Category: keyt-local-news

Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Good Samaritan Shelter’s Hope Village hosted a Nashville-based country music artist in Santa Maria this afternoon.

The non-profit received a special honor immediately following.

Steven Cade played some music and made sure the good vibes would continue after his stop at Good Samaritan’s Hope Village on Tuesday.

The Nashville musician donated an autographed guitar to the village.

“People in homeless shelters can’t afford a guitar,” says Steven Cade. “They can’t afford to even see a show. So I come in and I perform, and I bring a guitar to be used like a library book by the residents.”

Members of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber Of Commerce joined the event, and announced Good Samaritan as Non-Profit Of The Year immediately following Cade’s music.

“We’ve been to many shelters, and what I’m witnessing right now is—I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like this, which is which is really inspiring,” says Cade.

Hope Village has served nearly 300 individuals in its first two years, well ahead of its goal of serving 200 people.

The non-profit helps clients transition to permanent housing.

Good Samaritan officials say 75% of hope village’s “graduates” successfully remain housed long-term, and the village keeps about 100 unhoused people under a roof every day.

“We’ve also had a lot of success around—we have recuperative care beds here, so we have a lot of beds in partnership with Dignity Health,” says Kirsten Cahoon, spokesperson for Santa Maria’s Good Samaritan Shelter. “So we’re able to bring folks in that are homeless and also have medical needs and be able to get their surgeries.”

Santa Maria is on Cade’s list of stops for his International Giving Guitars tour, in partnership with nonprofits Gibson Gives and the Guitar Center Music Foundation.

“We have clients from all of our different shelter and recovery programs coming this afternoon,” says Cahoon. “We are super excited for him to have chosen to come here to the Central Coast.”

The Giving Guitars Tour seeks to raise funds and awareness for homelessness.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Just when beach lovers thought the latest hurricane threat was turning out to sea, a lasting message is crashing back along the California coastline in the next few days.

The National Weather Service has an alert out, especially for those who think it will be an easy summer day at the waterfront.

Of course thousands of people in coastal cities and their visitors are heading to the beach to “beat the heat,” caution needs to be packed along with water, sunscreen and a hat.

Swells from hurricane activity in the Pacific will generate elevated surf across south and southwest-facing beaches as well as very strong and dangerous rip currents.

This will especially hit Ventura’s Surfer’s Point and possibly find its way into Santa Barbara’s waterfront past the Channel Islands. There are also concerns along beaches in Northern Santa Barbara County and Southern San Luis Obispo County.

Rocks and jetty areas where the public enjoys exploring are dangerous in these conditions. Sneaker waves could knock you into the water or cause an injury.

Rebecca Heller from Los Angeles visited Butterfly Beach with her family Tuesday and said, “there’s going to be bigger waves and more power in the waves and some locations can’t handle that size.”

With the Category Five size of Hurricane Genevieve in the Pacific she said, “at a point break that might that might be a good thing for a surfer but at a beach break  that might be a terrible thing. That’s going to be a mess and dangerous, really dangerous for people who don’t what they are doing.”

A teenager who enjoys swimming and surfing said she won’t test the power of the ocean when it is changing by a storm system. Lucy Gallagher said, “keeping yourself up and paddling with huge waves that would be a lot and I would get pushed back and thrown back in. If I was swimming in the ocean and all of a sudden I see these big waves that are  hurling me then I would get out.”

Courtney Johnson chose a quieter Montecito beach and said, “it is much more accessible, and you can leave pretty quickly if you need to.”

Some areas of Southern California have already had thousands of rescues by lifeguards since last weekend. Johnson said, “and it makes me feel for the lifeguards as well  and they need to be paid more. There needs to be a lot more lifeguards out there.” She said it was, “insane the amount of people I saw out there with the giant waves.”

Her advice was also to let the lifeguards handle the rescues with their training.

Johnson said, “when people come out to help the lifeguards, lifeguards are telling them ‘no’  don’t come out here don’t become another casualty out here.”

The water temperatures over Southern California have been going up in the last week. Readings from San Diego, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara have been 70 to 78 degrees. That’s significantly higher than the normal range of 60 to 68 degrees.

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – It’s a community favorite in the summer time! The 5th annual Miramar Best in Show returns to Rosewood Miramar Hotel.

The event features vendors, drinks, food and of course, plenty of fur-babies ready to strut their stuff and compete for Best in Show.

Resort guests and locals are welcome to watch as a spectator or compete in one of the categories.

This year, the event will be held on Thursday, August 13th, from 2-5 p.m. The event is in support of local shelters including Santa Barbara Humane.

Santa Barbara Humane CEO Kerri Burns joins your Morning News to talk about the upcoming event and the excitement leading up to the event. Burns will be a judge this year and Actor, Comedian, Jane Lynch will return as the event host.

Competitor tickets are now sold out, but tickets to attend as a spectator are still available.

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Mike Klan

WESTFIELD, Indiana. (KEYT) – A Ventura County pass-catch connection led to a thrilling title for the Los Angeles Seahawks.

Ventura High School alum Ava Ortman (2026) completed a 2-point conversion pass in overtime to Camarillo High School alum Mya Rei Smith (2026) to set off wild celebration.

Smith’s catch in heavy traffic gave the Seahawks a 15-14 overtime win in the NFL Flag Championship game over the Austin Texans.

Ortman threw both of her touchdown passes to Smith.

The tournament was a 4-day event in which all 32 NFL teams were represented along with 15 international squads.

Four Santa Barbara-area players were on the team pictured below from left to right: Victoria Aldana (San Marcos High School 2028), Brooklyn Hedricks (Dos Pueblos High School 2027), Ruby Streatfeild (Dos Pueblos High School 2027), and Kacey Hurley (Dos Pueblos High School 2026).

(LA Conquer Chargers)

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The outreach effort for Santa Barbara County’s Sidewalk Vending Ordinance has noted some improvements in the unincorporated areas of the north county.

Officials say that doesn’t mean they’ll be resting on their laurels, though.

Representatives of Environmental Health Services (EHS) remarked that compliance from sidewalk food vendors has increased in north county areas since the effort began in April, but that enforcement is still necessary especially in the south county.

In 2018 California law was changed, allowing sidewalk food vendors to sell to the public, if some rules were followed.

“The state law created a permit pathway and the methods and the requirements to do it correctly,” says Jason Johnston, Santa Barbara County’s Environmental Health Services director.

After that, Santa Barbara county inspectors saw a sharp increase in unpermitted and unsafe operations.

“They’re generally from out of the area,” says Johnston. “No food safety practices at all. Generally nothing is even on ice or any sort of refrigeration for the food being brought in from wherever they’re bringing it in from.”

Violations range from improper food storage and refrigeration, to a lack of hand-washing, cross-contamination, pest infestations, and illegal dumping of grease and waste.

In the past three years more than 200 notices have been issued to vendors without a permit.

That prompted the creation of an outreach team.  

And since April this year, violations are down a lot… just 14. 

With only 10 facilities shut down.

More than a thousand pounds of contaminated food has been thrown out.

“If it’s not enclosed, if it’s if it’s a pop up stand short of at a festival or some other outdoor activity, it’s not permitted,” says Johnston. “If it’s on the roadside, it’s not permitted.”

Additionally, pop-up operations along Highways 154 and 246 through the Santa Ynez Valley have been known to create traffic hazards.

“You have dust, you have vehicle traffic,” says Johnston. “People queuing right next to the roadside. You have traffic backing up. So that creates, you know, beyond the food safety side, the human safety vehicle traffic side.”

The outreach team continues to go around the county, making sure the vendors you see on the street have permits and are safe.

“And so that’s our goal is for these people to be permitted, compliant, producing safe food for their customers,” says Johnston. “You can not worry about being sick in a day or 2 or 3 days later.”

Officials say permitted stands are required to display their permits.

Residents can report unpermitted vendors to the county’s EHS offices.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The way electric vehicle owners are charging their cars is getting more convenient and packed with energy.

This month, 20 more stations came on line in Santa Barbara.  The Electrify America company opened a new large-format electric vehicle (EV) charging station at the corner of Carrillo St. and Chapala St. It expands access to fast, seamless and convenient EV charging in the city’s downtown core.

It is at the site of the former Greyhound Bus depot at 36 West Carrillo Street. The station offers 20 Hyper-Fast chargers. Each charger is capable of speeds up to 350 kilowatts (kW), which can add up to 20 miles of driving range per minute for EVs that accept high-power charging.

One driver from Los Angeles said his quick fill up was just what he needed.

Donald Dorson said, “just like 35 minutes and I’m at 85 percent so it’s twice what I need to get home now. For the most part I don’t like to take super long road trips so it’s not a huge deal and when I do it works great.”

For a driver from the San Fernando Valley, it is a site she will visit often on her three trips to Santa Barbara per week. Marlene McCoy said “once people find out about these chargers they fill up pretty  fast. It’s great they have 20 here so there is always something available. “

She is using the on line app and “it’s faster and because I am a member it is cheaper,  the pricing is very good for me since I am charging all the time.”

Emma Roldan and Thomas Urdinola were in a rental that needed a charge. The site was perfect for their coastal drive. “We are at like 60 percent already and we are going to grab lunch and then get back on the road,” she said.

Urdinola found the site with a phone search. “It’s funny, she used Apple maps and I used an alternative, Google maps and (we got) nearly the same results.”

Roldan said, “I use Apple maps  so i was just looking because it tells to the wattages and this one also had a lot available. The other ones there were only about two and that was it had 12 or 10 which was good.”

The company says, the new station also has a 1.9 megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS), which is Electrify America’s largest public BESS deployment to date. The BESS stores energy from the electrical grid during low usage periods and when abundant solar energy is available. It then discharges this energy during high demand periods.

Santa Barbara County also says it will be adding new charging stations with four on Santa Claus Lane and three at Rincon Park for a cost of $467,000.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) — A sold-out presentation at the Lobero Theatre brought hundreds of people together to hear a conservation message centered on one of nature’s most misunderstood animals.

Award-winning filmmakers and Living with Wolves cofounders Jim and Jamie Dutcher shared lessons from the six years they spent living alongside a wild wolf pack in Idaho. Their experience inspired them to create the nonprofit organization, which focuses on wolf education, research and coexistence.

Despite decades of conservation work, Jim Dutcher said wolves continue to face significant challenges.

“After all this effort and money and success bringing wolves back, they’re still being hunted.”

Jamie Dutcher said living among wolves changed the couple’s perspective and inspired their lifelong mission.

“Wolves affected us so deeply and they were still so misunderstood that we felt… we had the opportunity to really give back to them.”

Today, Living with Wolves promotes non-lethal ranching methods, educational programs and public outreach to encourage coexistence between people and wolves.

“We promote coexistence, non-lethal ranching methods and we do a tremendous amount of educational outreach with school groups,” Jamie Dutcher said.

The conservation presentation came to Santa Barbara through a partnership with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Museum President and CEO Luke Swetland said the Dutchers’ work encourages people to rethink their relationship with wolves.

“What the Dutchers are doing is really an extraordinary exploration of humans’ relationship to wolves… and we’re proud to be part of that exploration because we all need to understand this relationship better.”

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 6,000 gray wolves now live across the lower 48 states.

Jamie Dutcher said she hopes people leave with a greater appreciation for wolves and the role they play in nature.

“We just want people to better understand how incredibly social these animals are and how they’re a keystone species. They’re so important to a healthy ecosystem.”

The Dutchers hope a better understanding of wolves will inspire greater appreciation for the natural world and the important role wolves play in keeping ecosystems in balance.

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – In a tragic turn of events, the Santa Barbara Zoo has bid farewell to its second red panda cub born just earlier this month.

On July 2nd, the Zoo welcomed twin cubs born to first time parents Ruby and Raj. It was a great accomplishment towards conservation efforts of the endangered species, and it was the first time red panda cubs has born at the Zoo since 1993.

The cubs were carefully monitored over the latest couple of weeks, but what started off as a happy milestone, has suddenly turned into tragic loss.

At just two-weeks-old, the Zoo lost one of the cubs on the morning of July 21st, and its sibling was quickly transported to receive specialized care in an incubator.

The Santa Barbara Zoo shared an unfortunate update on the second cub on social media Monday morning:

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the sad news that our second red panda cub, born to Ruby on July 2, passed away over the weekend despite receiving around-the-clock care from our veterinary and animal care teams.”

The zoo says it worked closely with fellow wildlife organizations to give the cub the best fighting chance of survival before it died over the weekend.

The cause of death for both cubs remains under investigation, but the Zoo says a necropsy showed significant fluid around the heart and some congestion of lungs.” Their mother Ruby has been doing well and has been reunited with her partner Raj. As red pandas breed seasonally, the Zoo says they do not expect another breeding opportunity until next year.

“We are deeply grateful for the compassion and support our Zoo community has shown during this difficult time. Red pandas remain endangered, with fewer than 10,000 estimated to remain in the wild, making every opportunity to contribute to the conservation of this remarkable species incredibly important.”

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Tracy Lehr

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) – Preparations are also underway for the Dallas Cowboys 20th training camp’s in Oxnard.

One of the team buses has arrived at Staybridge Suites near the River Ridge Playing Fields.

The city has signs up to welcome fans.

The players seem to enjoy escaping the Texas heat in Oxnard, but this year they may arrive on a warmer than usual week.

The 2026 camp runs from July 29th through Aug. 18th.

For more information visit http://visitoxnard.com

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Tracy Lehr

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Ventura County Fair wants people to bring clear purses and bags this year.

Security guards are preparing for large crowds and they will be checking bags.

The fair’s website states the clear bag policy is an effort to promote safe and efficient entry.

The fair off Harbor Blvd. by the beach in Ventura opens on Wednesday July 29th and runs through Aug. 9.

For more information visit https://venturacountyfair.org

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