Gaviota

Child injured in

vehicle accident

A child was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital late Thursday afternoon after being injured in a vehicle accident on Hollister Ranch, said Capt. Eli Iskow of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The boy was initially taken by private vehicle south on Highway 101, but a helicopter picked up the child around Refugio State Beach after landing on the highway, Iskow said.

Southbound Highway 101 was shut down in the area for a time so the helicopter could land, he said.

The helicopter was set

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to transport the child to La Cumbre Junior High School, where he would be met by

a ground ambulance that would take him to Cottage

Hospital.

No other details were available.

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Oceano

Man arrested in

attempted rape case

An Oceano man was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of the attempted rape of an Oceano woman the previous day.

Joshua Jon Pierce, 31,

was taken into custody at

his workplace in Oceano,

according to the San Luis

Obispo County Sheriff's Department.

Detectives reportedly found credit cards that were taken during the alleged attempted rape at the suspect's residence in the 300 block of Pier Avenue.

Shoes matching a description of those worn by the

suspect were found in a dumpster where the victim's purse was located, sheriff's officials said. Pierce was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape, burglary, illegal possession of found property and probation charges. Officials encouraged the public to lock doors and windows or add additional locks to help prevent against criminals entering a home.

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Santa Barbara County

Pollution bill sent to governor for approval

An Assembly bill that is part of a package of legislation to curb pollution from companies that handle hazardous materials has been moved to the governor's desk, according to Assemblyman Pedro Nava's office.

Nava authored AB 1946, which would allow State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards to prosecute violators at a local level as opposed to a case to the state attorney general's office.

It would also extend the statute of limitations from one to five years and would allow district attorneys the tools to go after companies who fail to develop a hazardous material release plan.

Nava called it a measure that would “better protect Californians from pollution.”The bill awaits a signature from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. If the governor makes no decision on the legislation by Sept. 30, it would go into effect January 2009, according to state officials.

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Santa Barbara County

Health Dept.: Get your kids immunized

Parents are reminded to get their children immunized before school begins this fall, according to Santa Barbara County Public Health officials.

Including vaccines for infectious diseases such as chickenpox, measles and polio, this fall begins a recommendation for all children age 6 months to 18 years be immunized against influenza.

Immunizations remain a safe and effective way of protecting children in school, according to county officials.

For more information

on California school immunization requirements and available vaccines, go to get

immunizedca.org or call the county Public Health Department at 346-8420.

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Santa Maria

Greka leak contained to small area

A leak of oil and produced water at a Greka Energy facility Thursday was limited to a secondary containment area and did not escape into the environment, said Capt. Eli Iskow of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The department was notified around 8:40 a.m. by Greka officials of an oil and produced-water spill at its Bradley 3 Island facility at 3851 Telephone Road in Santa Maria, Iskow said.

County hazardous materials employees went to the scene

of the spill, which was about 420 gallons.

Iskow said Bradley 3 Island remains under a stop-work order because of previous problems, but was allowed to inject some water into underground wells.

Greka was working to repair the system that failed, causing the spill, he said.

Greka has been under scrutiny due to an abundance of oil spills in the past years.

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Isla Vista

Gas leak area gets back to normal

Things were almost back to normal Thursday afternoon in the 6500 block of Pardall Road in Isla Vista after gas company employees stopped a natural gas leak that prompted the evacuation of about 30 businesses, said Capt. Eli Iskow with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The leak, reported shortly after 11 a.m., began when street workers accidentally exposed and broke a 2-inch underground natural gas line, Iskow said. The pipe was carrying 40 pounds of gas pressure, he said. A large amount of gas was coming from the broken line, Iskow said.

All the businesses in the block were evacuated as a safety precaution, and access was closed to the area, he said.

The leak was stopped around 12:45 p.m., Iskow said.

By the early afternoon, foot traffic was allowed on the block, and most of the businesses were reopened, he said.

Iskow said the area would remain closed to vehicle traffic through at least Thursday.

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Grover Beach

Police Dept. joins

countrywide program

The Grover Beach Police Department plans to join other agencies throughout the country in the support of the national “Over the Limit/Under Arrest” campaign crackdown on impaired driving that

starts today and runs through Sept. 1.

“We are intensifying

enforcement during this

crackdown, and will be

especially vigilant during

the high-risk nighttime

hours when impaired drivers will be on the road,” said Grover Police Lt. John

Bewick. “Our message is

simple: If we find you

driving impaired by alcohol

or drugs, we will arrest you.”

Nationally, more than

$50 million will be spent

on this year's crackdown, known by its campaign tagline: “Drunk Driving.

Over the Limit. Under

Arrest.” More than 10,000 agencies will participate in

the crackdown campaign.

In California, a driver is presumed to be drunk with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.

- From staff reports