Category: keyt-local-news

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – One century of memory meets a life still moving forward.

“The whole world should stop because it’s my birthday,” said Stanley Clothier of Santa Barbara.

Clothier is 105 years old, carrying a lifetime of perspective from one of the most transformative eras in modern history.

“3/4 of the years in the United States Navy, and almost all of it in schools at one time doing things that were a major interest,” said Clothier.

During World War II, his work helped advance early unmanned aircraft designs—technology that would one day evolve into modern drones.

“To me World War II was a very interesting part of my life … and it was very important to the development of my personality,” said Clothier.

His daughter Joanie Saint Denis believes humility has always defined his story.

“He’s living life eating well,” said Saint Denis.

“My absolute favorite thing to drink is water,” said Clothier.

“He’s got great friends and he really believes in Community. He loves people,” said Saint Denis.

His strength comes not from achievements, but from the way he sees the world.

“He’s going for the record … 116 I think is what he wants to do,” said Saint Denis.

For Stanley, each birthday is less about age, and more about perspective.

“First thing is you gotta do is you gotta choose your parents carefully, hahaha,” said Clothier.

Beyond his accomplishments, Clothier credits his longevity to a lifelong sense of optimism and perspective.

His outlook, combined with strong family connections, continues to inspire those around him.

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Dave Alley

NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) – A multi-phased modernization project to replace aging portable classrooms at Nipomo High School is now underway.

Over spring break last week, Lucia Mar Unified School District began work with the removal of eight portable classrooms that were located in the middle of the campus, with an additional nine to be moved in the near future.

“This is relatively a new school that opened in 2002,” said Nipomo High School Principal John Denno. “However, over 80% of the classroom buildings were portable and so this is long overdue for us to actually get some permanent structures on our campus. We have 17 classrooms that are being removed and we’ll have 17 brand new classrooms here in about 18 months.”

Once all of the portables are removed, the ensuing construction project will replace the old buildings with brand new “stick frame” constructed classrooms.

“Permanent, structures are really nice because each of these portable classrooms are 20 feet by 40 feet,” said Denno. “It’s a rectangular build and sometimes it makes it very challenging for teachers to configure their classrooms in the best learning environment to engage students. The new stick built classrooms will be more square in shape that allow for much more engaging classroom space.”

Denno, who has been principal at the school since 2014, added the new classrooms will provide students several more advantages to their overall educational experience, as well as the school and district.

“Not only for just the morale of the campus, and the pride that the community has,” said Denno. “We have a lot of permanent buildings at the entry points of our campus, but once you’re on the campus, we’ve got a large percentage of our classrooms are portable. They are not energy efficient. In fact, Nipomo High School has one of the largest energy bills in the district due to the fact that portable classrooms don’t retain heat and they don’t retain cool air. They’re a much better educational setting. The configuration being a little more open, a little freer for teachers to reconfigure classrooms. Teachers will kind of get away from that, row and column structure, and have forward facing classroom space where students can work more collaboratively and focus on those 21st Century skills.”

Once completed, classrooms will be inside three different buildings that are expected to have a lifespan for several decades.

“Our goal over the next seven or eight years is replace as many of those as possible,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “Ideally, we’d like to replace all of them with stick built construction. Stick built is always going to be better than portable classrooms. Portable classrooms are not built with the same insulation. They’re not built on a permanent foundation. They’re meant to be temporary, and as a district grows over time, sometimes you don’t have the funds to go with stick built because it is more expensive. Our overall aim is to eliminate as many portable classrooms as possible and build stick built classrooms that will be economical and be a good value to the taxpayers that gives us 60 to 70 years of life.”

With students off campus last week, construction began on the project that is expected to take a year-and-a-half to complete.

“Over spring break, we removed half of the portables that we plan to remove, and we’ll remove the rest this coming summer,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “This coming summer is the first phase of the project with rerouting of utilities. The project will begin in earnest from a construction standpoint, probably in early fall. This first phase, we anticipate that we’ll be able to move into these classrooms in approximately 18 months.”

Stenson added the cost of the project’s first phase is slated to be $13 million.

The school district was fortunate to pass Measure H back in November of 2024,” said Stenson. “That provides a funding stream for this project. In addition to that, we will go through the process to apply for state matching funds, and with some luck, we should be eligible for about $5 million in free state match money on this project.”

A second phase of the project is the addition of a new multi-purpose building that would serve as a secondary gym, not only for Nipomo High School, but also Central Coast New Tech High School, which is located next door.

“It has been approved by our school board for an additional multi-purpose room to be,” said Denno. “We will still require the state to approve that project, but it be centralized between New Tech and Nipomo High School will be a shared space for the both campuses benefit.”

While construction is ongoing, Denno indicated there will be no disruption to any existing class this semester or for any others in the future while work is being done

“We’re fortunate at a point with our current enrollment that we don’t have to bring in temporary housing to accommodate our current classes,” said Denno. “Some of the things that we have been able to do was embrace a new special education model that’s allowed us to consolidate classrooms. We have some other spaces that previously were vacant. Our ASB class is in a temporary location for at least the next year and a half and so we’ve been pretty fortunate to not have to displace too many people.”

The start of construction on the new classrooms continues a series of positive events to happen at the school over the past couple of months.

Recently, Nipomo High School was named a California Distinguished School, an honor achieved this year by only one other San Luis Obispo County school, Mesa Middle School in rural Arroyo Grande, which serves as Nipomo’s feeder campus.

In addition, the school’s acclaimed Future Farmers of America (FFA) program was honored by the state, FFA instructor Russell Zimmerman was named California’s 2025-2026 “Ag Educator of the Year” during the California FFA State Leadership Conference in Ontario, plus two Nipomo athletic teams, boys soccer and girls wrestling, each claimed CIF-Central Section championships.

“Our (school) team has done some incredible work,” said Denno. “We’ve been fortunate enough in athletics as well as activities. Our FFA program was recently ranked number four in the State of California. We’re excited about the things that are happening at the bottom line. This is an incredible community. We’ve got great students and we have an incredible staff, and so seeing the improvements on our campus, I think really goes a long way, it, helps support that Titan Pride and team spirit and community spirit. We know that there’s a bright future ahead of us!”

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Jarrod Zinn

BUELLTON, Calif. (KEYT) – The city of Buellton’s Farmer’s Market had a very strong start for its first month.

It could be sticking around for a long time.

Buellton’s one-month-old farmers market just received a new schedule, right on time for the warmer seasons.

“I have more people coming,” says event organizer Brenda Browning. “So this will all be completely full in the in the next month. There won’t be any open spaces.”

Each Monday along Avenue Of The Flags, the Farmers Market will set up from 3 to 7pm, taking advantage of longer daylight hours for spring and summer.

“We don’t have a lot of things to do around here,” say Erely & Emily Palacios, who live in Buellton. “So I think it makes it more like fun. We usually come here on Mondays and I just get coffee and our matcha.”

City leaders have hinted that if the event continues to be as successful as it has been in the first few weeks, it will most likely be sticking around.

“We have some organic farmers that are local here in Buellton that are coming,” says Browning. “So, we’ll have more and more. We just got a new knife sharpening guy. We’ve got someone here, she won Cupcake Wars on TV, and she’s here. She’s new this week.”

Event organizers say one of their favorite things to see each week — in addition to the fresh food and artisan vendors — are the kids enjoying the bounce houses.

“I really wanted this market to be family friendly,” says Browning. “This is for families. So I wanted to bring something to this community that was for families to come to. I feel like this community is up and coming, and they need more things to do here.”

The popular and convenient location right off the 101 freeway exit puts Buellton on the map in whole new way.

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A one-of-a-kind art project is now coming alive as fresh paint hits the asphalt in downtown Santa Barbara.

It comes from a special grant, which couldn’t have been delivered at a better time for the city. It is in the process of reimagining the downtown promenade corridor.

Santa Barbara was one of only four cities to get this Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative grant in the U.S.

The City of Santa Barbara, in collaboration with the County Office of Arts & Culture, was awarded $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Outreach and demonstrations took place in January at the Saturday Farmers Market which takes place at this intersection.

Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture Executive Director Sarah York Rubin says there will be designs that will likely show community, the ocean and other aspects of the people and region that will, “integrate those ideas into a design that’s a design for the street.” With the project at the Farmers Market site she says “to do design based on Mixtec textiles because so many of of the workers and people who work at the farmers market are Mixteco and Zapotecs”

Lead artists Eddy Jimenez and Irene Ramirez provided an introduction to Zapotec textiles and designs.

Lead designer Irene Ramirez said four colors were chosen. “so the pink color for example was inspired by bougainvillea and the blue could be ocean and sky, It’s very Santa Barbara blue . “

Many people walking by saw the teams of workers, the rollers with paint, the yellow tape blocking some access and the new art appearing right in front of them. Nick Hartley is a downtown worker who said, “it’s going to look interesting. I think it gives a little bit more vibrancy to State Street. Anything that is beautiful and thought provoking is going to bring people here to look. I think it fits the motif of the town.” Erin Guerena is a business owner who said, “I own a bike store so if it does decrease traffic and make biking a little safer in Santa Barbara that’s great .”But she cautions, “I don’t think that this is going to change or impact downtown consumerism and make it vibrant enough that businesses are going to come in, because rent is too expensive. “

With the project underway traffic is being reduced to one lane in each direction.

Along with the intersections, there will be work on the curbs, planters and lighting fixtures.

This has proven to be a way to reduce traffic problems and increase pedestrian safety.

Friends of State Street is collaborating with supplies needed for the project.

For more information go to : Bloomberg Art

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John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The budget preparation workshops have begun in Santa Barbara County with a “clear eye discussion”.

That was the first message from County Chief Executive Officer Mona Miyasto. She said there are always mandates expectations and great complexities.

“The hardest decisions we make are about what to stop not what to start,” said Miyasato.

The county has a projected deficit of about $70-million. Last year, departments were warned and asked to begin coming up with solutions.

The final budget hearings will be in June for the new budget July 1.

Departments looking to make cuts or have proposed hiring freezes could include the Sheriff’s Office, Health, Housing and Human Services and other essential services.

Some of the cities in Santa Barbara County have a contract for first responders instead of having their owner police and fire but it all has to be provided by those departments for the cities and area that are unincorporated.

Funding from federal and state sources are being cut and locally there will be changes to balance the local budgets.

One of the first hearings will deal with Santa Barbara County Health. Cuts could reduce clinic operations and that could send more people to a more expensive solution at the emergency rooms locally.

Some of the speakers will be talking about cuts to Cal Fresh and other support programs for the poor.

Many say the new budget needs to prioritize kids.

“I always look at it through the lens of of our children. And just how are the cuts going to ultimately impact the next generation? You know, not just my children, but their children, you know, and the children of this county, because it’s tough,” said Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps.

“Today’s children will be tomorrow’s adults, and we want to have stronger adults, a stronger community,” said First Five Executive Director Wendy Sims-Moten.

“What we know about young children, especially, is, 90% of brain development happens in the first five years of life. So if we can get it right when they’re young, that will continue on later. And, there’ll be return on investment and cost savings later on,” said First Five Deputy Director Michelle Robertson.

Monday the focus was on mental health, but important revenue questions around artificial intelligence, cannabis, and the jail system will take place on Wednesday and Friday.

Supervisors spent the day reviewing department budgets and asking questions, but no final decisions were made.

Final decisions are expected in June.

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Mike Klan

CORVALLIS, Oregon. (KEYT) – Easton Talt hit a walk-off RBI single to cap off a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as #7 Oregon State edged Cal Poly 3-2 to complete a 3-game sweep.

The slumping Mustangs held leads in all three games but fall to 18-16 on the year. Cal Poly has dropped 9 of their last 13 games.

Cal Poly got a solo home run in the fifth inning by Dylan Kordic to tie the game at 1 and then went in front on another solo home run by Nate Castellon in the sixth inning.

The Mustangs outhit Oregon State for the second straight game 11-6 but could not break through in the win column.

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CNN Newsource

By Eric Bradner, Arit John, CNN

(CNN) — Rep. Eric Swalwell said Sunday he would withdraw from the California governor’s race in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct that led to a nearly immediate campaign collapse, as staffers quit and prominent Democratic supporters urged him to drop out.

“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” he posted on X. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

Swalwell was long considered a top contender in a wide-open field with several prominent Democrats and two Republicans ahead of the state’s June 2 nonpartisan primary. But on Friday, his campaign was roiled when CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle published reports in which women accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct.

A former Swalwell staffer told CNN the congressman raped her when she was heavily intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding. Swalwell has strongly denied the allegations.

“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman told CNN of the incident, which she said happened in 2024 in New York City after she had stopped working in Swalwell’s office. “He didn’t stop.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Saturday it is investigating the allegation of sexual assault the woman said took place in New York. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office told CNN in a statement Saturday it is “evaluating whether any alleged criminal conduct occurred within” the Bay Area county, where the same woman accused Swalwell of a separate act of sexual misconduct she said took place in 2019.

Three other women who spoke with CNN also alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman — including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos. Swalwell has denied the women’s allegations.

Within hours of the reports on the allegations, key allies, including campaign chair Rep. Jimmy Gomez and Sens. Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff, pulled their support almost immediately, with new statements denouncing Swalwell arriving in rapid succession. An independent expenditure group backing him announced it would shut down.

A governor’s race that was already drawing national attention was thrown further into flux. Among the top Democrats left are billionaire Tom Steyer, former Rep. Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, and Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host endorsed by President Donald Trump, are the Republican contenders.

Mahan released a scathing statement in the wake of Swalwell’s announcement, writing that California deserved better.

“Eric Swalwell is done. Done abusing women. Done climbing the political ladder. Done,” Mahan wrote on X. “Exiting a race you should never have entered deserves no credit. It is an overdue acknowledgment of what the brave survivors who came forward already made clear: Eric Swalwell represented the worst of politics.”

It’s unclear whether Swalwell will remain in the US House until his term expires in January. Multiple Democrats on Sunday called on Swalwell to leave Congress.

“We should not tolerate this behavior,” Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman told CNN on Sunday. “Rep. Eric Swalwell needs to go.”

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said she would vote to expel both him and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over sexual misconduct allegations.

More than 50 former Swalwell staffers signed on to a letter earlier Sunday calling on him to drop out of the race and resign from Congress.

“The allegations reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN are serious, credible, and demand accountability,” the letter said. “We stand unequivocally with our colleague, who showed extraordinary courage in coming forward to share her truth. We believe her.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Allison Gordon, Isabelle Chapman, Casey Tolan, Pamela Brown and Michael Williams contributed to this report.

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Kellan Montgomery pitched eight strong innings and Nico Libed delivered the big hit as UCSB edged UC San Diego 3-1 to pull within a game of the Tritons in the Big West standings.

The Dos Pueblos High School alum Montgomery allowed just one run and four hits while striking out 9 as he improved to 6-2 on the year.

(Montgomery retired the final 13 batters he faced in the win. Entenza Design).

The Gauchos were trailing 1-0 but in the bottom the seventh inning Nico Libed came off the bench and delivered a two-out, 2-run pinch-hit double down the left field line to put the Gauchos in the lead for good.

From head coach Andrew Checketts: “Yeah, he looked bad on the first breaking ball, swung through it, then did a really good job of laying off some pitches and got a mistake and made the guy pay when he made the mistake. Nico, he’s a really good .200 hitter. He’s better than that, he puts together competitive at-bats, we felt like at that time he gave us a really good shot. We needed a hit, he pulled the gear off in the bullpen, ran down there and did his thing, so it was pretty cool.”

Liam Barrett smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Gauchos an insurance run.

“(Barrett) has been a breath of fresh air for us ever since we inserted him in there since he came back from injury,” said Checketts. “Some other guys went down, he’s done a really good job of taking quality at-bat after quality at-bat after quality at-bat and that was another example of that.”

Van Froling struck out the side in the ninth inning for his second save on the year.

UCSB is now 22-11 on the season and 10-5 in the Big West as they try to chase down the Tritons who are 11-4 in league. The Gauchos are tied for second with Cal Poly in league.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Matteo Burdick had 25 kills to lead San Marcos boys volleyball to a 5-set win over Burbank-Burroughs in the championship game of the Karch Kiraly Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Burdick was named the MVP as the Royals won their first ever TOC.

San Marcos won the final set 21-19.

Host Santa Barbara went 2-2 to claim fourth place in the 16-team tournament.

Dos Pueblos finished 11th.

Local players joining Burdick on the All-Tournament team were Royals teammates Keanu Nguyen and Tyler Walker along with Santa Barbara’s Maddox Denver and Jasper Bell

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Mike Klan

ARCADIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Barbara High School junior Elina Stump won the Open Division long jump at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational with a Dons program-record mark of 18 feet, 11 inches.

(Video courtesy Olivia Percedes).

Stump also finished second in the triple jump 37-11 and placed 9th in the 100-hurdles with a personal best time of 14.69 seconds.

Cal Poly-bound football player Malachi Johnston came in 10th place for the Dons in the Open Division shot put with a distance of 52 feet, 10 inches.

San Marcos High School senior Logan Patterson Deakyne finished third in the 300 hurdles in a time of 38.43 seconds

The Royals girls 4×1600 relay team of Samara Shalhoub, Autumn Richardson, Layla Llewellyn and Elsie Tuttle came in fourth place.

Dos Pueblos boys 4×1600 finished in third place in the 1600. Cullen Gully, Owen Abbott, Ashton Smedley and Ian McMurtry finished in a time of 17:13.43.

The Dos Pueblos distance medley relay team set a school record finishing in third place in the DMR at the Arcadia Invitational. Ashton Smedley led off in the 1200 meter leg, Kellan Cotter ran the 400, Cullen Gulley the 800, and Owen Abbott the 1600. Their final time was 10:07.34.

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