Below is a press release from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office regarding a public alert about recent phone scams.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – The Sheriff's Office is warning residents about a phone scam that has recently resurfaced in our area.

In these scams, callers falsely claim to be from a law enforcement agency and tell victims they have an outstanding arrest warrant. They then demand immediate payment to clear the warrant or avoid arrest. Scammers often ask for payment through apps such as Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Cash, or other money transfer services.

To make the calls appear legitimate, scammers may "spoof" their phone number so it displays as a law enforcement agency or government office.

Remember: The Sheriff's Office will never call and demand payment over the phone to resolve a warrant or criminal matter.

If you receive one of these calls:
-Hang up immediately.
-Do not send money or provide financial or personal information.
-Do not trust caller ID alone, it can be spoofed.
-If you're unsure whether a call is legitimate, contact the agency directly using a publicly listed phone number.

If you believe you have been the victim of this scam, report it to your local law enforcement agency.

The Sheriff's Office encourages residents to share this warning with family, friends, and neighbors to help prevent others from becoming victims.

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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – On Thursday, a beached vessel was found along the beaches of southern Santa Barbara County.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, no oil discharges have been observed and no oiled wildlife have been spotted at this point in the response.

The statewide agency shared it is coordinating a salvage/recovery plan to get the vessel from the local beach alongside the U.S. Coast Guard which has been complicated by the tides.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office has been tasked with verifying the owner and registration for the vessel added the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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By Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — Vice President JD Vance is leasing part of a sprawling, multimillion-dollar property in rural Virginia to serve as an additional residence for his family, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The new rental residence is part of the historic Wolver Hill Farm, which spans nearly 500 acres on the outskirts of Middleburg, Virginia, a wealthy enclave located a little more than an hour drive from Washington, DC.

Wolver Hill Farm is owned by a firm led by Charles Kuhn, the founder of a moving company that has moved several presidents into and out of the White House, including President Donald Trump. The company is also a longtime government contractor.

Kuhn in recent years has become one of the largest landholders in Virginia, as well as a major player in the development of data centers across the state. In one deal last November, Kuhn’s company reportedly sold a nearly 100-acre parcel of land to a data center investor for $615 million.

Vance is renting part of the Middleburg property from Kuhn’s firm primarily for his wife and three kids, in what the people familiar described as an effort to provide them with a greater sense of normalcy away from the scrutiny of Washington. The vice president is expected to stay there on occasion, though he and his family are maintaining their official residence at the Naval Observatory.

In a statement, Vance’s personal attorney, Chris Ashby, said the vice president planned to pay market value for the property.

“The rent will be at fair market value, determined with reference to the rent for comparable properties in the area,” Ashby said.

Kuhn did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Business Journal first reported that the vice president was leasing part of Kuhn’s Wolver Hill Farm.

Vance is the latest major political figure to establish a retreat near the small but well-heeled town of Middleburg, which has a population under 1,000 residents. Former President John F. Kennedy once owned an estate in the area, while former President Ronald Reagan once rented a home in the area to serve as a base of operations during his 1980 presidential campaign.

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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Saturday will be cooler with increasing clouds.

Onshore flow will be strengthening from the southeast over the weekend.

This will shuttle in some moisture and humidity into our area more noticeably by Sunday.

Clouds will last through Monday.

We will start clearing on Tuesday.

Temps heat up again by Wednesday during the extreme heat watch.

Cooler temps will follow late next week though brief monsoonal impacts and slight California rain chances will stick around.

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CARPINTERIA, Calif. – State and local leaders gathered in Carpinteria Thursday to celebrate the restoration of $15 million in California's 2026–27 budget for the Children's Holistic Immigration Representation Project, or CHIRP, a program that provides free legal representation and case management for unaccompanied immigrant children.

Assemblymember Gregg Hart announced the funding alongside the Santa Barbara Immigrant Legal Defense Center (SBILDC), whose leaders advocated to restore the program after it was left out of Governor Gavin Newsom's initial budget proposal.

"At a basic level, the CHIRP program brings hope," Hart said.

CHIRP, which is administered by the California Department of Social Services, pairs unaccompanied immigrant children with attorneys and trauma-informed case managers as they navigate immigration proceedings.

"We're talking about one of the most vulnerable migrant populations, which are unaccompanied immigrant children," said Julissa Peña, executive director of the Santa Barbara Immigrant Legal Defense Center. "Children as young as 2 or 3 years old."

According to SBILDC, the organization reached out to Hart after learning the program's funding was not included in the Governor's proposed budget. Hart authored a budget request to restore the funding, and lawmakers ultimately included $15 million for CHIRP in the final state budget.

Peña said losing the program would have left many children without legal representation.

"They would have been forced to defend themselves in immigration court from removal," Peña said. "If they don't show up with an attorney, they have very little chance of being able to stay here in this country with a family member that is able to keep them safe."

Since its launch in 2022, CHIRP has provided services to more than 1,100 unaccompanied immigrant children across California.

Locally, SBILDC says it has used CHIRP funding to support nearly 100 children and youth in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.

Peña said each child in the program is paired with both an attorney and a case manager who remain with them throughout their case.

"They're going to have two very familiar faces that they're going to be able to trust with their story," Peña said. "We're going to use that story and the facts of that story to defend them from removal."

Advocates say legal representation can be critical as children seek immigration relief or work to remain with family members in the United States.

Crystal Canela, a supervising immigration attorney with SBILDC, said the work is emotionally challenging but deeply meaningful.

"At the end of the day, we're doing everything possible to help them stay here legally," Canela said. "Realistically, that may not be the outcome for all of the children we're representing."

She said simply having someone to stand beside children during court hearings and immigration appointments can make a significant difference.

"Knowing that I'm at least there to give them a voice," Canela said. "When they have to show up for an ICE appointment, I'm there to talk on their behalf and make them feel a little bit more comfortable in a situation that is really scary, even for an adult."

Advocates say they will continue working with state lawmakers to secure long-term funding so the program can continue serving vulnerable children across California.

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