Kid’s World Playground in Santa Barbara to Close for Maintenance
The Community-Built, All-wood Structure Requires Special Maintenance Every Two Years to Withstand the Elements. Kid’s World, the 8,000-square-foot wooden playground within Alameda Park, will be closed for regularly scheduled maintenance from Tuesday, April 7, through Friday, April 17. The unique all-wood structure...
Toro Canyon Hacienda Sells for $9.6 Million
1999 hacienda-style four-bedroom atop a knoll west of Toro Canyon. Listed: $10.9 million in May 2024, cut twice to $9.995 million. Pepper Hill contemporary in need of updating (and some permits). Listed: $7.25 million in June 2022; relisted for $5.995 million in May 2023, cut to $5.5 million six weeks...
Knight Real Estate Group Names Mike Day Director of Operations
Knight Real Estate Group, one of Santa Barbara’s top-producing real estate teams and an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, has announced that longtime real estate professional Mike Day has joined the firm as Director of Operations. Day brings nearly three decades of real estate...
Palihouse Santa Barbara Changes Hands
A 24-room boutique hotel in downtown Santa Barbara has changed hands, underscoring continued investor interest in the city’s tightly held hospitality market. Palihouse Santa Barbara, located at 915 Garden Street in the Historic Presidio neighborhood, was acquired by Eight Form for $16.75 million, or roughly $698,000...
Santa Maria Community Raises Over $120,000 at Santa Barbara Humane’s Wild West Fest
Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. Santa Maria once again showed up in a big way for animals at Santa Barbara Humane’s 2026 Wild West Fest, an evening dedicated to supporting pets and families served by the organization’s Santa Maria Campus. Now in...
Santa Barbara Musicians Turn Dream into Boutique Recording Studio
Zach Wallace and Ruben Zarate had long wanted to open a brick-and-mortar space. But what exactly it would house, they weren’t sure. Both musicians and members of Santa Barbara’s Dante Elephante, which Zarate started in 2010, the pair were always looking for ways to contribute to the city’s robust music scene beyond...
Isla Vista Prepares for Deltopia Weekend With New Noise Ordinance
After the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a noise ordinance that would essentially cancel Deltopia, Isla Vista’s annual unsanctioned street party, Isla Vista Community Services District‘s Myah Mashhadialireza had less than three months to plan an alternative permitted festival. Despite being told...
Giant Pacific Seahorses, Vulnerable to Extinction, Back at Santa Barbara’s Sea Center
What did ancient people first think upon finding dead seahorses washed up on shore? Were they baby dragons? Enchanted ponies? Cousins of mythological mashups like mermaids or satyrs?. The Greeks believed them to be offspring of stallions that pulled the sea-god Poseidon’s chariot, combining “hippos” (horse) and...
Goleta Holding DUI Checkpoint April 4, 2026
The Goleta Police Department will hold a DUI checkpoint in conjunction with the unsanctioned Deltopia Event in Isla Vista on Saturday April 4, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at an undisclosed location within the City of Goleta. Checkpoint locations are chosen based on a history of DUI crashes...
Domestic Disturbance in Santa Barbara Leads to Pursuit, Suspect Crashes at La Cumbre Road...
A man was taken into custody Saturday afternoon after a domestic disturbance escalated into a vehicle pursuit that ended in a crash at the northbound La Cumbre Road exit, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department. Around 12:00 p.m. on March 28, officers responded to the 100 block of North...
