SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – On Friday, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office issued a warning to the public about a scam were people are impersonating the District Attorney in emails and text messages.

These communications are fraudulent stated the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office in a press release about the scam.

Scammers are posing as the local prosecutor and asking people to purchase gift cards or reply to the message with a "convenient" phone number explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, their office will never ask for gift cards, personal information, or phone numbers through unsolicited emails or texts.

Each message tries to create a sense of urgency and uses a well-known elected official to gain the trust of the public.

This is a form of phishing, or scams intended to collect personal information or money by impersonating trusted people or organizations, and there are a few tips the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office shared Friday that you can use to protect yourself and your information.

Phishing Tips

Do not respond to unsolicited emails or texts. Scammers send these messages from trusted sources hoping you respond.

Never provide personal or financial information to people you don't know or can't confirm. Legitimate organizations can and will confirm their identity.

Be careful about unconventional methods of sending money. Sending money using gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers are key indicators that the request may be a scam.

Be cautious about what you post on social media and online. Information about yourself, such as your location and activities, can be used to create more trust for scammers.

Be vigilant of phishing attempts from trusted sources. Messages from elected officials, celebrities, or high-profile people are often used to scam people into sending money or private information.

What to do if you are a victim of a scam

If you, or someone you know, believes they are the victim of a scam, you can call the District Attorney's Scam Hotline at 805-568-2442.

If the situation is urgent, or if you are afraid for your safety, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office encourages you to contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.

The post District Attorney’s Office warns of scammers impersonating the local prosecutor appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Jeff Zeleny, Arlette Saenz, CNN

(CNN) — The Republican National Committee voted Friday to hold a midterm political convention, launching an unusual GOP festival that President Donald Trump will headline in hopes of rallying supporters to focus on the critical fall fight for control of Congress.

To fulfill Trump’s wish of staging a political convention later this year, Republican leaders had to change party rules that previously only called for a convention during presidential election years. They did so by unanimously passing a resolution Friday during the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California, an RNC official said.

A memo obtained by CNN said the rule change allows for the “possibility of an America First midterm convention-style gathering aligned with President Trump’s vision for energizing the party this fall.”

For months, the president has been signaling his interest in holding a 2026 political convention, saying last year the event would “show the great things we have done since the Presidential Election of 2024.”

The new rule requires the convention be called at least 60 days in advance. The White House will determine the date and location in the coming weeks, GOP officials said, with Las Vegas among the cities under serious consideration.

The decision to hold the first GOP political convention during a non-presidential election year underscores the degree to which Republicans are placing Trump at the center of the party’s strategy and attempting to nationalize midterm races.

The stakes are remarkably high for Trump. In his first term, Republicans lost control of the House after the 2018 midterms, allowing the Democratic-run House to open impeachment proceedings the following year and probes of his finances, his businesses and the operations of the White House.

“You gotta win the midterms,” Trump said, speaking at a retreat for Republican lawmakers earlier this month in Washington. “If we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be be – I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me.”

Democrats are counting on Trump to motivate their voters too. They hold a 5-point advantage in the generic congressional ballot, the same edge they had in polling at a similar point in 2018. And Trump has lost significant standing since his second inauguration with independent voters and key voting blocs, with a recent CNN poll finding a majority of Americans consider his first year in office to have been a failure.

Democrats also have floated holding a midterm convention but a final decision has not been made. They last held a midterm convention more than four decades ago.

GOP officials acknowledge the potential risks of putting Trump at the center of their midterm election fight. But they say their best chances in November rely upon Trump motivating his base, particularly those who may not otherwise vote in the 2026 contests.

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, is a leading proponent of that argument.

“Typically in the midterms it’s not about who’s sitting at the White House. You localize the election, and you keep the federal officials out of it,” Wiles said in an interview last year with “The Mom View,” a cons

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - After three seasons as head coach of the UCSB women's volleyball team, Matt Jones has taken an associate head coaching position at USC.

In his first season leading UCSB Jones was the Big West Coach of the Year in 2023, guiding the Gauchos to a league title at 17-1 and an NCAA Tournament berth.

This past season the Gauchos tied for second in the Big West with a 14-4 league mark.

Jones finished with an overall record of 64-30 in his three seasons as head coach of UCSB.

The search for a new Gauchos head coach is underway.

Prior to Jones leaving, the Gauchos did lose standout Eva Travis who transferred to Wisconsin.

The outside hitter was All-Big West Second Team this past season after claiming Big West Freshman of the Year honors in 2024.

The post UCSB Volleyball loses head coach Matt Jones to USC, Travis transfers to Wisconsin appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By CNN Lead Meteorologist Brandon Miller

(CNN) — A major winter storm, one of the most extreme and expansive in years, is starting to develop over the Plains and will impact much of the United States.

Over the next few days, the storm will drop up to a foot of snow and crippling amounts of ice over an area spanning 2,000 miles from Texas to New England.

Here’s a look at what to expect in a few major cities in the path of the storm. All times are in eastern.

Dallas

Dallas will get mostly ice from this storm, though it will experience all types of precipitation over the next 48 hours, including rain, ice and sleet.

Sporadic rain Friday will turn to freezing rain and ice around midnight that will continue off and on until Sunday morning. An inch or two of snow could then fall on top of the ice Sunday morning.

When will precipitation fall?

• Rain: Friday 9 a.m. – Saturday 12 a.m.

• Freezing rain: Saturday 12 a.m. – Sunday 6 a.m.

• Snow: Sunday 6 a.m. – Sunday 12 a.m.

Peak impact timing:

• Freezing rain: Saturday 3 a.m. – Sunday 3 a.m.

• Snow: Sunday 6 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Storm totals:

• Ice: 0.25 – 0.50 inches

• Snow: 1 – 3 inches

Memphis

Cities like Memphis that are between the storm’s expansive footprint of snow and ice will likely switch back and forth between the two as temperatures change both at the ground level and higher up in the atmosphere.

Snow will likely begin early Saturday morning before changing over to sleet and freezing rain on Saturday afternoon. Freezing rain will continue and off until Sunday afternoon before a quick changeover back to snow as the colder air rushes in.

When will precipitation fall?

• Snow: Saturday 4 a.m. – Saturday 2 p.m.; Sunday 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.

• Freezing rain: Saturday 4 p.m. – Sunday 12 p.m.

Peak impact timing:

• Freezing rain: Saturday 4 p.m. – Sunday 8 a.m.

• Snow: Saturday 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Storm totals:

• Ice: 0.25 – 0.75 inches

• Snow and sleet: 2 – 4 inches

Atlanta

Atlanta is also on the edge between precipitation types, but between rain and freezing rain instead of ice and snow. Some light rain on Saturday will likely changeover to freezing rain Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Warmer air should change it back into rain on Sunday afternoon before the really cold air moves in Monday morning.

When will precipitation fall?

• Rain: Saturday 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. – Sunday 10 p.m.
• Freezing rain: Saturday 10 p.m. – Sunday 10 a.m.

Peak impact timing:

• Freezing rain: Saturday 10 p.m. – Sunday 10 a.m.

Storm totals:

• Ice: 0.1 – 0.3 inches

Louisville

If you like snow, Louisville will be one of the big winners in this storm. The city will be just north of the freezing rain line so it s

Por Pau Mosquera, CNN en Español

La Fiscalía de la Audiencia Nacional de España decidió archivar las diligencias de investigación preprocesales que abrió contra el artista español Julio Iglesias, pocas semanas después de anunciar su apertura, le dijeron a CNN desde el propio Ministerio Público.

La decisión se produce después de que la Fiscalía tomó declaración por vía telemática a las dos denunciantes entre el 21 y el 22 de enero y consideró que no es competente para investigar los delitos por los que fue denunciado dado que no existen vínculos relevantes con España. Entre otros motivos, alega que las víctimas son extranjeras y no residen en este país, que el presunto autor tampoco se encuentra en el país y que los hechos pueden investigarse donde ocurrieron (República Dominicana y Bahamas).

Por tanto, la Fiscalía sugiere que los hechos deben ser perseguidos por los Estados directamente competentes.

Iglesias fue denunciado a inicios de este mes por dos exempleadas suyas que alegan haber sido víctimas de hechos “que podrían constituir un delito de trata de seres humanos con fines de imposición de trabajo forzado y servidumbre”, “delitos contra la libertad y la indemnidad sexuales tales como acoso sexual”, así como un delito de lesiones y delitos contra los derechos de los trabajadores, según informa Women’s Link Worldwide, organización que ejerce la asistencia letrada de las denunciantes.

Las acciones denunciadas se habrían producido entre enero y octubre de 2021 mientras trabajaban en las propiedades de Iglesias en República Dominicana y Bahamas, e incluyen “distintas formas de violencia, sexual, psicológica, física y económica”, señala Women’s Link en un comunicado.

CNN contactó a Women’s Link Worldwide para obtener su reacción al archivo de la denuncia.

Por su parte, Iglesias negó las acusaciones y aseguró que todo se iba a aclarar.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post La Fiscalía española archiva la investigación contra Julio Iglesias por presunta agresión sexual appeared first on News Channel 3-12.