Tag archives: local news

Explosions on July 4th
By Montecito Journal   |   July 16, 2024

On July 4th, neighbors in the Butterfly Beach area reported several large explosions off the ledge on Channel Drive throughout the evening. Debris was reported to have fallen on the roofs and yards of property owners alongChannel Drive.  After several calls to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and officers apprehended a 17-year-old male. When […]

Coast Village Association Seats New Board
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 28, 2023

The Annual Meeting for the Coast Village Improvement Association met last week at the Montecito Inn. The meeting’s purpose was the presentation of the 2024 slate to vote in the Board of Directors and to update the accomplishments and goals of the Interim Board and Executive Director.  The Interim Board of Directors voted unanimously to […]

Bus Fire Shuts Down Highway 101
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   September 26, 2023

At about 6:40 pm on Saturday, September 16, Montecito Fire responded to a bus fire on Highway 101 southbound near the Sheffield Drive exit. The driver of a tour bus noticed something was wrong with the vehicle, pulled over and evacuated the approximately 30 passengers and their luggage. The engine compartment of the bus caught […]

Governor Gavin Newsom Visits the Randall Road Debris Basin
By Joanne A Calitri and Zach Rosen   |   January 24, 2023

Governor Gavin Newsom toured the flood damage statewide on Friday, January 13 and stopped in Montecito in the late afternoon to visit the Randall Road Debris Basin, where over 80 California National Guard were deployed and working around the clock to do environmental remedial improvements that would ensure the safety of the area, and direct […]

Governor Newsom Visits Randall Road Debris Basin
By Joanne A Calitri   |   January 13, 2023

California Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Randall Road Debris Basin on Friday, January 13. The visit from Governor Newsom comes after a National Guard unit was deployed from Chico, CA, on January 12, 2023, to assist in clearing out rubble from the Randall Road Debris Basin in preparation for the upcoming storm. As a special […]

L.A. Investors Set Sights on Las Aves Complex
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   October 25, 2022

Earlier this year the Las Aves business complex on the corner of E. Cabrillo Blvd, Channel Drive, and Los Patos Way, across from the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, sold to a Los Angeles-based investment group to the tune of over $19M. Now, rumors are swirling that the group, called the Runyon Group, have big plans […]

Homicide Victim Named
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 2, 2022

The sheriffs have released the name of the victim from the homicide on the 900 block of Park Lane in May – 96-year-old Violet Evelyn Alberts. As part of the coroner’s investigation, detectives worked to locate a next-of-kin for the decedent to no avail and transferred the case to the Santa Barbara County Public Administrator’s […]

Montecito Association Discusses Pacaso
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 28, 2022

At last week’s Montecito Association (MA) meeting, the Board discussed what has become a hot topic in many communities across the country: fractional home ownership via Pacaso, a Bay Area-based company that buys homes and then sells fractional interests in them to second-home buyers. After the sale – in which the company makes a profit […]

In Pursuit of Beauty Exhibit Opens 
By Montecito Journal   |   June 7, 2022

The Santa Barbara Tennis Club’s art gallery, 2nd Fridays, will show Marianna Victoria Mashek’s exhibit In Pursuit of Beauty for the summer. 2nd Fridays features new local artists on the second Friday of every month, and showcases uplifting art and people to enrich and broaden the general and SBTC community. Mashek is a Santa Barbara […]

Farm to Paper to Open in Summerland
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 7, 2022

Two months after closing – and attempting to sell – her longtime Montecito stationery store, Letter Perfect, owner Leslie Person Ryan is prepping to open a new iteration of the shop, Farm to Paper, in downtown Summerland, just steps away from the small, open-air farm cart she operates on Lillie Avenue. The shop is located […]

Montecito Asks City, County to Collaborate on Homelessness
By Eileen Read   |   May 24, 2022

It’s noon, about five hours later than Hands Across Montecito’s (HAM) usual monthly hike to locate and aid our village’s hidden population of unhoused individuals. We generally arrive just after dawn to find folks barely awake in their bivouacs around freeway entrances, in gullies near the railroad tracks and cemetery, along creek beds, and on […]

Montecito Association’s Annual Meeting
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   January 18, 2022

The Montecito Association (MA) Board of Directors held its annual meeting this week, appointing new board members and saying goodbye to several retiring board members, as well as reviewing the Association’s activities in 2021.  Association president Megan Orloff and executive director Sharon Byrne reported on Association activities for the past year, which included extensive pandemic […]

Year in Review: Top 25 Stories on MontecitoJournal.net
By Nick Masuda   |   January 4, 2022

We know that you love picking up the Montecito Journal on newsstands, and it’s always a joy for us to see that. What’s been great in 2021 is to see how you’ve also come to enjoy what we have to offer online, both through our best-in-class newsletter, The Morning MoJo, as well as our revamped […]

A Unique Cover for a Unique Year
By Nick Masuda   |   January 4, 2022

How do you blend businesses closing, a school scandal, a royal interview, the return of in-person events, and an inclusive playground? You just ask artist extraordinaire Karen Folsom to take on the project. On the cover, you will find a playful moment with 13-year-old entrepreneur Marco DiPadova (upper left), the return of live concerts at […]