Category: keyt-local-news

C.J. Ward

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Our NewsChannel Tipline investigation delves into the dark world of hackers and thieves. We all deal with passwords, two-factor authentication, security questions, multi-step whatevers, it’s maddening. We do all of that to stop or at least slow down the crooks. However, sometimes, even that’s not enough.

Michael Epley’s nightmare began last year. He was driving home from vacation in Mammoth Lakes when his son’s phone rang.

“It was Verizon and they were asking if I had just changed the administrator on my account and I told them, ’No, I hadn’t,’” said Epley.

A couple hours later, Epley arrived home.

“My friend was there house sitting and he said he had just called me and that somebody else answered the phone,” said Epley.

That’s when Epley realized something was wrong. He hadn’t received any text messages or phone calls for a while. So, he drove straight to the Verizon store in Santa Barbara.

“And they said, yea that two administrators were added to my account and they went ahead and changed it back to me and then they let me know that my SIM card number had been changed,” said Epley.

A SIM card identifies a phone, its mobile number, controls security features and access. Essentially whoever controls the SIM controls the phone and everything in it including access to bank accounts. Epley says his next stop was Union Bank where he had his business account. He spoke with a manager.

“And he kinda laughed and said, ’Ah, there’s no way that that’s happening. Nobody’s in your account.’ And I said, ‘just take a look and let me know.’ And sure enough, pretty much everything was being transferred out of my account.”

And it was happening right before their eyes. Epley said the bank immediately put a freeze on the account and hoped that would be enough to stop the transfers. However, days later all of the money disappeared from his small business account, about $35,000.

“So, it got transferred to Zelle, and then it got transferred to Chase and alsogot transferred to Wells Fargo,” said Epley.

Right after that, Epley also discovered the crooks stole all of his 401k retirement savings. He filed police reports with Santa Barbara Police and tried to figure out how this happened. Epley said, at first, Verizon was helpful and admitted the crooks called the wireless carrier posing as Epley and convinced a live Verizon agent to give them access to Epley’s account.

“And as soon as they did that, they were able to change passwords and once theychanged the passwords they could login and do whatever they want,” said Epley.

Epley believes Verizon gave the crooks the keys to his phone allowing them to steal everything. That’s when he called our Tipline looking for help. We contacted Verizon hoping to get more information. Forexample, when the hackers called Verizon trying to get access to Epley’saccount did the Verizon representative ask for the password, did they use twofactor authentication or ask any of the secret security questions?

However, Verizon responded with a different version of events. Verizon wrote, “OurFraud team determined that no unauthorized users were able to access thiscustomer’s Verizon account” and there was no direct fraud associated withEpley’s account. Verizon also insinuates the crooks possibly hacked Epley’spersonal email to get in and steal everything.

Epley told us that’s news to him.

“They won’t tell me anything without a subpoena,” said Epley.

The NewsChannel also contacted Wells Fargo, Chase and Union Banks. Union Bank was the only one willing to help Epley by agreeing to do a more thorough investigation. About two months later, Union bank agreed that Epley is a victim and offered to help.  We don’t know the details, but we do know that Epley is happy with the way it ended.

“Obviously, you guys have done me a huge, huge favor and I don’t know how to goabout it any other way, that is obviously something that couldn’t have happenedwithout you,” said Epley.

We want to extend a huge thank you to Union Bank for helping Epley. As for Verizon, we asked if it’s disputing Epley’s version of events and so far, Verizon is not disputing it.

Epley also got all of his retirement money back because it was insured. That means the crooks got away with almost $300,000.

Santa Barbara police officials said they are still investigating.

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – It’s an uncertain future, but it needs a roadmap. That’s what Santa Barbara County is doing now with its preliminary budget workshops.

Currently, the preliminary budget is projected to be $1.69 billion.

The county report says, department heads are presenting preliminary budgets, significant operational changes, anticipated accomplishments, future goals, proposed service level reductions, and budget expansion requests.

Earlier this week, the first set of departments came forward including the Sheriff, Fire Department, District Attorney and Public Defender.

Today, the County Health Department and Public Works are among the agencies speaking to the board.

The outlook has no expanded staff sizes except from the Sheriff’s Office.

Financial adjustments include the increased use of salary savings, and in the case of Social Services, significant deletion of vacant positions. The county says this does not mean that departments have no additional needs or wants.

For the Social Service Department, there was a $14.2 million projected gap identified during budget development a few months ago. The department closed $10.8 million of that gap by un-funding vacant positions; deferring capital projects, maintenance and hardware replacements; and eliminating external trainings.

A $3.4 million funding gap for Social Services remains heading into budget workshops, which the CEO recommends funding with one-time funding from the General Fund to allow the department time to reduce operating costs over the next fiscal year.

There still may be staff cuts ahead depending on solutions found in the meetings and also other funding resource options, if any.

The county is also planning to streamline housing-related permitting and processes.

That includes:

• Development of a local preference housing program

• Collaborating with employers and developers on the development of workforce and farmworker housing • Identifying financial incentives for the creation of affordable housing

• Creating pre-approved plans for accessory dwelling units to reduce permitting timelines and fees for those who use them

• Completion of zoning ordinance amendment updates to facilitate housing in multi-family and commercial zone districts

In Public Works, Director Chris Sneddon said they want to take on the back log of work as cost effectively as possible. “Once we do get funding, being really efficient at getting them delivered and getting them out into the construction, we place a huge emphasis on that because we want to see the actual projects getting built as quickly as possible.”

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Bob Nelson said, there are many hidden needs, and “it is kind of a balanced budget, but it really is a future debt that we’re going to need to resolve in the county.”

“One are the mysteries in the public works budget is money expected to come in from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA, from past disasters. Some of it dates back eight years. Sneddon said, “the bulk of our expenses in this that we’re talking about for this budget are from the ’23 and ’24 storms, but we do have open FEMA projects going back as far as 2017 that haven’t been fully reimbursed.”

While the design phase for the Northern Branch Jail expansion has been fully funded in prior fiscal years, construction costs are anticipated to be over $178.8 million and will need to be funded through a debt issuance, expected in FY 2026-27, with anticipated annual debt service of $12.4 million over 30 years.

The preliminary budget includes appropriations that advance countywide initiatives, such as improving access to inpatient mental health care treatment.

The Community Services Department has budgeted for variety of updates across parks, campgrounds, trails, and open spaces, including pavement repairs at Goleta Beach Park, initiation of development at Vandenberg Village Park, ballfield lighting at Orcutt Community Park, waterline upgrades and amphitheater renovations at Cachuma Lake, bridge replacement at Tuckers Grove Park (Santa Antonio Creek), and restroom and infrastructure improvements at Rincon Park.

(more details, photos and video will be added here later today.)

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Barbara County Animal Services (SBCAS) has created a new online tool designed to reunite lost pets with their owners.

The interactive mapping system is hosted by Petco Love Lost and integrated with the Nextdoor and Ring apps to provide real-time updates.

“Thanks to our partners over at Petco Love Lost, we have launched this new interactive map to help reunite families back with their missing pets and also reunite these pets back with their families before these animals come to the shelter,” said Juana Alejandre, Santa Barbara County Animal Services Operations Manager. “It’s one map and great for everybody. If you found a pet or you’re missing your pet, you don’t have to go to multiple pages to make missing pet reports. Now, you can do it in one centralized location and everybody around you who has that app or has those are on the map, they will be notified that your that pet is missing or you found that pet.” 

Users are able to zoom into neighborhoods to view reports in their area, which includes information such as a photo of the pet, when the animal was found and the person who found it.

“This map puts the power in the hands of our community,” said Sarah Aguilar, Santa Barbara County AnimalServices Director. “We’re making it easier than ever for neighbors to help each other and for lost pets to find their way home.”

According to Animal Services, the shared community platform will likely increase the chances of pets being safely and quickly reunited with their families — without needing to enter the shelter system.

“We know that one-in-three pets goes missing in their lifetime. That’s an estimated 10 million pets each year, and we’re not ok with that,” Petco Love President, Susanne Kogut said in a Santa Barbara County press release. “That gives us 10 million reasons why we created Petco Love Lost, because we believe nothing is more important than keeping people and pets together for a lifetime of love. Together with SBCAS, our goal is to Unite to Reunite and keep pets where they belong – at home, with you.”

To visit the new Santa Barbara County Animal Services mapping system, click here.

Jarrod Zinn

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Maria City Council is addressing a growing concern in light of recent events regarding clean energy storage.

On Tuesday night, the Santa Maria City Council discussed the potential construction of Battery Energy Storage Systems—or B.E.S.S.—within city limits.

“Really the public concern And our concerns for public safety were the main drivers of introducing this ordinance,” says Chenin Dow, Santa Maria community development director.

The city determined a B.E.S.S. facility must be built at least a quarter mile away from any residential neighborhoods, and also a quarter mile away from agricultural properties.

“That was part of the determination that council made, is that these facilities would need to be located not only in the M two zone, but the site would have to be at least one quarter mile away from any residential development or any residentially zoned property,” says Frank Albro, Santa Maria principal planner.

The overlap of these two zones, residential and agricultural, has led to the determination that there are no locations within city limits that would meet approval for any Bess applications at this time. 

“For the city of Santa Maria? Our greatest concern is always the safety of our residents,” says Dow. 

The recent fire at a Monterey County battery plant owned by Vistra energy weighed heavily on the discussion.

“We don’t fully understand the total impact of that on those residents. There are complaints of respiratory issues and environmental issues that were caused by that. And our goal here is to avoid those consequences for the city of Santa Maria,” says Dow. 

Vistra Energy recently withdrew its plans for a battery plant in Morro Bay.

Further zoning studies might reveal possible locations, but right now there aren’t any entities applying to construct battery storage facilities within Santa Maria city limits.

Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – San Marcos boys tennis served up revenge on Santa Barbara as they swept the last round of doubles to pull out a hard-fought 10-8 Channel League victory.

Both teams are tied for first place in league after the Royals avenged an earlier season loss to the Dons by that same 10-8 score.

San Marcos #1 singles player Carter Cotich went 3-0 for the Royals but the San Marcos doubles play was the difference going 7-2 overall.

The Royals #1 doubles team of Kyle Shaffer and Spencer Bauer went 3-0 while Owen Hennessee/Levi Reece along with Jacob Cantrell/Henry Chalen each went 2-1.

The Dons were led in singles by Beckett McManigal, Logan Cochrane and Taisei Lopez who each chalked up 2 wins apiece.

McManigal had Cotich on the ropes leading 4-1 but Cotich stormed back to win the next 5 games in a well-played match by both.

Mike Klan

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Troy Cooper, Josh Morano, and Tanner Sagouspe combined on Cal Poly’s third shutout of the season, and a sacrifice fly by Casey Murray Jr. accounted for the lone run of the game in a 1-0 Cal Poly victory over Santa Clara on Tuesday inside Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly earned its first 1-0 win in eight years and improved its record in midweek games to 7-0 by winning for the 25th time in its last 29 contests despite being outhit 6-5.

The Mustangs, 14-4 at home, are 26-9 for the season, while Santa Clara fell to 14-19. The two teams will play a rematch on April 29 in Santa Clara’s Stephen Schott Stadium.

Catcher Jack Collins led off the second inning with his first triple of the season, a shot off the left-center field wall. On the next pitch, Murray flew out to right field, deep enough to score Collins.

Neither team could score the rest of the way.

Santa Clara had two runners on base in the fourth and sixth innings and runners in scoring position in the first, eighth, and ninth frames, but stranded eight runners on the base paths.

Cal Poly second baseman Ryan Fenn doubled with one out in the first but was caught trying to steal third base. No other Mustang runner managed to get into scoring position other than when they scored the only run of the game in the second frame.

Cooper (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory by tossing five scoreless frames, scattering four hits with one walk and a pair of strikeouts.

Morano, the transfer from Arizona, pitched three scoreless innings with one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts while Sagouspe notched his sixth save by striking out three batters in the ninth.

The loss went to Sebastian Schreiber (0-1) as the junior southpaw allowed the lone run and three hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Cal Poly’s five hits were by five different batters. Third baseman Alejandro Garza extended his hitting streak to 18 games, tied for the eighth-longest in program history, with a leadoff single in the fourth inning while Fenn’s first-inning double stretched his hitting streak to 13 games. Left fielder Dante Vachini’s 11-game hitting streak came to an end.

Santa Clara’s six hits included a double by left fielder Mateo Garcia in the eighth inning.

Cal Poly’s last 1-0 victory was against UC Riverside on May 25, 2017, in the opening game of the season-ending Big West series, also at Baggett Stadium. Erich Uelmen pitched a complete-game six-hit shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts.

Cal Poly puts its nation-leading 11-game road winning streak on the line with a crucial three-game Big West series at defending conference champion UC Santa Barbara beginning Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Friday’s game on ESPNU begins at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s series finale set for a 1 p.m. start.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)

Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Dos Pueblos overwhelmed Santa Barbara 16-3 to clinch their second straight Channel League boys lacrosse championship.

The Chargers are a perfect 17-0 on the regular season which concludes at San Marcos on Thursday.

DP dominated the second half by outscoring the Dons 11-0 after the break.

Dan Finneran scored a game-high 5 goals while his brother Jack Finneran and Orion Prewarski each added 4 goals.

(Orion Prewarski had a 7 point night with 4 goals and 3 assists. Entenza Design).

Connor Jackson scored all three goals for Santa Barbara who is eyeing a playoff spot as well with a 4-2 Channel League record.

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City Council gave the green light to modular sidewalks on a portion of State Street.

A Santa Barbara City Council majority approved the $528,000 purchase on Tuesday.

Mayor Randy Rowse was the lone no vote.

The sidewalks will be installed on both sides of the 500 block of State St.

It’s a block where parklets have helped businesses weather COVID financially.

But it has not been easy for pedestrians, e-bikes, bicycles, and emergency vehicles to share the open road.

State Street Master Planner, Tess Harris, calls them “pedlets.”

“So the pedlet would be an 8-foot sidewalk extension,” said Harris. “It will allow businesses to move their outdoor dining furniture up against the building frontage making it easier to businesses to go from inside to outside to serve patrons.”

Sandbar General Manager, Brandon Stilwell, said the popular business loves the outdoor dining space and the restaurant and bar appears ready to roll with sidewalk change.

“We are really excited,” said Stilwell, “hope people feel more safe and don’t have to worry about the bikes or anything.”

Santa Barbara Public Works Manager, Sarah Clark, said they bought enough to be flexible.

“We have also purchased an extra segment they are modular units so they can be moved around and re-positioned so in the future if we want to use them at a different location, we can do that,” said Clark.

The “pedlets” are made by Modstreet out of Colorado.

Carpinteria bought parklets made by the same and leases them to businesses unless they choose to buy them.

Pedlets are the company’s latest offering and Santa Barbara is ready to give them a try.

The extensions should be installed by July.

Alissa Orozco

GOLETA, Calif. – A local dog is getting some Nationwide recognition, but not only for its cuteness…

‘Schmeagle Vonsqueaklebits’ from Goleta is a fluffy Pomeranian and one of the “Wacky Pet Names” finalists that were announced by Nationwide Insurance.

“He succeeds our previous pet, the great Chihuahua mix Lulu Vonsqueaklebits. As Schmeagle awaits his official ascension to the throne, he enjoys being a little gremlin and the occasional zoomies around the apartment,” says his owner Michael W.

Each year, the insurance company hosts their Wacky Pet Names campaign celebrating the silly names given to newly enrolled pets. 

This year’s nominees include dogs and cats as well as a pot belly pig, hedgehog, snake, guinea pig, rat, parrot, conure, rabbit, and ferrets!

Other finalists include Ferret Bueller the Ferret, Julius Cheeser the Rat, Luke Skybarker the Dog, Pickles of Purrington the Cat, and many more!

Pets will complete in three different categories: Wackiest Dog Names, Wackiest Cat Names, and Wackiest Exotic Names.

You can cast your vote for Schmeagle Vonsqueaklebits or your favorite wacky named pet here between April 15th-19th. You can place one vote per category, once a day by clicking on the profile of the pet you want to vote for.