The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary was first nominated in 2015. Almost a decade later, the sanctuary is now finally in effect, protecting more than 4,500 square miles of the ocean. KCSB’s Joyce Chi spoke to the Chairwoman Violet Sage Walker of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, which has led the efforts to establish the sanctuary.

See the map of the sanctuary here: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/chumash-heritage/

Photo credit: Robert Schwemmer, courtesy of NCTC

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court started to evaluate Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, which could have a lasting effect on similar laws across the country. KCSB’s Alice Deghanzadeh has more.

Groundbreaking research has come out of Professor Emily Jacobs’ lab at UC Santa Barbara, revealing never-before-seen data on how the brain changes during pregnancy. Alice Dehghanzadeh with KCSB News has more, with postdoctoral fellow Magdalena Martinez Garcia.

KCSB's Ashley Segat interviewed Assistant Professor Alfredo Gonzalez on what immigration policies will look like under the Trump's administration, along with discussing polarization and why more people from the Latinx community no longer identify with parts of their background.

KCSB's Ashley Segat interviewed Assistant Professor Alfredo Gonzalez on what immigration policies will look like under the Trump's administration, along with discussing polarization and why more people from the Latinx community no longer identify with parts of their background.

We turn to Burkina Faso, where conflict between Islamic extremists groups linked to Al-Qaeda in the Sahel and the country’s military government has been ongoing since 2019. These conflicts have displaced 2.8 million people in the Sahel region, with 2.1 million of those people being in Burkina Faso.

To learn more about the complex conflicts occurring in the Sahel region, Aidan Ting of The People’s Program spoke with UC Santa Barbara political science professor, Will Nomikos.

Raices de mi Tierra, or “roots of my land,” has spent the past 35 years at UC Santa Barbara performing folklórico, a traditional Mexican folk dance. The AS Senate recently passed a bill to establish Raices as a BCU – or Boards, Committees, and Units – a formal guarantee of funding and recognition for over three decades of performance, outreach, and advocacy. KCSB’s Joyce Chi talked to Raices’ three co-chairs – Sarah Rodriguez, Toni Valtierra, and Carlos Meza – about this historic moment for their organization.

A search warrant would allow the University of California Police Department (or U-C-P-D) to access the data of people who interacted with two Instagram accounts. This warrant – which has been criticized for lacking probable cause, being overly broad, and chilling political speech – is part of UCPD’s investigation into the June takeover of Girvetz Hall. During that two-day occupation, protestors demanded the university publicly call the War on Gaza a genocide. KCSB’s Rosie Bultman has more.

Photo credit: Brandon Yi/KCSB News

In the past year, farm workers in Santa Barbara County have experienced two work fatalities, low wages, inadequate housing, and now fear about mass deportation. County Supervisors held a workshop in Santa Maria to hear from farm workers, farm owners, and the public about what can be done. KCSB's Ray Briare brings us this report.

First, The ACLU and the Center For Protest Law and Litigation were denied a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit against UC Santa Cruz. Senior Staff Attorney Chessie Thatcher speaking on behalf of the ACLU. Then, AJP's Elizabeth Robinson explains what is to come for arrested protesters at UC Irvine. Among the protestors was professor Tiffany Willoughby-Herard. Willoughby-Herard was famously arrested while decrying the police and the genocide in Gaza last spring.