Category: keyt-local-news

Jarrod Zinn

LOMPOC, Calif. – Incentive programs and revitalization efforts are in progress in Lompoc.

Residents and city leaders are excited about these developments.

Many long-time residents remember Lompoc being much more of a vibrant community than it’s been in the last decade, but they’re anticipating  a healthy comeback in the next few years.

The city of Lompoc is making several efforts to incentivize new arrivals, both domestic and business related.

“We have a chance for ourselves for 2400 housing units,” says James Mosby, mayor of Lompoc. “The state is kind of requiring us to build through our arena plan and we have River Terrace that’s pushing through. And I know a lot of the vacant property, people are now approaching, especially with the economic incentives that we’re putting forward.”

In response to Governor Newsom’s order last year, the Lompoc riverbed has been largely cleared of the presence of homeless encampments, and law enforcement is urging those who stay there to get the help they need.

“They’re doing a good job out there working on it,” says mayor Mosby. “Cleaning up the Lompoc Fire has been involved, local police departments involved, the sheriff’s involved.”

By reducing impact fees, city officials seek to reduce the cost on developers, incentivizing new affordable housing developments.

“Hopefully they bring their businesses back here or the people working at the base can find Lompoc again,” says mayor Mosby.

And one project many locals are looking forward to is the restoration of the Lompoc Theatre, which is moving along on schedule.

“It’s coming back,” says David Ramsey, Lompoc Theatre’s general contractor. “You can see it everywhere, all over the city. You can see that things are coming back and this building is going to make it really, really wonderful.”

Another way the city is trying to make things more affordable is by issuing credits to residents on recent electricity bills in the range of $200 per meter, a stimulus that comes just in time for school to start.

The Lompoc Theatre is expected to open its blackbox theatre early next year, and city officials look forward to more progress for other businesses.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On OurMobile Apps. Keep Up With The Latest Articles by Signing Up for theNews Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – With the Gifford Fire burning just a few miles away east of Santa Maria, the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base is providing valuable support in the ongoing firefighting effort.

Since the fire broke out along Highway 166 on Friday afternoon, the base has been a whirlwind of activity with several air tankers and helicopters flying in and out on a repeated basis.

“We do have a lot of activity here,” said air tanker captain Dawn Blumberg. “It seems kind of chaos, but it’s more like orchestrated music.”

With the Gifford Fire burning in some of the most rugged and remote wilderness landscape on the Central Coast, having firefighting support from the sky is a crucial element in the difficult battle to put out the flames.

“The fire is burning in areas where it’s incredibly steep and difficult terrain to access for firefighters on the ground, so the importance of the tanker base here and the proximity to the fire line is enormous,” said Andrew Madsen, Los Padres National Forest Public Information Officer. “The retardant being dropped is in areas that are inaccessible to crews on the ground, so it’s very important that we can help to try to slow the advance of the front.”

The Santa Maria Air Tanker Base is located on southern edge of the Santa Maria Airport, housed within the Central Coast Jet Center.

The base serves as an important station for firefighting aerial operations for incidents that take place not just on the Central Coast or the around California, but throughout the Western United States.

What makes the Gifford Fire unusual, as was the same for the recent Madre Fire that also burned around the Highway 166 area, is the close proximity of the fire lines to the base.

“With the Gifford Fire being so close to the air tanker base, we’re actually able to see the fire from the air tanker base, which is kind of rare,” Santa Maria Air Tanker Base Manager Miguel Quiz. “It makes turnaround times for the aircraft faster than usual. The tempo here has picked up pretty quick, but it also allows us to get more retardant to the fire and get it there faster. As the tempo picks up, we pick up and and we’re able to deliver a good product.”

Only a handful of miles separates the base from the fire, allowing planes and helicopters to make quick trips back and forth.

“We’re able to turn around in about 10 minutes time to get them reloaded, refueled and back into the air and then onto the drop site,” said Madsen. “The quick turnaround time from the airport here is critical at the current time to help hold the spread of the fire on the flanks where we’re seeing more aggressive fire behavior.”

With the aircraft able to load up and provide drops on the fire and able to return the the base and repeat the pattern within just a matter of minutes, it has provided aerial operations with the ability to drop more retardant than would be allowed if the fire were happening at a more distance location.

“From day one, we’ve been supporting up from about eight to 10 aircraft each day,” said Quiz. “We’ve pumped about 900,000 gallons of retardant so far on this fire, so each day we’re putting out about 150,000 to 200,000 gallons of retardant a day. We’ve gotten in a pretty good tempo and a pretty good flow of moving aircraft around and getting them to the fire in a good, timely manner.”

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

News Channel 3-12

Below is a press release from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival regarding the announcement of the 2026 dates.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) is pleased to announce the dates for the 32nd edition of the festival. The festival will run from April 23 through April 28, 2026.  The Opening Night Reception at the historic Fremont Theater will kick off the Festival on Thursday, April 23. It presents an opportunity to meet special guests, filmmakers, and major contributors.

Alongside its signature categories and competitions, the festival is launching two additions this year – an Episodic category and a special award recognizing the Best Genre/Horror Film.  Submissions are currently open in all categories including narrative features, short films, documentary features, and doc shorts, as well as episodic and horror.  SLOIFF is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival for Documentary Shorts.

“We’re really excited to introduce our new Episodic program to the festival.  Over the last 10 years, the way we tell stories has changed, and we believe that in addition to traditional film formats, episodics have a place in our festival too. Adding this category creates a new opportunity for indie storytellers to showcase their work,” said San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Executive Director Skye McLennan. “We are also adding an award for ‘Best Genre/Horror.’ We have been testing the appetite for this category with our Red Eye Cinema programming over the last five years, and each year the demand for and the quality of the films has increased. We believe this is a trailblazing space in independent film – we want to encourage it and bring new works to our audiences.”

Highlights of the festival are the much-anticipated Surf Nite, as well as the Music Video Showcase.  Central Coast Filmmaker Showcase, Cal Poly Short Cuts, and Filmmakers of Tomorrow put a spotlight on local talent from California’s Central Coast and emerging youth filmmakers from around the world. Submissions are open through the end of November, please visit https://filmfreeway.com/slofilmfest for more details.  More information on the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival can be found at https://slofilmfest.org.

Editor’s Note:  For the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, an Episodic Series is defined as a fiction or non-fiction work designed for serialized, online, or broadcast storytelling. Creators may submit multiple episodes, provided the total runtime does not exceed 40 minutes, or a single episode up to 30 minutes in length. Both web-based series and traditional television episodes are eligible. Selected works will be featured as part of an episodic showcase, with final selections and episode choices determined by the festival’s programming team. Episodic submissions must be subtitled in English. 

ABOUT SAN LUIS OBISPO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Celebrating its 32nd edition in 2026, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is a six-day annual event.  It showcases creative, diverse, and impactful works from around the world in a wide variety of venues, from the city’s classic art deco Fremont Theater to the SLO Film Center at the Palm Theatre.  Named to MovieMaker Magazine’s “25 Coolest Film Festivals” list, and USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, the 2026 festival runs from April 23-28.  SLOIFF is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Qualifying Festival in the category of “Best Documentary Short”.

Ideally situated halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, with its laid-back vibe and serene natural beauty, is a picture-perfect setting for this highly regarded Central Coast film celebration. Filmmakers rave about the warmth and engagement that is so much a part of the SLO Int’l Film Festival experience, as do the industry pros and film critics who are fast discovering the fest’s thoughtful audiences and unique programming sensibility.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Scientists at UC Santa Barbara are using light in a new way to fight viruses.

Through a method known as optogenetics, researchers are able to activate the body’s natural stress response without damaging healthy cells.

In their lab, the team discovered dozens of new compounds that successfully blocked viruses such as Zika, RSV, and herpes. They believe these light-activated molecules could eventually lead to powerful, broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.

“My hope is to provide better medicines and cures for things like the next pandemic viruses, for which we don’t have treatments, and even things like age-related diseases and cancer,” said UCSB synthetic biologist Max Wilson.

The research is part of a larger effort to boost pandemic preparedness. While more testing is still needed, scientists say the early results are a hopeful step toward future treatments.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – About 250,000 acres in public lands could be preserved under a bill  proposed  by U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24).

Carbajal says he plans the reintroduction of his Central Coast Heritage Protection Act.  He claims it is in response to “recent attacks on federal environmental protections” from the Trump administration.

 The bill  designate approximately 250,000 acres of public land in the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument as wilderness, the highest form of federal protection available.

Carbajal said it is, “the highest form of federal protection available. It also lays the foundation to create a 400-mile long Condor National Recreation Trail, stretching from Los Angeles to Monterey County.”

He said he was “angry and upset” at the thought of the area falling into the hands of excessive forest clearing or oil exploration drilling.

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps said she enjoyed playing in the wilderness as a child, and still hikes regularly. “It’s where wildlife thrives. It’s where our water sources begin. And the Carrizo Plain, the largest remaining native grassland in California and one of the state’s most intact ecosystems. (It’s) home to 13 endangered species. “

What has elevated the concern is action coming from the Trump Admiinistration to open up areas for example, to clear forest land for fire prevention.    Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in June the administration is rescinding what is called  the 2001 Roadless Rule to open the lands up for the thinning of the forests and the overall health of the forests.”

Linda Castro with CalWild said, “one of the the biggest values that I see in this bill is protecting this for all of us to be able to access these places. They won’t be sold off, to be mined or logged.”

She also said, the Carrizo Plain could be at risk even though it is protected now.

.Protecting wilderness areas has had bipartisan support in this area dating back decades.

Bryant Baker with Forestwatch said, “the California Wilderness Bill, which was one of the largest wilderness bills in our state’s history, that was signed into law by Ronald Reagan when he was president in the 80s. So, wilderness protections have actually been bipartisan historically. ” He also went back to local Republican Congressman Robert Lagomarsino who supported wilderness protections about 40 years ago when he was in office.”

There’s  also an economic component to the bill as it relates to outdoor recreation.

 Linda Paladino is a director with Toad and Co. a sustainable outdoor clothing manufacturer based in Santa Barbara said, “as an outdoor industry business, we know firsthand that expanding public lands and wilderness designations is the foundation for a thriving outdoor, recreation based economy.” She said the outdoor and adventure lifestyle is ever growing and the public is buying clothing and supplies year-round. “We use our business voice for good by giving back to nonprofit organizations, being active members of our community, and advocating for expanded access and conservation to public lands.”

The bill would expand access to public spaces and Paladino said it “stimulates a vibrant local economy that benefits businesses like ours, as well as families throughout the Central Coast.”

Public lands are “the backbone of a $1.2 -trillion outdoor recreation industry, and in California, outdoor industry accounts for 2.1% of the overall GDP. That’s more than double that of agriculture,” she said.

There was also a reference the rich history of the forest land. Carbajal said, “this would protect not only, our species, it would protect the ecosystem as a whole, but also cultural resources.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City Council received an update on the Paseo Nuevo redevelopment project Tuesday.

The proposal would add housing to the shopping area.

After a lengthy discussion and public comments council members voted unanimously in favor of staff recommendations to amend the project description in the agreement between the city and Paseo Propco LLC.

The council also voted in favor of a resolution declaring a city-owned parcel exempt surplus land allowing negotiations to create affordable housing.

The land is currently parking lot 2.

“We are excited that the council authorized us to move forward in the negotiation on this really transformative project for downtown Santa Barbara,” said City Administrator Kelly McAdoo, “We are excited for the initial concept, there’s obviously a lot of details to be worked out.”

The parties involved include investment firm Alliance Bernstein (AB) that own the mall’s ground leases.

Rather than demolish the current Paseo Nuevo, this plan includes more than 230 apartments in a 7-story building between State and Ortega and Chapala.

Council members shared concerns about the height before the vote.

It would also include 80 affordable apartments on the parking lot near Chapala Street and Canon Perdido.

Mayor Randy Rowse called that a miracle and said AB has the money to make it happen.

“The rising tide will lift all boats and that is exactly what will happen for all those businesses surrounding the downtown,” said Rowse. “So, we are excited about we are excited about the revitalization of State Street.”

Residents and visitors would also be able to shop at a new grocery store and fitness center in the plan.

The city is also considering tax related incentives.

The old Nordstrom, now owned by Shopoff, is not part of this project, but councilmembers would like AB to engage with the Shoppoff since the large building is a part of Paseo Nuevo.

“The momentum this project could offer downtown is really significant,” said Downtown Santa Barbara Executive Director Robin Elander.

Tours and public hearings will follow before any final votes are made.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Firefighters battling the Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties are facing difficult weather conditions while out on the fire lines.

“Temperatures are very warm out there, 80s to mid 90s,” said Rich Thompson, National Weather Service Incident Meteorologist. “It’s very dry out there. Humidity is down to like, 15-to-20%, and they’re getting their usual canyon winds. They are out there in the terrain and getting those up canyon winds in the afternoon.”

Thompson, a 30-year veteran weather forecaster who is currently working at the Incident Command Post at the Santa Maria Elks Event Center, added conditions across the Gifford Fire location, which includes the two counties on both sides of Highway 166, are normal for this time of year.

“Really nothing out of the ordinary, just very typical early August conditions,” said Thompson. “Just very typical mid-to-early August conditions here for this part of  Southern California.”

While temperatures are high and humidities are low, the good news for now, according to Thompson has been the absence of high winds.

“There are really no significant winds,” said Thompson. “There are just those typical diurnal winds, so that’s one thing that’s in the favor, is that no extreme or out of the ordinary wind event. That being said, there still be some pretty gusty spots out there. Gusts like around 20, maybe even 25 miles per hour that can cause the fire to spread very quickly if it gets aligned with the wind and the topography.”

Looking ahead, Thompson is predicting an temperatures to rise over the next few days.

“We’re looking for a warming trend the next couple days,” said Thompson. “It looks like Thursday will be the warmest day of the next several. By Thursday, we will see temperatures widespread across the fire in the 90s, maybe even some low 100s in some lower elevation spots. With those warmer temperatures, Wednesday and Thursday is going to be drier, probably humidities at 10-to-15%.”  

As of Tuesday night, the Gifford Fire has grown to 83,933 acres, making it the largest fire in California this year, surpassing the nearby Madre Fire, which burned 80,779 acres along Highway 166 in July.

Containment on the fire rose on Tuesday to 9% and firefighters slowed its southern movement and made progress in constructing fire lines to the west.

There are nearly 2,300 personnel battling the Gifford Fire, which fire broke last Friday near the Gifford Trailhead.

The fire is burning about 15 miles northeast of Santa Maria and there are just under 900 structures that are listed as threatened.

Click here to follow the original article.

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – The popular coastal train rides through Santa Barbara County have a summer detour, with passengers in some cases getting on a bus.

The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency, which manages the Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner® service, says north of Goleta train service is suspended from August 1 through August 16, 2025, due to the La Cañada Honda Bridge Replacement Project. This is on Vandenberg Space Force base property.

Alternative bus transportation is now moving regularly to assist passengers.

The 16-day closure clears the area for the La Cañada Honda Bridge to get rebuilt. It is a 127-year-old steel viaduct over Honda Creek. The bridge is a critical piece on the 351-mile LOSSAN Rail Corridor, which supports passenger rail and freight service through Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

The work is coordinated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and funded by LOSSAN through grants from the State of California and UPRR.

A full environmental review of the area was conducted to make sure the bridge work did not significantly disrupt the habitat in the area.

Passengers at the Santa Barbara train station Tuesday morning said they were aware of the changes and had made alternative plans. That included staying on the bus plan to get to another train stop or having someone pick them up in Santa Barbara to complete their trip. That was the case for a Grover Beach woman who met her mom after she got off the train in Santa Barbara, then headed back up.

Lillian Adams said, “Yes. I normally go all the straight through to Grover Beach.”

Her daughter Denise Leesom drove down 80 miles. “Luckily I am a bus driver myself.  Yes!”

One passenger going from Vandenberg to Seattle where he lives had to make his re-routing plans very early in the morning. Robert Donovan said, “I took a commuter bus into Goleta and then a city bus into Santa Barbara, had breakfast at D’Angelos and spent the morning at Stearns Wharf.  Now I take an Amtrak bus to Bakersfield, another one to Sacramento and then I finally get on the train and continue in the sleeper car.” He could have flown but loves trains and bus rides. On his return, it will be a drive in his car as he relocates to Santa Barbara County.

This project will provide long-term service reliability for rail passengers. It will also improve efficiency on this critical route for coastal ridership through the Central Coast and up to Seattle on both the Pacific Surfliner and the Coast Starlight trains, as well as the Union Pacific Freight service.

Once finished it will improve reliability and contribute to lower emissions.

LOSSAN SERVICE CHANGES

August 1 through August 16, 2025: 

Track Closure: The bridge replacement requires closure of the rail corridor between Goleta and San Luis Obispo, resulting in the suspension of train service from Friday, August 1 through Saturday, August 16, 2025. All trains will terminate or originate in Goleta during this period, with normal service resuming on Sunday, August 17, 2025. Passengers traveling north of Goleta must disembark at the Santa Barbara Train Station and board an available bus connection. All bus connections will be through the Santa Barbara Train Station.

Bus Connections: Alternative bus transportation will be provided between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. Bus connections will be available for southbound trains 774 and 794 from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, and for northbound trains 761 and 779 from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo. The buses will follow Route 17 between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, with stops in UC Santa Barbara, Solvang, Buellton, Santa Maria, and Grover Beach. In addition to these bus connections, Route 17 will operate on its normal schedule and route. 

Visit the Pacific Surfliner website for additional information.

Click here to follow the original article.

Jarrod Zinn

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Several staged training operations are occurring over the next two weeks for Central Coast firefighting and law enforcement agencies.

This hands-on type of training isn’t easy to come by.

It takes a joint effort from several different agencies to provide hands-on simulation training like this, and property acquisitions for these purposes don’t exactly clog the phone lines.

San Luis Obispo city officials, firefighters and county firefighters worked together to acquire a defunct property that was slated for demolition.

It’s 20 acres and contains 2 houses.

“We’re just appreciative of the city of San Luis Obispo for allowing us to use this structure,” says Ryan Grebe, SLO County fire department’s public information officer. “And we have people coming out from the city to train as well.”

The fire departments are taking advantage prior to its demolition, staging special live-fire training exercises for both veteran and trainee firefighters.

“We’re doing our initial hose lays, first in pulls, first stretches to the front door on an initial structure fire, which is going to be kind of your standard structure fire,” says Greg Baranek, Avila Valley’s station captain. “So we’re going to come in and we’re going to take command and we’re going to initiate a fire attack, essentially get water on the fire.”

Controlled fires are ignited both indoors and outdoors to recreate real-time conditions.

“We have, you know, firefighters that have been around for a long time. And then we have brand new employees that are working for us. So there’s a mix of experience levels,” says Grebe. “And it’s great because we get everybody together and we get to work together and, you know, build that teamwork and camaraderie.”

Each structure will be used for various training purposes, including demonstrations of fire evolution, as well as rapid response, intervention and survival.

“Unique to this drill—It’s due to the second structure,” says Captain Baranek. “We have the ability to run a R.I.C. operation, which is a rapid intervention crew. In case one of our crews were to go down inside of the structure, we could send in a dedicated rescue component.”

Participating firefighters say this training is invaluable to prepare trainees, keep skills sharp, and maintain cooperation among multiple agencies.

This critical training will be taking place over the next two weeks.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – California is reaching new heights in wildfire response, now operating 16 Fire Hawk helicopters—part of what state officials say is the largest civilian aerial firefighting fleet in the world.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the expansion as part of the state’s effort to combat increasing wildfire threats, especially in the wake of federal funding cuts. “With the Trump Administration defunding federal firefighting efforts, we’re continuing to step up to protect Californians,” Newsom posted on X.

Locally, the Fire Hawk helicopters are already making a difference. Santa Barbara County Fire has deployed the aircraft in recent fire responses, crediting its speed, precision, and capacity with boosting their effectiveness.

“The county is much smaller due to the capability of this helicopter,” said Santa Barbara County Fire PIO Scott Safechuck. “It allows us to get on scene of fires that much faster, as well as rescue not just one patient but multiple patients and get them to definitive care at the hospital.”

As wildfire risks continue to grow across the state, fire agencies say expanded aerial support like the Fire Hawk is becoming more vital than ever.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.

Click here to follow the original article.