TV Santa Barbara

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.

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.

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.

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.