Category: keyt-local-news

Alissa Orozco

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Maria Police arrested a juvenile found to be concealing a loaded handgun in his waistband. An officer contacted the juvenile on Tuesday evening around 8:00pm while patroling a residential neighborhood at the intersection of Golden and Sunset in Santa Maria.

According to Santa Maria police, the juvenile was known to be on probation and was booked into Juvenile Hall on weapon-related charges.

A press release prepared by the police department says the arrest was part of an on-going effort to remove illegal firearms from individuals.

Community members with information related to weapon crimes are encouraged to contact the Santa Maria Police Department at (805) 928-3781 ext. 2277 or provide tips anonymously by calling (805) 928-3781 ext. 2677 (COPS).

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Alissa Orozco

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. – Paul Flores, the man convicted of killing Cal Poly freshmen Kristin Smart back in 1996, has once again filed a appeal to reverse his conviction.

The now 48-year-old was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Kristen Smart in October 2022. A Monterey County jury sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison, saying he “with malice aforethought murder[ed] Kristin Smart” while “engaged in the commission of, or attempting to commit, the crime of rape.”

Flores is appealing his conviction for a second time, arguing his sentence should be reversed or reduced to second-degree murder. Court documents shown Monday claim Flores did not receive a fair and proper trial.

In the appeal, Flores argues Juror 273 should not have been allowed to testify, two additional alleged rape victims of Flores should not have been allowed to testify, and former San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle committed misconduct during his closing arguments.

Flores’ defense team used the same arguments in his initial appeal two years after his conviction, back in 2024. His team attempted have Juror 273 removed four separate times during the trial for a “dramatic emotional outburst.” The appeal claims Juror 273 admitted to speaking about the case to the bailiff and acquaintances, and revealed her “her jury service in this high-profile case.”

Juror 273 told the SLO Tribune she remained neutral throughout the trial, even after her emotional outburst.

The document criticizes the choice to allow two alledged victims to testify. It claims by allowing the two female witnesses to take the stand, their testimonies contributed to “enabling the prosecutor to argue that appellant had done the same to Smart, though no independent evidence supported this theory.” Flores and his team continue to argue there is no evidence he sexually assaulted Kristin Smart, and Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe abused her authority by letting the two women testify.

“Even under the relatively low probable cause standard used at a preliminary hearing, the non-character evidence failed to establish that appellant killed Smart in the commission of an actual or attempted rape of any type.”

The testimony of Trevor Boelter was also criticized after saying in court Smart appeared ‘roofied’ the night of her disappearance. Flores’ team claims this lacked adequate foundation and was merely hearsay he read about in a newspaper article.

“There was no evidence he saw his drink being spiked, heard about it after the fact, or saw otherpeople spiking drinks with roofies that same night. Quite conversely, Boelter denied that he “saw drugs around” on the night in question.”

Flores is currently serving his sentence at Corcoran State Prison where he was moved to after being attacked twice at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.

An appeal date for oral arguments has not been set as of Wednesday morning.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Preparations are underway for the UCSB Arts & Lectures Free Summer Cinema series.

This movie event is returning to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden with a dog-themed lineup.

The series called ‘Dogs Day of Summer’ kicks off Friday night under the stars from July 11 through August 29.

The movies will be family-friendly and will include titles like “101 Dalmatians,” “The Sandlot,” “Best in Show,” “My Dog Skip,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Marley & Me,” and “Dog”

For more information, visit: https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/events-tickets/free-summer-cinema/

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Christer Schmidt

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Thirteen trees, including eight ficus trees, are being removed from Milpas Street in Santa Barbara for a project intended to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility.

Many people in the community appreciate the look and shade provided by the trees, but the trees’ roots have damaged the sidewalks in several places.

The city says it has room to plant about three dozen trees to make up for the loss.

The approved species include water gum, Sydney red gum, New Zealand Christmas and African fern pine. The first two are related to eucalyptus trees.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Electric lawn mowers and more generated a buzz in Santa Maria on Wednesday.

The Air Pollution Control District (APCD) of Santa Barbara County held a clean machine demonstration at Allan Hancock College.

This is part of a state effort to urge folks in the agriculture industry to go electric.

“They can come today try out the equipment and see which equipment that they like talk to different vendors,” says Lyz Bantilan, Santa Barbara County APCD. “Then they can talk to the agencies that are here about funding opportunities.”

The APCD is encouraging folks to switch-over from gas and diesel powered industrial equipment to electric.

The state of California aims to be running on 100% clean electricity by 2045, with 60% achieved by 2030.

But  the agricultural industry faces unique challenges, chiefly up-front cost.

“Ag is starting to get some pressure on using newer emission technology to further air quality,” says Jim Biltz, representative of Warrior Machinery based in Rialto.

The APCD is offering grants from $10,000 to $250,000 for “eligible clean air projects across Santa Barbara county.”

“With the funding opportunities that we have available today, people can make that switch to cleaner equipment with having other agencies help them pay for it,” says Bantilan.

The professional consumers in attendance have standards for what they’re looking for in their equipment that are evolving as much as the technology is itself.

“You’re buying an electric alternative that produces no emissions for less money than you can buy a diesel alternative,” says Biltz.

This year’s event had higher attendance than last year, indicating more interest in switching to electric machinery.

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Alissa Orozco

PASO ROBLES, Calif. – A Paso Robles man was arrested Tuesday evening following a domestic dispute after barricading himself inside a residence and refusing to comply with authorities for several hours.

Tuesday evening around 5:41pm, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a domestic violence incident taking place in the 800 block of Golden Meadow Drive.

There, authorities located an adult female who had exited the residence, and identified another person still inside as 41-year-old Enrique Rubio. Deputies confirmed no other individuals were inside the residence with Rubio.

Rubio reportedly did not comply with repeated commands to exit the residence, causing the Sheriff’s office to call in its Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Team, Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), and Special Enforcement Detail (SED) to the scene and create a perimeter around the residence.

After several hours of noncompliance and repeated encouragement from CNT to surrender peacefully, Rubio finally exited the residence around 10:16pm and was taken into custody.

The adult female was transported to a local hospital for her injuries.

Rubio was arrested on charges of false imprisonment (PC 236), corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant (PC 273.5(a)), and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury (PC 245(a)(4)).

The Sheriff’s Office confirmed this was an isolated incident, and there is no ongoing threat to public safety.

They encourage those in San Luis Obispo County who may be experiencing domestic violence to contact Lumina Alliance, a local non-profit, through their 24/7, confidential crisis and information line at (805) 545-8888 or online at www.luminaalliance.org.

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John Palminteri

GOLETA, Calif. – There is a now a new temporary home for the Goleta Library.

It is located at 6500 Hollister Ave., just across from Goleta City Hall.   

The main Library on Fairview Ave. was closed on April 1st to begin improvements, and will remained closed for the next 18-24 months for remodel.

This temporary library is smaller and has quickly been called “tiny but mighty!” It’s also referred to as the Goleta Library Express.

The staff welcomes the public for quick visits, as they can room can only hold 35 people at a time.

20,000 books are part of this move and more can be brought in as requested by library patrons.

Goleta Librarian Elizabeth Saucedo said, “we look at the most popular authors. New York Times bestseller lists, book club lists. So we try to really match what we have with what our patrons are looking for. “

Shelves from the main library were used where they could be set up efficiently. “And we definitely prioritize bringing as many physical materials as we could. And so looking at how many books we fit on a shelf and then looking at our collection and then pulling what titles to pack from there,” said Saucedo.

Getting a book order filled Mark Preston said, “I like books. This is the closest place to get to them, the easiest way to get to it. So for me where I live this is easier.” He enjoys the service to have a book put on hold.

There is also a special area for kids to pick up books, or if they are part of a summer reading program, they can get their prizes. “It’s a reading incentive program where you can earn prizes at different milestones of how many books or how many minutes you read. It just really helps to prevent summer slide and the learning loss in between school years,” said Salcedo.

Specially marked parking spaces are in the parking lot nearby for those coming to the library.

There will also be outreach programs for reading and library related activities in area parks. The library van is on the move regularly with books and services that are provided in neighborhoods and it has a regular spot in Isla Vista. The IV community does not have its own library.

It will be open six days a week:

Tuesday through Thursday: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm

Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

Sunday: 1:00 – 5:00 pm

Closed Monday

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

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A well traveled street in Santa Barbara between downtown and the San Roque area is going to have some detours soon.

It is all part of a new project to replace an aging bridge.

Starting this Thursday, the traffic pattern will be limited to one-way for vehicles coming southbound around Vernon Road.

For northbound drivers, they will have to turn on Alamar if they are planning to go to State Street or upper De la Vina Street in somewhat of a triangular drive.

At least two businesses in the area were torn down to create the space to widen the bridge crossing.

This is going to be in effect until the bridge project is completed in June of 2027.

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Mina Wahab

VENTURA, Calif. — On June 26th, the Ventura City Council passed the CARE policy 6-to-1 to protect undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and those seeking reproductive healthcare.

Councilman Jim Duran was the lone “no” vote on The Care Policy.

“Bundling all these unrelated and controversial issues of immigration, gender identity and abortion, it divides our community rather than unites it. These are deeply personal issues,” said Duran.

“These are things that you deal with at the state and federal level. If you want to change policy, if you want to change a law, that’s where you do it. You don’t do it at the city level,” said Duran. With the Trump administration threatening to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and states, Duran says this vote puts a target on Ventura, even though it is mostly symbolic. “Every protection that was listed in that resolution already exists under California law. And so restating them at the city level adds nothing legally enforceable. It’s only symbolic,” said Duran.  Duran says they could lose loans and grants amounting to over $100 million dollars. “We need to fix roads. We need to fix sidewalks. We need to deal with the homeless situation here, economic vitality,” said Duran. A Ventura woman who moved to the U.S. from Australia says losing funding is only going to hurt the people who live here. “We don’t have oodles of extra money to just splash around on things. So. Refocusing city Council on the business side as well as the human side is equally as important in my view,” said Kelly Wilmer. When the policy passed back in June, most attendees appeared to be in favor of the policy. As for the potential loss of funding, the courts may back states like California. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in June that blocked the trump administration from withholding transportation funds over immigration policy.

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Alissa Orozco

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The city of San Luis Obispo has updated their map of Fire Hazard Severity Zones that now shows more parts of San Luis Obispo that fall within moderate, high and very high Fire Hazard Severity Zones.

The map shows colored zones out and within the city limits, including some residential neighborhoods to the east and west. The city says the map helps property owners determine if they need to take extra steps to reduce wildfire risks.

“Understanding a property’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone can help property owners take the necessary steps to reduce wildfire risks, such as adding and maintaining defensible space around buildings. Certain zone designations will require property owners to take extra steps to mitigate wildfire risks.”

In June, city council adopted the zones put in place by CAL FIRE based on the latest wildfire science. 

The map separates the various zones by color: Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zone (YELLOW), High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (ORANGE), and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (RED).

There are no immediate requirements for those living in the Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zone at this time.

However, those living in the High Fire Hazard Severity Zone in new construction homes or major remodels must comply with ignition-resistant building standards. They must also provide natural hazard disclosure at the time of sale.

Property owners in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone are required to perform the most extra steps, including: maintain all vegetation around all buildings and structures within 30 feet and out to 100 feet if applicable, obtain and provide home hardening certification for new/rebuilt homes if requested, and more.

To view the map of Fire Hazard Severity Zones and property owner requirements, visit the city’s website.

The city expects the State of California to release the 2026 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, and the 2026 California Fire and Building codes this summer. Once received, city council will then hold a public study session, likely in October 2025.

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