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A 25 year old man has been identified as the victim of a fatal weekend shooting in Oxnard.

Police were called to the area of Hemlock, and J Streets around 2:30 Sunday morning by reports of gunshots. Officers found Ira McLaughlin on the ground, with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Oxnard Police detectives say they were investigating several potential leads, but no arrests have been made yet in connection with the murder.

Firefighters are hoping to get full containment by noon today of a 60 acre brushfire which caused a scare in Ventura.

No homes are in danger from the blaze, which is burning near Arroyo Verde Park. The fire began around 4:30, and burned into an avocado orchard. It put up a huge plume of smoke. The fire is now 70% contained.

At its peak, more than a hundred firefighters battled the blaze, with the help of helicopters. 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.

Santa Barbara Police say a man who admitted molesting a five year old girl told detectives it was payback for when he was molested as a child.

Investigators say police were called to a home on Santa Barbara’s Eastside Sunday after the victim, who was visiting the house, told an older cousin what had happened to her.

Family members tried to confront Jose Vasquez Prestegui, but the 40 year old man, who also lived in the home, fled the scene.
Police found him a short time later near the home, and arrested him for committing a lewd act on a child.

A student at a Santa Barbara County middle school was arrested, after bringing what appeared to be a handgun to school.

The 13 year old boy took what turned out to be a pellet gun to Lompoc Valley Middle School yesterday.

He showed the weapon to someone, who thought it was an automatic pistol, who reported it to police.

The school was placed on lockdown, and school officials and Lompoc Police found the weapon in the boy’s backpack.

Police say the boy was cooperative, and told them that he brought the pellet gun to school for protection. The boy was arrested for possessing a weapon on school grounds, and was then later released into the custody of his parents.

Fire investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of a ten acre fire which blackened a stretch of hills just north of the 101 Freeway, in the Gaviota area.

The fire was discovered just before 4:30 yesterday, near the 101 Freeway and Refugio Road. One structure was briefly threatened, but it escaped without damage. Santa Barbara County firefighters had the fire contained in less than three hours.

A brushfire outside of Ventura which is sending up huge plumes of smoke has burned more than 15 acres of land

No homes are in danger from the blaze, which is burning near Arroyo Verde Park. The fire began around 4:30, and burned into an avocado orchard.

More than a hundred firefighters are battling the blaze, with the help of helicopters. There’s no word yet on what started the fire. Arroyo Verde Park has been closed to the public as a result of the firefighting activities.

It’s almost become a regular event this summer.

Yet another Great White Shark appearance off the Santa Barbara County coastline has prompted warning signs to again go up at some local beaches.

A fisherman spotted a 15 foot long Great White near the entrance channel to Santa Barbara Harbor around 2:30 this afternoon.

The City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Department put up 14 warning signs at local beaches, plus signs on its five lifeguard towers.

The beaches are still open, but the signs advise swimmers, and surfers they go into the ocean at their own risk. If there are no further sightings for 72 hours, under city protocol the signs will come down Thursday afternoon.

There have been multiple sightings along the city’s coastline in recent weeks, as well as an attack on a sea lion by a Great White off the city’s coastline.

A rocket launch originally set to take place from Santa Barbara County earlier this month has now been rescheduled for next month.

Vandenberg Air Force Base officials say the Atlas V rocket is now set to lift off on September 13th. The rocket is carrying a classified payload, but aerospace observers think it’s carrying more than a dozen small, specialized satellites for the government.

The original August 2nd launch was postponed multiple times because of problems with ground flight control systems.

Officials say the rocket was ready to go, but issues with the ground guidance systems led to the delays.

Firefighters say a brush fire in a rugged, remote area of Ventura County, near the Ventura-Los Angeles County line is now fully contained.

The 75 acre blaze was first reported at around 8:30 Sunday morning, off of Highway 126 near the Newhall Ranch area. About 150 firefighters aided by bulldozers, helicopters, and an airplane fought the blaze. Ventura County firefighters were helped by Los Angeles County, state, and City of Santa Paula firefighters.

No structures were in danger. Firefighters had to contend with the heat, and rugged terrain. One Ventura County firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Simi Valley Police are investigating an incident which sent a child to the hospital with a dog bite to the face, as well as the dog’s owner who was injured when the child’s father attempted to detain her.

It happened at around 6:30 Sunday night at a private park near First Street, and Royal Avenue. Investigators say the owner of the dog allowed her German Shepard to run off leash in the park. Police aren’t saying exactly what led up to the child being bitten.

The results of their investigation will be turned over to the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, for a determination on whether the owner should be prosecuted for negligence. The City of Simi Valley has an ordinance requiring that dogs be on leashes when they are in public places.