Sable Offshore Corporation has the financial ability and insurance coverage it needs to handle any potential future disasters caused by the pipeline that spawned the Refugio Oil Spill in 2015, according to Santa Barbara County staff. But environmental organizations disagree. That disaster cost the pipeline’s then owner/operator, Plains All-American, $870 million in cleanup and remediation, […]
Camillia Lanham
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Federal agency approves state waiver for Sable oil pipeline in Santa Barbara County
The list of steps that Sable Offshore Corporation needs to take to restart the oil pipeline that was shut down after the 2015 Refugio oil spill is getting shorter. “The big picture is that Sable is trying to restart this pipeline system that ruptured in 2015,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, the Center for Biological Diversity’s […]
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AMR gets ambulance contract for Santa Barbara County after lawsuit settlement
Fire chiefs across Santa Barbara County are unhappy with the county’s decision to settle a lawsuit with American Medical Response (AMR) and renew the ambulance provider’s contract. “Fire chiefs have consistently called for an EMS system that emphasizes transparency, accountability, and increases units on the street. Unfortunately, it seems like these concerns have largely fallen […]
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Santa Barbara County wine business improvement district gets greenlight
Four wineries protested to establishing a Santa Barbara County wine business improvement district, and one winemaker threatened a lawsuit over it—but that wasn’t enough to stop its approval. With at least 129 wineries in support of creating the district and approval from all eight cities, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to […]
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County Planning Commission gets closer to cannabis odor ordinance changes
Santa Barbara County’s cannabis odor ordinance needs to include a time element, according to 3rd District Planning Commissioner John Parke. “Measuring your [odor] at 10 a.m. for an event that occurred at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. is just meaningless,” Parke said during the Jan. 29 county Planning Commission meeting. “It’s not going to be […]
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Encampments return to Santa Maria riverbed
About 20 encampments have sprung up in the unincorporated areas of the Santa Maria Riverbed since it was cleaned out last year. “The majority of the folks that are out in the riverbed … are the more hardcore, where they’re not going to accept the resources that we provide,” Senior Park Services Officer Ruben Ramirez […]
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Guadalupe to form capital campaign committee for the Royal Theater project
Guadalupe City Councilmember Whitney Furness is the first member of the city’s capital campaign committee that will raise money to complete the Royal Theater renovation project. The council voted to form the committee and have her serve on it at the Jan. 14 meeting where it also received an update on the project’s redesign, which […]
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California Coastal Commission faces two lawsuits after denying Vandenberg’s request to increase SpaceX launches
Four months ago, the California Coastal Commission denied Vandenberg Space Force Base’s request for approval to increase the number of SpaceX launches. Now, the state agency is battling two lawsuits stemming from that decision. In December, a conservative nonprofit sued the agency for allegedly not complying with public records requests for emails and other correspondence […]
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The Santa Barbara County Fair cancels this year’s poultry shows thanks to bird flu
Students who were looking forward to raising chickens and turkeys for this year’s Santa Barbara County Fair will have to make other plans. The fair canceled this summer’s poultry exhibitions after the state veterinarian indefinitely banned poultry and dairy cow exhibitions at fairs and other shows because of the current bird flu epidemic. County Fair […]
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County targets cannabis odor with proposed ordinance changes
With more than 3,700 complaints about cannabis odor since 2018 and zero enforcement, the time is right to make a change, 2nd District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps said during the board meeting on Jan. 14. “We know what works. The complaint system hasn’t worked. Folks are fed up, and we do have an […]
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Supervisors to vote on wine business improvement district in February
Santa Barbara County Vintners Association members clapped as the Board of Supervisors set a final public hearing date for forming a wine business improvement district in the county. “I couldn’t afford a marketing agency. I don’t have a tasting room. I have to do it all myself,” Karen Steinwachs from Seagrape Wine Co. told the […]
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County streamlines small cellphone tower permitting to align with federal rules
Fire risks and property values are two reasons to hold off on streamlining the permitting process for small wireless telecommunication facilities in Santa Barbara County, according to Lesley Weinstock. The physician’s assistant spoke during the Jan. 7 county Board of Supervisors meeting alongside a handful of other Safe Technology for Santa Barbara members who questioned […]
