Normally the party animals are out in force when Gretchen Lieff hosts her birthday bash at her Arcady estate, but the pandemic restrictions put paid to that. So the annual fun fest became Zoom with a view when friends from far and wide “attended” the party on their computer screens, while the few real guests […]
Lea másIt takes a good interviewer and writer and selection of a worthy subject to produce a meaningful and touching article. Leslie A. Westbrook achieved all three for her piece, “At Home with Lou” (August 21-28, 2021). She focused on interviews with the prize-winning, former senior White House Correspondent for The Washington Post, Lou Cannon, and […]
Lea másWhat kind of a word is “filibuster,” how did we get stuck with it, and what the heck does it mean? Those of us old enough to remember seeing the 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring the legendary Jimmy Stewart, grew up with a badly distorted view of what the filibuster actually is […]
Lea másFor the last 22 years, Montecito’s Friendship Center has hosted a fun-filled pre-Valentine’s event to raise funds for the Center’s HEART (Help Elders At Risk Today) Program, subsidizing the cost of adult day services for low-income aging and dependent adults and their families. This year, thanks to the pandemic, the event is going virtual, and […]
Lea másAgronomist and farmer Jay Ruskey, co-founder of Frinj Coffee, situated on 42 acres at his family-owned and operated Good Land Organics Farm in Goleta, is trying to make the humble bean into a premium brand worthy of adjectives more associated with wine. Carved out of a 120-acre property formerly owned by Alfred and Betsy Bloomingdale […]
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Creativity comes in many forms, yet is unique to each individual pursuing it. However our own unique creativity cannot be expressed until we explore it. The illustrious career of Darryl Hickman represents a lifelong pursuit of creativity and discovering the unknown. Darryl has been called the “the ultimate Hollywood hyphenate” with an over eighty-year career […]
Lea másI suppose we nearly all have, or have had, secrets of some kind. Probably one of the most common kinds concerns some hidden object. Stores used to sell a little magnetic box called a “Hide-a-Key,” in which you could put your car keys, and attach it to some unseen part of your car. But thieves […]
Lea másIn the Kitchen with Leslie Zemeckis When Leslie Zemeckis saunters into a room, people pay attention. That’s because the Montecito-based actress-baker-author exudes a kind of charm and poise that makes it possible to swan her way through any room – even a kitchen. Her kitchen is her temple, her place for Zen. So is her […]
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We can’t think of a sweeter Valentine’s gift than the one from generous Summerland resident and philanthropist Nora McNeely Hurley and her husband, Michael Hurley. Summerland School’s very tired tennis courts will be undergoing a complete renovation thanks to a two-year grant from the Manitou Fund. Nora McNeely Hurley is a Trustee and Chief Programming […]
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Just a day after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the end of a months-long, statewide stay-at-home order, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department officially allowed outdoor dining to take effect at exactly 8 am on Tuesday, January 26. According to First District Supervisor Das Williams, he first heard word of the coming news over […]
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Nearly three years to the day after the 1/9 Debris Flow that damaged or destroyed over 600 homes as well as debilitated Montecito infrastructure, the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department made a significant step in the rebuilding process with the replacement of the East Mountain Drive Bridge over San Ysidro Creek. The bridge, which […]
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The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has named 22 student artists as winners of its art scholarship competition. Each will receive a colleague scholarship for the 2021-22 academic year. “Under normal circumstances we would hold the competition at the Ridley-Tree Education Center and host a reception for the winners at the Santa Barbara Museum of […]
Lea másToday’s letter is a guided tour of Santa Barbara from Maxx Christal. Maxx is a Crane and Laguna Blanca alum who was known as something of an adrenaline junkie back in our high school days – almost certainly a reputation he earned after volunteering to go first on every climb and zip line during class […]
Lea másSerial real estate flipper Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, sold their 10,674 sq. ft. Balinese-style Montecito estate for $33.3 million, pocketing a handsome $6.3 million profit in November. But the buyer of the five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bath home on three parcels over 9.3 acres, remained a secret until now. Our rarefied enclave’s […]
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Just like nearly every place in town, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden closed for two months during the first phase of the stay-at-home orders designed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic last spring. But then the county decided that the Garden was an essential service. Which, to anyone who has ever visited the 78-acre site that blends […]
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What – exactly – is a bank? A bank is a financial institution licensed to receive deposits, make loans, and attach ball point pens to countertops with little chains that are inevitably too short by about an inch. A bank, if it chooses, will also advise on managing your wealth, will exchange your greenbacks for […]
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This was the 55th annual meeting for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) held in the Presidio Chapel. Board president Terease Chin called the meeting to order and said, “Let us have a moment of silence for the devastation we have all just been through.” As we all know, it’s hard to even […]
Lea másI don’t know if it means anything that my phone went dead just after I asked Allison Janney about White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. There was a long pause. Some laughter. Then she said, “Oh boy, oh dear. I don’t know how anyone could want to be …” Janney, of course, is the […]
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