8 Mar 2022
A Year Later: Hands Across Montecito The Model That Makes the Difference in Homelessness
In the spring of 2020, as the pandemic unfolded, Montecito neighbors started noticing a significant uptick in homeless individuals on Coast Village Road, traveling along the tracks, and encampments began mushrooming along the freeway. I contacted Luis Alvarado from Santa Barbara County’s Behavioral Wellness Homeless Outreach Team, and we started walking the tracks and outreaching. […]
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John W. McIntyre
On Monday, January 3, 2022, the world lost a thoughtful, principled, energetic, loyal, and loving man. John W. McIntyre’s passing will be felt by the many people whose lives he touched, but none more than his adoring wife and three admiring daughters who were by his side at their forever home in the hills of […]
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Teaching Teens News and How to Cramm
“I was twelve years old when I decided I needed to change the world.” Olivia Seltzer, an 18-year-old Santa Barbara local, was shocked and scared by the results of the 2016 election and by what that meant for her and her peers. While attending Santa Barbara Junior High, many of Seltzer’s friends came from families […]
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Time for World Government?
As I write this, Putin is brutally attacking Ukraine. Do these things really still happen in the 21st century? Is it finally time to put an end to such unilateral behavior with a world government? The idea goes back to ancient times, when it was largely promoted by powerful emperors who wanted to expand their […]
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Go Van Gogh
Santa Barbara Museum of Art has joined the big leagues with the West Coast debut of Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources, featuring an astonishing 20 original works by the Dutch genius. The extraordinary show also features 55 works by artists he admired, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, and […]
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More Montecito Hot Springs
Again, Mr. Emanuel in his latest letter (February 24, 2022) puts words in my mouth that I never said. Regarding a shuttle, he says “…where is the pickup parking lot to be? Bryan has suggested Mt. Carmel…” I never suggested the Mt. Carmel Church for a shuttle. He goes on to say, “What we are […]
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A Mardi Mob
Baubles, bangles, and beads proliferated at La Arcada Plaza when Teresa Kuskey Nowak’s energized La Boheme dancers threw a Mardi Gras party with the 1114 Sports Bar as Ground Zero for the colorful, pulsating bash. Given everybody had been emask-ulated after the pandemic mandate for wearing face coverings ended last month (February), many of the […]
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Cold Spring Project Moves Forward
At a special board meeting earlier this week, the Cold Spring School Board voted 4-1 to approve moving forward with a short-term loan to help fund the school’s upcoming and long-awaited expansion project. The acquisition of the loan – and the financial position of the school in general – has been the subject of some […]
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The Best Last Place Part 2 of 2
George Washington Smith was the architect of the Santa Barbara chapel along with Lutah Maria Riggs. It was one of his few public buildings along with the Lobero, the Little Town Club, and the News-Press building (Daily News) because he usually built homes or businesses. The concrete chapel dome is Tunisian and wasn’t painted or […]
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Gallery à la Maune
Maune Contemporary, a new art gallery, has opened on State Street next to the Arlington Theatre. It is the second location for owners Ramsey and Heidi Maune, who opened their first gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, four years ago. “It has been a longtime dream of ours to open a gallery here,” Heidi told me at […]
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How the Marathon Began And Another Example of Courage for Modern Times
The first battle of the Greco-Persian wars occurred in 490 B.C. in the town of Marathon, Greece. With Persians attacking cities all along the Greek mainland, and as Athenians braced for their own attack, Athenian General Miltiades took command of a civilian army and marched to Marathon to meet the Persian army. Using superior battle […]
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Justin Bruce Forrester
Justin Bruce Forrester was born in Santa Barbara, California, on July 16, 1999 and passed away in Santa Barbara on February 22, 2022 at the young age of 22. Justin was a fun-loving and good-hearted young man who had family and many friends who loved and adored him. Justin attended Montecito Union School where he […]
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Dotard Tamale Duet
Tunisian artist Gerald Incandela celebrated the 20th anniversary of his half century in exotic style at the Summerland aerie he shares with his longtime companion George Schoellkopf. More than 50 guests attended the sunset soiree on the new terrace of their estate with Montino Bourbon playing a dotard (an Indian stringed instrument) with Joss Jaffe […]
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Gorilla My Dreams
On November 25, 1864, in a famous speech at Oxford University, the British statesman Benjamin Disraeli addressed himself to a matter which had been convulsing intellectual society since the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species. As Disraeli put it: “The question is this – is man an ape or an […]
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The Isla Vista Compost Collective
When I first heard the term “Dirtrider,” I imagined something á la Mel Gibson in Mad Max. But far from being chrome and oil junkies as we might associate with the apocalyptic franchise, Dirtriders are the lean, green worker bees of the Isla Vista Compost Collective. Founded in 2017, the Isla Vista Compost Collective (IVCC) […]
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Grieving, Family-Style
In hard times, delivering comfort in a pan is a family tradition When death comes knocking, my Italian family goes to the kitchen. As early as I can remember, whenever a family member was infirm or passed away, an imaginary bell would ring and someone – usually a family elder – would go into the […]
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MBAR Hears from 101 Team
Members of the Highway 101 widening team through Montecito were in front of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review last week for the second time, reviewing aesthetic features of the project related to fencing, landscaping, and lighting. The project, which will widen the freeway to three lanes in each direction between Sycamore Creek in the […]
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Stay and Play
Spring is almost here and the Montecito Library is keen to bring back some weekly programs for younger children! Our answer? Stay and Play, an outdoor opportunity for little ones to play and their grownups to chill. No rushing to get anywhere at a certain time or abrupt transitions, just a wide window of time […]
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Everything That Happens Everywhere Also Happens in Santa Barbara
When I arrived at the Montecito Journal in 2019, my partner, Tim Buckley, said to me: “This might surprise you, but everything that happens everywhere else, also happens in here.” Tim’s apocryphal and prescient message, however, made it no less shocking for me when I learned that on Wednesday, February 16, smack in the […]
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Ensemble Goes Solo for Rare Bird ‘Lillian’
While film lovers will be flocking to Santa Barbara over the next 10 days to watch scores of world premieres and welcome widely loved movie stars in the Arlington and other cinemas, the Ensemble Theatre will be staging a premiere of its own just across Victoria Street in the New Vic, one that also boasts […]
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