This article by Jeanne Sparks appeared in the Santa Maria Times on June 8, 2018: https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/santa-barbara-county-action-network-honors-volunteers/article_3d3204a8-3ca4-5627-b6a2-0cba1229875e.html

Dr. Herb Kandel accepted the Environmental Protection and Sustainability Award from Santa Barbara County Action Network during a dinner Sunday at the Radisson, and gave credit to others who worked to protect the environment.

“I celebrate staff and administrators of all who serve the public,” Kandel said. “We as citizens, organization members, volunteers, board members -- help create the working environment for professionals to do their best work.”

He also recognized landowners, and called them "heroes" for putting their properties into conservation easements. People need to learn from diverse members of the community, including youth, to move the conservation effort forward, he said.

Five others were recognized at SBCAN’s North County “Looking Forward” Award Dinner and Fundraiser: Steve Heuring, Patricia “Pati” Cantú, Elsa Velasco, Virginia Perry Souza and Ines Ruiz.

SBCAN members are quoted in this article by Joe Payne that ran in the Santa Maria Sun on May 17, 2017:

http://www.santamariasun.com/cover/16104/sunset-on-holly-two-years-after-the-refugio-oil-spill-venoco-gives-up-platform-holly-a-move-that-underscores-the-debate-over-local-oil-industry/

Platform Holly has stood alone in the South Ellwood oil field for decades as the Santa Barbara Channel’s last oil rig in California’s state waters. But it may not stay standing for much longer.

The platform’s owner, Venoco, announced on April 17 that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy—which allows the company to reorganize assets—and quitclaimed the South Ellwood oil field, returning the lease to the state. With Venoco abandoning the field and platform Holly, the State Lands Commission will begin decommissioning the platform—a development that illustrates the decades-long debate in Santa Barbara County over oil production, especially offshore drilling.

ON THE HORIZON Venoco announced its quitclaim of the South Ellwood oil field on April 17, which includes turning over Platform Holly for decommissioning by the State Lands Commission. Holly is the last Santa Barbara Channel oil platform in California’s state waters. (Photo source: www.flickr.com/photos/n28307/) PHOTO COURTESY OF GLENN BELTZ

Venoco made clear its reason for shutting down Platform Holly: Since Plains All American Pipeline stopped all transport of Venoco’s crude from its Ellwood Onshore Facility after the Refugio oil spill in 2015, the platform was dead in the water. Plains’ Line 901 leaked more than 140,000 gallons of oil into the ocean on May 19, 2015, marring coastline for miles in either direction with black, odorous crude, affecting businesses as small as family-owned fishing boats and as large as Venoco.

After Venoco failed to petition the State Lands Commission to adjust and expand the lease boundaries of the South Ellwood field earlier this year, the company had no hope for Holly. The move to walk away was due to a number of “unfortunate circumstances impacting the company’s financial strength,” Venoco’s COO Mike Wracher said in the company’s April 17 statement. The statement named Plains’ nonoperational Line 901 as a deciding factor.

“We have pursued a number of market-based and regulatory solutions to address these challenges during the last year,” Wracher said in the statement. “Despite these considerable efforts, our financial position now compels us to take this action.”

This article by Mike Hodgson ran March 28, 2017 in the Santa Maria Times: 

http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/solvang-forum-draws-small-crowd-to-oppose-more-oil-wells/article_39e4da8e-17e0-56f9-8ad3-ab45049e89e5.html

This article by Janene Scully was published in Noozhawk on June 10, 2016: https://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_maria_river_levee_trail_recognizes_tom_urbanske

A multipurpose trail in Santa Maria sports a new name to recognize a former member of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and his years of service to the Santa Maria Valley.

“This will be a lifelong legacy for our community and the Urbanske family,” Recreation and Parks Director Alex Posada said during a ceremony celebrating the naming of the Tom Urbanske Multipurpose Trail.

The City Council earlier this year agreed to recognize Urbanske's service by naming the trail for him. Urbanske is credited with spearheading efforts to allow recreational uses on the levee trail.

The approval process for naming the trail took approximately a year after Jeanne Sparks and Barry Stotts first presented the proposal to city officials. 

“It took awhile, but it got done,” said Sparks, who worked as Urbanske’s aide while he was a county supervisor and now is with Santa Barbara County Action Network.

“And we have to thank the staff for their effort on it because it did take coordinating with the county and they made that happen. We’re just happy,” Sparks added.

“Tom has been such a driving force in this community. He’s done so much as a county supervisor, as a city councilman and before that as a high school teacher and counselor and he’s still involved in nonprofit boards. He’s just so deserving, I'm glad to see this trail named after Tom.”