Category: keyt-local-news

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Some members of the Jewish community watched the celebration in Israel until 1 a.m. at Congregation B’nai B’rith in Santa Barbara County.

Thanks to Rabbi Belle Michael, who is from Israel, they have been in touch with the families of hostages.

Many worried something might delay the release overnight.

They broke out in applause a number of times as they learned the 20 survivors held captive for 2 years were coming home and being reunited with their families.

Senior Rabbi Daniel Brenner said they have been waiting for this special moment.

“This has been such a journey – we don’t lose hope, we don’t give up, we cherish life and we celebrate that they are with us again,” said Brenner. “We don’t want to return to war and the hope is that this continues on and that these intractable parties come less intractable, that there is future that is positive for Israelis and positive for Palestinians and positive for everyone and that is the real hope here.”

Brenner also talked about the meaning of peace.

“In our tradition the opposite of war is not peace, the opposite of war is not fighting. Peace is something you have to work for, peace takes much more than not fighting and when we pray for peace we are not just praying for an end to war we are praying for a beautiful and enriched future.”

Now he said is the time for healing and privacy for those families.

“These are people who didn’t ask for fame but unfortunately got it because of their situation.”

For more information visit https://cbbsb.org

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News Channel 3-12

Below is a press release from County of Santa Barbara Health Department regarding a General Rain Advisory for local beaches.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Due to the recent rainfall, Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services wants to remind residents about potential health risks associated with storm water runoff at countywide beaches. Storm water is untreated rainwater that flows through the drain system into creeks, the ocean, and other waterways. Contact with storm water while swimming or surfing may increase the risk for certain types of illnesses such as rashes, fever, chills, ear infections, vomiting, and diarrhea. Also, due to increased creek flows, debris such as logs may be present in the ocean and other waterways posing an increased risk of injury to anyone entering these waters.

To minimize potential health and safety risks, it is recommended that people do not swim, play or surf in the ocean and creeks during and for at least three days following a rain event. Beachgoers should also avoid areas near the outfall from drainpipes and creeks that enter the ocean following a rain event as storm water runoff may carry high levels of bacteria and pollutants.

Due to the annual sport-harvested mussel quarantine (normally May 1 – October 31), recreational/sport-harvesting of mussels should not occur. Recreational/sport-harvesters should wait at least 10 days after significant rain to harvest other shellfish. High bacterial levels, pesticide, herbicide and motor oil grease flushed into the ocean with the storm runoff may impact shellfish beds. Adequate cooking of shellfish will destroy harmful bacteria but may not be effective in killing viruses. In addition, cooking does not eliminate chemical and metal pollutants in shellfish.

Traducción al Español:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Debido a las recientes lluvias, Servicios de Salud Ambiental del Condado de Santa Bárbara quiere recordar a los residentes sobre los riesgos potenciales para la salud asociados con la escorrentía de aguas pluviales en las playas del condado. Las aguas pluviales son aguas de lluvia no tratadas que fluyen a través del sistema de drenaje hacia los arroyos, el océano y otras vías fluviales. El contacto con las aguas pluviales mientras nada o surfea puede aumentar el riesgo de ciertos tipos de enfermedades como ronchas, fiebre, escalofríos, infecciones de oído, vómitos y diarrea. Además, debido al aumento de los caudales de los arroyos, los escombros, como los troncos, pueden estar presentes en el océano y otras vías fluviales, lo que presenta un mayor riesgo de lesiones para cualquier persona que entre en estas aguas.

Para minimizar los posibles riesgos para la salud y la seguridad, se recomienda que las personas no naden, jueguen, ni surfeen en el océano y los arroyos durante y por al menos tres días después de un evento de lluvia. Los bañistas también deben evitar las áreas cercanas al desagüe de las tuberías de drenaje y los arroyos que ingresan al océano después de un evento de lluvia, ya que la escorrentía de aguas pluviales puede transportar altos niveles de bacterias y contaminantes.

Debido a la cuarentena anual de los mejillones de pesca deportiva (normalmente del 1 de mayo al 31 de octubre), la pesca recreativa/deportiva de mejillones no debe ocurrir. Los pescadores deportivos/recreativos deben esperar al menos 10 días después de una lluvia significativa para cosechar mariscos. Los altos niveles de bacterias, pesticidas, herbicidas y grasas de aceite de motor que se vierten en el océano con la escorrentía de las tormentas pueden afectar los lechos de mariscos. La cocción adecuada de los mariscos destruirá las bacterias dañinas, pero puede no ser eficaz para matar los virus. Además, la cocción no elimina los contaminantes químicos y metálicos de los mariscos.

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Andrew Gillies

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Four Nevada teens were arrested in connection with a robbery at Clark’s Liquor and booked on felony evasion after a vehicle chase Monday.

On Oct. 13, around 12:39 p.m., officers were dispatched to Clark’s Liquor on North Ventura Avenue for a reported armed robbery involving three juveniles stated a press release from the Ventura Police Department Tuesday.

According to Ventura Police, three juveniles came into the store and took several bottles of alcohol before an employee confronted the trio as they attempted to leave the store.

One of the suspects pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the employee who backed into the store and all three juveniles fled the area in a vehicle that was later found to be associated with a missing persons case out of Las Vegas detailed the Ventura Police Department.

A police officer later located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to yield and a vehicle chase ensued shared the Ventura Police Department.

Ventura Police shared that because of the high speeds and reckless driving involved, the pursuit was called off for public safety reasons.

The vehicle was spotted afterwards heading southbound on Highway 101 and this time Sheriff’s deputies attempted a traffic stop, but the driver fled into Camarillo before pursuing deputies lost sight of it near Los Posas Road explained the Ventura Police Department.

On Monday evening, the vehicle was spotted and stopped by Sheriff’s deputies who detained seven juveniles at the scene stated the Ventura Police Department.

According to Ventura Police, detectives responded to the scene and identified three of the detained juveniles as participants in the earlier robbery including the suspect who brandished a weapon.

A BB gun matching the description of the brandished weapon was recovered from the vehicle as well as items stolen during the robbery added the Ventura Police Department.

The three identified robbery suspects, two 14-year-olds and a 16-year-old, as well as the 16-year-old driver of the vehicle were arrested and booked at Juvenile Hall on charges of robbery, conspiracy, and felony evading shared the Ventura Police Department.

All four young men are Nevada residents noted the Ventura Police Department.

The investigation into this incident is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 805-650-8010.

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- It is expected to be mostly clear for the weekend of the 41st Annual Vintners Festival this weekend.

Wine loves can Fall in love with local wineries and restaurants from the region and meet the faces behind the tasty drinks and food. Over 70 wineries, chefs and restaurants will be in attendance. The event begins at 1 p.m. at Vega Vineyard in Buellton and will conclude at 4 p.m.

The Morning News sat down with Vega Vineyard owner, Jimmy Loizides to talk about the exciting weekend.

So, grab a friend, your taste buds and your wine tasting outfit and head to Buellton!

You can find tickets at sbvintnersweekend.com.

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Dave Alley

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – A rare tornado warning surprised many and rattled nerves throughout the Central Coast late Monday night.

The warning was issued at 11:21 p.m. on Monday night by the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Cell phone users along the San Luis Obispo County coastline down into the Santa Maria Valley were alerted through a loud warning on their device that indicated severe thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado were located in the region.

“It was pretty scary,” said Eddie Rocha of Santa Maria. “When I saw it, that was the first time I saw one of those.”

The message advised people to immediately seek shelter in a basement or in an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.

It also indicated for anyone outside, in a mobile home, or vehicle should move into the closest substantial shelter to protect themselves from potential flying debris.

“We don’t have a storm shelter,” said Chris Nartatez of Nipomo. “We thought, well, we’ll just stay here. We’ll be okay and if we hear the roof rattling, we’ll get up. I thought it’s a good that we get those kind of warnings to be prepared.”

According to the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services (OES), it appears, no known tornadic activity ending up happening during the storm.

“We’ve been in contact with the National Weather Service (NWS) related to last night’s tornado warnings,” said Anita Konopa, San Luis Obispo County Emergency Services Coordinator. “At this time it does not look like any tornadoes actually touched down, but they’re still doing some research and talking to people to determine whether or not there was any touched down overnight. The good news from a damage standpoint is that we’re getting a lot of feedback from the public and from our first responder agencies that there wasn’t a lot of damage and that things were actually pretty calm considering kind of the weather behavior that was happening.”

Konopa added due to certain topographic conditions on the Central Coast, the NWS must overcome physical challenges in their tornado forecasting process.

“We’ve talked to our friends at the National Weather Service about when we’ve been getting these tornado warnings, it’s been very spur of the moment,” said Konopa. “It’s happening right now without a lot of advance notice, which is different than what you see in the news in the Midwest in areas that are very flat. One of the issues that we have here with their ability to forecast that is that due to the mountainous terrain and the way that their equipment sits without a line of sight due to our hills and our mountains, it’s much more difficult to forecast and anticipate and predict that there may be tornado activity here.”

Konopa is also advising the public to prepare ahead of time so they are knowledgeable what to do when the next tornado warning comes in.

“The kind of the feedback that we’ve been getting from the public is more curiosity and interest in what causes this, how can we know more, what should we sign up for,” said Konopa. “We are encouraging people like we do in every kind of weird emergency type situation is sign up for alerts, go to AlertSLO.org. Get signed up for these types of alerts so you get that information and listen to emergency officials when they send out information.”

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A huge tree branch snapped as the driver of a truck was passing through a Santa Barbara park parking lot this morning, damaging the vehicle but no serious injuries were reported.

It happened on the tail end of a night of rain.

The bulk of the rain went north of Santa Barbara or south to Ventura County. For parts of the night there was a dry spot over Santa Barbara with rain moving high and low over the region.

The Santa Barbara City College Parking lot was swamped by runoff water below the construction site for the new Athletic Department near the football field. Workers opened up the drain and cleared debris to get the water moving from what a passerby said was a small lake.

The tree incident was before 9 a.m. as a worker on a house project nearby was turning through the parking lot. The Chevy Silverado ZR2 was not in a parking space and was moving when the Coastal Cypress branch came down on the cab and truck bed.

The City of Santa Barbara dispatched a forestry crew to do a surgical series of cuts on the branches to relieve the pressure on the vehicle. Portions of the tree limbs were strewn about the area. It’s not known if the tree had previous issues or indications that the branch was going to break off.

Down the waterfront palm fronds were on a wide area of Cabrillo Boulevard and Chase Palm Park keeping workers busy picking them up one-by-one by hand.

The normally soaked Funk Zone drained well in this storm without any street closures or detours for drivers.

During the mid-morning, the U.S. Coast Guard was dispatched to the Carpinteria coast where it was orbiting a vessel that was a concern from the night before. Exact details were not immediately known, but the chopper was visible from the coastline.

The morning commute had a handful of minor crashes in Summerland, Carpinteria and Montecito but drivers were not significantly delayed, and there were no full closures from rainfall.

Thousands of commuters who live in Ventura County and work in Santa Barbara or Goleta take this route daily.

Just before noon, a vehicle went off the freeway, southbound at Refugio, and rolled over on to the Union Pacific railroad tracks. One person was inside and was able to get out without serious injuries. Trains were stopped while Smitty’s towing removed the vehicle. Santa Barbara CHP and County fire were on the call.

In areas known for street flooding including Gutierrez Street in Santa Barbara, business owners have placed sandbags and plastic barriers up to keep water from coming off the street and through their doors. Some of the water comes in waves due to the speed of passing cars.

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

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Patricia Martellotti

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) — Senator Monique Limón took the spotlight today at a powerful gathering at Ventura City Hall, where families and civic leaders shared deeply personal stories of how affordable housing is transforming lives across the the region.

Resonating through the room were voices of parents, children, and community advocates who testified how access to stable, affordable homes has brought security, dignity, and opportunity to their lives. Many spoke of the stress lifted, the prospects restored, and the future they dared to hope for again.

Sen. Limón — whose district spans both Santa Barbara and portions of Ventura County — addressed the crowd, pledging continued legislative support and urging local and state partners to keep expanding access to housing that changes lives. 

City officials and housing advocates confirmed that moments like today are more than symbolic — they are essential to building political momentum behind the urgent work of closing California’s housing gap.

Ventura’s event drives home one clear message: affordable housing isn’t charity — it’s justice. And with leaders like Sen. Limón at the helm, there’s renewed hope that more families will find the homes they deserve.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – As a multi-week road resurfacing project ties up several busy Santa Maria streets, the city is asking the public to be patient and cautious as work continues.

Work has been ongoing for several days throughout the city and is expected to continue through November.

“Last year we went through and and repaired some of the subgrade to these roads,” said Santa Maria Public Works Director Brett Fugoni. “This year, we’re cutting it with what we call ‘chip seal.’ It’s a way to preserve the actual road so we can put a wear layer and a coating on top of the road, and that helps seal the road, prevents water from getting into the road and provides a wear layer for the asphalt.”

As construction has been taking place, it has created heavy traffic conditions, especially this week along South Bradley Road between East Stowell Road and East Betteravia Road.

“There will be impacts,” said Santa Maria Public Works Director Brett Fugoni. “We try to do the best we can to try to minimize those, but some impacts are just unavoidable.”

Fulgoni pointed out the all of the road work is taking place on Santa Maria’s busiest streets, including Broadway, Betteravia Road, Stowell Road, Bradley Road, Blosser Road, Cook Street, Miller Street, and many other locations.

“These are the main corridors,” said Fulgoni. “That’s why it’s so impactful.”

While the construction project is taking place, drivers can expect delays that could add up to several minutes, so the city is urging the public to plan their trip accordingly.

“Please be patient,” said Fulgoni. “We have published on our website exactly where we’re going to be with. If you’re interested in knowing that information, it’s readily available yourself and take a look at the schedule. If you have some more critical to be, make sure you’re not going to be impacted by the project because it’ll be citywide. Give yourself enough time to get to where you need to go.”

The City reports the cost of the project is $3 million and is being funded by Measure A, Gas Tax, and SB-1 Gas Tax dollars.

“The gas taxes that you pay is what, paying for this,” said Fulgoni. “The project is 10th of the cost to do chip seal versus putting down asphalt.”

For the list of construction project locations and dates, click here for project information on the City of Santa Maria website.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) — The scent of hay and pumpkins is filling the air again as Lane Farms officially kicks off another fall season in Santa Barbara.

Families began arriving early to explore the popular pumpkin patch, petting zoo, and corn maze — a longtime local favorite that draws visitors from across the Central Coast.

Many say they came early to beat the growing weekend crowds and capture seasonal photos among the sprawling fields of orange.

From wagon rides to handpicked gourds, Lane Farms continues to offer a timeless autumn escape celebrating family, tradition, and community spirit.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The new look to downtown Santa Barbara will come with several different projects in the coming years including the possibility of a large housing addition where a portion of the Paseo Nuevo Mall is located.

The Santa Barbara City Planning Commission will get a close up look at the project today with its many moving parts. Those include some land rights and future profit equations, some that don’t immediately pencil out. Tax adjustments or other financial moves between the city and the developers have been discussed.

At the center of the remodel is the The Georgetown Co. and AB Commercial.     

The target area is a wrapped project from State St. at Ortega going west to Chapala street.

Planners are looking at the latest drawings. They are calling for 233 market-rate units and 80 affordable housing units – the exact prices are still not known.  

Normally, there is a building height limit of about 48 feet for this project.

With the state density bonus law that comes with affordable housing considerations, the height proposed here could be up to 75 feet.

That would take a separate action to approve the height limit over the current city standards.

Affordable units are also proposed on the top of Parking Lot 2 at Chapala and Canon Perdido St. The sizes range from a 435-square foot studio to 980-square foot three-bedroom unit.

Next week there will be two open houses for the public to visit and comment on the project.

October 15 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 16. These will be held at 707 Paseo Nuevo which is near the vacant Nordstrom building.

On that note, the Nordstrom building is not part of this project but it may also become housing and retail.

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

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