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 […]
In 2019, Das Williams said he wouldn’t accept future contributions from the cannabis industry, but he hasn’t kept this promise. The largest contribution Williams has received from the cannabis industry is from CP1 Supply Systems, located near Carpinteria and described by the Better Business Bureau as a company that deals in “Marijuana Sales and Services.” […]
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The Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation supports charter amendment (Measure A2024) featured on the March 5th ballot. In partnership with the Santa Barbara Public Library and the City, the Foundation has been working to revitalize the Library Plaza since 2012. After many years of working through the City Hall approval process and completing a successful […]
Jerry Roberts hosts the weekly Newsmakers with JR show. Newsmakers’ editorial operation is based in Santa Barbara County’s First District, so our interest in the campaign for its seat on the Board of Supervisors’ is both professional and personal. A longtime independent, No Party Preference registered voter, this columnist has reported, written and commented on […]
I always find it curious that proponents of higher minimum wages don’t aim high enough. The Federal minimum wage is $7.25. As of January 1, California’s minimum wage went to $16 per hour; fast-food workers get $20 per hour. If they believe this is the way to lift low-wage workers out of poverty, why is […]
This month a delegation of eight women who survived Hamas’ October 7th massacre, were brought to Santa Barbara as a delegation of “sisters” to share their accounts of what happened, and to feel the love, support and care of this community. I had the painful privilege of spending a few hours with Etti Koren, Sigal […]
Money in politics has been something we have seen for too long, and the results have been devastating. The 1st District Supervisor race pits incumbent Das Williams against challenger Roy Lee. Williams, with substantial campaign funds, has continued to accept financial contributions from the cannabis industry, despite the ethical concerns highlighted by the 2020 Santa […]
Your recent editorial describing Das Williams as ‘commitment to self rather than to public service’ surprised me. That is a term I have never associated with him. I have personally worked with Das over these last 20 years on issues that touched on his passion for improving our Environment – bike and pedestrian safety improvements, […]
Everyone has heard about artificial intelligence and the computer program ChatGPT. It seems to have reached some level of intelligence by digesting and synthesizing data from billions of articles on the World Wide Web. It’s a stunning achievement and holds the promise to positively transform society. Let me disclose at the beginning that I wrote […]
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One aspect of my doddering old age is my witnessing of numerous periods of political upheaval and national distress. Recently I’ve been troubled when I hear several friends of my vintage rationalize our current sad state of affairs as “no worse than the string of 1960 assassinations, the terrible conflict and losses of the Vietnam […]
I’m going to take some steel discs, slugs – you know, the kind you find in electrical outlet boxes – stamp HarCoin on them plus my profile, and sell them at auction. I will call them HarCoins. I’m going to number them serially through an RFD chip that will be embedded in the slug. If […]
Montecito’s proximity to Los Angeles has long made our village the jewel in the crown for location scouts seeking blue-chip environs for unforgettable Hollywood classics. And then there is the great Olivia de Havilland’s silver screen zenith and its intersection with Montecito. “They shot Gone with the Wind in Montecito?!” No, you lovable fool. I’m […]
We at the Montecito Journal wish everyone in our local and world community a New Year filled with good health, movement toward world peace, and a willingness to see the shared humanity in us all. We thank you for your ongoing support, and we look forward to what promises to be an interesting and eventful […]
When you wrote the article about Caltrans tearing down the iconic trees in the Montecito median in order to expand the freeway, one of their excuses was that it would allow them to limit tearing up the landscape on the edges of the freeway. I wrote a letter questioning many of the positions Caltrans was […]






