Santa Barbara is having a vigil tonight for the 34 people who died in the Conception diving boat fire. We look at the history of diving in the area. Also, a new collection of personal essays written by a Westmont professor addresses the complex process of grieving. 

Hope Refuge helps underage sex trafficking survivors transition to a new life of freedom. And a San Luis Obispo Assemblyman hopes to keep California’s last nuclear power plant running with his proposal to reclassify nuclear power as renewable energy. 

Laura Capps will challenge Das Williams in the upcoming County Supervisor election with a family-values campaign just as the first recreational cannabis store opens in Santa Barbara. 

Scientists hope to reduce whale fatalities from ship collisions. A new sound technology will detect when the endangered animals are present and then alert cargo ships to slow down.  More Mesa is on the market for $65 million and community members may come together to try to purchase the coastal bluffs. And during Prohibition, Santa Barbara served as a hideaway for rum runners and many of the surrounding islands and caves were used for illegal operations.

Santa Barbara author T.C. Boyle explores how technology affects our lives in his short story The Relive Box. In Testimonios: Early California Through the Eyes of Women the authors have translated and transcribed taped oral histories from early California settler women as tell their often forgotten stories. Hollywood screenwriter Billy Ray talks about his work writing political stump speeches. And Santa Barbara is the hometown of some world-famous foods. 

Pacific Standard employees took to social media to express their shock and anxieties over the magazine’s abrupt end. As fears of deportation grow among undocumented immigrants, complaints about fraudulent immigration lawyers are also on the rise. The city of San Luis Obispo may take a bold stand against public art that honors individuals over ideas. And a new hashtag spreads awareness that women often pay more than men for identical products.

The last standing nuclear power plant in California may face safety issues if there's an electrical power outage during wildfire season. A new Sea Center exhibit at Stearns Wharf looks at efforts to revive the endangered wild abalone. And the Ensemble exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art highlights the intersection of sound and art.

A couple’s regenerative farming practices in Moorpark inspires the popular documentary “The Biggest Little Farm.” Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days’ tradition of selling decorated eggs on the sidewalk is under scrutiny for its environmental footprint. A new report suggests ideas for addressing lower State Street’s high vacancy rate. And Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams may see a challenger within his own party in 2020.

The youngest of a 15-generation family farm in Carpinteria leaves the family history of growing fruit and flowers to embrace the “green rush” of cannabis cultivation. After six deaths this year at the Oceano Dunes Vehicular Recreation Area - and some unhappy neighboring residents - the Coastal Commission is taking a hard look at California’s last public beach open that allows vehicles. And saxophonist Ted Nash from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra plays his musical interpretations of some famous paintings at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Kids’ free summer food programs are seeing low attendance following fears of increased ICE raids. California regulators hear public comment on ideas for decommissioning Platform Holly - the only oil drilling platform in the Channel that lies in California state waters. Berkeley economists reevaluate the cost of closing the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

Santa Barbara County uses a state grant to boost programs aimed to keep minors out of prison. An iconic Santa Barbara architect weighs in on his ideas for better downtown housing design. Lotusland’s renovated Japanese Garden offers an opportunity for contemplation.