Tag archives: mudslides
Grief is a given in this life and a natural part of the human experience, but many people refuse to allow themselves to dive fully into their sadness, and definitely not in public. Yet many other cultures throughout time have processed grief in community; its expression is a casualty of our modern times. Alexis Slutzky […]
Montecito Family YMCA has partnered with more than a dozen local organizations and leaders to provide assistance to the Montecito community in response to the Thomas Fire and mudslides. In collaboration with these local organizations, the YMCA was able to assist in providing childcare, mud removal, youth activities, clothes, and toys for affected Montecito residents. […]
Our home in Glen Oaks wasn’t destroyed in the January Montecito mudslides, but others within a cat’s prowl lost theirs. This article about measuring “just compensation” in an inverse condemnation case is for my less lucky neighbors and friends. This involves real estate appraisal, which, like poker, is not very interesting unless played for money. […]
Nearly three months after launching the grassroots effort of organizing volunteers to clear mud from residents’ homes following January’s mudslides, the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade is launching a new pilot program to further help mudslide victims. Bucket Brigade founder Abe Powell and co-founder Josiah Hamilton explained to the Montecito Association board last week and at […]
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 […]
Earlier this week, California Insurance commissioner Dave Jones announced that insurers have received 2,000+ insurance claims totaling more than $421 million in losses from the Montecito mudslide. “Over $421 million in insured losses represents more than property lost – behind these numbers are the tragic deaths of 21 people and thousands of residents traumatized by […]
On March 22 at 5:19 a.m., Santa Barbara County officials issued emergency phone alerts and calls to evacuate Montecito residents. “Flash flood watch in effect for SB County. Leave now if you are still in evac/burn areas.” The County sent the alert as soon as rains started pummeling Southern California. They used a federal emergency […]
As Montecito residents recover from their fifth mandatory evacuation since the start of the Thomas Wildfire, there is a growing frustration that the future fate of Montecito will not be resolved by a “Montecito Strong” community visioning plan of our own making, but by external forces outside this community’s span of control. Fifteen weeks have […]
Mud from the recent slides is not only killing people and destroying homes, it is also devastating trees in the community. To that end, animal activist Gretchen Lieff has founded Montecito Now, which is dedicated to the restoration, health and preservation of trees in our rarefied enclave, especially two native species, the coastal live oak […]
A few days before the mudslide, my neighbor Curtis Skene moved his 104-year old mother out of their home on East Valley Lane. Around 4 am on the day of the mudslide, he heard crashing sounds, looked out the bedroom window, and saw giant boulders fly by. He hopped out of bed and ran outside. […]
On Tuesday, March 13, it was announced that singer Katy Perry will hold a concert to benefit the community recovering from the Thomas Fire and mudslide, which includes Cold Spring School and its music program. The concert will be at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Saturday, May 19, at 7 pm. Locals-only presale tickets will […]
It looks like our “New Normal” is to be the evacuation of upwards of 30,000 residents who live below the Thomas Fire boundary from Carpinteria to Goleta, where the now bare soil has been completely upended and exposed to drying winds and constant desiccating sunshine. Every time a hint of precipitation shows up on a […]
It was third time lucky for Montecito society doyenne Beverley Jackson when she threw her annual firefighters benefit bash. Because of the Thomas Fire and the devastating mudslides, bubbly Beverley had to cancel two other dates at her oceanside home, but more than 80 guests turned up with toys for needy children at the hastily […]
Remember Frank Galvin from Sidney Lumet’s 1982 film, The Verdict? Paul Newman played Galvin, an ambulance-chasing attorney who reads the obituaries to get clients. When we first meet Galvin in the movie, he is bribing funeral directors to let him pass his business cards to the bereaved. Galvin’s ghosts have been trolling for business 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 […]
Everyone says we live in paradise, but there is another paradise in Goleta at the state-of-the-art ice skating rink called Ice in Paradise. It’s located not far from Costco at 6985 Santa Felicia. The rink’s main donor (more than $1 million) was Ed Snider, who owned the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. In […]
On Tuesday, February 13, Laguna families came together at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club in the name of love and music to benefit Direct Relief and all those affected by the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides. In addition to helping others and enjoying an evening of music by Laguna’s talented students, guests heard from Laguna […]
On the 26th of January, while driving south from Santa Ynez back to Redondo Beach, I went through Montecito and thought about my friend Missy. I knew she had been evacuated during the Thomas Fire, and again shortly thereafter, a second time, as a result of the mudslide. We had spoken only briefly in the […]
In an effort to boost shopping and dining in Montecito’s upper village, a group of volunteers and neighbors have planned a special shopping, music, and food event at various locations in the upper village on Saturday, February 24, from 2 to 6 pm. Dubbed “Celebrate Montecito’s Upper Village,” the event will be a family-friendly way […]
Montecito’s cleanup effort is well underway with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers having cleared most of the creeks and debris basins. But a largely unanswerable question surrounds the massive mountain of mud still piled on private property: what to do with the stuff. This is not just an individual homeowner problem; it is a […]
