Category: keyt-local-news

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is launching its next Climate Stewards course this week, training local residents to tackle environmental challenges and take meaningful action in their communities.

The multi-week program offers hands-on instruction in environmental education, leadership skills, and practical solutions tailored to the Santa Barbara area. Participants learn from local experts and complete a capstone project designed to create real-world impact in neighborhoods, classrooms, and businesses.

Kathi King, CEC’s Director of Outreach and Education, said the course has a track record of producing community leaders who implement sustainability initiatives across the region.

The upcoming session begins January 27th and will be held at CEC’s Environmental Hub on State Street. The course welcomes teachers, students, business owners, and local leaders ready to become environmental advocates.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Themed bachelorette parties are big business.

One of them packed the Wildcat Lounge in Santa Barbara.

Friends hosted a Like a Bride-themed bachelorette party and brunch for the leader of the La Boheme dance group.

 Teresa Kuskey and fellow dancers dressed as Madonna-style brides.

The bride ties the knot on Valentines Day.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) A candlelight vigil in memory of the Minnesota man who died Saturday during ICE activity took place hours later at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

Participants discussed what happened below the clock tower.

Activists also projected images critical President Trump and his staff on the wall of the courthouse.

A similar candlelight vigil is planned on Monday evening by the Dolphin Fountain at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) The Grace Fisher Foundation hosted a book launch party.

The authors of “We are Resilient” signed books at the Grace Fisher Foundation Inclusive Arts Clubhouse on Hope Ave.

The book is a collection of voices highlighting perseverance in the face of adversity.

You can learn more about the foundation and the book at https://gracefisherfoundation.org

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – On Sunday morning, the Community Hot Rod Project hosted their Cars & Coffee event for the first time on Stearns Wharf. Folks enjoyed coffee, donuts, and the beautiful Santa Barbara coastline at the event that featured a variety of classic, race, and luxury cars.

The community and youth outreach program hosts numerous events and car shows in Goleta and Santa Barbara, but this is the first time they’ve drawn a crowd on the wharf. With the help of Logan Goldberg and Omar Khashen, Sunday’s event hosted around 60 cars from both locals and out-of-towners.

“Its an amazing day to be out here on Stearns Wharf and getting the community together to connect through cars,” said Hot Rod organizer, Kevin Haeberle. “It’s just great to have everybody out here checking out what we’re doing and how we can give back to the community.”

Haeberle says the free, family-friendly event helps spread awareness for the need for vocational arts. The program’s mission is to introduce the community and youth to the auto industry, teaching people how build, restore, and fabricate classic cars and race vehicles.

“We also do large car shows and bring everyone together and awareness for our vocational training center that we’re trying to put together and that’s what the main focus of this is. Raising awareness for the needs and the vocational arts,” said Haeberle.

The event was a success thanks to the help of folks at the waterfront and Wharf Business Association. Goldberg says he hopes this is the start of many events on wharf.

The Community Hot Rod Project will be hosting plenty of more shows in the future, including Cars & Community on the last Saturday of each month and Coffee & Classics on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month.

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Alissa Orozco

GROVER BEACH, Calif. (KEYT) – A Grover Beach man was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on a domestic violence charge after willingly surrendering to a SWAT Team Saturday.

On January 24th, Grover Beach police officers reported to a domestic violence report after contacting a female victim at a local hospital. There, they learned a domestic violence situation had occurred in the 600 block of North 12th Street.

Officers arrived at the residence on 12th Street and attempted to arrest a suspect, but he refused to come to the door. Further investigation found a small child was inside the residence with the suspect.

Grover Beach Police activated the San Luis Obispo Regional SWAT Team to assist in apprehending the suspect. This regional team is a multi-agency partnership that includes the Grover Beach, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, and Arroyo Grande Police Departments, along with California State Parks.

Negotiators with the SWAT team were able to speak with the suspect to get him to peacefully surrender. Once out of the residence, officers arrested 34-year-old Grover Beach resident Lorenzo Zamora Torres and take him into custody.

The young child was turned over to a family member and was uninjured.

Torres was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail for domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, and violation of a restraining order.

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – A vehicle fire was extinguished early Sunday morning off Highway 101 northbound near the Gaviota coast.

Crews from Santa Barbara County Fire responded to a box truck fire around 6:15am this morning off Highway 101, just one mile north of SR 1. The department says the vehicle lost power and the driver was able to pull over to the shoulder before the truck became totally engulfed.

Box Truck Fire: 101 NB just a mile north of SR 1 off-ramp. SBC Fire responded to a box truck fire. The vehicle lost power and the driver pulled over became fully involved.

All three occupants evacuated safely, no injuries reported. Heavy smoke caused a closure to lanes on the… pic.twitter.com/WGfFuOKiaT

— PIO (@PIOSBCFireInfo) January 25, 2026

The three people inside the truck were all able to evacuate safely, with no injuries reported.

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Mike Klan

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KEYT) – UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball won its fourth consecutive game after holding on for a 74-71 win over Long Beach State on Saturday evening. The Gauchos led by as much as 17 before the Beach tied the game with under 3 minutes remaining in the contest. Fortunately, the Gauchos hung on to defeat the Beach for the eighth consecutive time.

HOW IT HAPPENEDThe Gauchos drew first blood in the game after an Aidan Mahaney layup, assisted by Miro Little. The Gauchos made their next two shots, starting 3-for-3 from the floor and taking an early four-point lead. The Gauchos and Beach continued to trade possessions.

Around the mid-way point of the half, Mahaney hit a three that put the Gauchos up eight and sparked an 8-0 run, extending the lead to 13. As the half drew to a close, the Gauchos and Beach traded baskets, but Long Beach could not cut the deficit, as the Gaucho offense was overpowering. Santa Barbara ended the half up 15.

At halftime, Mahaney was a perfect 6-for-6 and 3-for-3 behind the arc to lead all scorers with 15 points. The Gauchos were outrebounding the Beach by seven at the break and had 12 assists on 16 made baskets.

After a slow start to the second half, the Beach went on a 7-0 run to cut the Gaucho lead to 10. A Marvin McGhee IV second-chance three-pointer stopped the run. Out of timeout, Long Beach proceeded to go on 8-0 run and cut the Gaucho lead further, forcing UC Santa Barbara to take a timeout.12-8Through the middle part of the second half, the teams traded baskets, with the lead floating between five and eight points in favor of the Gauchos. After another Beach run (7-0) the UC Santa Barbara lead was trimmed to three, and shortly after a Beach three-pointer tied the game at 67 with 2:52 to go in regulation.

CJ Shaw took over after that, scoring four consecutive points to regain the lead for Santa Barbara. Long Beach State pulled within one after making a mid-range shot with 36 seconds left. The Gauchos went up three after Mahaney danced around the paint and made a layup with 10 seconds left. A last-second three-pointer came up short for the Beach and the Gauchos won their fourth straight game.

NOTABLESThe last five games between UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State in Long Beach have been decided by five points or less.Over the last two games, Miro Little has recorded 17 assists to just three turnovers.Aidan Mahaney recorded his fourth 20-plus point game of the season by scoring 21 points in the win.UC Santa Barbara has now won eight consecutive games against Long Beach. Their last loss came during the 2021-22 season.

UP NEXTUC Santa Barbara will stay on the road as it travels to UC San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 29. The Gauchos and Tritons will tip off at 7 p.m. in La Jolla at LionTree Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT). – The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Basketball team defeated Long Beach State Saturday afternoon, picking up their seventh conference win and second win over the Beach this season.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ”I mean, they love scoring. I think you try to tell your teams to not focus on the offensive end, but clearly for this team, it’s kind of what gets them going,” Jimenez said. “We’re going to have to grind games out and be really disciplined defensively. So I really challenge that.”

HOW IT HAPPENEDThe first quarter’s action varied, as the Gauchos scored nine points in the first seven minutes and ten in the last three. After taking a moment to get their footing, they made eight points in a row to sufficiently differentiate themselves from the Beach and finish the period ahead at 19-11.

Santa Barbara dominated the second quarter, making nearly 15 points in a row. Long Beach interrupted the streak with a three, but the Gauchos rolled out of the half almost 20 points ahead at 37-18.

The Gauchos put on their best performance of the game in the third quarter, scoring 20 points. Long Beach also improved in the third, making 15, but still ended behind at the buzzer 56-33.

The Beach outscored the Gauchos in the fourth, making 23 for their highest quarter of the game. Santa Barbara made just 15, though it still wrapped the contest 72-56.

Maddie Naro achieved a career-high three point count, scoring five. She led the team in the stat and hit double-digit points for the fourth time this season. She also went 6 for 11 to shoot 54%. Zoe Shaw hit three threes to score the second highest tally for the Gauchos.

Olivia Bradley reached 20 points again, getting exactly 20 off of a stunning 70% shooting average. She also put down a game-high four blocks.

Chauncey Andersen had herself a day and led the team alongside Julia Puente-Valverde in rebounds – both with eight.

UP NEXTThe Gauchos are back at home on Thursday, Jan. 29 to take on UC San Diego at 6:00 p.m. Santa Barbara is placed third in The Big West, just one spot behind the Tritons, and look to up their ranking with a defeat of San Diego.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. KEYT) – San Marcos High School girls water polo scored their best victory of the season beating Oaks Christian 11-8 to claim third place at the Newport Elite Tournament.

USC-bound Charlotte Raisin and Jad Pattison each scored 3 goals while Harvard-commit Bethany King held the Lions to just one total goal in the second and third quarters.

Earlier in the day San Marcos lost to Newport Harbor 15-10. The Sailors won the championship beating Mater Dei in the finals 12-6.

Dos Pueblos finished in sixth place at the SoCal Championship Tournament.

The Chargers beat Alta Loma 13-5 and lost to San Clemente 9-6.

Goalie Reagan Mack made a combined 22 saves for DP while Talia Marshall led the offensive attack with a total of six goals in the two games.

Santa Barbara picked up a pair of wins on the final day of the Los Altos Tournament.

The Dons beat Temple City 17-10 and Rosary 14-6.

Jules Horton led the way for Santa Barbara with 5 goals against TC.

Freshman Violette Bailey and Luna Morancey each totaled 8 goals in the two wins.

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