* WHAT…Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to
elevated surf expected.

* WHERE…Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast and Santa
Barbara County Southeastern Coast.

* WHEN…From Monday morning through Wednesday morning.

* IMPACTS…There is an increased risk of ocean drowning. Rip
currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can
wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats
nearshore.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Minor coastal flooding possible around mid-
morning and late-evening times of high tide. High Surf Advisory
may be needed for late Tuesday through Wednesay.
Remain out of the water due to hazardous swimming conditions, or
stay near occupied lifeguard towers. Rock jetties can be deadly
in such conditions, stay off the rocks.

The post Beach Hazards Statement issued February 14 at 2:12PM PST until February 18 at 10:00AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por Uriel Blanco y José Álvarez, CNN en Español

Venezuela recibió el viernes seis toneladas de suministros médicos desde Estados Unidos, lo cual marca el primer envío de este tipo en medio de acercamientos recientes entre los gobiernos de Donald Trump y Delcy Rodríguez tras el derrocamiento del líder venezolano Nicolás Maduro el pasado 3 de enero.

El cargamento de suministros médicos llegó al Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar, en el estado La Guaira, según imágenes mostradas por el canal estatal Venezolana de Televisión (VTV). El representante diplomático de Venezuela en EE.UU., Félix Plasencia, recibió los suministros médicos junto con la encargada de negocios de Estados Unidos en Venezuela, Laura Dogu.

“Entendemos la importancia de establecer una base sólida en el sistema sanitario aquí durante estos días y meses. Este es solo el primer envío de suministros médicos para Venezuela. Traeremos más en los próximos días y semanas”, afirmó Dogu el viernes.

Si bien los suministros llegan mientras, según Trump, la relación de EE.UU. con Venezuela “es ahora un 10”, la administración aseguró que esta entrega médica “no es solo por caridad” y que el Gobierno de Rodríguez acordó “reembolsar” sus adquisiciones.

“Estados Unidos se enorgullece de facilitar la adquisición y entrega de suministros médicos para el pueblo venezolano, pero esta iniciativa no es solo caridad. Las autoridades encargadas de Venezuela acordaron reembolsar a Estados Unidos el costo de estas entregas y de cualquier otra futura”, escribió en X la cuenta oficial del subsecretario de Estado de EE.UU. para Asuntos de Asistencia Exterior, Humanitarios y Libertad Religiosa.

A finales de enero, Rodríguez anunció que, tras establecer canales de comunicación con la administración de Trump y una agenda de trabajo con EE.UU., Venezuela está “desbloqueando” recursos para “invertir” en el sector salud venezolano con la compra de equipo a Estados Unidos y otros países.

“Nos encontramos desbloqueando recursos de Venezuela, que pertenecen al pueblo de Venezuela. Los estamos desbloqueando y va a permitir que podamos invertir recursos importantes en equipamiento para los hospitales, equipamiento que estamos adquiriendo en Estados Unidos y otros países”, comentó la presidenta encargada.

La llegada de las seis toneladas de suministros médicos se da también días después de la visita del secretario de Energía de EE.UU., Chris Wright, a Venezuela, convirtiéndose en el funcionario estadounidense de más alto nivel en visitar el país sudamericano en casi tres décadas.

Rodríguez recibió a Wright en el Palacio de Miraflores. Ambos declararon que Venezuela y EE.UU. trabajan en una “agenda energética” en común y “a largo tiempo”.

Venezuela y Estados Unidos están en conversaciones para lograr “una asociación productiva a largo tiempo que permita una agenda energética, que se convierta en motor de la relación bilateral y que sea productiva, efectiva y beneficiosa para ambos países”, dijo Rodríguez ante la prensa.

Wright, por su parte, señaló que Trump “está completamente comprometido a transformar la relación entre EE.UU. y Venezuela”. El objetivo, añadió, es “acercar a nuestros países mediante el comercio, la paz, con empleos y oportunidades a Venezuela en una asociación

ATASCADERO, Calif. (KEYT) – First responders, including the Atascadero Police Department, helped in a multi-car crash where one person died at 3:00 p.m. Thursday at the 9000 block of El Camino Real.

One person needed extrication after being trapped from initial reports, and the APD noticed an overturned sedan on its roof, plus a pickup truck positioned in an embankment.

First responders helped the sedan driver from the car and got them to a hospital for major injuries and the sedan's passenger died at the scene, according to the APD.

The southbound lanes of El Camino Real closed for several hours for an investigation and reopened just before 10:30 p.m. after taking photos, measurements and evidence collection, according to the APD.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation and it is unknown whether or not alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident, according to the APD.

Witnesses of the crash are encouraged to contact the APD if they have more information.

The post One dead after car crash in Atascadero appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

(CNN) — Former President Barack Obama criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ conduct in Minnesota as dangerous, saying “the rogue behavior” is akin to what “we’ve seen in authoritarian countries” and “in dictatorships.”

The comments, which came during a wide-ranging interview with liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen out Saturday, are the latest example of the former president reneging on his long-standing strategy of minimizing his public presence to allow the next generation of Democrats to emerge. He deliberately took a back-seat role during former President Joe Biden’s term.

Obama, who has previously criticized President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal agents to US cities, called the actions of immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota “deeply concerning and dangerous.”

The sweeping immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, which saw the deployment of roughly 3,000 federal agents, has been hallmarked by numerous videos showing federal agents’ aggressive tactics and confrontations with the public.

“It is important for us to recognize the unprecedented nature of what ICE was doing in Minneapolis, St. Paul, the way that federal agents — ICE agents — were being deployed, without any clear guidelines, training, pulling people out of their homes … tear-gassing crowds simply who were standing there, not breaking any laws,” Obama said.

He added that American citizens should be commended for engaging in “peaceful protests and shining a light on the sort of behavior that, in the past, we’ve seen in authoritarian countries and we’ve seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America.”

The killings of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January at the hands of immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis prompted outrage in the city and across the nation. The Trump administration this week announced it is ending its monthslong immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.

Obama, who wrote a column in January saying Pretti’s death should be “a wake-up call” that America’s core values are “under assault,” praised the response of protesters in Minnesota.

Protesters have largely adopted a strategy of civil disobedience in Minnesota, which has included alerting their communities of the presence of immigration agents using whistles, car horns and shouting, and recording encounters with agents.

“That kind of heroic, sustained behavior in subzero weather by ordinary people is what should give us hope,” Obama said in the latest interview.

Obama slams political ‘clown show’

The interview was Obama’s first since Trump’s social media account earlier this month posted and then deleted a racist video depicting the former president and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle. Cohen, while mentioning the video, asked Obama how America can reverse the decline of civil discourse.

Though Obama didn’t directly address Trump’s post, he said, “There’s this sort of

The post How Magavellian of You appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.