With respect to our creeks, their drainage, and the topography, there is a direct correlation with aquifer recharge. But, thus far, there seems to be an absence of discussing the overlap between recharge basin placement and debris basin placement. Is there the possibility that these structures, by their careful placement, could be doing double duty? […]

Going forward, Montecito home and business owners need to have continuing, affordable, comprehensive, insurance coverage. As a community, we need to speak with one voice in demanding that public officials ensure that such insurance remains in place.  Here are three of the issues that will have to be addressed by lawmakers, insurance regulators, and insurance […]

I have been in science my whole life, and as I age I realize it rarely has needed a Newton or Einstein; it has just needed information and common sense. As an example, I realized in recent weeks after witnessing the current hysteria over rain and flooding, there is a simpler explanation to our freak […]

Montecito‘s bike and walking paths are slipping into the ocean. Recent heavy rains are eroding the bike path’s retaining wall along Channel Drive. The path is now dramatically undermined; easily viewable from the beach. In various areas, huge sections of retaining cement walls, mounds of cliff-side mud and trees litter the sand. This week, a […]

I thought our community might like to see how other Montecito residents are coping with our recent disasters. Like many others, my wife, Nancy, and I were suffering from evacuation fatigue after the Thomas Fire and decided when authorities ordered a second evacuation for a winter storm, that our home was far enough away from […]

The Hollywood crowd must be asking why the Oscar’s ratings continued to decline again this year? Why is it that more people don’t want to watch a bunch of glitzy starlets with boob jobs and drunk on their own self-importance trying to impress each other? Could it be that they can’t help themselves from using […]

Harry Kolb’s wife, Karen, recently passed away (see “In Passing” on page16); he penned the following short but poignant memory of their growing up together during an email back-and-forth with us that we think deserves wider dissemination: Karen’s brother, Jim, and I were best friends growing up in the St. Louis hills and Karen was […]

Karen left our world on February 27, 2018. She passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by her many friends and family and near her special garden. Karen was born October 13, 1946, to Arthur G. Stuckenberg and Clara (Juergens) Stuckenberg in St. Louis, Missouri. Arthur was a real estate developer and created the Williamsburg […]

Jack Cantin, 17, of Montecito, California, is presumed dead after being missing since the Montecito mudslides, which occurred January 9, 2018. His mother, Kimberly Cantin, and his sister, Lauren Cantin, were injured in the mudslides in which his father, David Cantin, 49, and his dog, Chester the Irish Setter, were killed.  Jack was born in […]

I believe you are off on this one (“Who Should Pay?” MJ #24/7). Most of the merchants I spoke with were paying their workers at least part of their wages. You might want to call around. After all these years, you would think a business could protect workers from their losses. I don’t want to […]

Heal the Ocean (HTO) has received numerous (some irate) phone calls regarding the mud being deposited on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. Television media has also called for a response from us. We told them, and everyone else, we were investigating and would let everyone know when we knew the answer. We at HTO don’t believe […]

Two videos on the 93108fund.org website were brought to my attention. Both ladies profiled currently work for Pierre Lafond, and they say in the video that they have missed up to 90 hours [of] work due to the fire/flood and are now receiving checks from the 93108fund.org to make up for lost hours. I’m wondering […]

I chose to write this letter even at the hesitation of the people I am writing it for… I am a past resident of Montecito, where I grew up. I attended Mt. Carmel School as well as Bishop Diego. I moved away after college, yet continue to visit my parents and sister who are still […]

Dave Cantin, 49, of Montecito, California died suddenly as a result of the Montecito mudslides that occurred January 9, 2018. His wife, Kim, and daughter, Lauren, were injured in the mudslides and his son, Jack, 17, remains missing.  David was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7, 1968, and spent his early years in […]

On the morning of January 9, our family narrowly escaped a tsunami of mud waters and our family is lucky to be alive. When the mountain of mud came at us, we fled our home as fast as we could. My husband took one car and I took another. We went to the right and […]

We are sending this email to all our friends and family who have reached out to us in regard to the Montecito fire and mudslide tragedies and evacuations. The story begins over a month ago, when Lynda and I were forced to evacuate our Romero Canyon home due to the largest wildfire in California history. Three […]

Please, let’s keep as many boulders that have clobbered our community as possible; place them someplace in Montecito (Manning Park, Toro Canyon Park, the Cold Spring area, the lot we traded with the Y next to MUS) and build a big, big awesome (think Awahnee) community stone house recreation center. Have several big outdoor stone […]

Peter Walker Hunt‘s letter (“Put the Fires Out!” MJ #23/51) brings out the stunning reality of what our communities have just gone through. Current federal policy on wildfire management is choking us in the smoke of burned tax dollars. The devastation and death of wildlife is a by-product of the “goal line” set within a […]

I have a couple ideas to help our local economy in regards to the recent tragic Thomas Fire. My suggestion is to have a Holiday Re-Do on February 25. This gives all the businesses, companies, nonprofits, clubs, and individuals an opportunity to re-do their parties and events that were canceled due to the Thomas Fire. This […]

What a ride this has been for us all. While we are not yet out of the woods of what will probably turn out to be the worst wildfire in California’s history, I write this letter with a cautious sense of optimism. There are still over 8,000 firefighters on this fire. On 12-hour shifts, there […]

I would like to recommend to Bob Hazard, who wrote the recent Guest Editorial (“California Screaming,” MJ #23/48), that the Los Angeles Times of Tuesday, December 5, published a brief letter from a Godfrey Harris under the subject of “Why we pay taxes”. From Mr. Harris’s point of you, which I agree with, Americans are […]

Bob Hazard‘s debunking of tax reform Myth #3 (Guest Editorial, MJ #23/48) was revelatory, but not debunking. His Myth #3 is “Removing the Federal Deduction for State and Local Taxes is Unfair to High-Tax States such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois.” Unfortunately, Mr. Hazard did not address a fundamental issue of […]

Climate change is happening whether one “believes” in it or not, and 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity is the cause. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have dug up past living things and burned them, something that has thrown off the balance under which life as we know it has evolved. Carbon […]

Congratulations to Ms Diana Starr Langley for serving as publisher of the beautiful new issue of your glossy magazine, her first. However, there is an egregious error in the issue, which suggests carelessness or ignorance on the author’s or caption-writer’s part. This error must be appalling to the informed music lovers in this community and […]

The recent two-part editorials on Coast Village Road (MJ #23/43 & 23/45) was very interesting. You did, however, have an error in the recent Part 2. You said that it was the City of Santa Barbara that caused the closure of the southbound 101 on-ramp and that it was Santa Barbara city officials’ contention that […]

I have been a Dodgers fan for over 25 years. Some of my favorite players were Piazza, Karros, Mondesi, Nomo, Kershaw, just to name a few. The one thing I have not been a fan of was, and is, the ownerships. Rupert Murdoch and the Fox people were bad. Trading [Mike] Piazza was one of […]