Tag archives: pandemic

When Jennifer Blevins opened her first electric bike shop in 2018, she explained, “Everyone thought we were crazy, but they didn’t understand electric bikes yet.” Blevins is the owner, founder, and CEO of Montecito’s new all-electric bike shop, Mad Dogs and Englishmen.  The pandemic has driven dramatic growth in unexpected categories, including electric bicycles. According […]

Montecito resident and medical journalist Michael Bowker has penned a new book, Beating Long Haulers Syndrome, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. “I really wanted to shed light on Long Haulers Syndrome, and convince people and politicians that it is striking millions of COVID survivors. We need to allocate far more funds […]

Am I the only one noticing the dangerous speeds that e-bikes and riders who push them to their limits pose to drivers and themselves in and around Montecito? They seem to zip around as fast as motorcycles, yet no special license is required. It’s great that more people are getting outdoors and traveling farther afield […]

On July 19, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department issued guidance recommending folks wear masks while indoors, whether vaccinated or not. This isn’t a surprise, given what has been happening with the Delta variant, which includes: •Significant uptick in cases in Israel, the UK, Los Angeles, and now the Bay Area. •Israel resumed mandated […]

The pandemic put a damper on everyone’s best-laid plans, but for the residents of Hillside — a Santa Barbara facility for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — it was truly devastating. Many of the residents lead active lives and follow carefully constructed routines under usual circumstances. Most leave Hillside daily for a variety of […]

As summer arrives and many of us are emerging as “walking wounded” from the isolation and multi-layered toll of the coronavirus, I think it’s safe to say that we could all use a little spiritual guidance to help transition back into the post-pandemic world. Post-Isolation Syndrome is a real thing and reintegrating into society after […]

Standing on the threshold of a post-COVID world feels like an opportunity to evaluate the past and make choices for the future. In such transition times, our small-self is asked to align with a big-self perspective. This is when it makes sense to listen to a resource that comes from way beyond and resonates deep […]

At a hearing on Tuesday, the Santa Barbara City Council considered modifying aesthetic guidelines related to the outdoor dining in the public right-of-way on State Street, and on parklets in other areas of the city, including Coast Village Road. Many in the community were under the impression that the meeting was to consider removal of […]

California and much of the country reopening have been met with rejoicing by many people, but not everybody is completely comfortable with jumping right back into their old lives.  That’s the impetus behind Hospice of Santa Barbara’s “Navigating Re-entry” Town Hall, an online forum featuring a half-dozen community leaders discussing the fears, anxiety, and issues […]

The past 18 months have been tough on the emotional body. Dealing with loss, bracing for the unknown, and shouldering through have all taken their toll. If you check in, chances are, you’ll find a layer of tension under a layer of fatigue. The tension is your body’s response to stress and distress; the fatigue […]

Faced with the pervasive pandemic protocols in the summer of 2020, the Music Academy of the West proved its mettle by coming up with MARLI — the Music Academy Remote Learning Institute — a technical wonder that allowed students and faculty to immerse themselves in learning and music making even if only virtually and in […]

Cruise ships are lined up and ready to sail… maybe. Yes, last week the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance that permits cruise ships to sail from U.S. ports provided that at least 95% of guests and 98% of crew have been vaccinated. This drops the requirement for test voyages without […]

Meredith Cabaniss-Ventura, the Selah Dance Collective founder and artistic director, doesn’t remember where she first found the main word of her dance company other than remembering it’s featured heavily in the Bible in the Book of Psalms. But while she liked that the word isn’t directly translatable to English, one of the meanings struck her […]

I entered my 20s in the pandemic. Ten years prior, you would’ve found me in Mr. D’Alfonso’s fourth-grade classroom at Montecito Union School. It was a good year. It was a big year. We started algebra and my friends taught me how to change the background image on a computer, so we could all have […]

James Carville famously coined this phrase in 1992 as candidate Bill Clinton campaigned for president. He hung it (together with two other “targeting” phrases) in the Clinton “War Room” where that campaign was planned and executed. It turned out that the recession of 1992 was just the boost that Clinton needed to unseat then-President George […]

When my husband and I moved our family from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara in search of a more congenial habitat, we were determined to hold on to one key big city perk — excellent medical care. So, we kept our L.A. doctors despite the time we knew it meant we’d spend in the car.  […]

During a year in which the world’s art galleries and museums have been closed, 13 graduating art majors overcame innumerable obstacles to offer their capstone art projects on April 8. The exhibit, which includes oil paintings, drawings, collages, digital illustrations, sculptural installations, prints, photographs, videos, and stop-motion animation will be on display through May 8 […]

Over 250 employees of the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort are seeking back pay to account for being out of work for over 13 months, according to a recent memorandum sent to Montecito Journal. Local law firm Anticouni & Ricotta, which is representing the employees, is scheduled to mediate with the Four Seasons at the end […]