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The family of a Santa Barbara television news anchor who was reported missing yesterday, and was the focus of a major search before turning up safe has released a statement to explain the incident.

On the website for KEYT-TV, a brief note says Paula Lopez was experiencing a medical condition that caused her to be unable to communicate with her family.

The statement says she is now receiving appropriate medical care, and that it’s expected it will allow her to recover quickly. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies, a helicopter, and search and rescue teams were involved in the effort to find her.

It’s still unclear how, and where she was found.

Lopez has been a television anchor in Southern California for more than two decades, spending most of the time at KEYT, the ABC affiliate in her hometown of Santa Barbara.

A new South Coast congresswoman has introduced her first piece of legislation, a bill intended to help insure health care benefits for veterans.

Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley of Oak Park of introduced HR 406, which calls on the Government Accountability Office to verify the accuracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare budget. The idea is to insure that the VA’s healthcare programs are adequately funded.

Brownley says that this funding for veterans needs to be protected from political budget battles in Washington. She was elected last November to represent California’s new 26th Congressional District, which covers most of Ventura County.

A South Coast university has named a new dean for its School of Management.

Gerald Apfelthaler will become the new Dean of the California Lutheran University School of management June 1st. He’ll take over for current dean Charles Maxey, who has decided tto focus on teaching.

Apfelthaler has been a part of the CLU faculty since 2009, and is currently the Associate Dean for School of Management graduate programs, as well as serving as a international business, and management professor. He was a consultant for CLU for eight years before joining the faculty.

A Ventura County school district has finally decided on a site for a long talked about new high school.

Oxnard Union High School District trustees want to build a new high school on 77 acres of district owned land northeast of St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital, in Camarillo.

Other agencies, including the Camarillo City Council, still have to sign off on the school before it can be built.

If it gets the necessary approvals, construction would start next year, with the campus ready for use in the fall of 2015. Plans call for it to be an academy school, with an initial enrollment of 500 to 700 students, which could be expanded in the future.

A Ventura County filmmaker spent a year documenting some of the most dangerous work being done by firefighters in America.

Tom Putnam is one of the directors of “BURN”, a documentary which looks at Detroit firefighters in action.

With tens of thousands of abandoned buildings in the decaying city, the fire department deals with more arson fires in a week than most big city fire department handle in a year.

KCLU’s Lance Orozco talks with the filmmaker about the project, which is being screened in Ventura County tonight.

Click on link to listen to/download story: BURN

Link to “BURN” (The Movie) Website: http://www.detroitfirefilm.org/

One of the local fallouts of the federal budget crisis, and the automatic budget cuts with them could be the grounding of the U.S. Navy’s precision flying team, the Blue Angels.

KCLU’s Lance Orozco reports that could have a big impact on a major local event, the Point Mugu Airshow, which is scheduled to have the team as its headliner this year.

Click on link to listen to/download story: Blue Angels

KEYT-TV Anchor Paul Lopez Focus Of Search After Being Reported Missing (Photo Courtesy KEYT-TV)

A television anchorwoman in Santa Barbara County who was reported missing Wednesday morning has been found.

KEYT News Anchor Paula Lopez was last heard from by her family around 9:30 Wednesday morning, while she was at her home off of San Marcos Pass. An airborne and ground search was launched.

There’s no word on exactly what happened.

Lopez grew up in Santa Barbara, and graduated from UC Santa Barbara. She’s married to Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa.

KEYT-TV Anchor Paul Lopez Focus Of Search After Being Reported Missing (Photo Courtesy KEYT-TV

A search is underway for a missing television anchorwoman in Santa Barbara County.

KEYT News Anchor Paula Lopez was last heard from by her family around 9:30 this morning, while she was at her home off of San Marcos Pass.

An airborne and ground search was launched.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department officials say foul play isn’t suspected, but authorities are concerned about her whereabouts.

Searchers are asking that anyone who may have seen the popular anchorwoman today call authorities.

Lopez grew up in Santa Barbara, and graduated from UC Santa Barbara. She’s married to Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa.

A man wanted in Santa Barbara County for the sexual assault, and rape charges involving a child has been found, and arrested by federal agents in Maryland.

Charges were filed February 1st against Santos Javier Guevara-Oliva. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department detectives contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, because they suspected the fugtive was in the United States illegally. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers found the 33 year old man at a Hyattsville, Maryland home where he had been living, and arrested him on Monday.

Officials say the native of El Salvador was deported for being an aggravated felon in December of 2010, but then illegally re-entered the United States, and was living in the Santa Barbara area when he committed the crime.

Ventura Police are still looking for an auto thief who led officers on a wild chase.

It started at around 8:30 last night, when someone reported their pickup truck stolen from the 1600 block of Parakeet Court ,in Ventura.

About an hour later, an officer on patrol noticed the stolen truck on Thompson Boulevard in Ventura.

It smashed into a parked car on Evergreen Street, but kept going.

As the officer tried to stop the truck, it hit speeds topping 70 miles an hour, promoting police to discontinue the pursuit out of concern for public safety.

The pickup, and its driver are still being sought today.