TV Santa Barbara

On this week’s edition, our all-star panel of top local journalists checks in with a batch of scoops,, as Nick Welsh reprises his reporting on the closing of Santa Barbara’s most venerable housing shelter and Sheriff Bill Brown’s double data sets detailing his dealings with federal immigration agents; Ryan P. Cruz has an updated picture of ICE activities on the Central Coast; and Josh Molina has the fascinating story of how SB’s art museum is prep

On a special “Back to School” edition, Santa Barbara Country Superintendent of Schools Superintendent Susan Salcido returns to Newsmakers TV for a conversation of about local districts are responding to a new set of urgent and demanding challenges inflicted by the Trump Administration’s attack on public education, from the looming threat of immigration raids and cuts in federal funding, to the assault on longstanding policies and programs put in place to protect the civil rights of all students. Plus: we try and fail to dent her deep-seated optimism.

The normal chaotic hijinks of the Santa Barbara City Council have accelerated into warp speed and sheer lunacy in recent weeks, as Josh Molina and Ryan P. Cruz join the genial host on this week’s episode of Newsmakers TV to try to make sense of the Gang of Seven’s words and actions on recent key budget, housing and immigration issues. And Callie Fausey discusses her exclusive reporting on the State Street Fiesta stabbings, shedding light on big systemic problems at the courts and on the county’s policies over bail for criminal suspects.

Callie Fausey, Christiana McDermott, Josh Molina and Nick Welsh join the genial host for a fast-paced recap of all of Santa Barbara’s top local news stories, from the financial impacts of Trump Administration cuts being felt by public schools, Planned Parenthood and public broadcasting, to post-mortems of this year’s Fiesta, which could yield a re-imagining of Old Spanish Days, to the latest on the housing front, from vacation rental conflicts to a new vision for Paeo Nuevo. Plus: $55/hour to afford to live in Santa Barbara?

On the eve of Fiesta, tensions in the community are high over ongoing indiscriminate arrests and harassment of people by brown skin by federal immigration thugs agents, and on this week’s edition of Newsmakers TV, Ryan P. Cruz, Nick Welsh and Josh Molina join the genial host to discuss how Trump’s brutal deportation regime may impact Santa Barbara’s biggest annual civic celebration. Plus: an end to the landlord-tenant battle at 215 Bath Street, another twist in the twisted saga of the Sable offshore oil pipeline, and new transit developments on Cliff Drive and on the 101.

The Independent’s prize-winning columnist and editor Nick Welsh joins the genial host for a one-on-one conversation that takes a deep and detailed dive into the tangled legal, political and policy affairs involving the Sable oil company’s effort to restart offshore oil production and pumping through Santa Barbara County. Plus: updating the myriad of immigration-related matters surrounding Trump’s loutish deportation crusade on the Central Coast.

An outraged Rep. Salud Carbajal returns to Newsmakers TV with a full, detailed account of his confrontation with federal immigration officials in Carpinteria last week, warning that Donald Trump is orchestrating from Washington military-style raids by Immigration and Customs Service agents as public displays of pure, partisan political power - in furtherance of his use of ICE as an internal police agency that backs his authoritarian project to transform U.S. democracy into an autocracy.

The Independent’s Christina McDermott and Nick Welsh join the genial host for a deep dive into the two hottest stories on the sizzling housing beat – what the future portends for several hundred elderly tenants in two downtown properties long-operated by the Battistone family, and the outrageous proposal to despoil Santa Barbara’s most iconic location with an eight-story apartment tower next to the Mission. Plus: how the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s tax bill are likely to hammer local health care services.

Ryan P. Cruz and Josh Molina go behind the scenes on their reporting about a week of fear and intimidation triggered by federal immigration raids on two Central Coast cannabis operations, while the genial host tweaks Supervisor Joan Hartmann for her now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t approach to voting on the biggest environmental issue facing Santa Barbara County. Plus: the story of how Josh came to channel Simon Cowell on his latest podcast.

L.A. Times political columnist Mark Z. Barabak joins the genial host of Newsmakers TV for some robust punditry about the state of America on the eve of the nation’s 249th birthday, and how his naturally sunny disposition is being affected by Trump’s provocations, Gavin Newsom’s chameleon act, the disappearance of civility, people making positive change, and his abiding faith in voters.

Digital news producer Lily Dallow returns to Newsmakers TV for an inside look at how she threw a spotlight on the brutal actions of federal immigration agents in the beating of an Orange County gardener, as she rejoins Nick Welsh, Josh Molina, Ryan P. Cruz and the genial host for a panel discussion of the perils of reporting in the Age of Trump. Plus: all the latest on two of SB’s more controversial housing developments, a slashing Grand Jury report on the county jail and some early prognostication on the issues in the mayor’s race.

Chris Meagher made his bones in Santa Barbara, as both a newspaper hack and a political flack, and over the past two decades built a successful career and a splendid reputation as a national communications strategist and political consultant. In an interview with the genial host, he offers an insider’s perspective on the Biden White House and provides clear-eyed perspective on where the government – and the nation – is going under Trump.

It’s a special Three Amigos edition, as Nick Welsh and Josh Molina join the genial host to mark the 501st episode of Newsmakers TV, with a wide-roaming conversation about Santa Barbara connections to the extraordinary events still unfolding in L.A. as well as the latest on the breakthrough achievements of Monique Limón and Meagan Harmon, the nexus of housing and homelessness, and the heartbreaking, still-unsolved death of UCSB first-year student Liz Hamel. Plus: we were talking about the Refugio pipeline on the first shows 10 years ago and we’re still talking about it today.

On the eve of the “No Kings Here” nationwide mass demonstrations against the rogue Trump Administration, four leaders of Indivisible Santa Barbara discuss the plans and politics behind the local protest set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Cabrillo Blvd. near Chase Palm Park, where rally-goers will form a human chain along the waterfront in opposition to the cruelty, corruption and incompetence of the game show host president.

In a special, extra edition of Newsmakers TV, a dozen former colleagues and friends of Barney Brantingham meet online to offer memories, reflections and funny stories about the great Santa Barbara city columnist, who recently died at 93. Drawn from the SB News-Press diaspora, the group represents a gathering of the local journalism tribe, as they remember Barney as “the heart of the newsroom” who “loved Santa Barbara more than anybody I know.”

Board of Supervisors Laura Capps returns to Newsmakers TV with a warning that the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts in Medicaid and food programs not only threaten Santa Barbara’s most economically vulnerable citizens but also augur fiscal austerity, as county government begins its budget season. In a conversation with the genial host, she also breaks down the raging political and policy conflicts over oil drilling, both offshore and onshore, and talks about “setting a new course” on the cannabis industry.

Community Conversations | Dr Gaylee Beebe | President Westmont College

805 Focus | Storytellers Children Center | Dr Gabriella Garcia

Community Conversations | Kelly McAdoo | City Administrator

On a special Press Clips edition of Newsmakers TV. B.J. Terhune, California Managing Editor for the local news non-profit Newswell, joins the genial host for a conversation updating the project to “reimagine” the Santa Barbara News-Press and relaunch it as an online site, with all the latest on staffing, timing, planning and more.

On this week’s episode, Nick Welsh untangles the latest legal and political developments in the long-running saga of the Sable Offshore oil pipeline re-start, Josh Molina discusses why that eight-story blockbuster development aimed at the Mission won’t go away, and Ryan P. Cruz reprises the heart-breaking public service for three Dos Pueblos High School students killed in a tragic crash. Plus: a new shopping and dining hot spot in Carp, a look back 100 years at the earthquake that re-shaped the city and all the latest from the pizza and donut beat.

Santa Barbara novelist Jane Hulse returns to Newsmakers for a conversation about her just-out second book, “Outcasts of Essex,” a work that carries on the saga of Sarah Bennett, an independent-minded teenager navigating the personal and political cross-currents of Revolutionary War Era New Hampshire, introduced in her first book of historical fiction, “Prisoner of Wallabout Bay.” Hulse now is writing a third volume in the series, and her books not only showcase the author’s elegant writing style, but also reflect her deep knowledge and lifelong appreciation for the history of the New England small towns where she was born and raised.

Sheriff Bill Brown skipped a hearing of the Board of Supervisors this week, where a large crowd charged he is cooperating with federal immigration authorities, as Nick Welsh returns to Newsmakers TV to sort through the layers of federal, state and local laws and policies behind the matter, as Callie Fausey reports good news from the Santa Barbara Unified School District where layoffs from art and music teachers were rescinded, and Josh Molina explains why the SB City Council members voted to cut their pay. Plus: local impacts of Trump to date, Nick’s latest bike crash and Josh discovers a new pizza joint.

Newsmakers’ All-Star Panel of Veteran Political Pundits returns to dissect Trump’s first 100 days, as strategist Bill Carrick and political journalists Carla Marinucci and Dan Morain discuss the impact on the economy, California and the Democratic Party of White House policies that have disrupted national security alliances around the world, safety net programs throughout the country and constitutional rights and the rule of law across the nation. Plus: the genial host gets all misty about the Federalist Papers

Economics professor Peter Rupert, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast, joins the genial host for a conversation about how Donald Trump’s tariffs and other fiscal policies are transforming the global economy, disquieting business investment and threatening recession. Plus: what this all means for California, and a discussion of how local elected officials are making the housing shortage worse.

Political and legal fallout over the Sable oil pipeline circulated and spread this week, and Margaux Lovely and Nick Welsh return to Newsmakers TV with all the latest, as Josh Molina and Ryan P. Cruz reprise their City Hall reporting on housing, hotels and parking. Plus: county budget makers look to the Trump Administration with dread.

The biggest mystery arising from this week’s big Coastal Commission meeting, which ended with an $18 million fine levied against Sable Offshore, concerns the role of the Santa Barbara County Planning Department in approving the permit for the company’s pipeline. Margaux Lovely joins the genial host to discuss her reporting on the matter, while Josh Molina and Ryan P. Cruz discuss the latest developments in the mega-housing projects at La Cumbre Plaza. Plus: the Cookie Plug scandal, farewell to Ed. St. George and fond wishes for ailing SB City Council member Eric Friedman.

On this week’s episode of Newsmakers TV, SB Independent Editor in Chief Marianne Partridge, and Vicky Riskin, president and founder of Bluedot Living join the genial host to discuss their collaborative publication of the second edition of “The Santa Barbara Green Guide,” which highlights efforts to protect the environment and boost climate resilience, by people working in community. Plus: the latest on their reporting over the efforts by Sable Offshore to restart the pipeline that failed and caused the Refugio oil spill.

Brian Johnson, chief executive officer of the Board of Realtors, and City Council member Meagan Harmon join the genial host for an in-depth conversation about Santa Barbara’s proposed “right to return” ordinance, the latest landlord-tenant battle in the city, which would allow renters to return to their unit after a property owner makes major repairs or renovations, at no more than a 10 percent increase in the original rent they were paying.

Public opposition is building to the re-opening of the offshore oil pipeline that ruptured and caused the 2015 Refugio spill and Nick Welsh on this week’s edition reports on the big town hall, which included representatives of eight agencies of state government, while Josh Molina and Callie Fausey reprise a second, epic public meeting, as the Santa Barbara Unified School District board and administration heard hours of opposition to planned layoff notices for teachers. Plus casualties of Trump’s vigilante government, a big pay day for the city’s fired librarian and the latest on anti-renoviction legislation.

Amid a recent batch of high-profile and contentious county government decisions, Gwyn Lurie returns to Newsmakers TV to recount her conversation about them with rookie First District representative Roy Lee, while Callie Fausey explains the astonishing story of how decades-old allegations of sexual abuse now threaten Carpinteria Unified school district, and Josh Molina reprises his reporting on huge City Hall payouts arranged to pry high-paid former executives out of their jobs. Plus: the inside story of that online catch-a-predator vigilante’s foray into Santa Barbara.

The battle over re-opening the pipeline that ruptured and caused the Refugio oil spill remains unsettled, despite an epic hearing before the Board of Supervisors, Margaux Lovely reports on this week’s edition of Newsmakers TV, as Josh Molina brings the latest on City Hall’s efforts to rein in evictions and e-bikes, and Ryan P. Cruz updates ongoing efforts to protect and defend immigrants from Trump’s mass deportation plans. Plus: Hot Springs trail, fire insurance and a spirited exchange over the appropriateness of elected officials using “wildfire” as a metaphor.

Former Mayor Sheila Lodge, who recently retired from the Santa Barbara Planning Commission after 36 years as a local government official, returns to discuss her future concerns and hopes for the city, using her long history in planning, development and land use issues as lens to examine current controversies, from the housing projects planned at La Cumbre Plaza to the e-bike takeover of State Street and the blockbuster monstrosity behind the Mission.

Liberal firebrand and ex-state lawmaker Hannah Beth Jackson joins the gang to reprise last weekend's extraordinary Santa Barbara town hall convened in opposition to Donald Trump's dismantling of the federal government, as Ryan Cruz brings the latest on how the community is responding to new deportation policies, and Josh Molina discusses the furor over a proposal to boost Board of Supervisors salaries by nearly 50 percent. Plus: an update on Josh's family priorities.

L.A. Times political columnist Mark Z. Barabak returns to discuss the early weeks of the new Trump Administration, including the scandalous pardons of January 6 criminals, the prominent role of tech bro oligarchs and the odious attempt to link disaster relief for L.A. fire victims with water policy and false allegations of voter fraud.

Fear, panic and uncertainty are rampant in Santa Barbara’s Latino community amid Donald Trump’s demagoguery over mass deportations, Ryan P. Cruz explains on this week’s edition, as Nick Welsh reprises his reporting on the huge challenge hiding in plain sight that is the community’s rapidly aging population, and Josh Molina breaks down that big brawl at City Hall over dividing up the financial windfall of the Measure I sales tax increase. Plus: the latest on food truck regulations, a new legal barrier to the 250-room planned hotel on Garden Street, and how Trump is channeling William McKinley.

Veteran journalist and educator Mi-Ai Parrish beams in from Arizona State University to talk about the strategy and tactics behind the planned re-launch of the Santa Barbara News-Press as a daily, online news operation, backed by NEWSWELL, a non-profit based at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.

Amid the savage wildfires in Los Angeles, Gwyn Lurie and Josh Molina join the genial host to discuss some lessons learned from Santa Barbara’s mass casualty natural disaster experience seven years ago, and discuss the politics and policies likely to emerge from the new Board of Supervisors and the SB City Council. Plus: a look at the crucial Sable Offshore oil issue.

Despite its huge wealth, Santa Barbara County has the second highest poverty level among California’s 58 counties, a new report shows, and Ryan P. Cruz, Melinda Burns and Josh Molina join the genial host in dissecting the implications and reasons behind this shocking finding: Plus: a big change in cannabis regulation, refugees from the L.A. fires fill SB hotels, a honeymoon for Roy Lee and SB council overrules City Hall in saving the famed Stone Pine Trees of Anapamu Street.

Pedro Nava, chair of California’s good government Little Hoover Commission, dissects and analyzes the state’s homeowner insurance crisis, which his agency studied in depth and detail, as the deadly L.A. wildfires are all but certain to make getting affordable insurance even more difficult.

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Carey Bradshaw, Executive Director of Therapy of Dogs Santa Barbara.https://therapydogssb.org/

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Veronica Cubillo, Director of Programs with Domestic Violence Solutions.https://dvsolutions.org/

Rep. Salud Carbajal checks in from the snow-bound steppes of Washington D.C. to preview the coming political year, describing how “depressing” it was to watch Vice President Kamala Harris preside over the electoral vote count for her rivals, discussing the funhouse mirror environment at the Capitol as the second Trump Administration approaches and detailing the impact for the Central Coast of legislation he was able to get past in the last congressional session.

Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse and his arch-foil, City Council member Meagan Harmon (aided by Andrew, her impossibly cute young squire) join our All-Star Panel of Top Local Journalists for a full and frank exchange of deep thoughts, cheap shots and bon mots about the most important, least consequential or otherwise entertaining events, trends, and surprises in Santa Barbara, as told in the final hours of 2024.Gwyn Lurie, Nick Welsh and Josh Molina join the genial host and his esteemed guests for a free-flowing discussion about critical, high-impact stories of this year, which will continue to reverberate next year, even as local politics and policy unfolds under the shadow of Trump's authoritarian project.https://www.newsmakerswithjr.com/

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Lauren Trujillo, Director of the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation https://sblibraryfoundation.org/

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Kerri Murray, President of ShelterBox.www.shelterbox.org/

In the third installment of our “Standing Up to Trump” series, Assembly member Gregg Hart joins Newsmakers for an in-depth and detailed conversation about how the incoming administration may threaten California’s progressive policies on climate, environment and energy, and discusses the latest developments over the Refugio pipeline, Sacramento’s efforts to ease gas prices, housing and the state’s home insurance crisis. Plus: all you need to know about the whack job RFK Jr.’s vaccine conspiracy theories.

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Janice Levasheff, President of The Santa Barbara Audubon Society.https://santabarbaraaudubon.org/

In the second of our “Standing Up to Trump” series, Newsmakers interviews state Senator Monique Limon about the emergency special session of the Legislature called by Gov. Newsom to “Trump-proof California,” as she discusses specific challenges the state faces over immigration, the environment, health care, disaster relief and other issues – and what lawmakers are planning to do in response to them.

Local community leader, Cynder Sinclair began hosting The 805 Focus! ten years ago. Sinclair invites nonprofit leaders to discuss their mission and the important work they do in our community. This week's guest: Linda Keifer, Project Leader of The Horse Project.https://www.thehorseprojectsantabarbara.com/