Posts Tagged: Barbara

The drought — with a grain of salt

A parched lake bed at Lake Oroville, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. (Photo: sddatta, via Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 04.08.2015

As drought-parched California withers, salt water captures attention – again. Santa Barbara, which built a desalination plan more than 20 years ago and then abruptly shut it down because of costs, is considering upgrading and restarting the project and provide the city of 91,000 with about a fourth of its drinking water. The tentative price tag is $40 million. In Sacramento, the State Water Resources Control Board is poised to adopt new regulations in May governing desalination.

Harris launches Senate campaign

State Attorney General at a Washington, D.C. conference on domestic violence. (Photo: DC Volunteer Lawyers Project)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 01.13.2015

State Attorney General Kamala Harris this morning announced her intention to run for the Senate to succeed Barbara Boxer, who earlier said she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2016 to a fifth term. Word of her decision started to surface Monday just hours after Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he wouldn’t enter the Senate race.

Camp 4: Tribal land plan stirs intense dispute

A view of the 1,400-acre Camp 4 parcel in Santa Barbara County. (Photo: Bill Macfayden, Noozhawk)

by CONNOR GRUBAUGH posted 06.27.2014

More than four years after obtaining a broad swath of undeveloped land in rural Santa Barbara County, a local Indian tribe has little to show for it. Development of the property has been stalled by an ongoing and rapidly escalating conflict between tribal authorities, county supervisors and local residents, and the dispute is spilling over into the realms of state and federal agencies.