Category: keyt-local-news

News Channel 3-12

LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) – Lompoc’s annual restaurant week is officially underway for 2026, running until Feb. 22nd.

Diners have options to try restaurants throughout the city both new and old under affordable prices of $20.26 plus tax and tip.

All of the restaurants below will participate in the festivities this week:

Old Town Kitchen and Bar

Capulin Eats and Provisions

Camins 2 Dreams

El Pollo Loco

Longoria Wines

Mi Amore Pizza and Pasta

Eye on I

Hangar 7 Social House

Johnny’s Bar and Grill

O’Cairns Inn and Suites

Valle Eatery and Bar

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Many tennis and pickleball players had hoped to play on Presidents Day, but they they were turned away at the Municipal Tennis and Pickleball Center in Santa Barbara.

Yellow tape cordoned off a large downed tree near the courts and on Old Coast Highway.

But that didn’t stop some roommates who live close by.

Scott Downey and Zachary Gomez have a friendly rivalry going and were just warming up by hitting some balls back and forth until the a Parks and Recreation staff member politely told them they had to go.

“It is crazy out hr we showed up thinking the Courts might be dry they were  semi dry we saw a fallen tree thought e could get a couple sets in, said Downey.

“It is a little wet out there but we have just been cooped up Inside all day and though we might as well take a walk down here,” said Gomez.

A couple of pickleball players were asked to stop their game, too to play it safe.

The gate is now locked and will remain locked until the courts can be cleaned up.

They are covered in puddles, pine needles, and branches due to storm.

The area along Old Coast Highway is prone to flooding and is now lined by some downed trees and branches.

Neighbor Patrick Diamante came to check it out.

“We got a break in the storm and I came walking over here to check out the courts and trees were falling down and table was blowing over and then all along the Old Coast Highway, there’s big trees blowing down over there, so the head of the parks department was here and locked up the gate and put the sign out for closed due to storm damage.” said Diamante.

A break in the storm led to blue skies but Diamante said it could be dangerous if the wind picks up again.

“I exercise a lot, but this was beyond thinking I would go over there and exercise, my goodness no, it was blowing like crazy over here over here,” said Diamante.

The center is public and popular with daily and yearly passes anyone can buy.

For more information visit https://sbparksandrec.santabarbaraca.gov/sports-facilities/municipal-tennis-and-pickleball-center

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Alissa Orozco

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival showcased over 100+ movies, documentaries, and short films – including 17-minute narrative short Watching Walter. The historical fiction drama tells the true story of a Holocaust survivor, detailing his life through being a young boy being taken by the Nazis and fast forwarding to his elder years repairing watches in Philadelphia.

The Watching Walter crew joined your News Channel to talk about the film and the real-life Walter.

The film’s writer, Mark Dylan Brown, says Walter was a real person who lived and worked in his childhood neighborhood in Philadelphia. Brown says over the years he grew more interested in Walter’s story and more determined to share his life with the world.

Walter was 15-years-old was he was kidnapped by Nazi officers and sent to Stutthof concentration camp, the crew details. There, he was forced to repair stolen watches and turn them into Nazi memorabilia.

“A lot of survivors go to their grave with a story. They don’t share it with their children,” Brown explains. “Walter didn’t have any children, but he still wanted his story to be told, which is rare. And I think we have to seize that moment if you have the opportunity.”

The film was screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this past week and the crew says it was great to see audience reaction to such an important story.

“What I love about screening the film to audiences is sitting in there and just feeling the energy, you know, feeling people react. There are several moments in the film that are, you know, that we hope for audible reactions. And when we get those gasps or those just little laugh here and there, we know we have the audience,” says film director Mitch Yapko. “And the audience at the Santa Barbara Film Festival was just, they were active, and they were present, and it was wonderful.” 

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Caleb Nguyen

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – A truck crashed and injured all four people inside at the Patterson Ave. off-ramp in Goleta just after 2:00 p.m. Monday, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Two adults and two minors all had moderate to severe injuries following the crash that required them to be taken to Cottage Hospital via ambulance, according to the SBCFD.

The off-ramp remains closed as of 3:40 p.m. Monday and motorists should expect delays or use alternate routes, according to the SBCFD.

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Dave Alley

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – The arrival of a significant winter storm drenched the Central Coast Monday morning with heavy rainfall, including San Luis Obispo County.

“We’ve seen a lot of heavy rain activity,” said Scotty Jalbert, San Luis Obispo County Emergency Services Director. “This morning started very early by, I believe the 9 a.m. we saw up to at least one inch in North County, which is a good amount of rain for us.”

As of early Monday afternoon, San Luis Obispo County was wet, but according to Jalbert, had avoided any severe impacts from the storm.

“Fortunately, we’ve not had any significant issues with that heavy rainfall,” said Jalbert. “But that just is going to lead into other things for the rest of the week.”

With rainfall expected to last for the next few days, Jalbert indicated the county is keeping a close eye on a handful of troublespot locations, including Arroyo Grande Creek, Avila Drive and the Salinas River.

“We’re in a monitoring stage,” said Jalbert. “We have a heightened alert due to the weather, especially with the thunderstorm activities that we’re expecting. We will be monitoring throughout the day and throughout the night, especially in this next series of storms that start tomorrow. With that, the grounds being saturated we can expect a little more problems with maybe localized flooding, trees coming down with power lines and so forth.”

As of late Monday afternoon, rain totals topped more than an inch across the county. Totals included mountain areas between two to 3.5″ inches”, Santa Margarita 1.93″, San Luis Obispo 1.72″, Paso Robles 1.62″, Morro Bay 1.40 inches, Lopez Lake 1.47″, Nipomo 1.24″, Grover Beach 1.23″, Arroyo Grande 1.22″.

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Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – An afternoon thunderstorm darkened the sky above Santa Maria and rumbled through.

Santa Maria held up nicely.

Earlier, a downpour ushered in the start of Santa Maria’s work week, creating slick streets and flooded corners–drivers making use of their wipers and headlights for the morning commute.

“At this point, as far as our office is aware, we have made it through the initial band of, rain pretty well,” says Stacy Silva, Associate Director for Santa Barbara County’s Office of Emergency Management.

Another band of rain flowed through town just after lunch.

“As far as I can tell, we’ve really seen the more significant numbers in our north westerly parts of Santa Barbara County, as it pertains to the rain totals so far,” says Silva.

Flash flooding closed portions of roadways throughout the day, including Black Road between Santa Maria and Guadalupe, Highway 1 just outside Orcutt, and rosemary road between Betteravia and Stowell.

“All of our public safety partners—fire, law, and public works—across the county, really, are prepared and in many cases pre-positioned to respond in the event that this storm brings additional threat,” says Silva.

No major incidents have been reported in the northern parts of Santa Barbara County, but emergency preparedness alerts have been issued for most of the Central Coast.

“Turn around, don’t drown,” says Silva. “Don’t try and attempt to drive through flooded streets. If you see flooded roads or streets, do not attempt to cross them, even in a vehicle. We’re likely to see increased storm impacts as we get later into the week, so our communities should remain prepared for that.”

Highway 1 near Orcutt remains closed to through-traffic for now.

Officials remind the public to sign up or update your information for real-time alerts on Readysbc.org.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A delayed blast of rain and wind for areas south of Goleta and Santa Barbara ended up packing a strong Monday morning punch when if finally arrived.

The anticipated surge before dawn went north and soaked areas from Lompoc to Atascadero until more of the storm’s flow came up into areas around Santa Barbara with some fast and heavy downpours.

It was all linked to a counter clockwise rotation of rain coming in from a low pressure system that was spotted days ago heading to California with impressive rain and snow forecasts.

By mid-morning trees snapped and fell on Cathedrals Oaks Road in Goleta and Fairview Ave. where a large Eucalyptus ended up blocking lanes on Highway 101. No one was injured.

Fallen Eucalyptus Tree Closes Lanes in Goleta (Gabe Rami)

Another tree was down on San Leandro Lane requiring a response from the Montecito Fire Protection District and a tree crew to clean a path for residents there.

The Forestry Crew in the City of Santa Barbara had a large task at East Beach near the volleyball courts with a large tree that fell and covered the lanes on Cabrillo Blvd. Vehicles did not have an easy detour from the coastal street until the tree was carved up and pushed out of the way.

It was hauled out in multiple dumpster loads.

Walking with her two girls at the harbor, Amanda Benenati said the rain was an outing on a day off from school. “They asked to come here.  They know it’s fun to come here in the rain.  (It’s) not the first time. ”

From the breakwater wall Nick Butler said it was a nice walk going out but then it started to rain harder. “Nobody ever talks about  the time they stayed inside during the rain.  They talk about the time they got caught on the breakwater without a jacket, ” he said laughing.

With him was Madison Smoak who also had only a wet sweater. “I was not dressed for this event no  but it’s beautiful.”

During the afternoon there were at least two rainbows visible over the mountains and ocean.

After two vessels were tossed up on the sand in the last round of rough seas, so far, no boats have hit the Santa Barbara Shores. Some were getting tossed around and turned sideways with the wind-pushed swells.

Marborg Industries removed the last two beached boats late last week as part of an emergency effort to clear them out before this storm. If that was not done, and with the strength from these ways the vessels would have likely hit the rocks and pieces would have gone in all directions.

Commuters were light in the morning hours, due to the President’s Day holiday. Once the heavier rains started, there were crashes northbound at Santa Monica Road in Carpinteria and south at Sheffield where there was a two car spinout.

Later in the afternoon a pickup truck spun around into a concrete pillar on Highway 101 southbound at Patterson Ave. and Highway 217. Four occupants were inside including two juveniles. Santa Barbara County Fire said there were serious injuries. The CHP closed the area for a detailed investigation and took the vehicle as “evidence”. Alcohol was not said to be a factor.

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) It’s not everyday fans see Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter at the Soho Restaurant & Music Club or emerging talent Hunter Hawkins perform with the legendary Kenny Loggins.

The music showcase followed the opening night awards ceremony at the 9th FestForums in Santa Barbara.

Kevin Lyman, who is marking the 30th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour, was recognized.

“Look how many people come up for a few days to exchange ideas and that is what it is all about,” said Lyman.

The honorees also included winemaker Fred Brander, who’s wine is a popular part of countless food and wine festivals.

Festforums included more than 100 speakers during panel discussions at the Mar Monte Hotel.

“Anything that can give artists the whole business a kick-in-the-butt is a welcome phenom, it is hard enough for people to figure out this business,” said Baxter.

Laurie Kirby has produced FestForums from the start and brings all kinds of festival folks together.

“They learn from each other, we have vendors that can help them elevate their festivals,” said Kirby.

American Poet Stephen Kalinich helped open one some of program with his poetry.

Festforums also gave a spotlight to women in the industry with a women’s panel entitled “Breaking Barriers:Women in the Festival Industry.

The packed panel included Helen Gover, who created the All My Relations Celebration, marketing leader Olga Rodriguez Santini of OCHOMASDIEZ, Tobi Olanihun of WOW! / COnnect & TEPS, Lisa Oldie of Sundance Film Festival and Abbey Londer of Netflix is a Joke Fest.

 “We are giving a platform to share their experiences and really highlight their stories,” said marketing director and speaker Phoebe Choi.

Media Coordinator Natalie Vo was taking it all in.

“I Love festivals, it is just a place where people can escape from the problems of the world and just socialize,” said Vo.

Panels covered everything from the State of the Industry to the Impact of AI.

Three-time Oscar winner Scott Ross, who now operated Digital Domain, sees the yin and yang of AI.

“AI is a paradox, so on one hand it is an incredible tool and on the other hand it is the fate of the entire human race,” said Ross.

EJ Encarlarde of Festival Productions, Inc. in New Orleans helps up and coming festival founders.

“There is so much to learn from the leadership perspective, to the producer perspective,” said Encalarde.

Attendees also had a chance to check out business that cater to festivals and even a Puppy Palooza. 

A couple of puppies were adopted.

Many people plan to return for more Industry inspiration next year .

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Pianist Gil Rosas performed an encore show full of romantic songs on the day after Valentine’s Day.

Fans filled the Marjorie Luke Theatre to enjoy Rosas show called “Everything’s Coming up Rosas!.” 

The produced by Rod Lathim also included classical favorites.

Rosas turns 90 on February 24, so the performance was like a birthday celebration.

He is at home behind a grand piano and said learning Chopin keeps his skills sharp.

Rosas was just 17 when he become one of the first staff members at KEYT-TV in the early 1950s.

He played on live broadcasts and has made a living playing piano ever since.

The concert served as a fundraiser for the Center on Successful Aging.

Gary Linker, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology, is the clinical director of the nonprofit.

“We work with low income seniors who have a variety of needs with several programs,” said Linker, ” senior pier counseling, we have a help line, we have a program to assist people in their homes and we have our successful aging newspaper.”

The motto of the Center for Successful Aging is “Ending Loneliness, Building Community.”

“The center offers a program to combat loneliness and isolation called the successful aging club. This club is open to anyone 55 years of age and older who wishes to participate in educational social and recreational programs. The fee is $60 per year and the next event will be at the end of March where a physician will be talking about the physical, nutritional emotional and lifestyle characteristics that make for a successful life,” said Linker.

Contact the Center at 805-898-8080 for more information or visit, https://cbbsb.org

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