SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Susan Garcia of Santa Maria is the lucky winner of this year's News Channel 3-12 Holiday Giveaway.

"It's like winning the lotto especially when you don't win anything," said Garcia after picking up her winnings at the News Channel 3-12 Santa Maria station on Friday. "It was a surprise. I am so excited and I am appreciative that I was the winner and I was chosen."

The annual contest has been held for the past several years by the station.

This year, 16 local businesses contributed to the grand prize package of gift cards or certificates that totaled an impressive $3,400.

"It was such a big surprise to see the different sponsors that gave so much," said Garcia. "I just could not believe that."

Participating businesses included Rio Vista Chevrolet, V. Lopez Junior and Sons General Electrical Contractors, Auer Real Estate, Mario Juarez Attorney at Law, The Yes Store, Santa Barbara Museum of History, La Sumida Nursery, Lemos Pet and Feed Supply, California Fresh Market, Flooring 101, Diamond Jewelry and Loan, Santa Barbara Loan and Jewelry, Anthony's Jewelers, Ensemble Theatre Company, Westmont College and Jedlicka's Western Wear.

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By MJ Lee, Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department’s partial release of its files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday marked a moment of triumph for Epstein survivor Maria Farmer and her sister Annie, who have said for years that Maria had filed one of the first complaints against Epstein in the 1990s.

An FBI document released Friday included a 1996 description of a criminal complaint against Epstein related to child pornography.

While the name of the complainant is redacted in the document, Maria Farmer’s lawyer, Jennifer Freeman, confirmed on CNN that the complaint was in fact made by her client.

The “facts of complaint” part of the document says that the woman — who describes herself as a professional artist — had taken photos of her underage sisters for her own personal artwork.

“Epstein stole the photos and negatives and is believed to have sold the pictures to potential buyers,” the document reads. “Epstein at one time requested (redacted) to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools.” It continued: “Epstein is now threatening (redacted) that if she tells anyone about the photos he will burn her house down.”

Hours after the DOJ’s partial release of the Epstein files, it was not clear whether Farmer’s triumph would end up being an exception in the broader world of Epstein survivors.

Multiple sources close to the survivors told CNN described frustration as they struggled to navigate the DOJ’s public “Epstein Library” in search of information about their own abuse and cases. It was a disappointment for a group that had waited anxiously for 30 days since the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act for the chance to search for information about their own experiences.

With the DOJ’s online search system challenging to navigate, sources said survivors had not had much luck in coming across validating information about their years-old experiences.

Epstein survivor Jess Michaels spent hours trying to find her victims’ statement and communication she had after she called the FBI tip line.

“I can’t find any of those,” she told CNN. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.”

Freeman had previously told CNN that Maria Farmer’s original complaint was one of the key documents she would be searching for when the DOJ’s Epstein files were released.

She said Friday evening that she is looking for more information from the files, including what the authorities did in response to Farmer’s complaint, when and why.

“Why didn’t they act to stop this?” Freeman said in an email to CNN.

What authorities did in response to the complaint is unclear. CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.

The complaint, stamped September 3, 1996, underscores the fact that Epstein had been on the radar of law enforcement years before federal and state charges were brought against him in New York and Florida.

In a statement provided by the law firm representing Maria Farmer, the Epstein accuser said the FBI had “failed” her and other victims over the years.

Farmer’s sister, Annie, has previously said she was 16 when Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell abused her.

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By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Bondi Beach, Sydney (CNN) — For Australia’s tiny Jewish population, Bondi Beach was a refuge within a vast country that offered sanctuary to families fleeing a seething hate that killed six million of their kind within the lifetime of some of their oldest members.

For decades, they laid roots in a Sydney suburb built around a white sandy beach where each year millions of tourists kick off their shoes to be transported to a postcard world of beautiful people and friendly lifesavers wearing red and yellow caps.

It’s the image Australia wants to project to the world – of a multicultural haven where the conflicts of countries thousands of miles away are left at the shoreline.

But last Sunday horror and hatred rained down onto a Bondi lawn, where 15 people were shot dead by two gunmen with six licensed firearms.

It was Australia’s worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in an attack on tourists in Tasmania almost 30 years ago. This time was different.

“They wanted to kill Jews,” said mourner Carole, through tears near a carpet of flowers at Bondi Pavilion, a local landmark that now marks the site of a massacre.

“All we want to do is live in peace, work hard, pay our taxes and love our fellow Australians,” said Carole, whose daughters begged her not to give her last name for fear of retaliation.

“Jewish people always feel they are the country first,” Carole said. “As well as being strong Jews, we are never just Jewish. And now that’s how we feel.”

“Australia has let us down,” she said, angrily. “It’s actually beyond belief.”

‘This country has changed’

Australia notes with pride that it has the biggest population of Holocaust survivors per capita outside of Israel. Most live in Sydney and Melbourne. Many call Bondi home.

This week, Jews in this picturesque pocket of Australia’s eastern coast buried their dead in funerals livestreamed to the diaspora worldwide.

The youngest victim, Matilda, was 10 years old. Among the flowers at Bondi Pavilion, toys and images of bees could be seen – a nod to Matilda’s middle name and the “sting” in her vibrant personality.

Dorienne Light wore an Israeli flag across her shoulders as she paid her respects at the memorial on Wednesday. Her son had handed her the flag as she walked out the door.

“I felt satisfied that the symbol wasn’t subtle – it’s who I am,” said Light, who this week has struggled to distract herself from heartache.

“This country has changed,” she said. “I used to be so proud of where we lived. We need to reclaim that.”

Do you think it’s possible? “Yes, I do.”

Under this leadership? “No.”

A community in grief directed its anger squarely at the Australian government, accusing it of allowing antisemitism to fester for two years before Sunday’s devastating attack.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, a member of the opposition Liberal party, whose mother arrived in Australia as a refugee from the Holocaust, channeled deep feelings of betrayal in a speech at the memorial.

“Our prime minister, our government, has allowed Australia

By Max Saltman, CNN

(CNN) — ‘Twas the week before Christmas in a Montreal store, when Santa stole groceries, then walked out the door.

A group of thieves wearing Santa Clause and elf costumes stole cartloads of groceries from a supermarket in Montreal on Monday night, with an activist group later claiming credit for what they said was a Robin Hood-inspired heist to provide food to the needy.

Montreal Police Spokesperson Johany Charland told CNN that around 9:40 p.m. on Monday night, a group of people stole “what we assume is food” from the store.

“The investigation is still ongoing,” Charland said, with police combing through camera footage and interviewing witnesses.

Charland said that the police could not comment on the motive claimed by the activists.

Edited video posted by activist group “Les Soulèvements du Fleuve” on Instagram shows several individuals dressed in Santa suits – complete with big, white beards – and elf hats raiding the shelves of a Metro grocery store in Montreal.

The groceries, the group claims, were then “redistributed” to those in need by the “Robins of the Alleys” – an apparent nod to the legendary figure of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

The group said in another post that some of the goods were left under a tree in a Montreal neighborhood and some distributed to community fridges. Les Soulèvements du Fleuve included a photo of gift bags underneath a tree, but did not post footage of the “redistribution.”

“A handful of businesses are holding our vital needs hostage,” Les Soulèvements du Fleuve said in the post. “They continue to suffocate the population, to siphon (from) them as much money as possible, simply because they can. For us, this is theft and they are the thieves.”

According to reporting by CNN’s Canadian broadcast partner CBC, the latest inflation metrics from the Canadian government show that grocery prices in the country grew nearly 5% year-over-year, despite lessening inflation in other categories.

In a statement to CNN, the Metro grocery chain’s spokesperson Geneviève Grégoire said that whatever the stated motives, retail crime is “unacceptable.”

“Many factors influence food inflation, including disruptions in the global supply chain, volatility in commodity prices, changes in international trade conditions, and retail crime,” Grégoire said. “The prices on store shelves directly reflect the costs of the supply chain.”

Gregoire added that the chain has contributed millions of dollars to charity, “including 1.15 million dollars to food banks, and provided 81.6 million dollars’ worth of food products.”

CNN reached out to Les Soulèvements du Fleuve for comment.

The-CNN-Wire
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