Nick Welsh

Executive Editor at Santa Barbara Independent

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Articles

Historic Santa Barbara County Vote to Phase Out New Oil Drilling

2 days ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

“Okay,” said County Supervisor Laura Capps just before turning off the mic for the day, “that was a big one.” That might have been Santa Barbara’s political understatement of the year. Had Capps said “historic” instead, she would have been in the right zip code. The county supervisors had just voted — by a 3-1 margin with supervisor Steve Lavagnino being absent due to family matters — to begin the process of phasing out onshore oil and gas operations in Santa Barbara County.
Demolition Work Complete on New Westside Clinic

2 days ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

Demolition Work Complete on New Westside Clinic Construction on Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics’ New Clinic Scheduled to Last Until September 2026 Add to Favorites A rendering of Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics’ new Westside clinic | Credit: Courtesy Anyone driving by the intersection of San Andres and Micheltorena streets — the epicenter of the city’s Westside commercial corridor — will notice the startlingly sudden emergence of a vacant lot where a nondescript two-story office...
Sable Offshore Sues County Supes Over Blocked Transfer Permit

3 days ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

In baseball, ties famously go to the baserunner, but in county government it’s forced a legal fight in the courts. The oil company Sable Offshore is insisting that when the county board of supervisors voted 2-2 on whether or not to allow another oil company, Exxon, to transfer its permits to Sable, the tie goes to the Sable. Accordingly, Sable — much in the limelight recently — just filed a lawsuit against the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in federal court to make that point.
Poodle Given a Wet, Burning Concrete Kiss

1 week ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

ZEN AND THE ART OF ROAD RAGE: You’ve got to hit the ground running, we are told, often by very insufferable people. In the spirit of CycleMAYnia and Bicycle Month — which some of us are now celebrating — I decided to take that advice up a notch. So, early this past Monday morning, I hit the ground riding.
Sheriff Under Fire for Cooperating with ICE

1 week ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

The testimony was both passionate and sobering — stories of immigrant mothers being yanked out of car windows in front of their children by federal ICE agents — but the county supervisors concluded there was little they could do in the moment except to express their own outrage.
Private Dick Gets 26 Years in Slammer

1 week ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

Craig Case | Credit: Courtesy Craig Case, one of Santa Barbara’s best-known, real-life private detectives, was sentenced to 26 years and eight months for defrauding Montecito millionaire and art collector Constance McCormick Fearing — a scion of the McCormick family fortune — to the tune of $700,000. He used the proceeds to help bankroll his public access TV show celebrating Santa Barbara’s burgeoning wine and food scene.
Is Santa Barbara’s Homeless Day Center Too Successful for Its Own Good?

1 week ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

Just a month ago, Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse was singing the praises of Santa Barbara’s relatively new homeless day center on the 600 block of Chapala Street at the State of the City address, a ceremonial high mass at which South County mayors get a chance to toot the horns of their respective municipalities.
Jesus Was an Immigrant and Refugee, Too

2 weeks ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

Jesus Was an Immigrant and Refugee, Too Don’t Treat Immigrants as Criminals, Says Pope By Nick Welsh Thu May 01, 2025 | 2:46pm Add to Favorites Pope Francis wrote to the American bishops this February on the subject of immigration and the mass deportations. | Credit: AFP Pic LAST WORD: Last week, I lamented the fact that Pope Francis — recently deceased — never saw fit to call me, despite the standing policy at the Independent that I be interrupted should he ever do so. I concluded the column...
Reign of Administrative (T)error

2 weeks ago | independent.com | Ryan Cruz |Callie Fausey |Tyler Hayden |Margaux Lovely |Christina McDermott |Nick Welsh | +1 more

Reign of Administrative (T)error How Trump’s First 100 Days in Office Have Shaken Out in Santa Barbara Reign of Administrative (T)errorHow Trump’s First 100 Days in Office Have Shaken Out in Santa BarbaraBy Ryan P. Cruz, Callie Fausey, Tyler Hayden, Margaux Lovely, Christina McDermott, Nick Welsh, and Jean YamamuraMay 1, 2025Credit: Ben CiccatiOne hundred days. Already, it seems like forever.
Head Start on Chopping Block

2 weeks ago | independent.com | Nick Welsh

Head Start on Chopping Block Campaign Launched in Santa Barbara County to Save Program for Low-Income Families that Trump Administration Is Seeking to ‘Zero Out’ Campaign Launched in Santa Barbara County to Save Program for Low-Income Families that Trump Administration Is Seeking to ‘Zero Out’ By Nick Welsh | May 1, 2025 March’s Women’s Day March in Santa Barbara | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom The federal Head Start program that provides infants, toddlers, and young children of nearly 600...