Good morning, Santa Barbara.

Local businesses are partnering with LEAP for a diaper donation drive during National Diaper Need Awareness Week in September.

Drop-off sites include Deckers Retail Store (6601 Hollister Ave., Goleta) and other locations as families receive essential supplies.

The Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department has begun expanding and improving trails at Franceschi Park—a 17-acre hillside park with panoramic views—to enhance visitor safety and access, with native habitat restoration planned for winter.

Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm will reopen on Sep.

17 with carnival rides, corn mazes, and a petting zoo featuring over 400 animals. A new Halloween attraction, The Hollow Haunted Maze, will open on select nights from Oct. 2 (tickets available at the gate).

A recent survey by Yay!

Coloring Pages ranked Santa Barbara as the top U.S. city for mermaids thanks to its ideal coastal conditions and stable water temperatures (a 5.1°F difference all year) that support rich marine biodiversity with 187 recorded fish species.

Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara received $507,500 from the California State Coastal Conservancy to launch the Ocean Collective, a partnership that creates career pathways and shared infrastructure for the Blue Economy.

City College will match the funding with $50,000 and develop a 16,300 sqft facility on its campus.

Summer travel in Santa Barbara was strong in July as total transient occupancy taxes reached $4.7M+ reflecting a 9.7% surplus, even as some visitors adjusted plans due to higher airfares and inflation.

Travelers from Los Angeles mostly opted for regional trips to manage costs.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department will hold a two-day prescribed burn at UCSB Lagoon in mid-September to manage non-native grasses and restore native vegetation.

The burn will occur on a day with favorable conditions and may be rescheduled if weather changes.

The Santa Barbara Zoo celebrated International Vulture Awareness Day on Sept.

5 to honor the California condor as AZA's 58th SAFE species (highlighting its ongoing conservation success). It also transferred two condors to partner institutions to support genetic diversity in the managed population.

After the largest wildfire recorded in Channel Islands National Park damaged 18,379 acres on Santa Rosa Island, up to 80% of the island's 24,000 rare Torrey pines may die; crews are racing to stabilize the forest — using seed collections and barriers — before rains worsen the damage. Burned areas remain closed to visitors.

On Sunday, the No. 13 UC Santa Barbara men’s water polo team hosted No. 3 Stanford and Cal Lutheran.

They lost 24-13 to Stanford early, then bounced back with a 25-5 win over Cal Lutheran and will head to Los Angeles next Saturday to face UCLA and LMU.

San Marcos High School softball player Isa Malarkey will join Argentina's Senior Women's National Softball team at the XIII South American Games starting Sept.

12, competing from Sept. 15-19 in Parana (Entre Rios) against regional teams.

UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer settled for a 3-3 tie against North Dakota State after leading by two and scoring a late equalizer.

They will travel (Idaho State on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. and Weber State on Sunday, Sept. 13 at noon).

Local water polo star and 2024 U.S. Olympian Ryann Neushul (Dos Pueblos and Stanford alum) led Team USA women to gold by sweeping Spain at the inaugural World Aquatics 4x4 Open Championships in Dubrovnik, Croatia; she was named Best Player of the Tournament.

Laguna Blanca's Jaden Yanez and San Marcos' Bella Bazylewicz earned Athlete of the Week honors from local sports media last week after standout plays on the field — they will be celebrated at Monday’s SBART Press Luncheon.