Category: keyt-local-news

Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Join the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation for an unforgettable summer celebration under the stars in the heart of Los Olivos at the Summer Soiree!

The celebration will be held to raise important funds to support the health and wellness of the Central Coast vineyards and winery workers.

There will be exclusive tastings from Santa Barbara county premier wineries, a silent auction and even a soulful live performance from Doublewide Kings.

Margerum Wine Co. and Santa Barbara Vintner’s foundation board member Doug Margerum joins your Morning News to talk about the upcoming up.

The Summer Soiree will take place Friday, June 19 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos.

Tickets are still available for purchase.

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Mike Klan

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Barbara Foresters beat the Conejo Oaks for the third time in as many games this year.

Kurt Ippolito tripled in Jake DeSpain in the top of the 8th inning to give the Foresters a 3-2 road win as they improved to 8-1 on the year.

Sawyer Farr and Nick Salmon also had RBI’s for Santa Barbara.

Luke Cornelison pitched three innings in relief and was credited with the win while Lucien Wechsberg notched his second save on the year as he struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th in his only inning of work.

The Foresters host the Philippines Baseball Group on Wednesday, June 17th at 4:30 p.m. at Santa Barbara High School.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Paseo Nuevo redevelopment project got the green light at the Santa Barbara City Council meeting where yes votes light up in green.

The city council authorized the city administrator and attorney to move forward with escrow. 

The plan calls for turning the former Nordstrom into rental housing and the old Macy’s into corporate offices for Yardi.

Yardi is a property management company.

Santa Barbara City Councilmembers said they believe it will bring jobs and homes including moderate income units to the downtown area.

For more information about the project visit https://santabarbaraca.gov

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) The city of Santa Barbara County is getting closer to approving a budget and has not given up on trying to protect depleted reserves.

The council clashed over reserves and their next $257 million plus general fund budget .

The Santa Barbara city council took some actions on Tuesday night.

The city will not hire or fill certain positions and intends to re-appropriate $1 million of HOME funds to the Local Housing Trust Fund.

Then the city administrator asked them to hold a special meeting next Tuesday at 10 a.m and the council agreed.

“We are very lucky that our budget is precariously balanced, but we have not met our reserve obligations, that delta between what we are supposed to have in reserves and what we actually have in reserves,” said Meagan Harmon who is finishing out her time on the council this year.

Finance Director Keith DeMartini told the council where things stand during countless questions.

‘We have been using our reserves over the last couple of years, as it is getting more and more expensive with inflation and some of our revenues have not been performing as well as they historically have, so we are below our disaster reserve requirement by approximately $6 million to help us balance our budget.”

Next week they’ll be discussing the reserves and whether to freeze 3 unfilled Santa Barbara Police Department positions that could save the budget $576,000.

Police Chief Kelly Gordon said staffing was the same 20 years ago.

City staff said when work is complete on the new police station some sales tax measure funding will be able to be used for other things including future fire station improvements.

The council intends to vote on a final budget on June 30the before the the council takes a July break.

For more information about the budget visit, https://santabarbaraca.gov

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Caleb Nguyen

NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) – CAL FIRE SLO crews knocked down a greenhouse fire in Nipomo just before 7:30 p.m. at the 600 block of Eucalyptus Road.

The fire first broke out just after 7:00 p.m. and crews issued warnings to avoid the area to allow a safe operation.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – After lighting up the scoreboard for 41 runs in their first four games, the Santa Barbara Foresters were held to just one run on two hits by the visiting Orange County Riptide.

The Foresters 2-1 loss was Santa Barbara’s first setback in five games this year.

Santa Barbara’s lone run came on a safety squeeze in the fifth inning by Marcus Greis of TCU that scored Addison Klepsch with the game’s first run.

But the Riptide answered with 2 runs in the top of the seventh inning to improve to 6-1 on the season.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Allan Hancock College hosted the first annual North County Economic Forecast at Boyd Concert Hall this morning.

This event is intended to give a clear picture of the state of northern Santa Barbara and SLO counties’ marketplaces.

The keynote speaker, founding member of beacon economics Dr. Christopher Thornberg, explained how differing narratives can impact resulting statistics.

“I appreciate that we live in an age of increasingly hysterical narratives, and you are so used to hearing about the economy or households being at the cliff edge, on the edge of a meltdown they can’t take anymore,” says Thornberg.

He says the economy is just fine, and used statistics to prove his point.

“You look at the data… Actually, employment markets are full,” says Thornberg. “Consumption is at an all time high level. There’s not been this k-shaped recovery. Most every level of American household is doing better than they were a number of years ago.”

Worth noting is that while some of the cities in the North County, such as Santa Maria, are considered in some circles to be the poor parts of the county, the agricultural industry in these towns is providing some of the most positive numbers.

“So the underlying data doesn’t match what we see in those headlines, on a day to day basis,” says Thornberg.

To illustrate this, he cited stats such as how many miles people have been driving, tourism levels, fluctuating immigration, and numbers attributed to the sports and wine industries.

“Beacon Economics has created these reports for various other communities, and those communities have been able to create plans for their growth economically,” says Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce’s economic development and business engagement manager Efrein Salazar.

Many attendees say several of Dr. Thornberg’s bullet points surprised them, but gave them a clearer picture of the north county’s most vital economic patterns.

“It’s a function of leaders staying away from those narratives that suggest redistribution and policies that restrict change are the way to go,” says Thornberg. “Rather, embrace change and understand the positive benefits it could bring us, ultimately.”

The presentation was followed by a q and a session that added an interactive element.

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Andie Lopez Bornet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – It’s always a good day and time for pizza and for those living in the Santa Ynez Valley, the perfect place for brunch or an evening dinner has just opened.

The Lucky Penny, known for their wood-fired pizza, has opened a new location in Los Olivos, located on San Marcos Avenue.

Lucky Penny offers a variety of private labeled wine, wood-fired pizza, a breakfast menu and locally sourced salads. For an exciting touch Lucky Penny has an ice cream counter that serves six rotating flavors from McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, the only McConnell’s scoop shop in the Santa Ynez Valley.

General Manager Morgan Gray and Chef Sixto join your Morning News to talk about some of their dishes and the opening of their new location.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Barbara-based disaster relief agency is responding after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines.

ShelterBox USA is preparing emergency shelter and essential supplies for thousands of people.

For thousands of families, the search for safety is now underway.

“A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit in Southern Philippines,” said senior manager Emily Halpin of ShelterBox USA.

Since resources are already stored in the Philippines, aid can begin moving quickly to impacted communities.

“Maybe tens of thousands of families will have their homes damaged or just completely destroyed because there are many part of our target group,” said Halpin.

For families forced from their homes, finding a safe place to stay is often the first challenge after a disaster.

ShelterBox has responded to earthquakes, typhoons and other disasters across the Philippines for years.

That experience is helping teams move quickly.

“It’s extremely tragic and it’s happening all the time all over the world that’s why we exist … these situations are happening more frequently with seeing the amount of displaced people going up a year after year,” said Halpin.

Relief efforts are continuing as crews work to reach families and determine what support is needed next.

The organization already has aid stockpiled in the country for a rapid response.

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Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A sudden computer crash nearly erased Alex Fabros’ dream of earning a doctorate when his dissertation vanished 25 years ago.

The setback forced his academic journey onto an unexpected pause.

Instead of giving up, Fabros held onto his goal for decades.

Now, at age 80, he is crossing the stage as the oldest Ph.D. graduate in UCSB history.

His achievement is a testament to perseverance and lifelong learning.

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