14 Jul 2026
SYR’s The SpeakeasyHonored by ‘Forbes Travel Guide’
There are evenings in Montecito that seem beautifully composed before the first glass is poured. Last week at San Ysidro Ranch was one of them, as guests gathered for a celebration of Champagne, caviar blinis, summer cocktails, flamenco, and hidden glamour in honor of The Speakeasy being named to Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 Hotel Star […]
Lea más
A Look into the Reflecting Mirror
DD sends me a 19th century etched and blown-glass dressing table mirror, angled upon an easel back. She asks about the history of “self-reflection” – and its value. A mirror was treasured in the Golden Age of Greece. Socrates instructed his students to gaze at themselves. Diogenes quotes the great philosopher as saying: “If ugly, […]
Lea más
My Interview with ChatGPT 5
Like many of us, I use AI programs a lot. I’ve worked with ChatGPT since it was first released. Now with version 5 it has improved immensely. I’ve used other programs, but this one is my current favorite. I use it for research, and I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with it. It “knows” […]
Lea más
A Big Thank You to Montecito
Every once in a while, something happens that reminds you how extraordinary are the people who call Montecito home. On Friday afternoon, July 3, I brought my beloved two-year-old blue merle Mini Australian Shepherd, Daisy, to our CalPrivate Bank office in Montecito, as I often do on Fridays. Because many of our clients had the […]
Lea más
Good Energy Summer
It will be a consequential summer for energy policy in Santa Barbara County. Currently, you can drill for oil, but you can’t put a solar farm in the same industrial site. That is set to reverse with a Solar Ordinance to allow solar in industrial and agricultural zones coming to County Supervisors on July 14 […]
Lea más
The World Cup: The Beauty – and Ugliness – of Football
Exactly one week ago, all three co-hosts of the World Cup prevailed in their first games of the knockout phases and were happily about to play their round of 16 matches. And Austria – who made Santa Barbara their home base for the World Cup after having qualified to the tournament for the first time […]
Lea más
This Week @ MAW
Friday, July 10: After a stirring introduction to the Lehrer Vocal Institute singers for 2026 last week, the vocal season shifts into full swing as the season’s major events rapidly approach. Today, it’s a masterclass with Paul Curran, whose credits include directing productions across the world with opera companies ranging from the Met, Los Angeles, […]
Lea más
Cry One More Time with Gilmore and Alvin
If you’ve never heard – or even heard of – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, all you need to know is what one journalist wrote about the West Texas singer-songwriter many years ago: “His voice would make even Hank Williams cry.” Which makes a lot of sense, since the now 81-year-old Gilmore patterned his fragile, high-lonesome tenor […]
Lea más
EDC tgif! Returns
By no means are the Environmental Defense Center’s tgif! events purely about entertainment. Indeed, while the somewhat monthly gatherings on summertime Friday evenings have been a staple of the South Central coast’s summer season for nearly three decades, tgif! is much more about bringing the community together as a mix of regional nonprofit and environmental […]
Lea más
C’est une French Repertory Revolution, and More Focus on Film
France is still favored to win the World Cup – at least as of this writing – but the boys in blue are going to have to compete with output from their country even more artisanal than a sizzling Mbappé strike. Which is to say, the annual SBIFF French Wave Film Festival invades Santa Barbara […]
Lea más
The Montecito Country Mart Lemonade Stand
July’s predicted warmer weather calls for lemonade at the Montecito Country Mart, now being served by our local schools and youth programs. Here is the upcoming schedule: Saturday, July 11, 12 – 2 pm, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School [OLMCS] Saturday, July 18, 12 – 2 pm, Youth Runners Academy, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of […]
Lea más
LCO Spearheads Open-Source Software for Astro Data
The Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) announced a successful test of its highly specialized global “end-to-end” data alert system AEON+/TOM software. This software system matches incoming requests for specified astronomical data from astrophysics and scientists worldwide, with real time data supplied from a leading global network of observatories. The AEON+/TOM system is the brainchild of LCO […]
Lea más
Friendship Center Marks 50 Years with Fourth of July Celebration, and More News Bytes
Friendship Center celebrated two milestones during its annual Fourth of July Party, honoring both America’s 250th birthday and the nonprofit’s 50th anniversary of serving both older adults living with dementia and their families. Members, loved ones, caregivers, volunteers, and community friends gathered for a festive afternoon featuring a special lunch and plenty of dancing to […]
Lea más
Ocean Overture
By Lisa Duncan “Growing up here, Bellosguardo was always one of those places surrounded by mystery,” smiled Kathleen Sieck before taking the stage with the Santa Barbara Symphony. “As teenagers, we always wondered what was up here.” This Fourth of July, the Santa Barbara singer returned not as the curious teenager peering through the gates, […]
Lea más
Glimmers Foundation
Glimmers Childhood Cancer Foundation President Vanessa Decker didn’t know what to do with herself when her 13-year-old daughter Ava passed away on May 9, 2024, just 18 months after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and very aggressive bone cancer, devastating the family already exhausted from a battle with the disease. Fortunately, Ava did. “Even […]
Lea más
7 Jul 2026
Hillside
Americans across the country and around the world will be marking the nation’s 250th anniversary this Saturday on July 4th, and perhaps a more impactful celebration of independence three weeks later, when Hillside hosts a festival at its Hidden Valley campus to celebrate National Disability Independence Day. It’s the second year for the festival, which […]
Lea más
A Feast of Literary Mystery
‘Feast’ A feast for all the senses is the debut novel by Catherine Kurtz entitled Feast. I have never read anyone who describes food in such a visceral, gorgeous, creative way, not even from renowned food critics. Kurtz is a painter and food writer and sets her debut novel in 1880s London. Minah has an […]
Lea más
Hope Unleashed: The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation in Venezuela
Venezuela, located at the northernmost tip of South America, occupies a typically enviable spot in the middle of the tropics. Gaze northward from a beach there and you’re taking in both the Caribbean and the mighty Atlantic. The country also sits atop a tectonic meeting place, a boundary where the Caribbean and South American plates […]
Lea más
Red Gorgonian, Eugorgia Daniana
Though plantlike in appearance, this is actually a specimen of a soft-coral colonial animal. It’s Eugorgia daniana, a species of gorgonian. Unlike their hard-coral cousins, gorgonians don’t build reefs but are still capable of creating impressive structures. A gorgonian’s body has a firm internal axis that looks like a dead tree. Depending on the type […]
Lea más
Sheriff’s Blotter — 93108
Sexual Advances / 600 block Olive Mill Road — Monday, June 15, at 16:12 hours Victim had repeated unwanted sexual advances from a coworker, who also repeatedly touched his buttocks and told him he wanted to have sex with him. The victim was at a party with the suspect and went to sleep in a […]
Lea más
