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Theater By Drew Mackie | Thu May 24, 2007 | 12:00pm

The Indy Awards

As if to outdo the previous 13 seasons of Independent Theater Awards, this year’s event did, in fact, include everything and the kitchen sink. That’s because presenters handed out this year’s iconic black “i” statuettes at Center Stage Theater on the set of the current Santa Barbara Theatre production Miss Julie, all of which unfolds in a kitchen. The location didn’t mean that the Indys had departed from its characteristic aversion to the edge-of-the-seat tension that plagues so many award shows. By eschewing categories and nominees and cutting straight to the good stuff, the Indys have set a 14-year precedent of honoring the best theater in the region with minimal pitting of actors, directors, and technical people against one another.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu May 17, 2007 | 12:00pm

The Indy’s Annual Blue and Green Guide

Welcome to The Independent’s Blue & Green issue, our annual ode to those great outdoor activities that cause so many of us to live in Santa Barbara. Whether you’re a surf nut, a hiking fanatic, a rabid rock climber, or just someone who enjoys a casual stroll along one of our many beaches, we’re pretty positive that one of the main reasons you endure our town’s high cost of living is because you’ve got a thing for the outdoors, a nagging addiction to crisp air, and a hankering for unspoiled natural beauty.

Cover Story By Ethan Stewart | Thu May 10, 2007 | 12:00pm

Nature’s Roll Call

Chances are, the word biodiversity makes you do one of two things: either immediately glaze over in a cloud of vague buzzword understanding, or call to mind far-flung exotic locations teeming with rare plants and animals that have little or nothing in common with what’s in your backyard.

Cover Story By Ethan Stewart | Thu May 03, 2007 | 12:00pm

The Medical Marijuana Movement Grows in Santa Barbara

In a small two-bedroom home, nestled anonymously on the upper Westside of Santa Barbara, the lights are humming right now. Vaguely Victorian in style with a white picket fence and a well-manicured front lawn, the home does little to betray the blooming emerald harvest growing inside its walls. A woman walking her dog passes by the driveway, urging her four-legged friend to “do your business,” never giving a second thought to the perpetually drawn window shades of the back room, the constantly spinning electricity meter humming in the side yard, or the sweet odor of fresh ganja blowing in the breeze.

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Thu Apr 26, 2007 | 12:00pm

All the News Not Fit to Print

RIP-n-READ: One of the more depressing aspects of the self-inflicted mutilation taking place at the News-Press is its withering effect on our ability to laugh. I hate to admit it, but it’s hard to crack wise when you have lawyers threatening to sue you to kingdom come. Greeting me on my computer Tuesday morning as I sat down to write the latest installment of this agonizing tale were not one, but two threatening letters from attorneys.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Fri Apr 20, 2007 | 12:00pm

Earthday Report Card

Santa Barbarans take credit for not only starting the modern environmental movement but also for inspiring Earth Day. Like many conceits, this notion has almost as much fact as fiction to back it up. In fact, former U.S. senator Gaylord Nelson is the one credited for hatching the first Earth Day back in 1970. But Nelson said his visit to Santa Barbara after the catastrophic oil spill of 1969 spurred him into action.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu Apr 19, 2007 | 12:00pm

Earthday Report Card:
Cottage Hospital

Hospitals are supposed to be healing spaces, not community purveyors of frightening substances like neurotoxins and dioxins. But, considering the volumes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic devices used in medical settings-plastics that leech chemicals called phthalates-and the mercury-containing equipment used and infectious waste incinerated daily, that’s pretty much what they have been.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu Apr 19, 2007 | 12:00pm

Earthday Report Card:
City of Santa Barbara

For many moons, the City of Santa Barbara appeared to rest on its environmental laurels-conspicuously coasting on a history of considerable accomplishment. But in the past two years, that’s all changed. From top to bottom, people at City Hall appear to have gotten green religion, and to the extent they’re singing from the same page, it had better be on recycled paper.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu Apr 19, 2007 | 12:00pm

Earthday Report Card
Builders

Even before the word was on everybody’s lips that buildings generate 48 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, the Santa Barbara Contractors Association (SBCA) was all over it, thanks to years of prodding by some of its more visionary members. The SBCA initiated the Built Green program so that builders can earn points for environmental friendliness.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu Apr 19, 2007 | 12:00pm

Earthday Report Card
Small Businesses

From Java Jones, which now offers organic, fair-trade coffees and compostable plastic utensils, to travel business Green Pleasures, which at no extra fee makes contributions to offset your trip’s carbon usage, Santa Barbara’s small businesspeople are making exceptional efforts to be environmental citizens. Since 2000, the annual Green Awards have honored five businesses that exceed the call of commerce to save the Earth.

Cover Story

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