29 Jul 2025
Santa Barbara Tackles Earth, Wind, Fire, and Flood in 1925
As aftershocks of the June 29, 1925, 6.3 earthquake continued to rock the town and the waters from the broken Sheffield Reservoir still muddied the waterfront, representatives from the Community Arts Association met to discuss Recreational Activities that would, according to CAA member Mrs. Charles W. (Lucy Russell) Dabney, “have a beneficial psychological effect upon […]
Lea más
A Bloomin’ Gala
Lotusland, the 37-acre botanical paradise developed by the late international opera singer Ganna Walska, sold out all 500 tickets for its annual gala, Jardin des Rêves, months in advance, raising more than $1 million. The 31st annual event Garden of Dreams, co-chaired by David Jones and Julie Morley, with honorary chair Wendy Schmidt, featured vintage […]
Lea más
Sneaking a Peek
State Street Ballet gave a sneak peek at its next season with a sunset soirée at the Montecito estate of board member Karl Weis and his wife Kristen featuring Romeo and Juliet, Chaplin, and work from the ever-popular Nutcracker. Balletomanes quaffing the champagne and noshing on the canapés included Joan Rutkowski, Andre Yew, Jon Bishop, […]
Lea más
A Fiesta on Display
The Art Foundation of Santa Barbara featured local artist Derek Harrison – an instructor at Westmont College and the L.A. Academy of Figurative Art, who created this year’s Old Spanish Days fiesta poster – at a bash at the venerable Santa Barbara Club. Foundation members also displayed items from their own personal collections. Among the […]
Lea más
New Members on Board
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has announced four new board members. The fab four are Elizabeth Cholawsky, a technology executive, Erika Culwell, a financial advisor, Sandy Seale, with a master’s and doctorate in engineering from MIT, and Ashley Parker Snider, who has worked in sales and marketing at the Fess Parker Winery in Los […]
Lea más
Wine & Palms
Oenophiles and gourmands were out in force at the weekend for the two-day California Wine Festival with a rare and reserve-level opening night at the Hilton’s Plaza del Sol and a beachside bash opposite Chase Palm Park billed as “an event for the senses” with 250 wines from more than 70 vintners and 30 eateries […]
Lea más
Curator’s Choice
This iconic image of the extinct Passenger Pigeon was drawn by Alexander Wilson who published eight volumes of American Ornithology in the early years of the of 19th century. During Wilson’s lifetime, there were millions of these birds darkening the sky. Loss of habitat and over-hunting caused their extinction. The last known of the species, a female, died […]
Lea más
‘Wild Night’ is Calling
Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild sick, injured, orphaned and/or oil-impaired wild birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Over the years, the organization has grown from a grassroots effort that saw volunteers caring for animals in their homes to a nonprofit that […]
Lea más
Fundraiser for Film Debuts ‘Dads’ Documentary
The 2023 short documentary film The Dads featured five fathers of trans children who joined Dennis Shepard – father of 1998’s infamously murdered teen Matthew Shepard – for a weekend fishing trip. In the course of the outing, the dads found common ground across racial, geographical, and generational lines in their unconditional love for their […]
Lea más
22 Jul 2025
UCSB A&L
After a nationwide search, UCSB ended up turning to its own backyard to find the new Miller McCune Executive Director of UCSB Arts & Lectures, tapping Meghan Bush, its Associate Director, to step into the role held for 25 years by Celesta Billeci, under whose stewardship A&L became one of the country’s most prominent programs. […]
Lea más
It’s in the Stars: Going ‘Beyond Aquarius’: Fiction to Live and Learn By
Astrologer Jennifer Freed was the clinical director at my psychology graduate program when we first met 34 years ago, but soon we became the best of friends, sharing our lives, loves, and soul healing along the way. Recently we sat down for lunch at the Coral Casino to talk about her new Montecito-based astrological romance […]
Lea más
Montecito Community Turns Out for Wildfire Preparedness Meeting
The Montecito Fire Department held a Wildfire Preparedness Community Meeting at Montecito Union School on June 26, less than a week before California’s largest fire of 2025 broke out in Santa Barbara County. Montecito Fire sent an engine and several specially trained personnel to assist with managing the Madre Fire near Cuyama. Evacuations spanned rural […]
Lea más
‘Don Giovanni’ in Tinseltown
Opera director Mo Zhou made her Music Academy of the West debut two summers ago with a reimagining of La bohème – from 1830s Paris to Brooklyn in 2011. This weekend, Zhou and the talented MAW vocal and instrumental fellows take on Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with the director moving the time and place from Spain […]
Lea más
Sonoma Wine Country: A Coastal Retreat of Cool-Climate Elegance
In Sonoma Wine Country, the morning sun filters through a veil of coastal fog, softening the contours of rolling vineyards that stretch toward the Pacific. A cool breeze carries the scent of wild herbs and sea air, while rows of chardonnay and pinot noir glisten with dew. This is a landscape shaped by nature’s contrasts, […]
Lea más
SB County: You Have the Power. Protect the Children—NOW!
Does your heart break for the children? Well, my heart breaks for ALL of them, including those who are exploited by a soulless industry that our county coddles, controls and licenses. America recently learned what those of us in the cannabis-know already knew: this industry preys on the most vulnerable, those who have no voice […]
Lea más
Veronica Beard to Open on CVR and Other News Bytes
The luxury women’s fashion brand, Veronica Beard, will be opening at 1269 Coast Village Road, the previous location of Allora by Laura. The store is set to open in October and the MJ will have more information in the months to come. Events at Montecito Country Mart – Poppy Marché every Wednesday from 3-5 pm […]
Lea más
Montecito Fire Dept Video Recap for Wildfire Preparedness Now Online
Montecito Fire Dept. Chief Neels shares to the community, “On June 26, 2025, our partners from Montecito Water District, Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, neighboring fire agencies, and local community organizations joined us to discuss how your public safety agencies collaborate before, during and after emergencies.” The meeting […]
Lea más
Edward George Maschke, In Sunshine and Survival: April 18, 1948 – May 24, 2025
Ed Maschke, longtime Santa Barbara County environmental activist, political consultant, labor organizer and elected official, passed away peacefully at his home in Lompoc. He is survived by daughters Gwenivere (1970), Jennifer (1973), and Aurora (1980), ten grandchildren, one great grandson, countless friends and the thriving California solar energy industry he was instrumental in creating. Interest […]
Lea más
The Art of Furniture
When I was 20, I got a job as a dancer in Michigan with a touring company of Showboat. I loved the Grand Rapids area. On a particular day off, I toured the Widdicomb Furniture Company’s Museum of Historic American Furniture (this was in the late 1970s). Modern furniture was included in the display, as […]
Lea más
Mercy
In a famous passage from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the character Portia, disguised as a lawyer, is defending Antonio from being required to pay Shylock, to whom he is indebted. By the laws of the time and place, the debt is legitimate – and only by being shown mercy can Antonio escape paying it. Portia’s […]
Lea más
