“A library outranks any other thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never-failing spring in the desert.” – Andrew Carnegie In case you think libraries are not exciting or boring, wrong. A group of donors and patrons recently gathered in the Faulkner Gallery for cocktails, moving on to the Santa […]
Lea másPucci, Gucci, Prada, and Armani. Valentino, Versace, what will you score? Dolce & Gabbana? Shop the Via Condotti? Marni or Buccellati? More, more, more! Just two and a half days into my Rome explorations and I was beginning to know, understand, and fall in love with one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals spread over 500 […]
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After a two year break the 35th Annual Parade of Lights was back with a bang — and 10 tons of snow! City Pier was turned into a Winter Wonderland complete with holiday elves as more than 30 colorfully illuminated sailing boats and dozens of stand-up paddlers and kayakers in festive attire embarked on a […]
Lea másHappy Holidays and all my best to everyone out there in Montecito. Cheers to all of those who make and keep this such a special place and welcome to those who are spending their first holiday season living here in town. We all know the real estate market has been hot and it’s still hot […]
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UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program welcomed 90 guests to the courtyard at the Arlington Theatre for its holiday bash before the performance of My Bluegrass Heart with Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton. The fun fete also a featured a toy drive from United Way of Santa […]
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ShelterBox’s reason for being is because human displacement is one of the biggest issues plaguing our planet, one that’s increasing as time goes on. Over the last year, the nonprofit reports, the number of people displaced due to conflicts, natural disasters, or the consequences of climate change has grown to 113 million people, a staggering […]
Lea más‘Tis the season to celebrate the plethora of annual holiday concerts at schools around Montecito, with many restricted in-person events held outside due to ongoing concerns over COVID-19. Here is Part I of our roundup from Santa and me: Cate School Cate School’s motto is “Servons” (we serve), which is noted in its holiday tradition […]
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The annual beloved boat parade was back in the harbor for live viewing with social distancing and masks along Cabrillo Boulevard and Stearns Wharf. The theme for this year’s parade was “Magic Under the Moonlight.” A double-bell salute rang out to City of Santa Barbara’s Christopher Bell, the Waterfront Department’s administrative analyst and public information […]
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Last week was an exciting moment for the Montecito Trails Foundation as well as the community at large: the last of the bridges to be damaged or destroyed in the 1/9 Debris Flow was replaced, a project nearly four years in the making. “In order to create the best access for the public, we needed […]
Lea másWhether Miramar Beach and Montecito or the University of Montana in Missoula, 22-year-old Will Borghesani is here to tell us that each new destination has its own special qualities and charm. The MUS, Marymount, and Cate alum is now a final-year college student with sights on law school. But before he takes the plunge into […]
Lea másSince I was a child, I have asked big questions about life, the universe, and everything (credit to Douglas Adams for that expression). I was fortunate to have a scientist father and a psychologist/philosopher mother to offer helpful answers. Out in the real world I discovered that people will often offer “helpful” answers that are […]
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Santa Barbara Beautiful celebrated Christmas with a boffo beano for 90 guests at the Mesa estate of new board member Santa Barbara County architect Robert Ooley. The 56-year-old organization gives out grants between $50,000 and $100,000 annually to help beautify our Eden by the Beach. “We are thrilled to be doing this,” gushed president Deborah […]
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Joan Hartmann, the Santa Barbara County Third District Supervisor, didn’t even hesitate when asked why a portion of her district was evacuated with the Monday and Tuesday rain along the South Coast. “We learned a lot from Montecito,” Hartmann said. In the wake of October’s Alisal Fire that destroyed thousands of acres of land, the […]
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The Martini. The Old Fashioned. The Manhattan. Names steeped in cocktail lore, each a classic, stirred cocktail (despite a famous, suit-wearing movie spy who requests his martini shaken, not stirred). As the temperature dips and the holiday gatherings commence, I find myself reaching for a spirit-forward, stirred sip that livens the tastebuds and hastens the […]
Lea másAlmost every parent of a K-12 school age child is really concerned about the incessant school shootings that plague our nation. These have been escalating in violence and complexity over the 23 years since the Columbine massacre in 1999, and it is past time for a national conversation on gun violence and young people. If […]
Lea másWhile Kristen Sneddon has long been an advocate for tenant protection, particularly against inordinate rent hikes, she was also the first person to question the rushed timing of the controversial proposal to cap annual residential rent increases as 2% — brought to council by outgoing Mayor Cathy Murillo and councilmember Oscar Gutierrez. The District 4 […]
Lea másPardon the dad joke, but it’s not every day that kangaroos move into one’s backyard — but the bouncy beasts have arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Three male Western grey kangaroos — Max, Aspen, and Coolibah — complete the new inhabitants of the 15,000-square-foot Australian Walkabout at the Zoo, slated to open on January […]
Lea másD. William (Bill) Wagner, 78, passed December 7, 2021, at home in Santa Barbara, surrounded by his wife and sons. Bill was born to Earl and Lois Wagner in Dixon, Illinois, and raised in Sterling, Illinois. A lifelong love of language and people led him from consecutive statewide debate championships for Illinois in 1960 and […]
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Last Thursday officials held a public meeting at Montecito Union School to discuss emergency information prior to the winter storm season. Closing in on the fourth anniversary of the catastrophic debris flow of January 9, 2018, First District Supervisor Das Williams says the community’s level of resiliency, awareness, and communication is better than ever before, […]
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