Lance Orozco

Some Central Coast communities are trying a unique approach to make it safer for people trying to buy or sell items through online marketplaces.

Maybe you find something you want to buy online from Craigslist, or other online marketplaces. Maybe it's even a car. But, how comfortable do you feel meeting someone you don’t know, possibly with hundreds or thousands of dollars in cash? In San Luis Obispo County, law enforcement agencies are stepping up to help by creating what are called “safe exchange zones.”

A Central Coast biology professor has written what could be the definitive book on California’s plants.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo biology professor Dr. Matt Ritter is the author of “California Plants: A Guide To Our Iconic Flora.” The new 300 plus page book even comes by a forward written by California Governor Jerry Brown.

She was an Oxnard teen with a simple dream: To go to college. But, fate would put Clarissa Swallows plan on hold for decades. It got worse, with her father developing prostate cancer, and her mother breast cancer. Even though she was an honors student, she dropped out of high school to take care of her ill parent, a move that ultimately sidetracked her college ambitions until now, some two decade later. A unique Ventura College scholarship program is helping her get her degree.

It’s a weekday tradition, but not a pleasant one. The morning and afternoon commutes mean big traffic backups for miles on Highway 101 from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara.

Caltrans and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments have been working on projects to reduce the jam, from buses to the recently started commuter train service. The big idea that’s been talked about for decades is expanding the number of lanes on the 101, and a court ruling now opens the door for it to happen.

It’s lunchtime, and a couple of workers are sitting at some outside benches enjoying their meals in an Oxnard industrial park.

The complex near Rose Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard is filled with giant gray warehouse style buildings which mostly look alike. But, one of these buildings shocks everyone who steps through its doors. It’s Disneyland for hard core auto lovers, and home to some of the most prized vehicles in the world.

The Boston Pops will pay tribute to iconic composer John Williams during a West Coast tour, which includes a Friday night concert in Ventura County.

She was woman who was a pioneer in what was considered a man’s job. For more than half a century, Mabel Stark was a tiger trainer. This remarkable woman who was mauled multiple times during her career, but loved her big cats is the focus of a just released documentary by a Montecito filmmaker called “Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer.”

Thousands of excited elementary school students poured into the Santa Barbara Bowl, but it wasn't to see a traditional concert like Katy Perry or Sugarland. They were on hand to learn about culture and music.

Some people feared him. Rival gang members tried to kill him. And, detectives tried to put him behind bars. George Christie was a Hells Angels gang member in Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties for more than three decades. Christie left the Hells Angels several years ago. But, rather than trying to distance himself from his past, he’s actually telling his story in a new one-man stage show, called “Outlaw.”