Callie Fausey

Aerial view of Government Point, located within Point Conception State Marine Reserve and Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. This marine protected area contains kelp forests, surfgrass beds, and rocky reefs surrounded by sandy seafloor. It also hosts an abundance of diverse fish, invertebrates, birds, and marine mammals. | Credit: NOAA Vulnerable wildlife, including endangered southern sea otters, leatherback sea turtles, and blue whales, can now, officially, find sanctuary along the Central Coast. A decades-long campaign to establish the new Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary concluded its final chapter on November 30, after its federal designation by the Biden-Harris administration finally went into effect, following state review. But the story is not over. The official designation marks the beginning of protecting the area's 4,543 square miles of ocean and coastline from Gaviota and Point Conception to Pismo Beach and southern San Luis Obispo County. Under its new title, the sanctuary, with its unique deep-sea topography, hundreds of shipwrecks, and spiritual and historical significance , will be safeguarded from new mining and drilling operations, pollution, and other risks. The label will also facilitate climate solutions by promoting the health of kelp forests and other ocean habitats, as well as provide opportunities to advance cultural and environmental education and outreach. Fishing, however, will still be permitted. Efforts to make the sanctuary a reality spanned two generations within the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, whose former chair, the late Fred Collins, first nominated the sanctuary in 2015. It will be the first of its kind to be Indigenous-nominated and co-managed , as well as the third largest in the U.S. and the first to be designated in ocean waters in over 30 years. “Grandmother Ocean has been providing life to the Chumash Peoples for over ten thousand years; now is the time for all communities to work together and assist her in rebuilding her Vibrant Thrivability for all future generations,” Collins said before he passed away in 2021. The sanctuary will be co-managed by the state and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, which is the only federally recognized band of Chumash. Some cable-shaped kinks did have to be ironed out prior to the designation. Offshore wind lease holders, who plan to build new turbines near Morro Bay, worried that the designation would impact their ability to lay cables along the sea floor to connect the turbines to the onshore grid. However, the sanctuary's management plan lays the groundwork for a later expansion of the marine sanctuary boundaries to cover Avila Beach and Morro Bay, after the cables are laid, connecting the new sanctuary with the southernmost border of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. (But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association will likely have to go through the entire designation process again). Representative Salud Carbajal, Indigenous communities, and offshore wind leaseholders endorsed this solution, opting for a “why not both” approach, despite conservationists' concerns that leaving the strip of ocean near Morro Bay out of the sanctuary may make it more vulnerable to mining and drilling for the time being. “The historic designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary comes not a moment too soon,” Carbajal said. “As our oceans and communities face unprecedented challenges from a changing marine environment, this new sanctuary comes at a critical time for our region.” Fri, Dec 13 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 5:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 5:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Fri, Dec 13 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara

City officials celebrated the restoration of a 1,800-foot stretch of the creek at ribbon-cutting on Wednesday.

Following a controversial decision to pull the plug on PTA-run programs, the school district will now offer free after-school activities to all students at every elementary school on a rotating basis.

This election marked the first time all trustees will represent specific districts of Santa Barbara and Goleta.

First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom Visits Santa Barbara High Governor Newsom's Partner Comes to Town to Discuss District's Progress on ‘Off and Away' Smartphone Restrictions in Classrooms Following a tour of Santa Barbara High School, led by Superintendent Hilda Maldonado, Principal Mr. Fred Razo, and Assistant Principal Ed Gomez, the First Partner participated in a roundtable discussion about the district's “Off and Away Policy.” | Credit: Santa Barbara Unified School District Jennifer Siebel Newsom, first partner to Governor Gavin Newsom, visited Santa Barbara High School last week to have, in her words, an “inspiring conversation” about the district's progress on smartphone restrictions in classrooms. During her visit on 12/13, she toured the school's Visual Arts and Design Academy, Early Years Infant Center, and GreenLab garden before joining a roundtable of parents, high school teachers, principals, and school boardmembers. Their discussion centered on the district's “Off and Away” cell phone policy, which both Governor Newsom and the First Partner have recognized for its positive effects on students' mental well-being and focus. “By creating an environment that fosters deeper connections, meaningful learning, and overall well-being, the district is setting a standard for others to follow,” she said. Joyce Adriansen, a teacher of 27 years and former president of the Santa Barbara Teachers Association (SBTA), said she has seen just how distracting students' cell phones can be. She and other SBTA members championed the policy after witnessing this in the classroom. “Our ‘Off and Away' policy has proven that putting the distraction away during class time helps students focus and build better relationships with others in the class,” she said. “Having the consistency of all teachers following the policy with the support from our administrators really helps with enforcing the policy.”

The city’s Ad Hoc Harbor Seal Advisory Committee will finalize and vote on its list of recommendations to the City Council at its final meeting this Thursday.

Elected in 2016, the outgoing school boardmember sat on the dais through some of the most challenging times in recent memory, nationally and locally.

UCSB was the most well-rounded campus in the competition’s three categories for the November election: the largest number of students registered to vote, the largest percentage of a student body registered to vote, and the best “Civic and Voter Empowerment Action Plan.

Santa Barbara Judge Quashes Search Warrant into Pro-Palestinian Instagram Accounts Warrant Filed by UC Police Department Would Have Revealed IP Addresses Not Only of Account Holders but Also Those Who Simply Interacted with Pages On Friday, December 20, Santa Barbara County Judge Pauline Maxwell rejected the UC Police Department's search warrant into the Instagram accounts @saygenocideucsb and @ucsbliberatedzone on the grounds that it was too broad and did not establish sufficient probable cause. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom The hearing to quash a search warrant into two pro-Palestinian student Instagram accounts on Friday morning was quick. Santa Barbara County Judge Pauline Maxwell seemed to have already made up her mind to reject the search warrant into the UC Santa Barbara–affiliated accounts — @saygenocideucsb and @ucsbliberatedzone — on the grounds that it was too broad and did not establish sufficient probable cause. The warrant was filed by the UC Police Department based on their suspicions that the account holders were responsible for the June occupation and vandalism of UCSB's Girvetz Hall as part of a political protest, which resulted in $40,000 in damages, according to court records. UCPD issued the warrant on September 11 as part of its investigation into alleged kidnapping, vandalism, burglary, and conspiracy by occupiers. The police wanted to identify the account holders. However, the warrant would have also revealed other information, such as the IP addresses of those who simply liked, commented, or interacted with the pages. A motion to block the warrant was filed on September 25. Last month, both sides presented their arguments before a courtroom packed with protesters. The UC and its governing board, represented by attorneys Jonathan Miller and Anthony Davis, argued that posts on @saygenocideucsb took responsibility for the occupation, referring to a letter that says they “have taken Girvetz Hall,” and that it constituted probable cause for the warrant. However, attorney Addison Steele, representing a person who may have interacted with one or both of the Instagram pages, was not convinced. “There's no evidence of a connection between who posted it and who wrote it, and there's not even really a connection between who wrote it and who occupied Girvetz,” Steele said on Friday. “That's two or three levels of speculation, which I don't think indicates probable cause.” Judge Maxwell ultimately ruled on Friday that the warrant was overly broad — implicating possible violations of freedom of speech and political speech, particularly concerning those who simply interacted with the posts. Police are too often given leeway on such warrants, she noted. However, she said that she does believe the warrant can be rewritten to articulate probable cause with a narrowed focus, giving UCPD the opportunity to write a cleaner warrant that may pass. “The Constitution enjoyed a victory today,” Steele said. “The police do not get access to everyone practicing political speech to find some trespassers.”

Santa Barbara Education Foundation Distributes $203K for S.B. Unified Teacher Projects Total of 96 Grants Given Out This Year for Things Like Project Supplies, Instructional Tools, and Field Trips Teacher Grants support students like those in the SBHS Engineering Club, pictured here. | Credit: Santa Barbara Education Foundation Casey Cleland's classroom just got a brand-new 3D printer. The Santa Barbara Community Academy teacher was able to buy this expensive gadget thanks to the Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF), which distributed $203,000 for innovative teacher projects across the Santa Barbara Unified School District this year. “Our annual grants ease the burden on teachers who often spend personal funds on classroom essential supplies and implement creative teaching that would otherwise be financially out of reach,” the foundation said in a statement. Cleland's was one of 96 grants given out this year for things like project supplies, instructional tools, and field trips, out of a total of 121 applications from 21 schools. Her classroom's new 3D printer will allow 208 students in transitional kindergarten through 6th grade to bring their ideas to life. “During our recent stop-motion animation unit, students requested different props than what I had on hand. One of the suggestions was to print some alligators,” Cleland said. “The students were ecstatic when they saw the alligators the following week. Our 3D printer didn't just create props for student-created animations — it unleashed a wave of creativity, turning our classroom into an academy of animators with our school mascot as the star!” Other grants are supporting teachers like Carlos Estrada at Alta Vista Alternative High School, who is creating a garden with his students to support their mental health while centering native ecosystems. Or like Ann Galbraith at Monroe Elementary, who is creating and caring for a school butterfly sanctuary with Monroe's students. Or like Mika Burkett at Harding University Partnership School, who is buying a giant chess set for the school's chess club. The foundation was also able to establish the new, $2,500 Margie Yahyavi Grant for Excellence in Music Education, named after SBEF's former executive director who passed away in January. Carissa Corrigan, a teacher at Harding, is using the grant to buy hand chimes for her students to make “music as a team.” The Teacher Grants program is supported by private donors, including local foundations, businesses, and individual donors. This year, it even received a $50,000 donation from Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm. “We are truly grateful for the tremendous community support for our teachers,” said Pedro Paz, SBEF executive director. “Their support is critical to the success of this high-impact program. These grants will go a long way in providing educators with the tools they need to inspire a love of learning and directly impact Santa Barbara Unified students.” Overall, since creating the program in 2018, SBEF has awarded 483 grants, distributing more than $888,000 to local educators. For more information, visit Sat, Dec 21 5:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sun, Dec 22 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 4:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 5:15 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 5:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sun, Dec 22 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 11:00 AM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 4:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 5:15 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 5:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 21 6:30 PM Santa Barbara