21 Mar 2023
Goodwin Offers Historic Perspective on Ukraine
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and bestselling author, drew parallels between the United States’ response to aid Britain in the early years of World War II, and the U.S.’s partnership with Ukraine in its war with Russia at the 18th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on March 10. President Gayle D. Beebe gave Goodwin, speaker […]
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Clay Studio’s Art Exhibition for Women’s History Month
Clay Studio, founded by Patrick Hall in 2012, held its first exhibition to honor women in ceramics as part of Women’s History Month at its new facility in Goleta. The show, titled Women Makers, Then, Now, Here, opened on March 8, drawing 300 visitors to its three-year-old 24,000-square-foot facility. The showcase is on view through […]
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What Happened to Our Sound Wall (Like Other Communities Have)?
Last year, our own Montecito Association did its diligent best to inform us of the final plan for Caltrans’ highway widening project. Many of us thought further study would be forthcoming, particularly updated FEMA maps (which are now in process). In December 2022, Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approved the project as is. The final […]
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Cannabis Revenues Disappoint
At a SB County Board of Supervisors hearing this past Tuesday, the board was briefed on second-quarter revenues for Fiscal Year 2022-23 related to cannabis tax revenue, which continues to trend lower than budgeted with a projected $10.5M negative variance. With an adopted budget of $16.3M, cannabis cultivation and retail storefront tax is currently projecting […]
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More to Love In Carpinteria
In last week’s edition, we told you about Bettina’s plans to open a new location in Carpinteria. This week, word on the street is that Chef Mollie Ahlstrand, formerly of Trattoria Mollie on Coast Village Road and then on State Street, is opening an Italian market/deli on Casitas Pass Road, in the same shopping center […]
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Sunset by the Sea: The $5 “Stradivarius”
How does it compare to the original? Listen to both violins on Monday, March 20, at the Cabrillo Pavilion during Sunset by the Sea, an annual event sponsored by the Community Arts Music Association Women’s Board. The fundraiser for CAMA will host wine and hors d’oeuvres from 5:30 to 7:30 pm and feature the fascinating […]
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Oprah’s Hawaiian Digs
While former TV talk-show titan Oprah Winfrey has been reducing her waistline as a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, now rebranded WW, she has been expanding her property empire. The longtime Montecito resident, 69, now owns nearly 1,000 acres of land on the Hawaiian island of Maui, I learn. She has splashed out $6.6 million on […]
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Talks and Walks Through Lotusland
Lotusland, the 37-acre botanical paradise just a tiara’s toss from Westmont College, goes from strength to strength even though visitor numbers to the former estate of Polish opera legend Ganna Walska are limited to 20,000 visitors annually, including 5,000 guests for educational programs. Treasurer Stephen Schaible told the annual meeting held in the charming Theatre […]
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Beers at the Botanic Garden
It was the perfect blend of beer and botanicals when the 99-year-old Santa Barbara Botanic Garden hosted its 13th annual beer event, with the region’s highest-rated breweries pouring one-of-a-kind beers inspired by the 78-acre Mission Canyon Garden, which contains 1,000 specimens of rare and indigenous plants. The fun floral fête, co-chaired by Jonathan DiBenedetto and […]
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Lowenthal Enthralls
Still in sprightly form at 91, legendary and pre-eminent pedagogue, Manhattan-based pianist Jerome Lowenthal, who has taught at the Music Academy for more than half a century, was honored at the Miraflores campus’s Hahn Hall with a “Lowenthal’s Legend” concert featuring his daughter Carmel Lowenthal, Grammy nominee Ursula Oppens, Vassily Primakov, Grammy Award-winner Nadia Shpachenko, […]
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A Dash of Quartet and Ballet
It was certainly a plucky performance when the Grammy award-winning Attacca Quartet, a decidedly funky and exuberant foursome, played at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, as part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The works, all by Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer Caroline Shaw, known for “a world of sound never heard before,” […]
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The Orchids Return
After a three-year enforced hiatus caused by the COVID pandemic, the 75th annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, with 500 colorful exhibitors, kicked off at the Earl Warren Showgrounds. The three-day event “Orchids: The Adventure Returns,” is one of the oldest, largest, and most prestigious shows in the U.S. with glorious displays installed by local, […]
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Ballet in Japan
Santa Barbara’s State Street Ballet is off to Japan for a two-week tour, including Tokyo and Osaka, in May. Founder and co-artistic director Rodney Gustafson tells me the tony troupe of 19 dancers, accompanied by five staffers, will be performing Jungle Book, which is being danced again on April 29 at the Lobero, and two […]
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MClub Off to Tokyo
The cultural treasures of Japan also beckon for members of Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub, a concierge travel club for premier customers. Thirty members gathered at the University Club for a talk with Hiroko Benko, bubbly owner of the Condor Express whale-watching vessel, whose relative is the country’s 13th Grand Tea Master, and club director […]
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Madagascar Adventure: Images from Afar
Just before COVID, the British journal New Scientist offered a tour to Madagascar, and I immediately placed a deposit. More than 20 years ago, I had attended a talk on Madagascar, which piqued my interest but also only offered a bleak interpretation of its conservation. (For a fuller discussion, see my article titled, “A Lesson […]
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14 Mar 2023
Evacuation Order Issued
An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for today, Tuesday March 14, 2023, for the identified properties and areas in south Santa Barbara County associated with the Alisal, Cave, and Thomas Fires due to existing debris flow hazards and flooding. Everyone in the current Thomas Fire Storm Impact Consideration Map properties are being ordered to evacuate. Click here to access an interactive evacuation […]
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Dunn School
Dunn School’s Kalyan Balaven, head of school for the private co-ed college prep boarding and day school in Los Olivos, had no idea of the floodgates that would open when he decided to find a way to help a student from the Ukraine who early last year was initially only seeking a few extra days […]
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San Ysidro Roundabout Construction to Begin
Community members are invited to a meeting at Montecito Union School this Thursday, March 9, to learn about the construction staging for the San Ysidro Roundabout, which begins Monday, March 13. Here’s what you need to know. The first phase of work will begin in the northwest corner of the intersection of North Jameson Lane […]
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Bettina to Expand
Late last week, Bettina owners Rachel Greenspan and Brendan Smith announced on social media that they have signed a lease for a new location in Carpinteria, as part of a multi-tenant development project coming to Linden Avenue. The new location will be more casual than the Montecito Country Mart location, and will be more of […]
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Cameras at the Hot Springs: On Whose Authority?
On Feb. 16, 2023, a camera was placed facing a newly restored pool at the Montecito Hot Springs. The camera bore a tag that had printed on it “County of Santa Barbara, Public Works, Trail and Creek Monitoring in Progress, Do Not Tamper or Remove, Enforced by County Sheriff.” The Dept. of Public Works wasn’t […]
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