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Cue the theme to the movie “Jaws”.

Yet again, a Great White Shark sighting off the Santa Barbara coastline has prompted warning signs for swimmers, surfers, and other ocean users at the city’s beaches.

It’s happened multiple times in the last five weeks, with everything from an attack on a sea lion, to actual sightings by a surfer and fisherman triggering alerts for ocean goers.

KCLU’s Lance Orozco talks with one of the West Coast’s leading Great White Shark experts about the rash of sightings off our coastline, and what’s happening with the high profile predator’s population.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Great White Shark Population

Santa Barbara County was the scene of a wild, hour long car chase.
KCLU’s John Palminteri has the story.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Santa Barbara County Chase

Police are looking for a trio of men who got into an argument with a motorist at a Ventura gas station, and then shot him.

It happened just after one this morning, on the 800 block of North Ventura Avenue.

Ventura Police say a man was leaving the gas station in his vehicle when he had a mechanical problem, so he stopped. The three men, who had also been at the station, confronted the man, and one of them shot the victim in the legs. The trio then fled the area.

The 21 year old victim’s wounds weren’t life threatening, and he’s expected to fully recover.

There’s no word on a possible motive for the shooting.

The FBI is making a new push to track down a bank robber blamed for three robberies in the Santa Barbara area since 2010, a man they’ve dubbed the “Armed And Ready” bandit.

The heavy set man wearing a ski mask would enter banks usually right after they opened.

He would pull out a handgun, order everyone in the bank to the ground, and then take cash from tellers before fleeing. No one was hurt in any of the robberies.

A reward is now being offered for information leading to the capture, and conviction of the robber. He’s described as a white male between 30 and 40, standing just over six feet tall, and weighing between 190, and 250 pounds.

A Ventura County man is facing nine felony fraud charges, after County Sheriff’s detectives say they found that he claimed he represented a contractor, and took thousands of dollars from people for fencing projects which were never completed.

Investigators say they received complaints that Theodore Diamond of Thousand Oaks failed to perform work after taking money for projects. They say they found the 35 year old man set up an internet marketing account representing the company, and then used the leads to find victims.

The detectives say they found seven victims, and learned there may be many more in the region. They say they found out he was also a wanted fugitive for the same kind of crimes on the East Coast.

The Central Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross has deployed five volunteers to help with Hurricane Isaac relief efforts.

Two women from Ventura County, two from Santa Barbara County, and one from San Luis Obispo County are headed east for up to two weeks of relief work.

The workers are part of a nationwide mobilization by the relief agency for what could potentially be widespread damage from the hurricane.

Ventura County firefighters say a brush fire near Ventura’s Arroyo Verde Park is now fully contained.

The nearly 40 acre fire began around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, putting up a huge plume of smoke, and burning into an avocado orchard. No homes were threatened.

At its peak, more than a hundred firefighters battled the blaze, with the help of aircraft. There’s no word yet on what started the fire. Arroyo Verde Park was closed to the public as a result of the firefighting activities.

A worker suffered burns over about 30% of his body when a flash fire occurred at an industrial facility in Simi Valley today.

It happened at around 10:30 this morning, on the 4600 block of Industrial Street.

The Ventura County Fire Department’s Steve Swindle says the victim was working on some machinery when some tailings caught on fire.

The fire created some heavy smoke, but the blaze was quickly controlled.

A Ventura County man is in a lot of trouble, after police say he smashed his vehicle into some offices while driving under the influence.

Ventura Police say the 24 year old Oxnard man was speeding westbound on Thompson Boulevard just after nine last night, when he swerved to avoid another vehicle, and lost control of it.

He crashed into an insurance office on the 2000 block of the boulevard.

The man escaped without serious injury, and there was no one in the offices at the time.

Ventura firefighters had to shore up the building, to keep parts of it from collapsing. Authorities haven’t identified the man, who was arrested on a DUI charge.

A unique new solar initiative on the South Coast is trying to encourage non-profit groups to turn to sustainable energy.

The Community Supported Solar Initiative is connecting investors with non-profit groups. The investors can take advantage of tax breaks, and long term revenue, while the non-profits get the use of free solar power systems, and savings through locked in energy rates for 20 years.

KCLU’s Lance Orozco has the story.

Click on link to listen to/download story:Solarize Nonprofits