27 May 2025
Los Padres Council Scouting America
The clichéd image of a random Boy Scout helping grandma across the street to earn points toward a merit badge is a thing of the past with the reinvigorated launch of Scouting America – a new identity that reflects the organization’s commitment to inclusivity and welcoming all youth, including girls, into its programs. “We’re all […]
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Brochu Walker Comes to The Post
Known for its commitment to quality over quantity, it’s no surprise that women’s luxury clothing brand Brochu Walker should take the same thoughtful approach to its retail presence. With just four locations – Carmel-by-the-Sea, California; Westport, Connecticut; Southampton, New York; and Atlanta, Georgia – the brand’s minimalist footprint is entirely by design. When approached with […]
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What’s New in South Coast Commercial Real Estate?
Many features that make the Santa Barbara area a great place to live – the alluring coastline, mountainous backdrop, excellent colleges, and small-town scale – also contribute to its relatively stable commercial real estate market, providing steady tourism, a well-educated employee base, and constraints on new development. However, our relatively secluded enclave is not immune […]
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Dispatch Services for Montecito & Carpinteria-Summerland
If you have called 9-1-1 while in Montecito, Carpinteria or Summerland over the last 48 years, you would have been linked to a small but mighty dispatch center located within Montecito Fire Station 91 on San Ysidro Road. The South Coast Dispatch Center provided full-time dispatch services for Montecito Fire Department starting in the fall […]
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Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center Is Now Open!
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ (SYBCI) Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is now open to the public! Twenty years in the making, it is “A Legacy of Culture, Innovation, and Resilience.” I attended the official grand opening held on May 15, where I met with the SYBCI Museum Board Chairwoman and Tribal Member […]
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Supervisor Roy Lee’s Update on the Hot Springs Trail
First District Supervisor Roy Lee has been working with the Hot Springs Trail (HST) Stakeholders Group to resolve the ongoing concerns from all sides of the issue since last year. The formal update on the progress of the resolutions was provided to the Montecito Journal via his Deputy Chief Aida Thau. I reached out to […]
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Aging with the Sleek Ferocity of a Jungle Cat
I occupy a very particular demographic; balding older men who don’t know how awful they look in skinny jeans. We are many. It’s nearly an epidemic. A teary woman in the Vons’ parking lot shakily pointed her finger at me and used the word “plague,” which I thought was going a bit far. And for […]
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Crime in the ‘Cito: Sheriff’s Blotter 93108
Fraud / Toro Canyon Road — Tuesday, May 6, at 10:41 hours An elderly woman called to report that she met someone online and they had an online relationship. During the course of this relationship, she wired over $500,000 to this unknown man who said he lived on the east coast. Assault and Battery / […]
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Without Due Process… Isn’t it Just Kidnapping?
It pains me to use my precious column space to provide basic civics lessons, but it seems that most Americans need them. Since my February article “Three Unequal Branches of Government?” I have asked everybody I meet if they know that there is just one primary branch of government. Not one knew that. When asked […]
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Trump’s Advisers and the War of Ideas
Recent media coverage has focused on the battle of conservative philosophies within the Trump Administration and in conservative circles. In the darker corners of the Internet, radical commentators, so-called “influencers,” are gaining the attention of the rich and powerful and Administration insiders. It’s actually rather fascinating. The Wall Street Journal recently published an important article […]
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Sheriff Satellite Office and the Houseless
The Montecito Association May 2025 meeting was held on Tuesday, May 13. Present were MA President Doug Black; 1st VP Leslie Lundgren; Executive Director Houghton Hyatt; MA board members; George Isaac, Finance Committee, Board of Trustees Montecito Community Foundation; invited speakers and residents. Jillian Wittman of the MA Safety Subcommittee reported on the Sheriff’s Department […]
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Sunchokes
The Jerusalem artichoke – also known as the sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, or earth apple – is the root of a wild sunflower native to central North America, and Mt. Olive Organic Farm has some for a short time. This knobby tuber looks vaguely like ginger root and is crisp and crunchy when eaten raw, […]
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Santa Barbara’s Grand Wine Tasting at El Presidio
What do you get when you mix 45 wineries, 20 food vendors, one charming historic plaza, and a whole lot of Santa Barbara sunshine? The wine and food event of the year. On Saturday, May 17, the iconic El Presidio de Santa Bárbara came alive with the sights, sounds, and scents of the 2025 Grand […]
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Brooks Returns for LEAD Conference
An impressive lineup of world-class keynote speakers will share insights on effective and purposeful leadership at the 11th annual LEAD Where You Stand conference on June 4-5 at Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. David Brooks, New York Times columnist and bestselling author, headlines an exceptional group of speakers that includes: Gayle D. Beebe, Westmont president and […]
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Alumna Making Betty Crocker Proud
Two home renovations prepared Benjamin and Marlise Kast-Myers (’96) for the ambitious project of restoring the historic Betty Crocker Estate in Valley Center, California. Their mission: blessing people through their love for hospitality. The couple first transformed their home in Carlsbad. A full-time designer at an ad agency in Carlsbad Village, Benjamin scoured antique shops […]
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Warriors Playoff Ride Ends
Westmont baseball’s (43-14) season came to a disappointing end when the Warriors, needing only to win one game, dropped both ends of a double header, 6-2 and 6-4, to Cal State Monterey Bay (38-17). The Otters advance to this week’s Super Regional in Nampa, Idaho, to face Northwest Nazarene, where the winner will advance to […]
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Gratefulness
In this country, we have a big annual festival, originally a religious observance, dedicated to giving Thanks. The occasion is mostly to do with thanking whatever gods may be – for our lives, and for all the good things they may contain. But why? Wouldn’t we be equally justified in cursing, or at least objecting […]
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Fifties Kitsch & Beyond
What single object personified KITSCH in a mid-century living room in the 1950s? Of course! Table lamps that made us roll our eyes – non-politically correct figural lamps that made us cringe. This article discusses those cringeworthy mid-century table lamps that skate on the edge of tastelessness out to the borderland of the unimaginable. Some […]
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History in Action: Phasing Out Oil in Santa Barbara County
This week, Santa Barbara chose courage over complacency. Our county Supervisors took a bold leap forward, fueled by the support of a majority of county residents, to ban new oil and drilling operations in Santa Barbara County and initiate a plan to phase out existing oil operations. This vote wasn’t just a policy move; it […]
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Ralph Lauren’s RRL Now at Mate Gallery Montecito
The Mate Gallery owners Matt Albiani and Ron Brand announce they are now carrying the American West-inspired Ralph Lauren RRL line, affectionately known as Double RL. The line was launched last week in an invite-only opening event that caused a scene in the Montecito Country Mart parking lot in front of the store – not […]
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