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Founded in 1986, the Santa Barbara Independent is the leading source for news, arts & entertainment, and lifestyle coverage in the greater Santa Barbara area.
- 203articles · 30d
- 16+ hour agolatest article
- Aug 16, 2026earliest in window
- 89%with images
- 301avg words
- Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Media 49
- Politics 36
- News 32
- Arts & Entertainment 30
- Human Interest 30
- Sensitive Subjects 28
- Social Life 24
- Entertainment 21
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News
Newsom Signed 13 New Laws to Protect Kids from Technology. Will They Work?
16+ hour, 52+ min ago (790+ words) Even a decade ago, the horror stories behind some of the 13 children’s online protection bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Thursday seemed the stuff of fiction. An AI chatbot coaching a teenager to isolate himself from friends and family…...
Patriarchy Has a History
1+ day, 12+ hour ago (9+ words) I appreciated Hannah-Beth Jackson’s moving remembrance of Gloria Steinem....
A Labor Day Question: Is Elon Musk Really Worse than Jay Gould?
4+ day, 13+ hour ago (429+ words) Today, the Top CEO Makes 281 Times More Than the Average Worker SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST: History, it turns out, does not repeat itself. It stutters. Mark Twain did not say that. I did. It’s stuttering right now. Over Labor Day. Every…...
A Dangerous Career Deserves a Safe Retirement
1+ week, 2+ day ago (488+ words) Retirement Reform Would Keep the Workforce Healthy, Prepared, and Supported The threats facing the fire service today are almost unrecognizable compared to even a decade ago. Each day our call volume is increasing, and our exposure to hazardous toxins is…...
Santa Barbara County, Goleta Pursuing Creation of Gun Shop Buffer Zones
1+ week, 4+ day ago (223+ words) Proposed Regulations Would Apply to New Businesses but Not Existing Firearms Retailers Like One that Recently Relocated Next to Preschool Goleta’s cannabis license update a few years ago had also included buffer zones. While the consequences of a 1,000-foot buffer…...
State Street Master Plan Approved by Santa Barbara City Council
1+ week, 4+ day ago (1026+ words) Council Supports Vision for Downtown, Though Questions Remain over Funding, Interim Operations The State Street Master Plan, the guiding document for the future of downtown Santa Barbara, was approved by the City Council in a 6-1 vote — with Mayor Randy Rowse…...
Santa Barbara Can’t Afford a $96 Million State Street Experiment
1+ week, 6+ day ago (492+ words) Multi-Year "Lock Down" Led to a Dysfunctional Public Right of Way With the City of Santa Barbara facing depleted reserves, persistent budget pressures, and an increasingly expensive vision for State Street, the City Council has a choice: Double down on…...
Build the Community "Living Room"
1+ week, 6+ day ago (263+ words) Now is the time for bold action. History is littered with plans that were never built. Olmsted’s L.A. River Plan would have created a 50-mile park; instead, we have a concrete basin. Yet when grand plans are built, the results…...
A Toddler, Teacher, and Goleta City Council Member Walk Into a Gun Store
1+ week, 6+ day ago (712+ words) Goodland Guns Isn’t the Problem. Our Laws Are. Though a sophomore at San Marcos, for some reason I can no longer recall, I was visiting my father in Central Texas on April 20, 1999. It was characteristically too hot to go outside…...
Santa Barbara–Based Charities Responding to Nepal Following Devastating Flash Flooding
1+ week, 6+ day ago (869+ words) Direct Relief and ShelterBox Draw on Experience in Region to Guide Their Response to Recent Deadly Floods A wide-scale disaster is unfolding in Nepal. Flash flooding last week inundated entire villages, killing more than 900 people and counting. More than 4,000 people…...