Last May, Santa Barbara County took a bold step toward a cleaner future. The Board of Supervisors directed staff to develop an ordinance to phase out the production of oil and gas in our county. That ...

California voters will decide on 14 statewide policy proposals come November, including the high-stakes billionaire tax, an ...

The County Planning Commission approves tract map change for the three-story “use-by-right” project at the former site of ...

The Santa Barbara Unified School District has been grappling with a four-year, $60 million deficit. But management just got ...

Aside from Measure A, a second, hidden tax is being extracted from us daily as Highway 101 is widened: the cost of our time.

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Music Academy of the West’s festival shifts into full swing with two events on the recommended List — the Percussionfest and Friday’s Orchestra Series opener at The Granada Theatre.

Ryan P. Cruz is a homegrown journalist, born and raised in Santa Barbara. Since joining the Santa Barbara Independent in 2021, he has covered a broad range of topics, including city government, ...

Matt Kettmann started at The Independent in 1999, working as a proofreader, news reporter, and pop culture editor before becoming senior editor in 2006. A report from my 30-hour jaunt to the Southland ...

Project Goes Before City’s Design Review Board on July 14 for Conceptual and Preliminary Review ...

A new California law gives just more flexibility to keep defendants in jail rather than releasing them to community-based mental health treatment programs.