KCLU 88.3FM - 102.3FM - 1340AM

Santa Barbara County received some good news in its efforts to deal with its overcrowded county jail system, with word that the state will add an addtional $20 million dollars to the $60 million already awarded to the county for a new North County facility.

The California Board Of State and Community Corrections announced the additional funding in Sacramento yesterday.

The financially squeezed county still need to figure out how it will come up with more than 11 million dollars in matching money for the 90 million dollar plus project, as well as an operating budget estimated to be in the 15 to 17 million dollar a year range.

The grant money will allow construction of a 376 bed jail in Santa Maria, with dedicated medical, and mental health facilities. The county has been dealing with overcrowding problems with its jail facilities for decades.

A Santa Barbara County man is now facing charges that he sexually assaulted four intoxicated, or unconscious women, and investigators say they’re looking for more possible victims.

Jerry Providence Bonhomme was already in the Santa Barbara County jail yesterday for three cases when he was re-arrested on charges of a fourth incident. Santa Barbara Police detectives say he preyed on women who were intoxicated, and in some cases using drugs.

Some of the incidents date back as far as 2007.

A shark warning remains in effect for Santa Barbara area beaches this morning, after a sea lion was discovered with what were believed to be Great White Shark bites off of East Beach earlier this week.

The warnings are expected to come down later today, because there have been no further shark incidents.

But, KCLU’s Lance Orozco reports a monster shark, some 52 feet long, turned up on a Ventura Beach yesterday, in a made for TV event.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Discovery Channel Shark

A teenager has quite a story to tell, after he became lost during a hike in the mountains between Santa Paula, and Ojai, and had to be rescued by helicopter.

The 15 year old boy was part of a group hiking in the Santa Paula canyon area when he became separated.
The others contacted the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department just after 6 p.m.

A search was started, and the teen was found on a ledge above the canyon.

A Ventura County Sheriff’s helicopter used a hoist to lift the teen to safety early this morning. He was unhurt in the incident.

He doesn’t consider himself to be a hero. But, Salvatore Giunta is the first living Congressional Medal Of Honor winner in nearly four decades, braving withering fire in Afghanistan to rescue fellow soldiers.

Wednesday, Giunta was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, as part of a program which uses stories of Medal of Honor recipients to teach students about concepts like courage, and commitment.

KCLU’s Lance Orozco has his story.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Congressional Medal Of Honor Winner Salvatore Giunta

Ventura Police say two burglars with a big thirst for beverages are behind bars, after they broke into a bottled water company, and tried to make off with cases of water, and other beverages.

Officers responding to a silent alarm at Arrowhead Water’s Julian Street warehouse in Ventura early yesterday morning heard someone opening, and closing the cargo doors of delivery trucks. They set up a perimeter, and arrested Luis Reynoso, and Sonia Robledo as they both tried to flee.

Investigators say the two Ventura residents had broken into the trucks, used dollies to remove numerous cases of water and drinks from the trucks, and then moved them outside of the warehouse for later retrieval. The two have been charged with commercial burglary, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

A routine traffic stop in Santa Barbara for a missing license plate light turned out to be anything but routine, when police say they discovered the driver was a wanted parolee, who was driving with a trunkful of guns.

Santa Barbara Police have just released details of last Thursday morning’s incident, on the 600 block of Anacapa Street. Officers say after being stopped, Eric Allen Ross admitted he was driving with a suspended license. As officers ran a check on the 33 year old man, they discovered he was wanted in Kings County on rape, intimidation, and terrorist threat charges.

When they searched his vehicle, police say they found 18 guns, including two which were loaded, and nearly 50 boxes of ammunition. Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies say the weapons had been stolen from a home in their jurisdiction, and they considered Ross to be armed, and dangerous. A passenger in the car was also arrested for an outstanding misdemeanor charge.

A homeless man from Santa Barbara entered not guilty pleas to charges he stabbed three transients in the Los Angeles area.

Courtney Anthony Robinson was arraigned on three counts of attempted murder with use of a knife, as well as great bodily injury allegations in Los Angeles yesterday.

LAPD investigators say in two attacks in the City of Los Angeles, and one in Santa Monica, Robinson stabbed his homeless victims as they slept, and then attached typed letters to the victims labeled “death warrants”.

The Santa Barbara Police Department is calling the 37 year old man a “person of interest” in the stabbing of two homeless men in Santa Barbara just days before the Los Angeles area attacks. However, it’s still unclear if the incidents are related, because the local attacks didn’t include the same notes, and had other differences.

Ventura County prosecutors say they’ve filed more than 20 fraud, and grand theft charges against three people involved with what they say was a fraudulent home loan modification, and foreclosure rescue program.

Investigators say Nino Vera, Rene Solis, and Hector Menendez of Los Angeles were involved in a business called Sunset Beach management, which promised to help struggling homeowners modify their home loans, to save them from foreclosure. But, prosecutors say the victims didn’t receive services, and many lost thousands in upfront fees, and their homes.

The arrest of the three Los Angeles residents is the result of a two year investigation by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit.

Some South residents are being asked to come and vote on their favorite plans for a proposed new park.
KCLU’s Lance Orozco has the story.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Goleta Park Proposals