Category: keyt-local-news

Tyler Yamauchi

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Every Wednesday morning, Ventura Land Trust meets at the Willoughby Preserve to clean the Ventura River as part of their Willoughby Preservation River Restoration project where they along with volunteers remove trash and invasive species.

The Willoughby Preserve can be found upstream from the Ventura River Estuary running adjacent to the Ojai-Ventura Bike Trail and consists of 9 acres of protected land. The Willoughby Preserve was made by the Ventura Land Trust along with volunteers and partners of the organization in 2012 to protect the area from encampments, garbage and invasive plant species.

Various invasive plant species can be found throughout Ventura River and the Willoughby Preserve including giant reed, mustard plants, thistles, and annual grasses. These plants can negatively affect the surrounding environment by means such as drying up the surrounding area including the river and taking nutrients from native plants preventing them from spreading and lessening the food sources for native wildlife.

Ventura Land Trust is a community based, non-profit organization founded in 2003 that aims to preserve the land, water and wildfire in Ventura County. Ventura Land Trust currently has around 3,798 acres of protected lands over seven preserves. These areas such as the Harmon Canyon are accessible to the public.

For information on the Willoughby Preservation River Restoration project and how to volunteer, click here.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – San Marcos High School will have a change in leadership in athletics after Aaron Solis announced he is leaving the position at the end of this school year.

Solis, who will remain at the school as a teacher, has been the Royals athletic director since December of 2022. Last year he received the Norm Mackenzie Award for the Northern Area of the Southern Section of CIF by the California State Athletic Director’s Association.

Principal Dare Holdren said of Solis, “Coach Solis has been an excellentsteward of our athletic programs and I am grateful for his leadership. Heloves San Marcos and has always served as a positive role model for ourstudents.”

Applicants can apply on the district website. Applications close on May17th, 2026.Prospective candidates are invited to contact Principal Dare Holdren directly with any questions at dholdren@sbunified.org

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Ivania Montes

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The sound of shoes striking the floor and traditional Mexican music filling the room has become part of the daily routine for students in Santa Barbara’s growing folklórico program.

For students like Gabriel Gomez, the class is more than just dance.

“It makes me feel happy and when I get to learn new dances, it’s like something new every day,” Gomez said. “It’s also different places in Mexico that I don’t think I’ve ever heard of.”

Gomez said the program has helped him connect with his heritage while building confidence and working toward personal goals.

“What made me join this class is my older sister,” Gomez said. “She has been doing folklórico for a while. She’s danced on the mission. And that’s also one of my biggest goals too. I want to be able to dance on the mission.”

The folklórico program began four years ago at Franklin Elementary School and has since expanded to Santa Barbara Junior High School and Santa Barbara High School.

The free classes count as P.E. credit and provide students with traditional shoes and outfits needed for performances.

Anna Philhoefer said the program focuses on strengthening both culture and community.

“This is about building community confidence through dance,” Philhoefer said. “And really a way to enhance the culture that already exists in our community.”

The program now spans three schools across different grade levels, with hopes of expanding into more campuses, including Santa Barbara’s Westside.

Student Maddie Jamie described what a typical class looks like.

“Usually we change into our clothes, we come out, we do a few stretches to warm up, and then we either learn it or review a dance to make sure that it’s stuck in memory,” Jamie said.

The performances extend beyond the classroom, with students dancing at school and community events throughout the year.

In January, students performed for Monique Limón and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Kamala was very gracious,” Philhoefer said. “She took pictures with the kids. She was able to meet with them in a smaller group setting and tell them how wonderful they did. And that just boosts their confidence.”

The dancers are now preparing for their next major performance during a showcase at Santa Barbara High School scheduled for May 18 through May 22.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – With Sable Offshore Oil now pumping oil from two of its three platforms off Santa Barbara County, the opposition to this newly restarted operation continues.

U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24) were flanked by environmentalists and other local political leaders Thursday at Shoreline Park to discuss the current legal challenges and strategies.

With the recent restart of two platforms an estimated 52,000 barrels of oil a day are being moved on shore and through a controversial pipeline. That pipe broke in 2015 along the Refugio coast causing one of the worst oil spills in the county’s history. Sable was not the operator at the time.

Work has taken place to repair the pipeline and Sable says it is safe. Sable says a third platform, Hondo, will be operating in June. All of the oil comes ashore in a pipeline that sends the crude to refineries, primarily Chevron in El Segundo.

The restarting of the platforms came with support from the White House due to what was said was an oil crisis in the U.S. from the war in the Middle East.

The group that gathered included California Assemblyman Gregg Hart along with Chief Legal Counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, Linda Krop, the Tribal Leader for the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, Mati Waiya and also Brandon Jones-Cobb Center for Biological Diversity.

“We’ve seen the disaster. This greed. This lopsided approach to taking away the health of our ecosystem for the profit of others. It’s absurd,” said Waiya. He referenced the impacts on marine life including the symbolic dolphins which carries a deep meaning and connection with tribal history and its ancestors.

Hart says at every turn Sable has not cooperated with California’s oil policy. “Sable continues pumping oil into its pipelines despite unresolved legal disputes, violations of state regulations and direct court orders that halt restart activities. California law and direct court orders are not optional. We cannot allow Sable and the Trump administration to operate as though they are above the law.”

Schiff says no hearings are expected in Washington on this oil production issue under the current leadership, but if it changes, he says. “I want to know what discussions took place around all the contributions the industry was making, and, how they sought to call on the promises the president made to be essentially the president of the oil industry,” he said. “That’s the line of questioning I will have when we get the opportunity. “

With a dual targeted approach aimed at Trump and Sable Carbajal said, “Trump and his cronies are telling people that Sable is a domestic solution to energy, to the energy crisis and the energy crisis that he created with his idiotic and illegal war with Iran. But the reality is that Sable won’t produce anywhere near oil to lower the price families are paying at the pump.” Many Santa Barbara drivers are currently paying in excess of $6.00 a gallon for gas now.

Schiff was angry that a wind energy project off the coast of Morro Bay has been stopped after a buy out-style deal by the Trump administration to two companies for $885-million to abandon their plan. “Moving off of fossil fuels and moving to renewable sources of energy is an environmental imperative. It is a health imperative. It’s an economic imperative. It is a national security imperative. So many of these conflicts, like this war we’re in now with Iran, end up being about, the oil economy,” he said.

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Jarrod Zinn

LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) – The second of two motions was heard in a Lompoc courtroom today from Erica Sutherland, the public defender of Ashlee Buzzard.

Buzzard is accused of killing her 9-year-old daughter Melodee and leaving her body in rural Utah last year.

On Wednesday in a Santa Maria courtroom, Judge Hippach denied Sutherland’s motion to quash a search warrant and traverse the sworn statement used to obtain it.

Reports say Sutherland claimed the warrant had been issued in haste and was based on hunches, but that prosecutor Jordan Lockey referenced incriminating evidence, and Judge Hippach agreed.

Today Buzzard returned to the Lompoc courthouse, where Judge Stephen Dunkle heard Sutherland’s other motion to compel further discovery of forensic evidence.

Prosecutor Jordan Lockey from the Santa Barbara County DA’s office argued that all evidence has been discovered to Sutherland, totaling 19 disks of material.

Further argument from Lockey implied that discovery of the magnitude and detail Sutherland claims is missing is unnecessary and unprecedented for the scheduling a preliminary hearing.

Judge Stephen Dunkle denied Sutherland’s motion to compel further discovery.

Buzzard will return to court on May 27th at 1:30, at which time a preliminary hearing will be scheduled.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – An 11-year-old’s one-dollar donation is helping inspire a new eviction prevention effort in Santa Barbara.

Everything Under the Sun, a local non-profit, recently helped a tenant avoid eviction and is now expanding that work with a broader campaign aimed at keeping more residents housed amid ongoing housing pressures in the region.

The initiative began in a simple but meaningful way — with a single dollar given by a child who knows the organization’s founder through sports. That small gesture has since grown into the foundation of a much larger fundraising effort.

Anastasia Rodriguez, 11, said she wanted to be part of helping people in need. “When he told me about his non-profit, I really wanted to help, so I wanted to donate the first dollar,” she said.

Founder Al Ortiz said the moment stood out as the beginning of the campaign. “The first thing that came out of Anastasia’s mouth was, ‘Coach Al, can I donate the first dollar toward the one million dollar challenge?’”

The organization now hopes to raise $1 million to support eviction prevention efforts and provide stability for more families across the community.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) –

CIF-Southern Section Boys Volleyball Division 5 Quarterfinals:

Bishop Diego 3, Brea Olinda 2: Cardinals will host El Dorado on Saturday semifinal

El Dorado 3, Dos Pueblos 0: Chargers fall on the road 18-25, 19-25, 19-25. Keenan Bower had 8 assists and 11 digs while Caleb Damron had 6 kills and 4 blocks.

CIF-Southern Section Boys Tennis First Round:

Division 3: Cate 10, Santa Barbara 8: Kakeru Hirofuji won all 3 of his singles matches for the Rams who will play on the road against Webb in round 2 on Friday.

Camarillo 13, Riverside Poly 5: Scorpions will host Oaks Christian in round 2 on Friday.

Division 4: Buckley 9, Foothill 9: Buckley advances on games.

Division 5: San Marcos 18, Rancho Mirage 0: Hudson Chossek won all 3 of his singles matches to lead the Royals into Friday’s second round match at Temple City.

Golden Valley 10, Laguna Blanca 8

Division 6: Garden Grove 9, Carpinteria 9: Garden Grove advances on games

Division 8: Century 13, Rio Mesa 5

Nogales 12, Hueneme 6

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Mike Klan

FULLERTON, Calif. (KEYT) – The No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara Softball team opened the 2026 Big West Championship with an intense 10-9 win over the No. 6 seed UC San Diego. The Gauchos walked it off in the bottom of the ninth to advance in the winner’s bracket of the tournament and will take on No. 2 seed Hawai’i tomorrow.

HOW IT HAPPENEDIn the opening game of the tournament, the Gauchos competed in an offensive battle featuring five home runs and six lead changes before delivering the final blow in extra innings. UC Santa Barbara took the lead first in the opening frame when Emily Carr grounded out to third base, allowing Dani Rauscher to score for a 1-0 lead.

After a quick second inning for both sides, UC San Diego plated three in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead over the Gauchos. A few hits and fielding errors led to the runs. This was not unfamiliar territory for the Gauchos, as they trailed after three innings in two of three games against the Tritons in the regular season. Ainsley Waddell responded in the fourth when she launched a two-run home run to right field to tie the game at three.

Following a four-run outburst in the fifth inning, the Tritons regained the lead, 7-3. The Gauchos responded with four runs of their own to tie the game again. Bella Fuentes crushed a two-run homer to left field before Giselle Mejia earned an RBI walk and Dani Rauscher tied the game on a fielder’s choice, scoring Delaina Ma’ae. The sophomore catcher delivered again in the sixth inning, with an RBI double to tie the score at 8-8 after UC San Diego reclaimed the lead with a solo home run in their half of the sixth.

After a scoreless seventh and eighth inning from both sides, another solo home run in the top of the ninth gave the Tritons a late lead. With their backs against the wall again, Waddell completed her standout performance with a second home run to tie the game. Following the Waddell home run, the Gaucho offense continued to put pressure on UCSD as they loaded the bases. Freshman Ella Myers singled to bring home Mejia and secure the 10-9 walk-off win for UC Santa Barbara. Malaya Johnson earned the victory after starting the game and then re-entering to pitch the final 2.1 innings and 6.1 in total.

UP NEXTUC Santa Barbara advances in the Big West Championship and will continue tomorrow at 4 P.M. against Hawai’i. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).

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Mike Klan

MONTECITO, Calif. (KEYT) – Hank Smith was no ordinary Smith in the first game of the PacWest Championship.

Smith hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and then smashed a 3-run shot in the seventh inning to lead #1 seed Point Loma to a 9-2 victory to open up the tournament.

The host Warriors got a solo home run in the sixth inning from Tanner Beltowski in the loss.

Westmont will face Concordia in an elimination game on Thursday 9 a.m. while Point Loma will take on Fresno Pacific at 12:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Barbara’s downtown Loop shuttle is free and the operators are making sure the public knows it.

The golf cart-style shuttle has been running for several months. It is a ride up and down State street from the waterfront to the Arlington theatre and back.

There’s no charge, and is fully covered in part by the non-profit Friends of State Street, and also some funds from a special city account pertaining to the State Street improvements.

Some are still in disbelief and that is why new signs have been placed on the top of the shuttles, inviting riders to jump on, free of charge. With the master plan for downtown coming together, a shuttle like this or something similar is in expected to be included.

It helps those who are trying to see more of the downtown area, get around without walking the entire distance of more than ten blocks.

The shuttle runs Thursday through Sunday.

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