News Roundup

March 20, 2025

Longstanding Carpinteria Surf Shop to Close

Other recent news: Santa Barbara considers disincentivizing landlords to renovate; teacher layoffs by the Santa Barbara Unified School District; county to increase oversight of battery storage systems; "Restraining Order Violation" in Montecito; more studies of noise impacts of space launches; cannabis farms required to install carbon scrubbers; lawsuit by residents affected by cannabis stench granted class-action status; cannabis farm goes bankrupt. 3

March 6, 2025

County Task Force to Take on Street Food Vendors

Other recent news: Efforts to curtail Hot Springs trail visitors; Channel Islands National Park layoffs; two old Summerland Beach oil wells have been resealed (but hundreds remain); a historian's Santa Barbara book recommendations; update on the Ava Hotel in Paso Robles. 8

February 27, 2025

Santa Barbara Tightens Its E-Bike Regulations

Other recent news: The latest on the battle over restarting offshore drilling; the argument against the proposed creeks ordinance; tour bus spotted at Hot Springs trailhead; cannabis farms may get extensions on odor abatement; SpaceX debris lands in Poland; Couture Pattern Museum profile. 2

February 20, 2025

The Threat of “South American Theft Groups”

Other recent news: Renderings of the apartment complex proposed for the Sears lot at La Cumbre Plaza; new Goleta housing development to rent by the bed; county supervisors are thinking of giving themselves a raise; CADA sold its E. Haley building; possible funding cuts to local public radio stations; Meghan Markle renamed her forthcoming lifestyle brand; history of the Cold Spring Canyon bridge. 2

February 13, 2025

Santa Barbara Is Trying for a Creek Buffer Ordinance Again

Other recent news: The Wine Business Improvement District has been approved; tenant-vs.-landlord drama at 215 Bath Street; the city's Public Works director is leaving; Craig Case's trial for embezzlement; Faitell Attractions is closing; the fight over development on the Gaviota Coast. 2

February 6, 2025

Pedicabs and a Pop-Up Forest Proposed for State Street

Other recent news: The risks associated with the lithium-ion battery storage facility in Goleta; Billabong and Volcom stores have closed; more on the development proposed for the Sears lot at La Cumbre Plaza; new design standards for developers; changes to Milpas Street's trees; the history of Santa Barbara City College's land; Santa Maria to get a Planes of Fame Air Museum; the reopening of Pacific Coast Highway. 20

January 30, 2025

ICE Officers Seen on the Eastside and Westside

Other recent news: Pacifica Graduate Institute to leave its Lambert Road campus; cannabis revenues keep falling; Goleta shopping center getting remodeled; new effort to restore kelp forests in the Santa Barbara Channel; the tree of the month. 14

January 23, 2025

Return of the Santa Barbara News-Press

Other recent news: Author and historian Erin Graffy has died; drought conditions are back; changes in city garbage collection; Bungalow Haven historic designation update; the Isla Vista Food Co-op's financial crisis; recapping the meetings about space launches; commuter train to launch service this fall. 7

January 16, 2025

The County Is Finally Doing Something About the Cannabis Stench

Other recent news: Did Ty Warner destroy this artwork?; the stone pines of E. Anapamu get a reprieve; Biltmore to install butterfly-shaped swim rafts; Macy's at La Cumbre Plaza survived the first round of store closures; Santa Barbara may raise bus fares; out-of-control minivan on Stearns Wharf. 16

January 9, 2025

The George Floyd Mural Has Been Painted Over

Other recent news: San Marcos Growers nursery will close at the end of the year; Las Alturas landslide house demolished; more on the Sandpiper Golf Club proposal; World War II relic destroyed by storm; Heal the Ocean's appeal of the Rosewood Miramar Beach project; Moby Dick mural needs attention. 8