28 Feb 2023
World Telehealth Initiative
It took a little while to reach Sharon Allen of the World Telehealth Initiative (WTI) to arrange an interview last week. That’s because the cofounder and executive director of the barely 5-year-old nonprofit was over in Ukraine, in the midst of a week-long visit to the war-torn country as part of a special expansion of […]
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Destruction
As we all know only too well, nothing lasts forever, especially the good things. I somehow find this illustrated by a supposedly true anecdote, about W.S. Gilbert, of “Gilbert and Sullivan.” He is said to have been at a concert, seated next to a gushing woman, of the kind he hated. One of the names […]
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Two Santas?
In recent years, it has become a ritual for Republicans to threaten to shut down the government and crash the U.S. economy by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. This is like finishing your meal in a restaurant and refusing to pay the bill. These childish tantrums are in direct violation of the 14th Amendment: […]
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Picking the President in 2024
Political pundits still predict a polarizing presidential prizefight in 2024 between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It seems inconceivable that voters of either party want a rematch between two tired octogenarians. Trump would be 79, Biden 82. John F. Kennedy was 43 when elected to the Oval Office. How does one choose between the divisiveness […]
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The Hands Team Takes on the Point
We’ve written in these pages before about how the Hands Across Montecito project is a solid outreach team that helps people leave homelessness in our area. In January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) required every jurisdiction to perform a point-in-time count of the people living unsheltered to allocate funding for homeless […]
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A Word (and Shelter) from Kyiv
I’ve long thought the most important and interesting work being done in Santa Barbara County, by far, is taking place in the nonprofit realm. I cannot think of a stronger example than the critical work currently being done by ShelterBox, which annually helps provide emergency shelter and essential items to more than 400,000 displaced people […]
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Winter Whites
Well, readers, it’s still cold outside and a nourishing soup is on my mind. This week, I was pondering the white vegetables in the farmers market and their often overlooked brilliance. These vegetables, which are lacking in pigment, have a phytonutrient, or plant chemical, known as anthoxanthin. Vegetables such as garlic, onion, fennel, potato, turnip, […]
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Talk Explores ‘Street Art Now’
G. James Daichendt, art critic, curator, art historian, and dean of the colleges at Point Loma University, examines how street art is changing the art world and how we engage art in a free public lecture, “Street Art Now,” on Thursday, Feb. 23, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. […]
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College Hosts Competition of Mathletes
La Cañada High School ran circles around the competition in Westmont’s 34th annual Mathematics Field Day on Feb. 11 in Winter Hall. About 100 regional high school students matched math wits in the event on the eve of the Super Bowl, but it was La Cañada that was the Overall Winner for 9-10th grades and […]
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Women’s Hoops Enters Playoffs
The No. 5 Westmont women’s basketball team was led by its seniors in the final regular-season game of the 2022-23 season on Feb. 18. The Warriors (23-2, 16-2 GSAC) beat Golden State Athletic Conference foe Jessup (81-44) on the shoulders of Stefanie Berberabe and Sydney Brown. Berberabe produced her third triple-double of the season and […]
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Black History Month Feature Interview Part 2: Warren B. Ritter II
As we near the end of Black History Month, hopefully all of us have given ourselves the opportunity to explore and experience Black history, culture, contributions, and successes. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. writes, “Carter G. Woodson and his co-workers were many, ranging from college presidents and government […]
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An Evening of Transformation
Ted Nash, a regular figure of Jazz at Lincoln Center led by Wynton Marsalis, made his debut with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, premiering a new orchestral expansion of his work Transformation at the Granada. Nash also performed with a trio led by Los Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson. A short film also […]
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An American Dream in Santa Barbara
Man’s inhumanity to man was vividly on display with Opera Santa Barbara’s (OSB) latest one-act production An American Dream by Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo at the Lobero. The moving 70-minute work, that premiered at the Seattle Opera in 2015, is set in Puget Sound in the 1940s, intertwining the fates and tragedies of […]
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Filharmonie Brno Philharmonic at the Granada
Aging Cossack Taras Bulba reigned supreme when Filharmonie Brno Philharmonic, the Czech orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, performed at the Granada, part of CAMA’s international series. The Leoš Janáček work, a three-part rhapsody for orchestra based on the 17th-century historical novella, concluded the first half on a high note after Martinu’s “Sinfonietta ‘La Jolla’” […]
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Mardi Gras at the Carriage
Baubles, bangles, and beads reigned supreme at the colorful, energized second annual Mardi Gras bash presented by La Boheme dance group founder Teresa Kuskey and social gadabout Rick Oshay at the Carriage and Western Art Museum. The fun fête was so popular that more than two dozen would-be guests had to be turned away because […]
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Stepping into Campbell Hall
Step Afrika!’s Campbell Hall performance Tribute paid homage to the African American step show technique combining the distinct styles from different African American fraternities and sororities, blending them together in an energized, exuberant and frenzied 90-minute show, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. It included all the exciting elements of “stepping,” with […]
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Montecito Style at the MClub
To the historic Santa Barbara Club for a talk by local writer Lorie Dewhirst Porter, author of the fascinating coffee table tome Montecito Style: Paradise on California’s Gold Coast with 250 colorful photos by Firooz Zahedi, whose work has been seen in Vanity Fair, Interview, Town & Country, Time, and Architectural Digest. Zahedi, a 74-year-old […]
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The Leslie Ridley-Tree Estate
The former Birnam Wood home of uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree, who died in October at the age of 98, has hit the market for $7.95 million. The 4,900-square-foot, single-story home on 1.06 acres, which I last visited for Leslie’s Christmas party, is just a tiara’s toss from the tony enclave’s clubhouse. Her extensive 700-piece wardrobe, […]
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