News Roundup

May 1, 2025

SBCC Is Going to Build a New Athletic Complex

Other recent news: The new News-Press launched a website; Santa Barbara Unified School District is working on building employee housing at two sites; Santa Barbara MedCenter to remain open under new ownership; the tree of the month. 12

April 24, 2025

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art Is Going to Sell McCormick House

Other recent news: Renoviction ordinance adopted; 2028 LA Olympics won't be around here; the case of the big red shoe; judge resigns amid misconduct allegations; online map for lost pets; Lake Cachuma may allow swimming; UCSB to build more housing; cars keep running into a Westside duplex; large self-storage facility proposed in Goleta; possible redevelopment of the Pea Soup Andersen’s building. 11

April 17, 2025

Changes Likely for Santa Barbara Parking Fees

Other recent news: State Street test of "pedlets" that extend the sidewalk into the street; partial closures at Alice Keck Park; environmental groups are suing the state fire marshal in an effort to block Sable Offshore Corporation; check theft in Montecito; urgent-care facility Med Center to close. 7

April 10, 2025

The County Might Build Workforce Housing Downtown

Other recent news: Jewelry store to close after 52 years; another DignityMoves project is in the works; prominent developer says he's getting out of Santa Barbara; city survey of historical buildings in San Roque; Trump administration orders more logging in Los Padres National Forest; Cottage Health looking to open a big new building in Buellton. 4

April 3, 2025

MarBorg’s Massive New Headquarters Takes a Step Forward

Other recent news: The Fiesta rodeo is in flux; sea animals are dying from a toxic algae bloom; aesthetic tweaks for the big apartment building proposed for Milpas Street; new Carpinteria surf shop; senior housing on Laguna Street to get upsized; the county's expensive ambulance mess. 3

March 27, 2025

Goleta Is Working on a Drone Show for Independence Day

Other recent news: A look inside three pretty homes; road restriping in Old Town Goleta appears to have hurt businesses; farmer Rodney Chow has died; is Highway 101's new concrete divider already crumbling?; Channel Islands workers have been reinstated; federal cuts to affect two harbor properties; free local calls at Santa Barbara Airport. 2

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