SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A Santa Maria man who was saved through a blood donation two years ago is returning the favor by donating blood himself as much as possible.

Cedric Beaty, a married father of five and Navy veteran, is sharing his story to help promote the importance of blood donation, as well as inspire others to participate in the upcoming 8th Annual News Channel 3-11-12 MLK Day of Service Blood Drive, which is held in partnership with Vitalant.

In 2023, Beaty endured life-threatening complications following what was suppose to be a routine colonoscopy.

Soon after the procedure, Beaty experienced severe bleeding that required an emergency trip to the hosptial.

"There was kind of like this empty look in my eyes, like, maybe like the like the lights are about to turn out or something like that," said Beaty. "I think I passed out, but before that I could hear somebody talking about getting some blood here because you're going to need it."

Beaty quickly underwent surgery and received an unknown amount of blood during the operation.

"I woke up and the guy who repaired everything for the colonoscopy, he said, you're lucky they got blood for you," said Beaty. "He told me, 'you know what happened?' Basically what happened is there were some large polyps in my colon, and (the doctor) was supposed to cauterize them to make sure that he didn't bleed, but he didn't cauterize them properly."

Two years later, Beaty is completely healed and spreading the message how important blood donation has meant to his life and why people should consider donating if they can.

"If it wasn't for the transfusion and getting that blood when I needed it, then I don't even know if I'd be here right now," said Beaty. "For me, that is my main motivation for giving blood because who knows who needs it?"

Beaty is now blood donor himself, something he said actually began when he was in the military.

"For me it's a remarkable feeling to give back, you know, what was so graciously and so unselfishly given to me to give back to somebody I'm probably not even going to meet in real life," said Beaty. "I've always thought that life was precious, but now I understand that this is one shot, your one shot to do the most good that you possibly can. I try to do everything to the best of my ability. I try to donate here when I can. It's my one shot to do what I possibly can for the good of others, not just for the good of my own self."  

The News Channel 3-11-12 MLK Day of Service Blood Drive will be held next week in an effort to help boost local supply levels.

The yearly event is held in partnership with Vitalant and is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo.

All of the donation sites will be held the the Elks Lodge in all three cities.

Vitalant points out that one donation of blood may save up to three lives, highlighting the impact donors have on the community.

"Just one donation, one whole blood donation can save up to three lives," said Beau Mercurio, Vitalant Account Manager. "It's fairly simple. It takes about 30 minutes, 40 minutes for the whole process to come in and donate, and you're 

By Casey Tolan, Rob Kuznia, Isabelle Chapman, CNN

(CNN) — The woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis last week served on the board of her son’s school, which linked to documents encouraging parents to monitor ICE and directing them to training.

The documents shed new light on Renee Good’s connection to efforts to monitor and potentially disrupt ICE operations – an association that federal officials have made clear is at the center of their review into the deadly incident that occurred as she partially blocked ICE agents in the street with her SUV.

But four legal experts who reviewed the documents for CNN said they largely describe nonviolent civil disobedience tactics practiced at American protests for generations – far from the sinister depiction of extremism and domestic terrorism portrayed by Trump administration officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Vice President JD Vance.

“There’s nothing in there that suggests attacking ICE agents or engaging in any other form of physical harm or property damage,” said Timothy Zick, a professor at William and Mary Law School who wrote a book on protest law. “This is authoritarianism 101 where you blame the dissenters and the activists for causing their own death.”

Three top federal prosecutors in Minneapolis resigned Tuesday over pressure from the Trump administration to focus their probe on the actions of Good and those around her, according to a person briefed on the matter.

One of the documents linked by the school appears to be a message to parents dated December 16 that begins, “Thank you to families who have been on ICE watch, helping to protect their neighbors.”

The note links to a separate training document with guides on getting whistles to alert neighbors to ICE raids and contact information for a school parent offering “noncooperation training.”

“ICE are untrained bullies looking for easy targets. Neighbors showing up have saved lives,” that training document reads.

Another guide linked to in the training document stresses nonviolent responses to ICE agents, while also encouraging a refusal to “comply with demands, requests, and orders.” It suggests “creative tactics,” noting that “Crowds, props, traffic, and noise can make detentions difficult, sometimes ICE vehicles can’t move (‘whoops!’).” It does not specifically suggest blocking operations with a vehicle.

The December 16 note, titled “School Report,” was an item on the school board’s meeting on that date, an agenda shows – a meeting that Good attended as one of three parents on the board of the Southside Family Charter School.

Records don’t indicate that the board voted on the message. It’s unclear whether it was more widely shared with families at Southside, a small charter school with a long history of progressive activism. Neither the school nor other board members who served with Good responded to messages from CNN.

Two sources familiar with the school said the “School Report” message appeared similar to past newsletters shared with parents, but neither was on the email list at the time to confirm if it was sent out.

The “School Report” message was uploaded to the school’s public Google Drive about two weeks into the federal operation ramping up immigration enforcement actions in the Minneapolis area, which federal officials had launched to target the region’s Somali community.

Good was partially blocking a street with her SUV on Wednesday as ICE agents operated in the area. An ICE officer who was filming Good shot her after she started to accelerate her SUV. Videos of the deadly interaction show that Good was Read more

The post Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Service Resumes Between Goleta and San Luis Obispo appeared first on edhat.

The post Whistle Club Closes Permanently After Nearly 12 Years in Santa Barbara appeared first on edhat.

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump is working to tighten his grip on his party this week as he faces an unusual threat from Congress: an embarrassing rebuke of his military actions overseas.

On the cusp of a key Senate vote that would rein in Trump from further actions in Venezuela without Congress’ approval, an agitated Trump and his team are dialing up critical GOP lawmakers to pressure them to stay in line.

Already, one of the five GOP defectors — Sen. Josh Hawley — appears to be reconsidering his position just days after bucking Trump in a procedural vote on the matter. Hawley’s hesitation comes after several days of calls from Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and officials at the Department of Justice.

On Tuesday, Hawley spent nearly an hour in a secure Senate basement room to review classified details of legal rationale of the president’s actions in Venezuela, he said. That came after a call Monday with Rubio and a one-on-one discussion with Trump after his vote with Democrats last week. The president made the point during that call, Hawley said, that he felt that the war powers resolution was tying his hand.

“I am talking to anybody who wants to talk, which is a lot of people,” Hawley said. “This was good. I need to think through what they just presented to me. I asked a lot of questions.”

Trump’s one-on-one outreach to Senate Republicans underscores that he is tuned in – and troubled by – the small rebellion within his party over his recent actions in Venezuela. While Republicans in Congress are still firmly behind the president, cracks in his coalition have begun to show in recent weeks, threatening party unity ahead of the midterms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who’s also been in close touch with the president on the matter, told CNN that he spoke to a “very, very fired up” Trump just before the initial vote last week.

Final decisions from senators like Hawley will be critical. If the Missouri Republican sticks with Trump, Senate GOP leaders would only need to flip one more Republican to avoid a humiliating defeat for Trump this week. If the measure does pass, it would be mostly symbolic – at least for now. Democrats across the Capitol are planning to force a vote on a similar measure in the House next week and are engaging in their own behind-the-scenes campaign to win over GOP votes, according to multiple people familiar with the outreach.

House Democrats, with the help of Trump antagonist Thomas Massie, are targeting over a dozen Republican votes in the national security or libertarian wing of the party. They need to pick off just a handful of Republicans to pass their version – enough to deliver a formal rebuke to Trump’s desk.

Sen. Rand Paul, who is leading the effort on the Venezuela war powers resolution, told CNN on Tuesday that Trump called him three times last week, though he declined to comment on the tone of the discussions, calling them “private conversations.”

​Paul was again critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the matter on Tuesday, blasting the White House for keeping its legal justification for the Venezuela operation classified.

“Legal arguments and constitutional arguments should all be public, and it’s a terrible thing that any of this is being kept secret because the arguments aren’t very good,” he said.

The president’s phone calls to all five GOP defectors come after he publicly harangued them last week, blasting on Truth Social that they should “never be elected” again. And several of those Republicans made clear that a phone call from the president was not enough to sway their vote.

GOP Sen