Newsmakers with JR
Presidential Debates Usually Don't Matter Much. This One May Decide the Future of Democracy
Time is running out for President Joe Biden to change the dynamics of his rematch against Donald Trump, the nation’s most momentous...
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Newsmakers with JR
Jun 24
Cops Clear Pro-Palestine Encampment at UCSB after Last Warning from Chancellor Yang
By Lily Karofsky Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, law enforcement officers entered UCSB's campus and cleared out the long-standing tent...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 22
How Antisemitism Emerged at UCSB; Pot Industry Wins (Again); Riviera Neighbors Confront Blockbuster; Teen Train Horror
The late Israeli diplomat Abba Eban, a dovish Labor Party stalwart, famously said that, "One of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 19
Pot Reform Fails at Supes: Joan Wilts, Das Postures, Steve Away; Capps and Nelson Await Roy's Arrival
By Melinda Burns A proposed cannabis tax increase, designed to address the problem of chronic under-reporting by some outdoor growers, ...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 17
Supes Struggle on Cannabis Taxes to Clean Up Mess They (at Least Some of Them) Made. We Name No Names, Das.
By Melinda Burns As the county supervisors prepare to vote this week whether to propose a cannabis tax increase for the November ballot,...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 15
SBUSD Contract Talks, UCSB Building Occupation Both Spring Surprise Endings; The Politics Behind SB Sales Tax Vote
In the Trump era, it's hard to think of a piece of advice more out-of-fashion than Robert Browning's celebrated epigram on behalf of...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 14
Jewish or Journalist? A First Person, Hour-by-Hour Account of the UCSB Anti-Israel Building Occupation
By Lily Karofsky I had two very distinct reactions when I discovered that anti-Israel protesters had occupied one of the main buildings...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 8
Hot Springs Conflict Boils Over; MoJo Hosts Women Summit as Dem Women Gain Influence; SBUSD Gloom
As cell phone videos of a stormy, rights in conflict argument at the Hot Springs Trail bathing pools circulated this week, strong...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 6
News that Stays News: Cannabis Tax Revenues Fall Short for Third Consecutive Year (Great Work, Das!)
By Melinda Burns For the third year in a row, the county CEO’s office is projecting a budget shortfall in cannabis revenues, this time...
Newsmakers with JR
Jun 1
SB City Hall Eyes Sales Tax Hike Ballot Measure; Plus - Teachers Strike Vote, Latest Tenant Battle, Old Town Goleta Peril
Santa Barbara's City Council, facing a budget shortfall of at least $7 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1, will soon decide...
Newsmakers with JR
May 25
Press Clips: Trio of Local Media Pros Score $10K Grant to Tackle "Pink Slime" and Other Horrors of Online Misinformation
For readers of a certain age, the words "pink slime" may trigger images of muscilaginous crud, a meat by-product scandalously stuffed...
Newsmakers with JR
May 18
How City Hall's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week Powers a Doom Loop for Santa Barbara
A budget shortfall, a deep pockets lawsuit, a growing business exodus, the breakdown of new tax plans, and election year antics all...
Newsmakers with JR
May 11
How Vitamin K(etamine) Can Ease Depression; Dark Cloud Grows Over SBUSD; Trains, Bikes &Tiny Homes!
Mega-kudos to Callie Fausey for her terrific, affecting and intriguing cover story in this week's SB Independent, a deep dive down the...
Newsmakers with JR
May 3
Fed Cuts Hit Rape Crisis, Domestic Violence Shelters; Conflicts Roil Goleta Housing Sites; Airbnb Strike Force Hailed
An unexpected decline in funds flowing from Washington to local victims' service groups threatens operations of rape crisis centers,...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 28
State Audit: Pot Policy in SB, Other Locales, Failed to Curb "Conflicts of Interest, Abuse and Favoritism”
By Melinda Burns On the heels of a report from the state Auditor’s office, county officials announced some minor steps this month to...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 27
Under Newsom, State Has Spent $24 Billion on Homeless Programs. Nobody's Sure Where the Money Went.
California's homeless population has increased by 50,000 people since Gavin Newsom became governor -- during a period when the state...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 26
Das, Steve and Joan Back Back Even More Delay on County's Failed Pot Odor Policy - 1 (One!!) Citation in Six Years
By Melinda Burns A long-awaited county Board of Supervisors hearing on cannabis odor control ended in a split vote this week, as three...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 24
Op-Ed: In Defense of NIMBYs -- and a Campaign to Fight Sacramento's Power Grab Over Local Control of Development
By Randy Alcorn Imagine how much housing could have been built on Shoreline Park, The Douglas Family Preserve, and Elings Park. I suspect...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 21
Op-Ed: SB County Advances on Literacy Reform -- but CaliforniaTeachers Union Tanks Statewide Bill
By Cheri Rae and Monie de Wit The Santa Barbara County Education Office has taken an important step forward in the battle for literacy in...
Newsmakers with JR
Apr 20
Mediation Fails in SBUSD-Teachers Strife; City Hall Wants State St. Owners to Tax Themselves; Miramar Cameo for Caruso
On a new edition of Newsmakers TV (and podcast/YouTube/radio broadcast) our all-star panel of Santa Barbara's top journalists breaks down...
Covering Politics & Media In Santa Barbara & Beyond...
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