San Marcos softball’s bats came alive and powered them to a 15-5 road win over Flintridge Sacred Heart in the CIF-SS Div. 4 playoff opener on Thursday. With the victory, the Royals will now play host to Paraclete on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. The San Marcos offense made its presence felt throughout the matchup, as they piled on 17 hits and scored in all six innings of the mercy-rule win. “I think our offense did a good job of capitalizing when we had runners in scoring position today,” Royals coach Emily Dietz said. “We were able to score in all innings through taking advantage of some defensive mi ..read more

Cate girls lacrosse began their CIF-SS Div. 3 playoff run with an 18-8 win over Millikan at home on Thursday. The Rams had control of the game from start to finish thanks to strong offensive play and a solid defensive effort. Riley Pan was all over the field for Cate, scoring four goals, dishing out two assists and winning eight draws. Sam Jimenez joined her with four goals in the scoring column as well. Despite Pan and Jimenez’s strong offensive showing, it was Maia Holmes who took the team lead in goals with five of her own in the win. The duo of Lucy Guilbert-Neal and Sophia Ospina each had ..read more

San Marcos baseball fell behind early and couldn’t recover, dropping their CIF-SS Div. 2 playoff opener to Palos Verdes by a score of 8-3 on the road on Thursday. The Sea Kings scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early lead that they never let go of from there. They also tacked on four runs in the fourth inning while the Royals remained scoreless until the sixth. In that sixth inning, San Marcos scored all three of their runs thanks to an RBI single by Kieran Babai and a two-run triple off the bat of Steven Bradley. Mason Crang led the Royals’ offense as the l ..read more

A passenger in a pickup truck died in a crash involving a large forklift near the Santa Maria Airport on Thursday afternoon, according to the Santa Maria Police Department. Shortly after 3 p.m., emergency personnel were dispatched to the collision on the 3000 block of Skyway Drive, at the intersection with Hangar Street. A blue Dodge pickup traveling on Skyway Drive struck the forks of the forklift, causing serious damage to the cab of the small truck and killing an occupant, Sgt. Matthew Kline said. The pickup driver suffered moderate injuries, according to Sgt. Jason Zickuhr, and was taken ..read more

Conception dive boat captain Jerry Nehl Boylan was sentenced to four years in prison at a federal court hearing Thursday for “seaman’s manslaughter” in the deadly fire that killed 34 people. On Sept. 2, 2019, 33 passengers and one crew member died in the devastating boat fire that trapped them in the below-deck bunkroom. Boylan, 70, of Santa Barbara, and five other crew members who were on higher decks of the boat jumped overboard to escape the blaze. Investigators found that Boylan’s failure to have a roving patrol, as required, allowed the fire to grow undetected. All crew members ..read more

Santa Barbara’s newest Daytime Navigation Center for people experiencing homelessness is opening in downtown Santa Barbara. An open house for community members to learn about the center will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 29, at 621 Chapala St. At the Daytime Navigation Center, people experiencing homelessness can receive services such as behavioral healthcare, medical healthcare, workforce development, and housing navigation. Open house visitors will learn how the Daytime Navigation Center will improve Santa Barbara; take an interactive tour; and support its cause. During the formal program at 7 p.m ..read more

Are relationships with wild fish a thing? The short answer is, yes. In fact, I have long-standing relationships with fish. It is not uncommon, really. A rather famous relationship between people and a fish was explored in the movie “Grumpy Old Men.” Most folks who have an aquarium at home or at work have relationships with fish. Anyone who feeds a fish develops a relationship. I feed fish, too, come to think of it, but there’s a catch. “Billy Badbass” was one fish I had a long-standing relationship with. Billy lived at the west end of Santa Cruz Island in a rocky lair to be proud of. Positione ..read more

Eight standout organizations and individuals will be honored during the 2024 South Coast Business & Technology (SCBT) Awards ceremony June 11 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. 2023 SCBT Executive of the Year honoree Elizabeth Cholawsky of HG Insights, left; Kirsten McLaughlin, market vice president at Cox Communications; and Janet Garufis, chairman/CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust. (Isaac Hernandez photo) The annual awards recognize innovation, leadership and success in the area’s business and technology sectors. Net proceeds from the event will benefit the Scholarship Found ..read more

A pair of satellites designed to captured high-resolution images of Earth for various customers arrived in orbit Thursday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The two-stage rocket, standing 229 feet tall, lifted off at 11:36 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4, with the booster returning eight minutes later to land nearby.  Sharing the ride were a pair of satellites — WorldView Legion 1 and 2 — built by Maxar Space Systems as the first of a series of six next-generation Earth-observation spacecraft  More than an hour after the rocket’s department ..read more

The Santa Barbara Symphony concludes its 2023/24 Season with Rhapsody in Blue @ 100: Jazz Comes to The Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m. at The Granada Theatre. This centennial celebration of George Gershwin’s defining contribution to the Jazz Age features The Marcus Roberts Trio and is part of an artist residency collaboration with the Lobero Theatre. Marcus Roberts will also perform his Gershwin-inspired composition for piano and orchestra “Rhapsody in D.” Nir Kabaretti, symphony music and artistic director, will conduct Charles Ives’ “Symphony No ..read more