Sandra Nelle Ventress: October 30, 1962 – March 22, 2024
By Montecito Journal   |   April 1, 2025

Unforgettable Irresistible Gracious Compassionate It’s been a year Miss you with every breath Yours Forever – the Paperboy

A Whirl of Texts and Fun
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

A new comedy about texts, sex, and empty nests, Parents in Chains – written by Emmy and Peabody Award winner Jay Martel – is the latest Ensemble Theatre Company production at the New Vic. Directed by Andy Fickman, the play focuses on six Los Angeles parents dealing with communications from their teenagers driving home from […]

 

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‘Ain’t Too Proud’ Ain’t Too Bad
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

The venerable Granada rocked to the Motown sound when the Tony Award-winning show Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations rocked the theater in the American Theater Guild production. Electrifying smash hits launched them from their home in Detroit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a fascinating story about […]

yMusic Rocks
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West was socially gridlocked for the Mariposa series of yMusic featuring trumpeter alumni CJ Camerieri performing a new work inviting listeners to commune with the fragile beauty of natural worlds. A new score, a blend of acoustic performance, featured raw and personal field recordings with California composer […]

Visionary Leadership
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

UCSB Arts & Lectures Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci was honored by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her 25 years at the university. Celesta, a longtime friend, received the Visionary Arts Leadership Award as part of the Regional Business Awards Gala at the Hilton from Dr. Colin Marlaire, […]

New to SB Wildlife Care
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

Dr. Cheryl Chooljian is the new Director of Veterinary Services for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. She has a diverse background in veterinary medicine and wildlife conservation. She earned her BA in biology at the University of Texas in Arlington and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Louisiana State University of Veterinary […]

Who’s on Board?
By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

Jim Jackson is the new Board Chair of Santa Barbara Zoo and Ozlem Arconian, Hillary Courtemanche, Rhonda Ledson Henderson, and Jennifer Perry have joined the board. Serving as a trustee of the Ann Jackson Family Foundation for more than 25 years, Jackson brings a legacy of leadership and community commitment to his new board role. […]

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  • Podcasting Confessions
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 25, 2025

    Just a week after launching her new Netflix culinary series With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex is back in the podcast game. Meghan Markle has launched Confessions of a Female Founder with Lemonada Media. “I’ve been having candid comments with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities and scaled small ideas into amazingly […]

    All Aboard the Love Boat
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

    The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum throbbed to the Caribbean beat as 140 guests celebrated a Love Boat cruise gala with head honcho Greg Gorga in all white officer’s uniform. Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko, who created a Santa Barbara Whale Heritage Area, and Sigrid Toye, a past board president and current board member, were presented […]

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    Rock for First Responders
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

    The venerable Granada was packed for a sold-out Rock for First Responders concert, organized by One805. Even Prince Harry turned out for the VIP reception. A guitar signed by HRH and the other performers, including Macy Gray, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald and Alan Parsons, soldfor $9,000. Toad the Wet Sprocket and Hootie & the Blowfish […]

    Friends and Fun in the Appalachia
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

    French violinist and former Santa Barbara Symphony concert master Gilles Apap was in his element in a CAMA Masterpiece series concert with Friends! at the Lobero Theatre. Apap played a colorful selection of works with pianist Inna Faliks featuring Fauré, Krieger, Enescu, Piazzolla and Paganini, before playing Chinese and Tibetan compositions with Xiaoli Cioffi on […]

    Home on the Rangeland
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

    The Californian Rangeland Trust, founded in 1998, hosted the public premiere of its 49-minute documentary You Just Can’t See Them from the Road – directed by Keely Brazil Covello and Michaela Brazil Gillies, daughters of ranch veterinarians in a remote area of northern California. More than 200 people clad in Stetsons and cowboy boots poured […]

    Mar y Cel Sold!
    By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

    Santa Barbara residents Eric, former head of Google, and Wendy Schmidt’s family foundation has purchased the 350-acre parcel of land known as Mar y Cel, the largest contiguous undeveloped property in Montecito. In keeping with their philanthropic focus on the environment and in recognition of the value of Mar y Cel to the community and […]

    FUTURE for Lompoc Youth
    By Steven Libowitz   |   March 18, 2025

    Chuck Madson knows a lot about the possible consequences of believing that your opportunities are limited. A Central Coast native, he spent more than a decade as an incarcerated convict, half of those before he turned 20, the result of both substance abuse and a challenging childhood. But Madson turned his life around after he […]

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