SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The wife of a Santa Maria man has been released from a Texas immigration detention facility today after weeks of detainment.

Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, a Venezuelan native, along with her five-year-old daughter were detainment by federal officers back in April as they were about to board a flight to Santa Maria from Texas, where Bolivar is completing her residency.

Your News Channel learned the five-year-old girl was reunited with her father, Milenko Faria while her mother was still in holding.  Faria moved to Santa Maria in 2017 after fleeing Venezuela and had his daughter here on the Central Coast, making her a U.S. citizen.

Milenko Faria, tells Your News Channel's Jarrod Zinn that his wife was released from an immigration detention facility in Texas today.

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GOLETA, Calif.—The City of Goleta says its Old Town restriping project is improving safety and making the area more pedestrian-friendly — but some business owners say the changes are still hurting customer traffic.

The project along Hollister Avenue reduced the roadway from four lanes to two and added bike lanes, new crosswalks, and back-in angled parking as part of the city’s effort to create a safer and more walkable downtown corridor.

According to data presented to the Goleta City Council, vehicle speeds have decreased, collisions are down, and pedestrian activity has increased since the changes were implemented.

Still, reaction from the community remains mixed.

“During rush hour, whether it's in the morning or at lunchtime or in the evening, and you need to go through Old Town Goleta, good luck,” said resident Bernard Carr.

Some business owners say while safety may have improved, customer access has become more challenging.

“This is safer for me. I haven't really seen too many accidents in comparison to where we used to see before,” said Peter Jimenez, owner of Goleta Barbers.

But Jimenez says his business has suffered since construction first began.

“Since the beginning of the construction, I feel from there to now it's been about 40%,” he said, referring to a decline in business.

Jimenez says the new back-in parking spaces can be confusing for drivers and believes the reduced traffic lanes may discourage customers from stopping in Old Town.

“We've had people send us a text message saying they can't find parking. And in reality, there's plenty of parking. You just kind of have to give it a chance,” he said.

Some drivers say the back-in parking design takes adjustment.

“I just had to pull forward where I was parking here, and I felt like I was in the bike lane and blocking traffic to back in,” said Susan Zink of Santa Barbara. “But I was able to back in with the cars that have all the mirrors and help. That’s very, very helpful. But that's the first time I've done it.”

Others in the area say their businesses have not experienced the same struggles.

Patricia Guerrera, owner of Tru Beauty Lash Academy, says her business has been thriving since opening earlier this year.

“I’ve been here since February, so I'm new to this area, but I feel because we have a parking lot, we got lucky and the clients are not having a hard time,” Guerrera said.

Some business owners also point to ongoing construction projects nearby as another factor potentially affecting sales, making it difficult to determine exactly what is causing the slowdown.

City officials say it may take more time to fully understand the long-term effects of the restriping project. For now, debate continues over how Old Town Goleta should balance safety, traffic flow, and support for local businesses.

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GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) The 10th annual Bissell Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelters campaign might be giving dogs something to wag their tales about.

"We are currently doing a promotion with Bissell, Bissell Foundation, they allow us to wave the adoption fees for families May 1st through May 17th," said South County Volunteer Foster Coordinator Victoria Feld.

In addition to waving adoption fees, the pets up for adoption are already vaccinated, spayed or neutered and micro-chipped.

"Our adoptions fee are generally only $110 but the $110 dollars can be used for pet supplies, right, so being able to do that really gets people in the shelter so foot traffic and adoptions seem to be much higher during these promotions," said Volunteer Foster Coordinator Victoria Feld.

People on the fence may want to foster for a day or more and see if the pets are a match for their home and family.

"A lot of the time they end up adopting them anyway and it is so great for me to say they don't have adoptions fees they are waves and that money can go somewhere else too," said Feld.

Santa Barbara County Animal Services in Goleta, Santa Maria and Lompoc have had 47 pet adoptions since the Empty the Shelters campaign began.

The adoptions included dogs, cats, chickens, and rabbits.

Animals Services hopes a pair German Shepherds named Mack and Brinx will be adopted together free of charge.

"They are both about 10 years old and this is a bonded pair we are trying really really hard to keep them together," said Feld.

Longtime volunteer Ezad Shojaee came to visit them.

"I love Shephards, unfortunately we get a lot of German Shephards, " said Shojaee, "So, whenever they are around I love spending time with them."

He said his condo is too small for them or he would adopt them.

He hopes people will come to see them and all the animals.

"I am sure if they see our dogs they will be in love with them instantly," said Shojaee.

There are younger dogs, too.

Some shelters, including Ventura County's in Camarillo, are experiencing overcrowding.

"Empty the Shelters" is intended to help reduce overcrowding nationwide.

Empty the Shelters runs through Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Santa Barbara County Animal Services shelters are open Tuesdays through Sundays.

People interested in adopting are welcome to check out the photos of the four-legged-friends available online.

For more information on animal adoption in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties visit;https://countyofsb.org/415/Animal-Services or https://animalservices.venturacounty.gov and https://asapcats.org and https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/heath-agency/animal-services

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Análisis por Steven Jiang

Cuando comencé a cubrir las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y China como periodista joven a finales de la década de 1990, los puntos de fricción entre los dos países, especialmente cuando se trataba de reuniones de alto nivel, solían resumirse como las tres T: Tiananmén, Tíbet y Taiwán.

Las dos primeras T se referían a la represión de 1989 a los manifestantes prodemocracia y a la región del Himalaya controlada por Beijing, que una vez estuvo gobernada por el exiliado Dalai Lama, respectivamente, ambos vinculados al historial de derechos humanos de China.

Avanzando rápidamente hasta las últimas conversaciones en Beijing entre el presidente Donald Trump y el líder de China Xi Jinping esta semana: casi una década ha pasado desde la última visita de Trump —Joe Biden nunca llegó hasta este punto durante su Presidencia— y los temas para dichas cumbres evolucionaron para ver surgir una tríada diferente de las letras T en la agenda: aranceles, tecnología y Taiwán (con la adición de Teherán como la cuarta T en esta ocasión).

Si bien Taiwán, la democracia insular que Beijing reclama como propia, sigue estando en la categoría de “más importante” desde la perspectiva de China, otras prioridades han pasado de cuestiones basadas en valores al comercio y la economía.

El secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Marco Rubio, una vez un crítico apasionado del historial de derechos humanos de China y sancionado por Beijing por su postura, ha sido mucho más silencioso sobre el tema desde que se convirtió en el principal diplomático de Estados Unidos. En cambio, el secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, lidera el camino para dirigir los lazos bilaterales más importantes del mundo, habiéndose reunido con su homólogo chino en Seúl antes de la cumbre en Beijing.

La dinámica transformada se afianza mientras Xi, el líder comunista más poderoso de China desde la muerte del presidente Mao Zedong hace cincuenta años, continúa apretando su control sobre todos los aspectos del país, remodelando su economía y sus fuerzas militares con una voluntad política y recursos estaduales sin restricciones, un sello distintivo de un sistema de partido único.

Pero el paisaje geográfico mundial en el que la relación entre EE.UU. y China se encuentra hoy, es también en gran parte resultado de las acciones propias de Trump, que muchos argumentan que se han inclinado a favor de Beijing.

Comenzó durante su primer mandato, pero se intensificó desde que regresó a la Casa Blanca a principios de 2025. En este punto, a Trump le resultará difícil sacudirse su apodo en las redes sociales chinas: “Trump Construyendo Naciones”, una crítica no tan sutil a su presunta capacidad para promover a China en el escenario mundial a través de sus acciones.

Al trastocar normas comerciales internacionales y alianzas de seguridad de décadas, sin mencionar lanzar una guerra contra Irán que parece haber beneficiado a casi nadie, Trump es visto por muchos como alguien que ha ayudado a China no solo estratégicamente, sino también moralmente.

Líderes de adversarios de EE.UU. y aliados por igual se están apresurando a Beijing para fortalecer o reparar lazos con China, mientras que las opiniones en todo el mundo, incluso las de los estadounidenses, están mostrando una actitud más favorable hacia la China de Xi según se demuestra en múltiples encuestas recientes.

El público chino, bombardeado con mensajes oficiales y cobertura mediática estatal sobre el caos y las divisiones desatadas por Trump en el país y en el extranjero, parece más convencido de que EE.UU. es un imperio en declive decidido a detener el ascenso de China.

Puede ser un cliché decir que China se beneficia cada vez que EE.UU. se ve atrapado en un embrollo en el Medio Oriente o en cualquier lugar fuera de la región del Indo-Pacífico. Pero los clichés tienen bases fácticas: la guerra con Irán ha desviado la atenció

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Fire crews responded to a structure fire at a industrial building on Calle Bolero, southeast of Camarillo Wednesday.

All personnel at the commercial building safely exited without injury and fire teams were able to knock down the fire that involved a piece of equipment and extended into the building's ventilation system shared the Ventura County Fire Department.

Firefighters remained on the scene to monitor for any remaining fire extensions and to ventilate smoke out of the building detailed the Ventura County Fire Department.

The official cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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