Archive » February 1, 2007

Also Inside This Issue

Letters to the Editor
Voices of Montecito in the hot seat; GOP in the tar pit

Ward Connerly
Barack Obama’s likely bid for the presidency is a sign that Black America has ‘overcome,’ says Ward

Community Calendar
Friendship Center Festival of Hearts; Board of Supervisors to hear Westmont College Masterplan; daily tide chart; much more

Sheriff’s Blotter
Traffic stops that turned into drug busts; harassing phone calls and text messages; suspected burglary at Summerland restaurant

Ernie’s World
You can run, hide, juke, spin or change direction, but eventually those car salesmen will find you

State Street Spin
Erin Graffy on a showgirls surprise birthday extravaganza for former Broadway dancer Cathy Rice

Style/Lifestyle
Dr. Victor Chakarian and staff celebrate seven years of business at Olympia Studio

Adopt a Pet
One-year-old, 52-pound German short-haired Pointer, Ginger, is available for adoption at K9 PALS

Kids’ Night Out
Montecito teens enjoy their own night at the museum, and for a good cause

Our Town
Laguna Blanca Lower School gets some snow; Montecito birders tie state bird count record

Your Estate
Gary Bartick forecasts continued economic growth this year, but at a slower pace than 2006

Wealth Strategies
Donor advised funds offer philanthropists more simplicity and control, says Brad Stark

Events Calendar
Downtown Organization’s first 1st Thursday; Altenberg Piano Trio; Irish poet John O’Donohue; Glen Phillips and friends; much more

Book Talk
Shelly Lowenkopf on how writers write at someone just as frequently as they write to someone

World of Golf
Tee Time in Carpinteria hires trainer with PGA Tour experience; are golfers getting worse? Ray wonders

Trail Talk
Front Country Trails Task Force chooses officers to address trail use concerns and safety issues

World of Wine
Judy Willis on a San Luis Obispo vineyard that has roots to an esteemed Champagne house

Classified Advertising

Third Time's the Charm

Vol. 13 Issue 5

The Blue Lady and Her New Man

Within the next couple of weeks, the Miramar Hotel will likely belong to Rick J. Caruso, the Los Angeles developer whose upscale shopping centers, staunch community involvement and slick public relations methods have won him high regard in Southern California.

Coming & Going

Re-Launching The Biltmore

“It is not just a restoration of what was clearly a grand old hotel,” intoned Four Seasons CEO and founder Isadore “Issy” Sharp (he began the company with a hotel in Toronto; the chain now comprises 74 luxury hotels) during a surprise appearance at a special re-launch party at the...

Editorial

The Perfectly Created Fraudulent Program

We figured something was fishy about the length of time it has taken to secure an audit of the Santa Barbara County Housing and Community Development Department Affordable Housing Program. Guillaume Doane’s report on page 14 should help clarify why the affordable housing program is a fiasco and why the...

John Wilcock – The Column of Lasting Insignificance

They’re Watching You

There are more CCTV cameras (an estimated 4.2 million) keeping an eye on Brits than all the rest of the EU countries combined, a fact about which critics are beginning to express alarm. The all-seeing eyes have proliferated in the past few years with the public scarcely noticing. They scan...

The Association Agenda

A Look in the Mirror

Bob Collector says his organization takes its job as stewards of Montecito seriously – very seriously

At our annual Board meeting on January 9, the Montecito Association Board of Directors broke with tradition: we neither proposed nor elected a new slate of officers for 2007, voting instead to defer these appointments until our new board decides whether to re-organize our committee structure. ...

Scene Around Town

Jewels and the Symphony

Cartier and Bryant & Sons underwrote an elegant reception in the jewelry store on State Street for the Santa Barbara Symphony Education Program. Guests were met at the door by Cartier’s greeters. If you are of a certain classic age the greeters would have reminded you of the Johnny who...

Festival in Focus

Getting the It in ‘It Girl’

It was a weird confluence of art and life at the VIP party atop Paseo Nuevo opening night. As the liquor flowed amid myriad emotional exchanges, there were lots of hugs and kisses and emotional exchanges between director George Hickenlooper and star Sienna Miller – who portrays Edie Sedgwick (the...