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The big storm hitting the Central Coast Wednesday is now shifting south into Southern Santa Barbara County and Ventura County Thursday.  Santa Barbara County could see some its heaviest rainfall Thursday morning, with the focus moving to Ventura County by Thursday afternoon. 

Rainfall amounts could be astronomical is some places.  Some of the mountains in extreme northern San Luis Obispo County topped ten inches of rain Wednesday night.

The third, and most powerful in a string of storms during the last week has arrived on the Central and South Coasts, dropping rainfall and causing some street flooding in areas.

So far, the heaviest rainfall has been on the Central Coast, in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County.

Detectives are trying to figure out what led to a fatal shooting on the South Coast Tuesday night.

Oxnard police were called to the 800 block of Hobson Way at about 8 p.m. by reports of a shooting.  That's where the Oxnard Performing Arts Center is located.  They found a man in the street with multiple gunshot wounds.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Some Central and South Coast legislators are proposing a block on new oil or gas drilling on more than a million acres of federal land in the state until proposals receive a comprehensive environmental review.

Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara and Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley of Westlake Village are sponsors of what’s called the California Land Protection Act.

The Santa Barbara Zoo is reopening to the public this weekend following a nearly two month shutdown due to the pandemic.

The zoo will reopen Saturday.  Because of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, admission will be limited.  Guests need to make reservations online to book timed entry to the zoo.

A coalition of attorneys has reached a $2.2 billion dollar settlement with Southern California Edison on behalf of more than 100 insurance companies over the destructive Woolsey wildfire.

The November, 2018 blaze killed three people, destroyed more than 1600 structures, and burned more than 96,00 acres in Ventura and Los Angeles counties before it was contained.

The second it a trio of storms expected to hit the Central and South Coasts in less than a week has dropped nearly a half inch of rain in parts of the region.

In Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Oxnard each recorded about two tenths of an inch of rain.  Santa Barbara County’s totals included less than a tenth of an inch of rain in Santa Barbara, and nearly a half inch in Lompoc.

The Governor is expected to make a major announcement Monday regarding the possible lifting of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders which have been in effect for weeks.

State officials are confirming there will be an announcement, but haven’t released any details.  The California Restaurant Association sent a letter to its members Sunday saying it had confirmed the governor is going to make an announcement, and that it hoped to see restaurants reopen in a few days.

Two people have pled guilty to dozens of charges stemming from an unemployment fraud scheme which Santa Barbara County prosecutors say cost the state more than two million dollars.

Prosecutors say Gordon Alan Welterlen stole the identities of more than nine thousand people from a Santa Barbara property management company.  They say he, and Nicole Michelle Milan used the information to file more than 300 fraudulent unemployment claims.