TV 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.