In 1972 – about half our lifetimes ago – Dorothy and I traveled to Australia, our first of many visits, but the only one by sea. The Australian Aborigines call their distant past the “Dream-Time.” On this journey, I carried my own enduring dream. Since school-days, I’d retained in my mind a map showing the […]
Lea másAuthentic Relating (AR) Games – the ongoing gathering to go beyond surface conversations established in Santa Barbara by husband-and-wife Simon D’Arcy and Tamra Rutherford – returns from an extended three-month hiatus (due to the Thomas Fire and a change is schedule) next Friday, February 23. This month’s theme is “And, What’s Underneath That?”, a provocative […]
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Santa Barbara resident Kerri Murray, president of ShelterBox USA, had lunch with Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, at her London home, Clarence House, last week. It was the second time the tony twosome had met, given the wife of Prince Charles also visited the charity’s new British HQ and visitors center in Truro, Cornwall, last […]
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GUEST EDITORIAL by Harry McMullan (Mr. McMullan wrote the following to the Santa Barbara Fire chief, Santa Barbara County sheriff, and all five County supervisors.) My wife and I are residents of Montecito, and we appreciate beyond words the inspiring work of all the firefighters and other first responders who so selflessly and brilliantly saved […]
Lea másJeff Farrell was born in 1937 in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He and his father quickly understood that he had a passion for swimming when he plopped into the pool at 3 years old. His father had to jump in with his new business suit on to save him; after he […]
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Music Academy of the West staged two concerts for Recovery and Hope at Hahn Hall in the wake of the recent mudslides and flash floods. The hastily organized free events featured soprano Julie Adams, alumnus cellist Joshua Roman, pianists Natsha Kislenko and Margaret McDonald, clarinetist Richie Hawley, alum and faculty member Nico Abondolo, trumpeter Paul […]
Lea másHappy Traum is merely the opening act for the next Sings Like Hell show starring Jack Sh*t, the super group comprising sidemen for singer-songwriter legends making at least its third visit to the Lobero. But before guitarist Val McCallum (Jackson Browne), drummer Pete Thomas, and bassist Davey Faragher (both Elvis Costello) hit the stage with […]
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State Street Ballet gave a sneak-peek with a wide variety of new dances by its choreographers and dancers at its newly relaunched Evenings at its headquarters, the Gail Towbes Dance Center. The series was launched in 2005 and has evolved into an actual performance series with lighting, live music, and, in the words of Leila […]
Lea másMore than four weeks have now passed since the mudslide disaster here in Montecito, but while that might seem like a long time, the healing will take years to come. Whether we’ve lost homes or loved ones or have had to evacuate, everyone in our community has been affected, and everyone is suffering in one […]
Lea másTwo videos on the 93108fund.org website were brought to my attention. Both ladies profiled currently work for Pierre Lafond, and they say in the video that they have missed up to 90 hours [of] work due to the fire/flood and are now receiving checks from the 93108fund.org to make up for lost hours. I’m wondering […]
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As the Santa Barbara International Film Festival celebrated the debut of its 33rd year at the Arlington across the road, the Anti-Defamation League honored First Responders and SB County Search and Rescue with its third annual bash at Villa and Vine across the way. The 130-guest bash, chaired by Beth Katz, raised $10,000 toward the […]
Lea másI don’t want to alarm you, but this is going to be about alarms, and ways of giving them. Let’s start with our culture’s most famous false alarm: The Boy Who Cried “Wolf!” The moral is clear: If you make false alarms, people may not believe it when you have a real one. But notice […]
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The jockaholics were out in force at Bella Vista, the Summerland home of polo playing hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife, Ursula, when the tony twosome hosted a Super Bowl bash to mark the 52nd anniversary of the NFL football landmark. With six large TV screens to choose from, there were no bad angles […]
Lea másSanta Barbara artist Gail Lucas, 81, has written a fascinating book Over the Hill and ‘Round the Bend or… Gullible’s Travels about her five-year motorcycle odyssey with fellow rider Terence Geoghegan three decades ago. The 475-page tome recounts how the dynamic duo met when she was 49 and he was just 29, when she had […]
Lea másWhat does a community of under 10,000 people do when a half-inch of massive deluge melts a recently charred sector of the San Ynez mountainside in a five-minute period, lathering a tranquil little village in a swathe of murderous muck and boulders, all in the early hours of a still, aphotic morning? If you are […]
Lea más(Information provided by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department) Tuesday, 6 February, 8:15 pm – Sheriff’s detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Bureau were patrolling the Montecito disaster area when they observed an SUV leaving Coast Village Road. After the occupants of the vehicle were contacted, it was discovered the ignition was […]
Lea másOn February 12, Crane Country Day School welcomed students back to its San Leandro Lane campus, after several weeks of hosting classes at four satellite locations. “It was one of the highlights of my career,” said head of school Joel Weiss, adding that the campus reopening was a sort of homecoming for the students, staff, […]
Lea másLast week, City officials announced their plans to roll out several new traffic measures to help mitigate the increased volume of traffic along Coast Village Road following the mudslides. With the closure of Highway 192 through several portions of Montecito, and the extended closure of Olive Mill Road through the long-term exclusion zone, Coast Village […]
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Hundreds of shoppers turned out for a “Cash Mob” on Coast Village Road on February 10, supporting local businesses, and enjoying giveaways and refreshments. Organized by Jeff Bochsler and Christian Menard, with help from the Coast Village Association and Cal Fire attorney Alicia Journey, the event was a great success.
Lea másDuring a special meeting last week, Montecito Union’s school board discussed several important issues at length, all related to the recent mudslide and its effect on the school’s finances, enrollment, and facility updates. Unlike 95% of elementary schools in California, MUS is a basic aid funded school, meaning that its revenues come from District property […]
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