Jean Yamamura

Santa Barbara

Opinions Editor at Santa Barbara Independent

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independent.com

Articles

The Future of Food and the Planet

Jan 9, 2025 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

Industrial agriculture has a bad reputation— making us sick and obese, polluting our waterways, causing widespread deforestation, reducing biodiversity, generating one-fourth of greenhouse gases, contaminating our soil with toxic chemicals, and creating large-scale animal suffering in dense feedlots. A UN report documents that big agriculture causes $3 trillion in damage to the global environment each year.
Color-Drenched and Cozy: Decorating Trends for 2025

Jan 9, 2025 | independent.com | |Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura

With the New Year bells still gently ringing and, hopefully, our collective hearts (and bellies!) full from holidays shared with loved ones near and far, the arrival of a new year gives me time to pause and think about what lies ahead in interior design trends. From upcoming client projects to trends predicted by design powerhouses Elle Decor and Architectural Digest, I’ve culled together a list of what I believe are the top home decorating trends for 2025.
Jimmy Carter: Improbable, Implausible, Impossible!

Jan 9, 2025 | independent.com | Nick Welsh |Callie Fausey |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

RIP, Mr. President: I could say something pseudo-clever like, “I come to bury Jimmy, not to praise him.” But that would be a lie. And Jimmy Carter — the “Jimmy” in question here — was the first, last, and only president who got elected by promising not to lie. Fat lot of good it did him. Carter was 100 when he died a on December 29. Not a minute too soon, when you consider present realities. His body now lies in state — which means in the U.S. Capitol, where lawmakers can look and wonder at the man.
Lord of the Links: Sandpiper Golf Club Seeks a Redo

Jan 8, 2025 | independent.com | Jean Yamamura |Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Ryan Sabalow

Sandpiper Golf Club has remained unchanged since its building in 1971 on a beautiful swath of Pacific Ocean-facing cliffs, but new development is underway. A meeting on the scope of the upcoming environmental impact review takes place on Wednesday, January 15, at 5 p.m., at Goleta City Hall (130 Cremona Dr.) to receive public comments on issues that range from aesthetics and air quality to tribal cultural resources and utilities.
Goleta Wins $11 Million Grant for San Jose Creek Bike and Pedestrian Path

Jan 8, 2025 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

The City of Goleta’s bike path along San Jose Creek and under Highway 101 and the railroad tracks won an award of $11.16 million in funding from President Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Santa Barbara DA Speaks Out for LGBTQ+ Protection

Jan 8, 2025 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

The first action taken by the new Board of Supervisors with Laura Capps as chair was a resolution of support for members of the LGBTQ+ community against threats, violence, or any form of discrimination.
Madeline’s Journalistic Muses

Jan 8, 2025 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

This week, we’d like to introduce you to one of the writers in this week’s issue: our intern, Madeline Slogoff! From the arts, to community, to business and fashion, Slogoff has done a little bit of everything here at the Indy. When did you start your internship at the Independent? Do you also go to school here in Santa Barbara? I started my internship at the Independent back in October, and it has been one of the most defining experiences in terms of my career goals and development as a person.
Reviving the Art of the Ancient Maya Forest Gardens

Jan 7, 2025 | independent.com | Nick Welsh |Callie Fausey |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

For nearly half a century, Dr. Anabel Ford — archaeologist, research scientist, and director of UC Santa Barbara’s MesoAmerican Research Center — has dedicated her working life to questioning conventional wisdom about Maya agricultural practices. Through much of her research, Ford has challenged Western assumptions that Mesoamerican forests were inadequate for sustaining communities, and that Maya people had damaged the forests with overpopulation and “slash and burn” practices.
Film Review | Power Play Stationing

Jan 7, 2025 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Nick Welsh |Jean Yamamura |Ryan Sabalow

'Babygirl' poster | Photo: A24 On the index of possible spoil alert sins one could make about the erotic thriller Babygirl, perhaps the least objectionable is that which most people already know: The film belongs to the very rare species of film literally ending with the big “O.” Nicole Kidman’s final orgasmic aria of ecstasy caps off a film which dares to tell a morally slippery tale.
Energy Co-op’s Attempt to Downsize Board Gives Goleta a Jolt

Nov 2, 2024 | independent.com | Callie Fausey |Jean Yamamura |Alexei Koseff |Lou Segal

Energy Co-op’s Attempt to Downsize Board Gives Goleta a Jolt Goleta Boardmember Calls Idea of Making 3CE Board Smaller a ‘Proposal in Need of Problem’ An issue over the number of board members seated at the 3CE energy consortium, which provides lower-cost electricity to all local jurisdictions except Lompoc and Santa Barbara, roiled the City of Goleta recently. | Credit: 3CE The energy cooperative 3CE is having what can only be called growing pains. Starting under the name Monterey Bay...