Since January, Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services has issued 137 citations to illegal food vendors who operate on sidewalks or the side of the road. But the citations don’t do much, according to Gina Fischer, 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann’s chief of staff. “They can legally refuse to sign civil citations,” Fischer told the […]
News
Posted inNews
Political Watch: March 6, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) joined congressmen from Washington state, Texas, and New Mexico in introducing the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act to improve the nation’s aerial firefighting capabilities through expanded use of excess military aircrafts and parts, according to a Feb. 20 press release from Carbajal’s office. The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize military […]
Posted inNews
SEEAG expands its education and outreach efforts with new office in Orcutt
It takes about nine months for a lemon to go from a flower to a harvestable fruit. That’s one of Caitlin Paulus-Case’s favorite lessons to teach students, helping them put into perspective how much time and effort goes into the food they consume. “By the time that it reaches your fridge, just the amount of […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: February 27, 2025
• On Feb. 20, Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) led a budget subcommittee hearing over federal funding in California. “America’s hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and diversity, California is the fifth largest economy in the world. California subsidizes the rest of the country, contributing $80 billion more in federal tax dollars than we receive back […]
Posted inNews
Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum returns cultural artifacts to Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Two baskets; a steatite stone model of a Chumash tomol, or plank canoe; and an early 1900s photograph of Santa Ynez Chumash ancestors. These four culturally significant items were recently returned to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians by the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and […]
Posted inNews
Santa Maria students marched toward City Hall to protest immigration enforcement tactics
School bells didn’t dictate about 300 students’ early departure from local campuses, recalled Cesar Vasquez, the 17-year-old organizer of a Feb. 18 walkout. The recent rally called for certain protective parameters between Santa Maria residents—documented or not—and officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students from middle schools and high schools in Santa Maria and […]
Posted inNews
Environmentalists question Sable’s ability to handle an oil pipeline disaster
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, […]
Posted inNews
Nipomo residents express concerns about battery energy storage plant safety
Unextinguishable fire. Nickel, manganese, and cobalt in the air. Tremors, tight lungs, and itchy skin. These are a few of the results emerging from the recent Moss Landing battery plant fire in Monterey County. With the fire heightening concerns about a recently completed battery energy storage system Nipomo and a proposed facility in Morro Bay, […]
Posted inNews
Protesting the president: Santa Maria residents participate in the nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration
Dozens of protesters converged at the intersection of Broadway and Cook streets in Santa Maria on President’s Day. Some arrived with text-heavy banners in hand, while others laid out blank posters on the lawn outside of Santa Maria City Hall to mark with colored Sharpies. “Nobody elected Musk,” “Democracy not oligarchy,” “Fight against fascism,” “This […]
Posted inNews
Santa Maria solidifies coordination efforts with counties, Caltrans to strengthen homelessness response in riverbed
Find support The Good Samaritan Shelter aims to offer emergency, transitional, and affordable housing as well as other support services for those in need across the Central Coast. To find out about the services, visit goodsamaritanshelter.org. The Santa Maria River runs through multiple jurisdictions, including those belonging to Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: February 20, 2025
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) helped introduce legislation that would restore guardrails on federal enforcement activities to protect immigrant communities at sensitive locations, according to a press release from his office. Since 2011, the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy prohibited immigration enforcement actions in places that provided vital services such as […]
