related circulation and infrastructure.

The project site is located on a highly visible 288 acre piece of property adjacent to Highway 101, on the westside of the freeway, just south Willow Road. The property is passed by thousands of vehicles daily traveling on Highway 101 and is located about one mile north of Tefft Street, the main commercial corridor of Nipomo.

In April 2024, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 in favor of the project.

Soon after, the NAC and CNPS filed a suit to stop the project citing environmental concerns.

Now, the three sides have come to an agreement, which will now return to the County of San Luis Obispo for review and approval.

No timeline on when San Luis Obispo County officials will begin the new review process.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Maria officials celebrated the official start of construction of the city’s long-planned new sports complex with a groundbreaking ceremony held Wednesday morning.

With several Santa Maria elected officials and other city employees on hand, a small ceremony that included a ceremonial groundbreaking, was held at the construction site.

“It is a long time coming,” said Alex Posada, Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department Director. “I think having it available to us today, being the groundbreaking today, it’s just a lot of work that was done by a lot of people over the last, really ten years almost.”

The new facility will be built at the corner of Battles Road and Depot Street on what was previously agriculture land in the heart of the city.

When completed, the sports complex will feature four athletic fields, which will be used primarily for soccer, as well as a handful of other amenities.

“It will have parking for about 200 vehicles,” said Posada. “There will be a small maintenance facility, public restrooms, snack bar and a playground area in the middle of the complex.”

The sports complex has been in the works for nearly 10 years, formed as a goal established by the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety, which was created in 2016.

“We knew we needed all these fields,” said Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino, who created the task force. “We’ve known that for a long time. We needed more football fields. We needed baseball fields. We need soccer fields. When you have a median age of 29-years-old, you’ve got a lot of kids out there in our community because they’re using our parks. They need to be using this and so I’m just really excited.”

The cost of the project has increased significantly over years, and according to Posada, is currently listed between $14 to $15 million.

“It’s mostly grant funded,” said Posada. “We were able to secure grants from the state of California, the County of Santa Barbara, the State Parks propositions and also from some private donors in the community.”

The new Santa Maria Sports Complex is scheduled to be completed sometime in summer 2026.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –  A new roundabout has opened in Santa Barbara where an often congested route on the eastern side of the city near the beach often has snarled traffic.

It was celebrated with a special ribbon cutting ceremony at the intersection of Cabrillo Boulevard and Los Patos Way, near the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Phase 1 of the roundabout construction began in February 2024. It was an estimate $12-million dollar project in design and construction.

With this roundabout there are now four between Los Patos Way and San Ysidro Road in a corridor that connects Montecito and Santa Barbara.

The event took place as Mayor Randy Rowse took note of the surroundings. He said, “we’re watching it work, watching people running, bikes are going by here. Pedestrians go through here. Really it is more functional than ever.”

The city says the project:

Creates a safe corridor along East Cabrillo Boulevard for pedestrian and bicyclists.

Improves access and connectivity to and from the Beachway, Andree Clark Bird Refuge, Chase Palm Park, Santa Barbara Zoo, beaches, and the Waterfront and Harbor, and to commercial areas along Los Patos Way and Coast Village Road.

Reduces traffic congestion and improves mobility by constructing a roundabout at the intersection of East Cabrillo Boulevard and Los Patos Way.

The next phase will be the replacement of the existing Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over Cabrillo Boulevard, along with pedestrian and bicycle improvements.  This is part of what will eventually be the larger freeway widening project through Santa Barbara that is projected to be finished in the next few years.

 It was a cooperative project with funds and planning from various city, county and state governments and agencies including the city of Santa Barbara, CalTrans and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG). Representatives were also present from the offices of Congressman Salud Carbajal, State Senator Monique Limon and Assemblyman Gregg Hart.

This needed to get done now because as construction moves forward, Margie Kirn the SBCAG Executive Director said, “this is going to be a little precarious going through once we start construction on the freeway. Having this roundabout. is going to make it so much more easier for people to get through. “

“There was a time when Santa Barbara didn’t have many roundabouts, and certainly not on a major corridor. But now, in this area between the bird refuge and Montecito, there are four of them.

Randy Rowse said, “we were planning this in the beginning and a had lot of pushback. And now people that were kind of irritated about them are  really liking them because they do make traffic flow. “

The other roundabouts are on the other side of Coast Village Road at Olive Mill Road and Highway 101 where it hooks up to North Jameson Lane.

Further to the east at San Ysidro and Highway 101 is another one which has a uniquely designed roundabout with more of an oval shape.

At Hot Springs Road that roundabout also connects Old Coast Highway and Coast Village Road.

The Mayor gave his driving recommendations saying, “yield to the left and you get in and when you get ready to exit, you signal where you’re going to exit. That’s the way the rest of the world does it.”

 As for benefits Coast Village Road is seeing them already. Trey Pinner is the President of the Coast Village Improvement District. He said, “Coast Village Road is just doing so well. We’re growing. This is going to bring people up into the area of down from the beach. It is easy to get through. “

There will still be busy days and congestion because the road is one lane in each direction and has three stop signs. But on either end he says, “I love roundabouts. I’ve been a fan of roundabouts, and I know at first it was hard. As we start to see it throughout  our community. I think people really appreciate the ability to move as many cars as we do through a congested area.”

Coast Village Road is also going to have a beautification project soon in the center median.

For more information go to: Cabrillo roundabout

.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol began receiving calls about a mountain lion on Highway 101 around 10:20 a.m. Monday.

Witnesses reported seeing a large cat get hit near the Castillo Street off-ramp.

The remains of the mountain lion were later spotted on the right shoulder of the southbound side of the freeway.

Julia Di Sieno, co-founder and director of the Animal Rescue Team in Santa Ynez, said she initially thought the lion might still be alive, but it did not survive.

“A gorgeous mountain lion bolted across the southbound 101 at the Castillo off-ramp and was struck by a vehicle several vehicles ahead of me,” Di Sieno said. “I immediately exited the highway and got back on northbound as I was calling Fish and Wildlife to report the deceased cat.”

Di Sieno returned to the scene as officers arrived.She questioned why the cat was so far displaced from its natural habitat.

There have also been recent mountain lion sightings in Ojai.

Di Sieno said she would like to see Santa Barbara County construct a wildlife crossing in the area.

“We have a couple of those placed strategically along Highway 154,” she said.

A major crossing project in Agoura Hills — the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing — is set to be completed by the end of the year.

For more information about that project, visit https://annenberg.org.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – With the start of the 82nd Annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo now just hours away, final preparations are taking place all day long Tuesday at the Santa Maria Elks Event Center.

Throughout the 107 acre property located just off Santa Maria Way on the east side of Highway 101, Elks volunteers, vendors and other workers are together putting the final touches on their setup for the start of the unprecedented five-day event, which begins Wednesday.

“We are busy getting set up,” said Scott Parsons, Santa Maria Elks Recreation Vice President. “We have our vendors rolling in. We have lots of our incredible volunteers putting banners up and finishing some touch up painting. Wednesday is looming around the corner, so we’re trying to get all of our T’s crossed or I’s dotted, making sure everything’s tied down and everything looks great because tomorrow is going to be here before we know it. For the 7 p.m. performance with gates opening at 5 p.m., we have to have things wrapped up.”

Earlier this year, the Elks Recreation, which operates the annual event, announced the addition of a fifth day of action, marking the first time in the long and storied history of the rodeo, the event would stretch over five days.

On Wednesday, the rodeo kicks off with a full night of action with an Xtreme Bulls event.

“For the first time ever, the Xtreme Bull tour of the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) is going to be here in Santa Maria,” said Johnna McGuire, Elks Recreation Media Director. “Wednesday night will be all bulls. We’re super excited. It going to be all bulls all night. We’ve been so blessed in the last few years. We’ve been had mostly sold out performances and it’s been really tough to get tickets and we we get it. It’s hard. We want everybody to be able to come, so this year we were able to to add a day and add something new and exciting for people to come and really watch. We all know the bulls are a favorite. We all love the bulls and they’re always at the end of the night, so sometimes not all the little ones make it for that one, but this will be great because it’ll be all bulls all night.”

The Elks will hold its traditional lineup of rodeo events on Thursday through Sunday, and will once again feature world-class PRCA rodeo action, such as bull riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling, tie down roping, team roping and bronc riding, as well as WPRA barrel racing and breakaway roping, kids mutton bustin’, Elks team roping, Junior breakaway roping, speciality acts, and the always popular Flying Cowboys motorcycle stunt riders.

“82 years is is pretty amazing,” said McGuire. “What’s happened in the last 13 or 14 years of what this rodeo has come to mean to me, not just for Santa Maria, but for the whole Central Coast and actually for like the rodeo profession, it really is a standout premier rodeo. We have one of the largest international audiences on Cowboy Channel, and again this year’s performances will on the Cowboy Channel app. This rodeo just really is that that one event that brings the whole Central Coast together.”

The 82nd Annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Parade will be held May 28th-June 1st, 2025.

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

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA MARA, Calif. – Country singer-songwriter Larry Fleet will take the stage in the Minetti Grandstand Arena, as part of the Michelob Ultra Concert Series presented by the Chumash Casino Resort, during the 2025 Santa Barbara County Fair.

The Santa Barbara County Fair announced Fleet’s performance on Friday, July 11th, with special guest Cripple Creek!

Fleet was working blue-collar jobs to make ends meet long before landing his recording contract with Big Loud Records, and creating some of his biggest hits including, Workin’ Hard, Things I Take For Granted, A Man’s Prayer, – and independently releasing Hard Work & Holy Water. The Tennessee-born artist and his music pays tribute to the music that raised him.

Tickets for the show will go on sale Friday, May 30, 2025, starting at 10:00 am on the Fair’s official website.

The 2025 Santa Barbara County Fair runs July 9 through July 13 and this year’s theme is “Dancing To Your Own Beat!”

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A new addition has just arrived to the Santa Barbara Zoo!

Five-year-old male Amur leopard, Tamur (pronounced tuh-MOOR), has arrived to Santa Barbara from the San Diego Zoo as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP).

SSP is a program designed to maintain the genetically diverse and stable population of animals in captivity, “with the ultimate goal of supporting species conservation efforts worldwide.”

Amur leopards – also called the Korean leopard, Far East leopard, and Manchurian leopard – are the most endangered big cats on Earth. The Santa Barbara Zoo says there are just under 100 are estimated to remain in the wild, with threats including poaching, forest fires, development, and, at this point, inbreeding.

Approximately 200 Amur leopards are in human care, primarily in zoos in North America, Europe, and countries of the former Soviet Union, and are part of globally cooperative conservation breeding programs.

“Welcoming Tamur is a powerful reminder of the critical conservation work we do here every day,” said Dr. Julie Barnes, Vice President of Animal Care at the Santa Barbara Zoo. “The Santa Barbara Zoo is deeply committed to protecting endangered species like the Amur leopard. Every animal move is carefully planned with the future of the species in mind, and we’re proud to play a role in helping ensure their survival.”

Santa Barbara Zoo will say farewell to its current amur leopards, Marta and her mother Ajax. Marta, born on August 6, 2021, made history as the first Amur leopard born at the Zoo in over 20 years will now reside at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio, Her mother Ajax, one of the most genetically valuable female Amur leopards in North America, also moved to a new home at the Nashville Zoo.

The Zoo says while Tamur is still acclimating to his new habitat and may not always be visible, Zoo guests are encouraged to stop by and welcome him during their next visit.

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