Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management held both a press conference and a community meeting on February 8, to unveil a new interactive map and revised evacuation plans for future storms, nearly one month after 21 people were killed – two others remain missing – in the mud flow event of January 9. “This […]
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The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) just opened a new dual exhibit titled “Displaced: The Detention & Internment of Santa Barbarans During World War II” and “Only The Oaks Remain”. The show opened on First Thursday and will be followed by two lectures: “The Road to Tuna Canyon” given Thursday, February 22, at 5:30 pm […]
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Now that the Santa Barbara International Film Festival ((SBIFF) red carpet is rolled up and put away for another year, it might be fun to turn the clock back and remember how it was. Long before there was a SBIFF, Santa Barbara was the first film capital of the west and the largest in the […]
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Santa Barbara’s musical youth shone at the First United Methodist Church when the youth opera and youth symphony under Opera SB artistic director Kostis Protpapas performed a creative production of Benjamin Britten’s Noah’s Flood. The 1958 work, based on a 15th-century Chester mystery play, featured bass-baritone Vincent Grana and mezzo soprano Chelsea Melamed as his […]
Lea másOne of the unexpected gifts of the twin tragedies of the Thomas Fire – the largest recorded wildfire in California’s history – and the subsequent Montecito mudslide, has been the outpouring of sympathy, compassion, and support from our neighbors in the City of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, the rest of Santa Barbara County, and […]
Lea másThe Montecito Heat Index is a measurement of signed real estate purchase contracts, which are pending final closing for Montecito single-family homes in five distinct price sectors. This data, rather than closed sales, more closely measure present demand or Heat. And since real estate activity fluctuates, monthly and seasonally, today’s Heat score is compared to […]
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Since the Thomas Fire began December 4 of last year – then burned more than a quarter-million acres of Southern California, including southern segments of the Santa Barbara County shoreline and Montecito – the sound of cash registers and consumers plodding Coast Village Road had been (at one point at least around Christmas, and to […]
Lea másIn last week’s issue of The Montecito Journal, I explained that if the facts show a fire, covered by a typical homeowners’ insurance policy, was the “efficient proximate cause” of a later mudslide, then mudslide damage could be covered under a homeowners’ insurance policy. On January 29, California insurance commissioner Dave Jones adopted the same […]
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The second Monday of December, at the height of the smoke and ash filling the air from the Thomas Fire, I donned my N95 mask and headed down to Yoga Soup for “The Big Sing”, the final session of the initial inCourage Community Chorus classes led by Britta Gudmunson and Ben Gould. It was quite […]
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A special preview reception was held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) for exhibition sponsors, sustaining trustees, legacy society, benefactors circle, director’s patron, PhotoFutures, and special guests. This was followed by a reception for all of the members. The new exhibition titled “Brought to Light” is drawn from the 28,000 works of art […]
Lea másJeannine’s is my favorite breakfast spot in Montecito. Grab a coffee, have a seat outside, and do a little people-watching while you wait for pancakes. It makes for a delightful morning. That’s why it’s upsetting to me, and many others, that Jeannine’s may be facing some tough insurance challenges due to the recent debris flow. […]
Lea másI love my wife more than I love football. I just want to make that perfectly clear. I also love the family more than I love football. Another point you need to understand. Finally, I love family events, such as birthday parties, specifically my wife Pat‘s birthday party, more than I love football. That almost […]
Lea másMaybe you’ve heard about the child who came home from Sunday School reporting he’d been learning a song about a cross-eyed bear named Gladly. The song turned out to be one called “Gladly the Cross I’d Bear.” Now, let me tell you some similar misunderstandings of which I myself have been guilty. One of them […]
Lea másIt was difficult to approach writing a year-in-review article, when faced with the recent calamitous episodes in Montecito. Then the hills I hiked every week came down onto our fair town the morning of January 9, many of us lost – or know someone who lost –family, friends, co-workers, even their homes and property. My […]
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While retailers across the country enjoyed a very Merry Christmas, retail in Montecito struggled. From hair salons to gift shops to restaurants, business owners watched helplessly as fire and ash led to mandatory evacuations, intolerable air quality and the absence of holiday tourists, all of which put a damper on holiday parties and decimated local […]
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After receiving clearance from Montecito Water District that the boil-water notice was lifted in the majority of Montecito, most businesses and restaurants in the upper and lower villages were back in business over the weekend, marking another milestone in the recovery process. Los Arroyos reopened its doors on February 2, despite the lack of internet […]
Lea másAt this month’s Montecito Association Lane Use Committee meeting, the Committee was given a briefing on the rebuilding of Montecito from Matt Pontes, the County’s director of recovery, as well as representatives from the Planning & Development department. “We are considering this ‘Phase Two’ of the disaster, trying to navigate the rebuilding process,” said Cori […]
Lea másWhile Montecito residents and businesses continue to rebuild following the mudflow event of January 9, the Montecito Fire District, which is credited with saving many lives during the storm event, recently welcomed the newest member of their team. Luca Gil Nahas – the son of Araceli Gil, District accountant for MFPD, and her husband, Rich […]
Lea másSaturday, February 10, marks the Friendship Center’s 19th Annual Festival of Hearts at the Fess Parker. The festive Valentine luncheon is a popular fundraising event for the adult daycare center, located on Eucalyptus Road in Montecito. This year’s theme is the Queen of Hearts’ Tea Party, and attendees will enjoy lunch, local wines, musical entertainment […]
Lea más(Information provided by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department) Thursday, 1 February, 9 pm -– A homeowner in the 200 block of Gould Lane in Montecito heard strange noises coming from a child’s bedroom inside his residence. The homeowner/victim, a father of two young children, went to search for the source of the noise. Upon entering […]
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