20 May 2025
MWD’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan Approved by the State
The Montecito Association Land Use Committee (LUC) May meeting was held at the Montecito Library community room and on Zoom. The meeting was called to order by LUC Chair, Dorinne Lee Johnson. Attendees were the LUC members; MA Executive Director Houghton Hyatt; General Manager Montecito Water District (MWD) Nick Turner,and his team – Groundwater Specialist […]
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Shame
In the London school I attended during my teenage years, the most shameful act any student could commit was one that incurred personal punishment by the Headmaster. This befell me only once, when I was still fairly new to the British Education system, after spending my childhood on this side of the Atlantic. It was […]
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DEI: Up Down. Yet Resilient?
DEI is under stress from within and without. President Trump issued on January 20, 2025, an executive order terminating “all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI in the Federal Government.” DEI’s roots are found in President Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 executive order 11246, which required federal contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that employees are treated during […]
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Fall of the Animal Kingdom
When the invitation arrived, we were intrigued by one of its particulars. The hosts, our dear old friends the Smythmires (names have been changed to guard privacy and amuse the author) would be offering roast pig as the culinary centerpiece of their yard party. “Whoa,” I thought. The pig roast as ritual feast is popular […]
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Purple Sweet Potatoes
Her Produce has my favorite tuber in-house, and that is the purple sweet potato –also known as the Okinawan or Stokes Purple. These potatoes originated in South America, but have made a home in Okinawa, Japan. The rich color of the purple sweet potato makes it rich in antioxidants; anthocyanins to be exact. Anthocyanins have […]
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Local Artists Featured ‘On the Edge’
Montecito’s longest running juried exhibition for tri-county artists will run from May 15 – June 14 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A public opening reception for On the Edge, featuring juror Adam Belt, is Thursday, May 15 from 4-6 pm. The museum received a record 458 entries by 216 artists. From these submissions, […]
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Stargazers to Catch Martian Views
The Westmont Observatory hosts a summer star party that’s out of this world on Friday, May 16, beginning at 8:30 pm and lasting several hours. The observatory, home to Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope, opens every third Friday to the public in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, whose members bring their own telescopes and […]
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PacWest Tournament Champs
Westmont baseball (41-12) defeated the Sharks of Hawai’i Pacific (32-22) 5-3 to win the PacWest Tournament Championship – in its first year of eligibility – on May 9 in Fresno. The tournament championship came eight days after the Warriors clinched the PacWest Regular Season Championship, the first PacWest regular season championship team won by a […]
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Slide Film Sojourn
The long muddy rut on Simmler Road was deep enough to swallow my tires up to the axle. Alkali loam transforms into a gooey death sentence for vehicles attempting to experience the far flung reaches of the Carrizo Plain National Monument. However, there was something odd about this narrow trench on one of the grassland’s […]
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Fête à la Riviera Raises Over $340,000 for The Riviera Ridge School
In a dazzling display of community spirit and coastal elegance, Fête à la Riviera, held on May 2nd at Rosewood Miramar Beach, raised over $340,000 in support of The Riviera Ridge School. More than 200 guests gathered for the spring soirée, which has become one of the school’s most successful fundraising events to date. Gala […]
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Firefighter/Paramedic Garet Blake Montecito Fire Dept Honored for Service
Firefighter/Paramedic Garet Blake has been honored for his 15 years of service with the Montecito Fire Department. Montecito Fire Department Chief Neels presented Blake with a 15-year pin that attaches to Blake’s badge. Joining in the celebration was Blake’s wife, children, family, and fellow MFD crew. 12th Annual SB & Montecito Unified School Track & […]
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Crime in the Cito: Sheriff’s Blotter 93108
Theft / 1500 block Ramona Lane — Tuesday, April 29, at 13:25 hours Victim came to the Sheriff’s Station to report a Rolex watch stolen from his residence when he moved in 2023. He suspected it might be someone from the moving company. Assault and Battery / 300 block Gibraltar Road — Tuesday, April 29, […]
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Mourning and Dancing: A Double Concerto
The Santa Barbara Symphony’s adventurous 2024-25 season comes to a close this weekend with another unusual entry, as the pair of concerts represent the first time the organization has booked a soloist – in this case the very estimable violinist Gil Shaham – to perform different repertoire in the Saturday and Sunday concert. The Grammy-decorated […]
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Former Julliard Suitemates Join Forces in Dreammusik
There’s another world premiere presenting just its second performance in town this weekend, this one fully commissioned by a patron of the local ensemble that will perform it at Hahn Hall on May 17. But the last time Camerata Pacifica played Dreammusik, written by Lera Auerbach for principal cellist Ani Aznavoorian, was back in 2014 […]
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Valley Fever: Chumash Museum Opens
The long-awaited Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is a project that dates to 2005. That inaugural impulse two decades ago was itself based on ideas that had begun germinating some thirty years before. All those decades of thinking and planning were seen as actually coming to long-awaited fruition when construction began in 2018. […]
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Music and Words: SYV Struts in both Los Olivos and uptown SB
The final concert in the current Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series takes place at 4 pm on Saturday, May 17, with the fourth annual Young Artist Showcase featuring young musicians from around Santa Barbara County performing at St. Mark’s in-the-Valley Church in Los Olivos. Admission is free. The Valley also represents in midtown Santa Barbara […]
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VADA Talks… at VADA
VADA Talks is an ongoing series of events featuring renowned guests from varied professions as they discuss how art has inspired the work they do. The series was created to support The Visual Art & Design Academy at Santa Barbara High School, which integrates rigorous academic coursework with project-based, career-focused art and design instruction in […]
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Founding the Santa Barbara Cemetery
Santa Barbara pioneer Isaac Sparks would have fit right in with the cast of The Revenant. He was a mountain man through and through, with the morals of an alley cat and the demeanor of a grizzly bear, whom he bested in a fight (though he lost an eye). Nevertheless, he was at the vanguard […]
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BOS & Sable: Supervisors Decide the Fate of Oil and Gas in County
It was three against one at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, May 13, as the board weighed the future of oil and gas in the county. In a 3-1 vote, the supervisors passed a motion to prohibit new oil and gas drilling and phase out existing operations in the county. […]
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‘Brilliance’ on Pointe
State Street Ballet marked the end of its landmark 30th season at the Lobero with Brilliance: Balanchine, Arpino, and Beyond with the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra under conductor Kostis Protopapas. The triple bill was a true culmination of a wonderful year with George Balanchine’s Who Cares? being the first performance of a Balanchine work in […]
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