Category: keyt-local-news

Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – To the victor goes the spoits.

CIF-Southern Section Division 7 girls volleyball champion Cate High School swept the major individual honors.

Senior Oyin Opawumi was named CIF-SS D7 Player of the Year while the Rams Jordon Dyer is awarded Coach of the Year.

Opawumi was joined by fellow Cate seniors Fallon Erickson and Evangeline Little as All-CIF D7.

Here are other local players to receive All-CIF recognition:

Division 2: San Marcos senior Samantha Fallon

Division 4: Ventura senior Gigi Scaglia, Ventura junior Mia Howard

Division 5: Santa Barbara junior Blake Saunders, Santa Barbara junior Paylin Marcillac

Division 8: Foothill Technology senior Emily Turner, Foothill Technology sophomore Fiona Holt

Division 9: Nordhoff sophomore Wren Zimmerman, Nordhoff freshman Audrey Churpek

Division 10: San Luis Obispo Classical senior Madi Blasingame, San Luis Obispo Classical senior Sibylia Ridley, Thacher senior Cata Brown, Thacher Ori Ouermi

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Mike Klan

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (KEYT) – Emma Fredrick tied for match-high honors with 11 kills but Cal Poly saw their surprising postseason run end in a 3-0 sweep at Kentucky (25-19, 25-18, 25-7) in an NCAA Regional Semifinal.

Lizzie Carr had 11 kills for the Wildcats(28-2) who advance to the Regional Final versus Creighton on Saturday.

The Wildcats defense was the story as they held the Mustangs to a .114 hitting percentage and Cal Poly had 19 hitting errors.

Cal Pol ends the season at 27-8 with NCAA Tournament upset wins against BYU and USC.

The Mustangs were the only unseeded team to reach the Sweet 16.

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Scott Hennessee

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Internationally acclaimed musician Jake Shimabukuro performed a free ukulele concert for school kids at the Arlington Theatre Wednesday morning. Hundreds of 4-6th graders were bussed in from around the area, and they joyfully sang along to a number of songs.

Shimabukuro told the students he began playing ukulele at age four and his mom was his first teacher. He showed them the first chords he learned, and how easy the instrument is to pick up and strum a tune. The event was put on by UCSB Arts & Lectures with Shimabukuro returning to the stage a few hours later for a ticketed event dubbed “Holidays in Hawai`i” which is where he’s from.

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Beth Farnsworth

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Two of Santa Barbara’s top cops are spreading a sobering, holiday message this season: ‘Do not drink and drive.’

Santa Barbara Chief of Police, Kelly Gordon, and Santa Barbara County District Attorney, John Savrnoch, stopped by our news station Wednesday afternoon. They’re putting out a Public Service Announcement (PSA) as people gather for holiday festivities.

Chief Gordon said so far this year, the Santa Barbara Police Department alone, has made nearly 300 arrests for DUI (Driving Under the Influence), predominately involving alcohol. Each of the 296 arrests involved a collision.

Both Gordon and Savrnoch want to drive home the message that one bad decision can have devastating impacts.

“It surprises me that in the year 2025, with as many options as there are out there, with as much education has been done with all of the dangers and everything that’s been talked about when it comes to driving under the influence, that we still see this as such a huge problem in our community,” said Gordon.  

“If you are ever out and you have to ask yourself, ‘Am I okay to drive?’ The answer is obvious no,” said Savrnoch. “Make a plan to stay sober and drive. Make a plan for what happens if you do get caught up in the party, but make the plan before you’re under the influence. Because plans made under the influence are notoriously horrible plans.”

Savrnoch said drivers convicted of a first-time DUI potentially face tens of thousands of dollars in court and attorney fees and, insurance. He added, the risks of losing your license and your job are very real.

“The reality is, that the consequences can be very, very severe all the way up to death,” said Gordon. “And for myself and the officers, the last thing we want to do is give a notification to a family member that their loved one has been killed or seriously injured because of drunk driving, whether it’s them behind the wheel or someone that they have injured as a result of their actions behind the wheel.”

Savrnoch said behind drug-related crimes, the crime of committing a DUI ranks second.

“And there is absolutely no excuse for it,” he said.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – With land use, financial and legislative conflicts all in the forefront, solving the on-going housing crisis is going to be as challenging as ever in 2026.

At the annual Coastal Housing Coalition conference, several experts spoke about the status now and the requirements they face for future projects.

Panelists included analysts, architects, land use, and property attorneys and those with legislative experience.

The majority of the new units either proposed or permited are in Santa Barbara and Goleta.

The keynote speaker was Mikey Taylor, the Mayor Pro-Tem for the City of Thousands Oaks. He is also an entrepreneur familiar with multi-unit housing, single family homes and business projects.

He said cities on the South Coast need to have someone on their council who knows about real estate and can deal with the intricate details facing elected bodies.

He did not have a direct answer when asked about the on-going stalemate with the Paseo Nuevo proposed redesign to add over 230 units, some of them affordable. Currently the city has a subcommittee meeting with the development and financial teams on the project to design something that would replace the vacant Macy’s store on the corner of Ortega Street and State Street.

A week ago, it was in front of the Santa Barbara City Council for a hearing that lasted more than five hours.

Taylor said he was encouraged to see large companies begin to invest in housing projects to use for their employees and begin long-term options for workers, especially those who are making lengthy daily commutes to their homes in more affordable areas.

(More details, photos and video will be added here later today.)

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Jarrod Zinn

ORCUTT, Calif. (KEYT) – Large white balloons in the sky over Orcutt Wednesday and Thursday morning were part of a long-running science experiment at Orcutt Academy High School.

An egg survived a 300-foot parachuted drop as geology students got a hands-on experience launching weather balloons.

In summer-like conditions, the high school science class pocked the Orcutt skyline with the large white balloons.

The students attached gondolas—boxes that store their sensors—and raise them 300 feet in the air to take readings.

Teacher Ty Fredriks says this is the 18th year of what Orcutt Academy calls “Balloonfest.”

“This is actually something that has been happening since Orcutt Academy started,” says Mr. Fredriks. “So our very first balloon fest was in 2009, and this is our 18th annual one. So it’s really it’s been a tradition. And, you know, the kid, the alumni come back and we go, ‘I remember Balloonfest!’”

Students are challenged to present their data to each other on Friday.

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Jarrod Zinn

LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) – Officials at Allan Hancock College say ’tis the season for public safety graduations.

Battalion 156 graduated from the program’s Firefighter Academy on Thursday.

This year’s graduating class at Allan Hancock College’s Public Safety Training Firefighter Academy gave themselves the nickname “Battalica 156,” because they’re the first class to have used new resources courtesy of the rock band Metallica.

“Every year our cadets keep raising the bar,” says Leonard Champion, AHC Fire Academy Coordinator. “And to watch them come in at day one of a 17 and a half week academy and see that progression of growth, the maturity, the discipline, physically, mentally. It is incredible to watch.”

The world-famous band’s “All Within My Hands” foundation donated $75,000 to the fire academy for new personal protection equipment, tools, books, and materials.

“Yes, like there was a need or a reason to have to listen to more Metallica,” says Champion. “Very well known. Everybody understands their music, has heard their music over decades. So pretty impressive.”

Some of the graduating cadets say they now appreciate the band for more than their music.

“100%, I already love Metallica,” says Ryder Hart, Battalion 156 Class President. “When the chief told us that Metallica was sponsoring us, it was kind of like a little mind blowing thing. It definitely got people to start listening to it.”

Anyone interested in signing up for Hancock’s Public Safety Training programs can visit the school’s website.

“This has been like the greatest experience of my life doing this and I would do it hundred times over again,” says Hart.

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Michael Yu

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Hitching Post Wines in Buellton joined your morning news to share their new “12 Vintages of Christmas” offer.

Owner Frank Ostini shares that the 12 wines include vintages from 2010 to 2021.

Other local wineries are also offering several Christmas offers.

The “12 Vintages of Christmas” are available until Christmas and are online at https://hpwines.com.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Attorney John Thyne and his wife Olesya didn’t mean to get into the restaurant business, but Thyne decided to step in and partner with The Harbor Restaurant when the owners Gene and Carolina Sanchez asked them to help.

Thyne said the owners had been contemplating filing for bankruptcy.

For the past two years they have spruced things up in The Harbor Restaurant and the adjoining Longboards Grill, with future plans and they also plan to add a coffee and gelato shop with a view.

They have also added things to do.

“Tuesdays we do a lobster special, we have one dollar chicken wings up here at Longboards, we have live jazz every Wednesday night at The Harbor we are going to be doing a New Years Eve ball drop.”

But at the same time the attorney has filed a lawsuit against the City of Santa Barbara over rent he calls “unconscionable.”

They are supposed to pay more than $61,400 a month for the Stearns Wharf property owned by city and they also owe back rent.

They said there used to be a minimum base rent decades ago. of 10 percent of sales.

But as rent rose Thyne said sales dropped for a myriad of reasons.

He said they now pay more than 20 percent of gross sales.

The employ more than 90 people and the can seat 445 in both space.

He said the city helped for a bit, but not enough for the business to thrive in the current economic conditions.

“We didn’t want to bring a lawsuits, we were really trying to work things out with them and I am hopeful that this isn’t perceived as some time of adversarial situation, it is really more asking the court to help us get the parties back to the place that they originally were that was a commercially reasonable lease,” said Thyne.

He is hoping for a settlement or judgement to benefit all businesses.

“I think if they tie the minimum based rent to gross sales that would work,” said Thyne, “if there is a correlation that doesn’t exceed market rents that could work.”

Mayor Randy Rowse knows the restaurant business.

Rowse owned the Paradise Café on Anacapa St. in Santa Barbara for more than 30 years. It is currently called La Paloma Cafe.

Rowse said the city doesn’t generally talk about pending litigation but he was aware that the City Administrator Kelly McAdoo issued a statement.

Santa Barbara City Administrator McAdoo wrote the following in response the lawsuit:

“The city of Santa Barbara has reviewed the complaint and believes the allegations are without merit. The city intends to defend this matter vigorously. 

The city has not received required rent payments for several months and is pursuing its own legal remedies.

This property is a public asset, and the city has an affirmative obligation to manage it in a manner that serves the public interest, not solely the interests of any single tenant.”

Thyne isn’t a complete stranger to the business.

“I did own a bar in law school with some of my friends,” said Thyne.

He is hoping for a win win resolution.

“I hope it works out best for the community,” said Thyne.

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