Santa Barbara

News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.

• By Kate Wheeling
• Member Exclusive

Rules intended to protect people from pollution are simultaneously saving the lives of whales by slowing down cargo ships, but researchers say more still needs to be done.

• By Matthew O. Berger

On the latest episode of Pacific Standard's podcast about how our stories are made, staff writer Kate Wheeling and digital director Max Ufberg sit down with KCRW's Jonathan Bastian.

• By Pacific Standard Staff

We're currently looking for two editorial fellows to join us for a one-year program starting in July.

• By Pacific Standard Staff

A group of researchers and students took to the Santa Barbara Channel, while the Thomas Fire raged on shore, to learn how wildfires impact oceans.

• By Ian Evans

The proposed system would increase emergency alert outreach by communicating through cell phones and landlines, as well as by radio, television, and state-controlled billboards on highways.

• By Candace Butera

Fatal collisions between ships and blue whales are far too common. Luckily, there are scientists creating new technology to fix that.

• By Alastair Bland

All along the California coastline, city officials are playing a cat-and-mouse game with RV dwellers, crafting legislation that effectively forces them out of town—and continues the eternal quest for a parking place to call home.

• By Kate Wheeling

Santa Barbara, a coastal city all too familiar with dangers of offshore drilling, calls for a ban on new federal leases to oil and gas companies.

• By Kate Wheeling

On January 28th, 1969, crude oil and gas erupted from a platform off the coast of Santa Barbara, California

• By Kate Wheeling & Max Ufberg

The homeless population in the city of Santa Barbara, California, has fallen every year since 2011.

• By Kate Wheeling

Considering America's ambivalent fascination with pop-mysticism.

• By Max Ufberg

Have we learned nothing?

• By Brian Palmer

A collection of on-the-ground pictures and observations from Pacific Standard's staff.

• By Katie Kilkenny

A collection of on-the-ground photographs from Gail Osherenko.

• By Max Ufberg

The scrubbing, soaking, and skimming happening now on the Santa Barbara coast are the same methods used back in 1969.

• By Judith Lewis Mernit

History—and science—have a lot to teach us here in Santa Barbara, California.

• By Francie Diep

History—and science—have a lot to teach us here in Santa Barbara, California.

• By Francie Diep

For Santa Barbara tourism, the recent oil spill could present a crude reality.

• By Wes Judd

Consumers are increasingly getting to know their local fish—and fishermen—through companies that cut out the middleman.

• By Alisa Opar

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

• By Avital Andrews