Tag archives: Thomas Fire
Next Thursday, September 20, the Montecito Community Foundation in collaboration with the Montecito Association will unveil a plaque dedicated to the victims of the Thomas Fire of December 2017 and the subsequent debris flows of January 9. Members of the community are encouraged to attend. The 20-inch x 31-inch bronze plaque will list the names […]
Mysticism is made manifest via the spiritually inspired saxophone played by Charles Lloyd, the jazz artist whose career began in Memphis in the 1950s, found stardom in the 1960s (when his Forest Flower was the first-ever million-selling jazz album), became an inner-seeking Big Sur recluse in the ’70s and resurrected himself in the ’90s as […]
The tangible results of One805’s Kick Ash bash at Bella Vista in Summerland in February, starring Katy Perry, Kenny Loggins, Wilson Phillips, and David Foster, among others, were on show when the first of three $200,000 mobile command units was presented to the city fire department chief, Lee Waldron, in a ceremony at the C.L. […]
Montecito has always been an integral part of the Santa Barbara Studio Artists (SBSA) Open Studios tour. But not so much this year. The annual Labor Day weekend event when local artists who are members of the organization welcome guests into their working home studios or off-site locations has just one site for visitors to […]
Everywhere you look in California, there are larger, more explosive fires. Why? As the left once again blames climate change, could there be another reason why we are seeing so many huge fires? What role have environmental activists, eco lobbyists, green NGOs, lawyers, and politicians played? What about forest management? Forests need thinning to promote […]
Oh, dear. I see that the Journal has published more political emails. I really wish you wouldn’t. They’re mostly pretty stale, even the anti-Trump ones. Les Conrad reaches almost the same degree of derangement, if in less colorful prose. Right off, he suggests that our least Biblically inspired president (in itself, not a bad thing; […]
With the devastating Thomas Fire over the New Year still fresh in many memories, a dynamic duo of writers, Elizabeth Rose and Deva Temple, have written From The Fire, a collection of photographs, art, poetry, and reflection of Ojai’s experience in the conflagration. “It is amazing what we have collected,” says Rose. ‘We have received […]
Last week, United Way of Santa Barbara County announced the distribution of the last of the funds donated to the organization following the Thomas Fire and debris flow. The second and last phase of funds are assisting households representing more than 1,200 Santa Barbara County individuals and families and 20 community organizations. The total amount […]
The County of Santa Barbara announced earlier this week that it will transition County services out of the Montecito Center on Coast Village Circle by Friday, August 31. The Center was opened in March as a central location for residents impacted by the Thomas Fire and debris flow to access support and services. “The County […]
I met Ashley Iverson, the widow of Corey Iverson – who died fighting the Thomas Fire last December – at the Kick Ash Bash in Summerland, where I learned that she was not only being sponsored by Nina Tierzan but was also staying with Nina in her beach house in Montecito. I have described Ms […]
Among the heroes braving the Montecito mudslides in January were 18 teams from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF), the group’s largest single deployment since Hurricane Katrina. Based in Santa Paula, SDF had two veteran Canine Disaster Search Teams ready and waiting in the area prior to the slide, allowing them to get straight to work. […]
In an exquisitely crafted 2006 article about debris flows written for Canyon Voices and specifically about the nature of Rattlesnake Canyon, Karen Telleen Lawton wrote: “Barely a thousand years ago – a second on a geologist’s watch – a rainwater and boulder slurry called a debris flow surged through [Rattlesnake Canyon], strewing its 10 million […]
The Montecito Motor Classic is by all accounts a tremendous success. The California Central Coast has long had a love affair with classic cars. The show’s home is on Coast Village Road, drawing fans from up and down the coast to ogle the fabulous array of assiduously maintained classic autos. The Motor Classic also raises […]
Many quiet heroes of these last few months have escaped the deserved visibility that first responders and other notables have received in this and other local media. But, we must try to name some of these quieter-but-not-lesser heroes, and thank them as best we can and as frequently as they come to mind. From my […]
First, the bad news: “There’s plenty of material up here waiting to come down,” says Kevin Taylor, division chief of Operations at Montecito Fire Department. He says this as he, I, and Montecito Fire chief Chip Hickman examine the Montecito back country and the dry steep mountains directly above in a four-person, single-rotor helicopter flown […]
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 […]
Sometimes it takes a village. That point was well demonstrated three weeks ago, when dozens of Montecito residents – mostly strangers to each other – gathered at a community roundtable to share what they’d learned so far from the Thomas Fire and Debris Flow insurance claim experience. There was some initial trepidation the group might […]
On June 5, Matt Pontes, assistant County CEO, presented the SB Board of Supervisors with a draft of the Strategic Recovery Plan, which outlines the County’s approach to ongoing recovery efforts following the Thomas Fire and January 9 debris flow. “We’re all after building a resilient Montecito,” said Pontes, who has taken the role of […]
Earlier this week, One805, the team that organized the massive February 25 concert fundraiser at the Nesbitt Estate, the Kick Ash Bash, distributed the funds raised by the event to various organizations. More than $2 million was raised from the Kick Ash Bash, which drew 2,500+ people to a large-scale, celebrity-filled concert and kid-friendly carnival; […]
After nearly five months of closure following the January 9 debris flow, the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore is slated to reopen its doors this Friday, June 1. “We are so looking forward to welcoming back our guests, as well as our local community who have been so supportive of us during this time,” said […]
