Category: keyt-local-news

Alissa Orozco

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – New housing will soon available for Santa Barbara Unified School District employees as the Board of Education moves forward with the development of 106 affordable apartments in the Eastern Goleta Valley.

The housing development, known as the Tatum Project, was recently approved by the district to use a 3.65-acre portion of land off Hollister Avenue to combat the high cost of living for local teachers and school staff.

The land was once owned by Disney executive, Donn B Tatum, hence the name the Tatum Project.

The designated land wedged between El Camino Elementary and San Marcos High School was previously sold to a private developer, but was repurchased by the district for roughly $7.4 million. A 99-year lease was signed with housing developer, FLT San Simeon Oaks – The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara will be managing the property now owned by the district.

The district says 106 units are set to be constructed, 97 of which will be reserved specifically for Santa Barbara Unified employees, the remaining units will be offered to employees from other local districts and non-profits.

These units will be “income-restricted, with rent geared toward households earning around 60% of the area median income.”

Longtime Alta Vista teacher and Santa Barbara Teachers Association representative Joel Block said he was lucky to buy and home decades ago.

He said even recent raises are not enough for young teachers to live in the district.

“When they give us a $1500 raise that is well below inflation and the cost of living even by state standards, you know, you’ve got to wonder what is going on,” said Block,””If we were paid a proper salary for the area they wouldn’t have to do this, they could use the land for tech of knowledge I mean they are building a who tech center they could do it for all kinds of things again I don’t want to sound ungrateful it will help but you know we have to fight for every dollar health care costs everything.”

Neighbors of the project said they are concerned about a road going through and multiple projects going up at the same time.

School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said they committed to helping educators and staff.

“Great schools are built by people and people need stable, affordable places to call home,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Superintendent of Santa Barbara Unified School District in a press release. “We are committed to making that possible. This project reflects a simple conviction: the educators who dedicate their careers to the children of Santa Barbara deserve to live here, too. “

Constuction is expected to take a couple of years.

A ground breaking celebration is slated to take place in July.

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Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – According to the 2025 Santa Barbara County agriculture report, strawberries remain by far and away the county’s the top crop.

This week, Santa Barbara County has released the annual report, which shows in 2025 strawberries had a combined gross value of $941,012,000, marking an increase of 9% from 2024.

Overall, the entire agricultural crop a gross production value of $2,240,877,000, an amount that represents an 11.5% increase compared to 2024.

In 2024, Santa Barbara County agriculture surpassed the $2 billion mark for the first time ever.

The county said in a statement those numbers do not represent gross values and do not account for production costs such as labor, planting, irrigation, harvesting, packaging, distribution, as well as other production activities.

“The significant increases we’re seeing in production value highlight both improved growing conditions and the continued demand for Santa Barbara County’s agricultural products,” said said Jose Chang Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner/Director of Weights & Measures. “These numbers represent the hard work and dedication of every person involved in bringing food to our tables.”

Behind strawberries in the second spot in the county’s top 10 commodities list was nursery products, which posted a production value of $126,501,000.

In the third position was broccoli and its gross value of $124,521,000. The amount represented a 33% increase from last year, a number the county attributed to higher yields and stronger market prices.

Other commodities on the top 10 list included head lettuce in the fourth position, followed by leaf lettuce in fifth, wine grapes at number six, cauliflower was seventh, celery in the eighth spot, with blackberries and livestock in ninth and tenth.

The wine industry, which has long played a vital role in the county’s economy, trended upwards from 2024, moving up two sports from eighth to sixth.

Wine grapes represented had a value last year of $87,793,000, and amount that represented 4% of the county’s gross agriculture production value. 

In terms of varieties, Pinot Noir had the highest value, followed by Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. 

The county pointed out the rise came that despite a decline in harvested acreage, significantly higher yields per acre drove an increase in total production. Other factors included strong market demand for high-quality grapes that resulted in a substantial rise in overall production value.

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John Palminteri

CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Whether they are home or on vacation, Junior Lifeguards are cleaning their environment after a presentation on the Carpinteria shores Wednesday morning.

Organized by the non-profit Tidy Seas and the City of Carpinteria, the kids were out with gloves on their hands and carrying paint-style buckets to find even the smallest pieces of trash and microplastics.

This effort is before 4th of July celebrations, and additional cleans up are planned afterwards.

Volunteers are taught to take these projects on the road when they are on vacation and carry the message forward from the Central Coast where environmental stewardship is in the forefront.

Ryan Wong with Tidy Seas said, “they don’t really notice until they do. and then they start living a life  that is far more sustainable.”

Carpinteria City Councilmember Wade Nomura said, “I’ve been  to beaches like this where you can’t even walk on the beach because of all the debris, the trash and dangers of health T.his place here is pristine.  It has a lot has to do with the culture of the young ones.

The kids walked from the west end of the beach all the way down to the State park area.

Hugo Goodfield, a Junior Lifeguard had trash including plastics, which could be small containers from food places. He said, “people come out and have their chips and salsa and they just leave it because  don’t care and that’s not OK.”

Some clothing was in the bucket carried by Finley Barr who said, “I didn’t expect to find the pants but chips, bags and stuff.”

With one of the loaded buckets, to the top, Kermit Seefeld said, “I expected it to be about half full   but not like this, it’s amazing.I got so much trash. “

Many of these junior lifeguards.said what they are learning on the Carpinteria beaches  they will be taking it on the road on their summer vacations as well.

“When I go to their home (other areas) where they live, I do the same for their beaches,” said Goodfield.

After hearing some good advice, “I always see these things leave it better than you found it  so that’s what I try to do every time,” said Eugene Nimmons.

In the big picture, Wong said the effort on the beach carries over and parents notice. “Now their kids won’t stop picking up trash and they call people out on their trash because kids don’t have filters  which great . It is a great problem to have that kids won’t stop picking up trash and educating others.”

Nomura said seeing the kids was encouraging and “a lot of pride here and that why we have them helping out so much.”

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –  Local entrepreneur Autumn Shelton just launched a new functional drink brand called TruBond. 

It’s rooted in the power of adaptogens, nootropics, and the gut-brain connection to help people think clearly and connect more deeply.

TruBond is a passion product that combines her personal story with her background in business and finance, created to help people think clearly, connect deeply, and show up fully in their lives and relationships.

Shelton joins your Morning News to talk about the new product launch.

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Two years ago Ajay Mitchell was at the Montecito Country Club waiting to hear his name called in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Surrounded by family, friends and UCSB teammates, he was naturally emotional when he was selected in the second round, 38th overall.

Fast forward to today and the former Gauchos standout Mitchell is grateful, thankful but not surprised by how well his first two years in the NBA have gone so far.

“I am really happy about the way I have been playing but I don’t think there is any surprise,” said Mitchell who was a guest speaker at the UCSB youth basketball camp this week. “Obviously I knew I was going to put the work in and I knew I had great people around me to help me get to where I want to be at so no surprise but definitely grateful for what has happened.”

Mitchell won an NBA title as a rookie two seasons ago on the Oklahoma City Thunder and this past season the guard was one of the league’s most improved players. He averaged 13.6 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field.

He was the best player on the floor during a 4-game sweep by OKC over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Western Conference semifinals. Mitchell averaged 22.5 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in that series as he took on a bigger role with teammate Jalen Williams injured.

“That was always the goal is the help my team win and show what I can do and yeah it was a great series,” smiled Mitchell.

Ajay Mitchell played three seasons at UCSB leading the Gauchos to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He was the Big West Player of the Year in 2023.

Mitchell, who was born in Belgium, spends a good portion of his summers now in Santa Barbara working out and enjoying some down time.

“This is kind of home for me,” said Mitchell. “I got welcomed just like I was part of the family so it’s a special place.”

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) A special Santa Barbara City Council meeting took place on Tuesday to iron out budget issues.

Councilmembers voted unanimously on staff recommendations that include not adding new positions.

The council intends to protect and restore emergency reserves that have been used to cover deficits.

The city is set to vote on its 2027 budget next Tuesday, June 30.

The council is not scheduled to meet in July,

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Tracy Lehr

OJAI, Calif. (KEYT) – People are already setting out chair’s for Ojai’s Fourth of July Parade.

The chairs line Ojai Ave. where the parade will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4th.

There are reminders not to block public walkways.

The Ojai City Council is now considering a policy to prevent chairs from being set up more than two weeks before next year’s parade.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) The networking reception and the South Coast Business & Technology Awards at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort isn’t just about the award winners.

It is about students and graduates.

Entrepreneur of the Year William Wang is a the founder and CEO of ChipAgents, an AI-native platform redefining the way semiconductors are designed.

“It is really important to position Santa Barbara as an innovation hub we have more exciting technologies to innovate for young people,” said Wang.

Wang said a lot of their hires are people born and raised in Santa Barbara who went to school at UCSB.

“I have been a UCSB professor in the last 10 years before I started the company and to see education and entrepreneurship altogether that is just so important to our ecosystem,” said Wang.

Proceeds from the awards dinner benefit the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara.

Board Chair Pamela Gann said the event, that began 25 years ago, has raised $3.5 million for scholarships that have helped 1300 students cover college costs.

Cal Poly graduate and award-winning architect Erik Holiday was a former student speaker.

He said his parents had grit and that the foundation helped them put their sons through college.

“Staring down the barrel of three sons in college at the same time the funds afforded to my brothers and I in the coming years would make it possible for us to be the third generation to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and study architecture, business and industrial technology,” said Holiday.

Holiday recently returned to the area to join his father’s firm. 

The South Coast Business & Technology Awards named Mission Wealth Company of The Year.

“We have internships, we love having young people come in and take their contagious energy to create opportunities for them with career advancement,” said Mission Wealth co-founder Seth Streeter.

The company has expanded this year.

“At Mission Wealth we are so happy to serve over 5200 families across the U.S., we manage $17 billion assets and have over 225 incredible team members and we have just really taken off and we are just so excited to have the incredible talent here in Santa Barbara as the hub,” said Streeter, ” Brad Stark and I founded the firm here in Santa Barbara and it will always be a big part of our culture and our DNA.”

UCSB Department of Technology Management received the Excellence in Service Honoree award.

AppFolio CEO Shane Trigg is the 2026 Executive of the Year.

The Carey Group’s President Trudi Carey is the 2026 Pioneer Honoree.

Dimer Instruments and Unwrap are this year’s Rising Stars.

For more information visit https://sbscholarship.org

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Caleb Nguyen

SANTA PAULA, Calif. (KEYT) – Leonel Galindo Galindo, 37 from Santa Paula, pled guilty to child molestation charges after eight counts of felony lewd acts on a child.

Galindo also admitted the fact that he took advantage of a position of trust and confidence in his guilty plea, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.

Galindo molested two victims under the age of 14 multiple times between 2018 and 2020 and both victims knew him after the crimes took place in their homes, according to the VCDAO.

Investigation from the VCDAO led to Galindo’s eventual arrest on May 29 of this year from the Sexual Assault Family Protection Unit.

Galindo remains in custody on $2.4 million bail and is expected to receive a 22 year sentence in state prison when scheduled for July 29.

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Patricia Martellotti

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – A packed room gathered at SEE Vision Care as SEE International celebrated a $100,000 gift from the Greater Goleta Santa Barbara Lions Club.

The donation will help strengthen the clinic and expand access to vision care for underserved patients.Community leaders, supporters and elected officials filled the room for the celebration.

Leaders hope the investment will help the clinic reach more patients in need.

“SEE and the Goleta Alliance will treat thousands of patients together in the year to come… that’s something not easily replicated… secondarily I hope they come away with the understanding of eye care for both the adults and the children,” said CEO Donald Bell of SEE International.SEE International has been serving communities from Santa Barbara County for more than fifty years.

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