Weeks after a mother and her two children died in a car crash on Highway 154, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is considering establishing a committee to examine ways to make the roadway safer. On Oct. 25, John Dungan allegedly veered into an opposing lane of traffic just east of the Cold […]
ZAC EZZONE
Posted inNews
Supervisors deny appeal, approve new Orcutt shopping center
A new shopping center in Orcutt is moving forward after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously denied an appeal filed against the county Planning Commission’s approval of the project. The 50,000-square-foot Orcutt Gateway Retail Commercial Center, located on Clark Avenue near Highway 101 includes a grocery store, gas station, drive-through restaurant, and other […]
Posted inNews
State places moratorium on new high pressure steam-injection wells
Oil and gas operators going through the planning process in Santa Barbara County may have a new obstacle to overcome after the state announced a moratorium on new steam-injection wells. The Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) issued a statement on Nov. 19 that says the state is halting its […]
Posted inNews
County changes framework for cannabis retail stores application process
Following a year of nonstop conversations over cannabis cultivation, residents and stakeholders in Santa Barbara County will have a new marijuana-related topic to discuss in 2020: The actual sale of the stuff. Currently, cannabis dispensaries are only located within the county’s cities that allow the businesses, such as Lompoc and Santa Barbara. But this could […]
Posted inNews
County Planning Commission gives two cannabis projects the go-ahead
After numerous hearings, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission recently approved two cannabis cultivation projects and denied one. On Nov. 6, the commission discussed winemaker Blair Pence’s appeals filed over the county’s approval of the Santa Rita Valley Ag. Inc. project and the Santa Barbara West Coast Farms project. The commission denied the former appeal […]
Posted inNews
County and city elected officials discuss solutions to homelessness
Despite comprising only 12 percent of the country’s total population, California is home to a quarter of the nation’s homeless residents. To combat this crisis, the state is opening up millions of dollars in funding, some of which will be available early next year. In Santa Barbara County, the number of residents living without a […]
Posted inNews
Planning commission chair asks for significant changes to cannabis project
After a nearly nine-hour meeting on Oct. 30, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission delayed making a decision on an appeal of a land use permit for a cannabis farm in Buellton after the commission’s chair requested significant changes be made to the project. Commission Chair John Parke—who represents the county’s 3rd District, where the […]
Posted inNews
Residents appeal new Orcutt shopping center
A group of residents appealed the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission’s decision to approve a nearly 50,000-square-foot shopping center on Clark Avenue near Highway 101 in Orcutt. The county Planning Commission approved a permit for the Orcutt Gateway Retail Commercial Center project during its Aug. 14 meeting. About one week later, a group of residents […]
Posted inNews
County and city elected officials discuss solutions to homelessness
While attending a Lompoc City Council meeting on Oct. 15, listening to concerns over the municipal budget in the wake of the city’s seventh homicide this year, Jamison Stagaard decided he needed to try to help. “You could just feel it in the air,” Stagaard said. “People were kind of frustrated and scared and nervous, […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc residents discuss concerns, solutions amid youth violence uptick
More than 50 Lompoc community members spent their Friday night at the Dick DeWees Community and Senior Center on Oct. 25 to find answers to an increase in violence that’s plaguing the city. Seven homicides have taken place in the town of roughly 44,000 residents so far this year. In response to a recent shooting […]
Posted inNews
Group demands police transparency, accountability following arrest video
Protestors holding signs that read “We Want Justice” and “Police Accountability Now” gathered at the corner of South Broadway and Cook Street on Oct. 25 in response to a video circulating on the internet showing Santa Maria police officers using force while arresting a suspect. In the video, filmed by a resident who watched the […]
Posted inNews
Aera Energy proposes a Cat Canyon project alternative with about 100 fewer wells
Situated among the rolling hills southeast of Santa Maria, the East Cat Canyon oil field produced oil for more than 100 years before being decommissioned in the 1990s. About six years ago, Aera Energy began trying to restore this production. As the California-based oil and gas company has gone through its application process with Santa […]