SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Ongoing concerns about a sluggish pace for the retail future in Santa Barbara could get some inspiration with thoughts from experts gathering in a special session.

City Councilmembers will join in with planners and three speakers who will talk about what will reenergize the sales that have fallen off in recent years.

The panel will be: Rachel Michelin from the California Retailers Association, Rick Lemmo with Caruso Properties and Mark from the Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta.

The retail symposium is at 11 a.m. in the Faulkner Gallery.

Comments and questions from the public will be included.

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By Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — A Minnesota man was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent after he tried to enter a federal jail and release suspected murderer Luigi Mangione, according to law enforcement sources.

Mark Anderson, 36, arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday evening claiming he was an FBI agent with a court order for Mangione’s release, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday and a law enforcement source.

When officials with the Bureau of Prisons asked the man for his credentials, according to the complaint, the man provided a Minnesota driver’s license. He also allegedly stated that he had weapons in his bag.

Anderson then allegedly threw paperwork at the BOP officers. The papers appeared to be related to legal claims against the Justice Department, according to the FBI agent who signed the complaint.

Prison officials searched Anderson’s backpack, according to the complaint, and found a barbecue-style fork and a circular steel blade.

Anderson traveled to New York for a potential job that didn’t work out and had been working at a pizzeria before his arrest, the law enforcement source told CNN. It isn’t clear what connection, if any, he has to Mangione.

CNN has reached out to Mangione’s attorney.

Anderson, who is charged with one count of falsely pretending to be an officer of the US government, is expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon.

Mangione has been held at the federal jail since his arrest in December 2024 for the suspected murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.

He is facing federal and state murder charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The judge overseeing his federal trial last week said jury selection in that case will begin September 8, with opening statements commencing in October if she rules the Justice Department cannot pursue the death penalty, or in January 2027 if the capital charge remains. A ruling is expected by Friday.

On Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which first filed murder charges, asked the judge overseeing the state case to order its trial for July — two months before the federal case.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said the murder took place in Manhattan, the investigation was led by his office and the New York Police Department, and the state indictment was returned before a federal complaint was filed.

“The State has an overriding interest in trying this defendant for the cold-blooded execution of Brian Thompson on December 4, 2024. It resulted in the tragic death of a guest to our city on our streets,” he wrote. “Federal law supports our request that we proceed first and our right to a speedy resolution of this case would be severely compromised should the federal trial proceed first.”

In a statement, Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said they will need time to prepare for the federal trial.

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LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) - The city of Lompoc is inviting glamping visitors out to the Santa Ynez Valley at their recently re-opened River Park RV Campground.

In 2022, renovations began on nine original RV sites, and 26 sites have been added since then, with newly renovated full hook-ups.

For a base of $50 per night, glampers with trailers up to 30 feet can nestle themselves in town but with a rustic, park-like atmosphere.

Sites are first-come-first-served for up to 21 nights, and the park now features a playground, trails for walking, biking or horseback riding, as well as a pond for fishing.

Just east of Lompoc and about 20 miles away from Solvang, it’s an ideal and affordable setting for visitors to the Santa Ynez Valley.

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By Max Saltman, CNN

(CNN) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expects US President Donald Trump to “respect Canadian sovereignty” following reports that Alberta separatists met with US officials numerous times.

“I expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty,” Carney said in Ottawa Thursday, flanked by premiers from Canada’s provinces. “I’m always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together.”

The prime minister said that Trump has never brought up the issue of Alberta independence during their meetings.

Carney’s comments came after David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, accused a group of Alberta independence activists of “treason” for meeting with the Trump administration.

Commenting on a Financial Times report that White House officials had met with activists collecting signatures for a possible plebiscite on Alberta independence, Eby told reporters Thursday he understood their desire for a referendum and to “talk about the issues you want to talk about in Canada,” but said it was inappropriate at a time when Canadians should be standing together amid tensions with the United States.

“We’ve got free speech, that’s important. But to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason,” he said.

The oil-rich province of Alberta, which is generally more conservative than the rest of Canada, has a vocal independence movement. Separatists there have long argued that Albertans are too over-taxed and under-represented to remain a part of Canada’s federation.

Asked about the meetings, a White House official told CNN that “administration officials meet with a number of civil society groups. No support or commitments were conveyed.”

A delicate moment

News of the meetings comes at a delicate moment in US-Canada relations. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to turn the country into the 51^st state. Meanwhile, Carney has made it clear that he believes Canada must steer a course outside of US influence after a year of trading tariffs and counter-tariffs with the United States.

Eby’s voice wavered with emotion as he expressed his disgust with the separatists who went to Washington, saying he would not “describe them as Albertans.”

“It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada,” Eby said, “to seek to go and ask for assistance to break up this country from a foreign power.”

Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer and independence activist who told CNN he was part of the group that met with US officials, responded that “David Eby wouldn’t know a real Albertan if one walked up and punched him in the face.”

Rath said he and other separatists are heading to Washington again next month to explore the possibility of obtaining financial credit from the US in the event of independence.

“We’re not soliciting funds,” Rath said. “We’re doing a feasibility study to find out what’s possible.”

Alberta separatism has a long played a minor role in provincial politics, but the Liberal Party’s win in the 2025 elections reignited the movement, which regards Carney’s center-left politics as the antipathy of Alberta’s conservative values.

Ironically, Carney is an Albertan himself; he was raised in Edmonton, the provincial capital.

The Alberta government approved a petition for Read more

Por Tami Luhby, CNN

Más de un millón de personas menos se han inscrito en coberturas de la Ley de Atención Médica Asequible (Affordable Care Act) para 2026, según datos federales publicados este miércoles. La caída se produce después de que expiraran los subsidios federales ampliados para las primas, lo que provocó que los pagos mensuales se dispararan para muchos afiliados.

Casi 23 millones de personas seleccionaron planes para 2026, de acuerdo con los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid. Eso se compara con poco menos de 24,2 millones de personas en un periodo similar el año pasado. Los datos incluyen todas las inscripciones en los 30 estados que utilizan el mercado federal, donde el periodo de inscripción abierta terminó el 15 de enero. Sin embargo, no captan la inscripción total en todos los estados que operan sus propios mercados, algunos de los cuales permiten registrarse hasta finales de este mes.

No obstante, es probable que la inscripción total siga bajando en los próximos meses, dijeron expertos. Una parte considerable de los consumidores fue reinscrita automáticamente en sus pólizas y podría no darse cuenta de cuánto aumentarán sus primas hasta que reciban su primera factura. Esto podría llevarlos a abandonar la cobertura o simplemente a no pagar, lo que resultará en su baja en abril.

“Ese número no cuenta toda la historia. Estas cifras van a caer de manera drástica mes tras mes a medida que las personas decidan que no pueden pagar la atención médica y dejen de pagar sus primas”, dijo en un comunicado Leslie Dach, presidente de Protect Our Care, un grupo de defensa.

Quienes mantengan su cobertura probablemente enfrenten pagos de primas más altos o deducibles mayores debido a la expiración de los subsidios ampliados, dijo Cynthia Cox, directora del Programa sobre la Ley de Atención Médica Asequible en KFF, un centro de investigación en políticas de salud. Según KFF, se espera que las primas aumenten en promedio un 114% este año.

La Oficina de Presupuesto del Congreso proyectó que 2 millones de personas menos tendrían cobertura de Obamacare este año debido al fin de los subsidios federales más generosos.

La asistencia ampliada fue aprobada por el Gobierno de Biden como parte de un paquete de alivio por covid-19 en 2021, pero expiró a finales de 2025. Esa ayuda adicional impulsó un fuerte aumento en la inscripción en Obamacare, en particular entre estadounidenses de bajos ingresos que podían obtener pólizas sin primas o con primas muy bajas. Los subsidios ampliados también hicieron que la cobertura fuera más accesible para afiliados de clase media, que antes no calificaban para recibir ayuda.

La expiración de los subsidios desató una dura batalla partidista en el Capitolio que derivó en el cierre del Gobierno más largo de la historia el otoño pasado. Los demócratas insistieron en vincular la financiación del Gobierno federal a la extensión de los subsidios, pero finalmente cedieron a medida que el cierre se prolongaba. La Cámara de Representantes aprobó el mes pasado una extensión de los subsidios por tres años después de que varios legisladores republicanos votaran con los demócratas, pero la iniciativa no ha logrado avanzar en el Senado ante la férrea oposición del Partido Republicano.

La caída en las inscripciones para 2026 es el primer descenso desde 2020, cuando 11,4 millones de personas eligieron planes. La afiliación fue disminuyendo gradualmente durante el primer mandato del presidente Donald Trump.

El interés por las pólizas de Obamacare para 2026 cayó especialmente entre los nuevos clientes. Poco menos de 3,4 millones de nuevos consumidores se inscribieron en planes, una disminución del 14 % frente a hace un año. Los clientes que regresaron sumaron poco menos de 19,6 millones, una baja del 3 %.

Las mayores caídas en las inscripciones totales se registraron en Carolina del Norte, con un desplome del 22