Jimmy Stewart played a version of this character in the well-known classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The difference is, our newly elected soon to be 1st District County Supervisor is for real. Or is he? Time will certainly tell. But for now, Roy Lee is on his way to the county to do what […]
The Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County political organization on Sunday presented its Woman of the Year award to Montecito Journal editor Gwyn Lurie, whose acceptance speech included a stinging rebuke of feminist groups for their muted response to the Oct. 7 Hamas strike on Israel. “Dem Women” is the most – perhaps the only […]
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Gwyn Lurie is my business partner and political opposite. The one thing we agree on is that we make each other better. Well, better and more tired. I was proud that Gwyn was honored this past Sunday as the Dem Women of Santa Barbara’s ‘Woman of the Year.’ Had the Dem Women checked with me […]
Have we no memory? Have we no leadership? Who in our local government is representing the interests of Montecito residents? Are we considered too privileged to merit concern? When the debris nets on the mountains above Montecito were taken down on November 1, I was beside myself. As photos came in of helicopters lifting the […]
More than a year ago, in “sleepy” Santa Barbara, long before Hamas ever slaughtered 1,400 innocents at a peace festival or Israel retaliated, a special group of Central Coast locals were incubating a project that could just very well help with this mess. Maybe a lot of messes. Ironically, we may owe a debt of […]
Gwyn Lurie Reflects on What We’ve Gained and Lost with Our New Roundabouts Let me start by saying I’m not anti-progress. But driving through Montecito’s recent road “improvements,” I have to admit to some feelings of nostalgia… and loss. For those not aware of the origin of our new roundabouts bookending Coast Village Road, and […]
Last week I wrote about the long demise of the Santa Barbara News-Press and the poignance that the final chapter of its tortured story turned out to be Chapter 7. And I touched on the irreplaceable role local news plays in a robust, functioning democracy. A recent piece in the notably not-local New York Times […]
We live in this time of great schadenfreude – consider the case of the OceanGate submersible. I’ve never seen so many posts online from random people gloating over the misfortune of a billionaire. However, I for one take no joy or comfort in the death of the Santa Barbara News-Press, our town’s only daily newspaper, […]
I’m sure I’m not alone in being relieved that our community did not have to be evacuated during the storm this past weekend. Still, I was on pins and needles wondering whether that scary alarm would suddenly come blaring from my phone, informing me it was time to pile my family, my dogs, and a […]
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In my end-of-year letter, I wrote about my habitual January dread. Or as I sometimes like to call it, Janu-scary. And then January 9th reared its ugly head. Again. The coincidence of Mother Nature’s repeat performance was, to say the least, eerie. Let’s just say this is one time I didn’t enjoy being prescient. As […]
Locally, we’re coming up on five years since California’s epic Thomas Fire led to Montecito’s deadly January 9, 2018 debris flow. Which this year got me to thinking about anniversaries, my love of Decembers, and my fear of Januarys, how quickly time flies, and Moore’s Law. They say March comes in like a lion and […]
This week, Montecito became a little safer. On page 14 you can read about the ALERTCalifornia camera just installed on TV Hill that will provide 24/7 “eyes” on the Santa Barbara Front Country and eventually alert firefighters to new fire starts using artificial intelligence technology. But before you read about this exciting and potentially lifesaving […]
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” – John Wesley Of all the places I’ve lived or spent any significant […]
There were many big winners in Tuesday’s election, most importantly: democracy and grace. It made my heart sing to watch defeated candidates, red and blue, gracefully acknowledge that things had not gone their way, this time. Who knew that we still had the human capacityfor humility? Beyond that biggest of wins… a few local highlights: […]
