Tag archives: coronavirus

Rest in Peace, Kenny
By Richard Mineards   |   April 2, 2020

On a personal note, I mark the passing of singer Kenny Rogers at his home in Georgia at the age of 81. Rogers, who was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, used to entertain at a number of charity events in New York where I last saw him at the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation […]

Calm Your Nerves
By Ann Brode   |   April 2, 2020

The looming threat of the coronavirus in our community has left everyone I know feeling agitated and anxious. To protect ourselves and our families, we need to fill the pantry, wash our hands, avoid doorknobs, and stop touching. Who knew we touched our faces so much? Add to this the downline repercussions of uncertain travel […]

Budgeting for Disaster Allowed AHA! To Continue Mission
By Mitchell Kriegman   |   April 2, 2020

AHA! equips teenagers, educators, and parents with social and emotional intelligence to dismantle apathy, prevent despair, and interrupt hate-based behavior. The organization prides itself on a program based on mindfulness, awareness, connection, empathy, and resilience. Resilience certainly is something we all need and can use in this time of crisis. The teenage years for many […]

TVSB
By Zach Rosen   |   April 2, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep us indoors, online streaming and video content has helped us feel a sense of connection as we remain isolated. From online concerts to exercise lessons, this time is showing us the importance of video content in allowing one to share their story and connect to the community. A […]

Horsing Around
By Richard Mineards   |   April 2, 2020

The Santa Barbara Polo Club is delaying the start of its 109th season, which was scheduled to kick off on May 1, because of the coronavirus. Instead, the hotly anticipated initial equestrian event, the Folded Hills Pope Challenge, has been rescheduled for May 15, with the 12-goal schedule continuing through July 5. “The club is […]

Riskin it All
By Richard Mineards   |   April 2, 2020

Award-winning writer and producer Vicki Riskin, who wrote a delightful book about her parents, Oscar winning screenwriter Robert Riskin and King Kong actress Fay Wray, has been nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best biography, 2019. The awards, which were scheduled to be announced later this month, have now been postponed until […]

Pandemic Pentameter
By Richard Mineards   |   April 2, 2020

The elderly residents of Casa Dorinda, currently under lockdown because of the coronavirus, are waxing poetic! Longtime resident Linda Beuret says residents are watching movies and participating in exercise classes on Casa TV, while food is delivered to the doors of cottages and rooms. “Keeping six feet from anyone you pass is absolutely mandatory,” says […]

Miramar on the Move
By Richard Mineards   |   April 2, 2020

Billionaire L.A. real estate developer Rick Caruso is also doing his considerable best during this pandemic. Despite having now closed the Rosewood Miramar temporarily, he is still paying staff who work at the 124-room, 27-suite hostelry, which opened a year ago. In a further effort to support our rarefied enclave and thank the heroic first […]

Cooking Through Corona
By Leslie Westbrook   |   April 2, 2020

The buildings have emptied at 101 Innovation Place – the QAD campus atop Ortega Hill – but the staff of five and volunteers at ShelterBox, the global non-profit whose U.S. staff normally does their good deeds from the building that once housed the original Josten’s college ring manufacturing facility, are spreading a little recipe love […]

Jessica’s Journey to Zoom
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 2, 2020

Carpinteria QiGong teacher Jessica Kolbe, another SBCC SEL we have profiled in these pages in the past, held out as long as possible in keeping her in-person classes going at the Linden Avenue beach, where people were easily able to stay more than six feet from each other, all the way through March 22. But […]

Highway Widening Moves Forward
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 2, 2020

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Caltrans has announced that the first phase of the highway widening from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara will begin the evening of Sunday, April 5. This phase of the project is called Highway 101: Carpinteria, and it will add a peak-period carpool lane to the freeway in each direction within the City […]

Wine Forever
By Douglas Margerum   |   March 26, 2020

I’m hoping you know my wines. I suspect many Montecitans know Marni and I as participating residents. I have been involved in the wine scene as a retailer, restaurateur, and now as a full-time vintner for some 38 years. I am the producer of Margerum and Barden wines and a consultant for many other wineries […]

Village People: Jett, Jim, Josh, Mike, and Fabian of Village Auto Repair
By Nick Schou   |   March 26, 2020

Last week – in the middle of the mess of coronavirus-related closures and several days of seemingly nonstop rain – the inevitable happened: I got a flat tire. The tire pressure light on my Prius had been on for a few days, so I did what any sensible busy person would do and swung by […]

Montecito & SB Real Estate Update Amid Covid-19
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 26, 2020

It goes without saying that the last few weeks have been a tumultuous time for everyone, and the global pandemic and associated social distancing and quarantines have had far reaching consequences for nearly every type of trade or commerce. The local real estate market in Santa Barbara and Montecito is no exception; here’s what’s happening […]

Montecito Business Update
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 26, 2020

With all “non-essential” business coming to a halt last week after Governor Gavin Newsom mandated a “shelter at home” order, many small businesses in both the upper and lower villages have modified their business plans in an effort to stay afloat and help the community during this unprecedented time. “Now is the time for us […]

Cottage ER Doc, Dr. Prystowsky Lays It on the Line
By Mitchell Kriegman   |   March 26, 2020

On date March 18, 2020, Dr. Jason J. Prystowsky, the ER Doctor at Cottage Hospital, gave a webinar talk to over a thousand participants including first responders, hospital workers, and support staff to update everyone on the coronavirus from the ER perspective. Emergency Rooms all over the country are getting slammed by every variation of […]

Outreach for the Over-50 Set
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 26, 2020

Santa Barbara’s Center for Successful Aging wants to help combat the loneliness and isolation caused by COVID-19. So the center is extending its CareLine Telephone Reassurance Program as a free service to anyone 50 years and older, ensuring that one of its volunteers will call you every day (or on any schedule that you prefer) […]

Meet Your Voice
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 26, 2020

Holistic Health and Lifestyle Coach, yoga teacher and “Eat Here Now” author Britta Gudmunson, aka Britta GreenViolet, has long been using song to cultivate healing, confidence, and connection. She’s a song leader and co-founder of the inCourage Chorus, the low-stress, joy-filled non-audition community choir that has iterations at Yoga Soup and the Somatic Sanctuary in […]

Selling New York
By Richard Mineards   |   March 26, 2020

Santa Barbara resident and horse racing enthusiast Barry Schwartz, the co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc., is selling his sprawling equestrian estate in New York’s Westchester Country for $100 million. Spanning around 740 acres, the property is among the largest privately held estates in the county, according to Christie’s International Real Estate. Known as Stonewall Farm […]

When it Rains, it Pours
By Richard Mineards   |   March 26, 2020

As if the coronavirus restrictions weren’t enough, Milt and Arlene Larsen, owners of the Magic Castle opposite the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, have had their computers hacked. “It really was an absolute mess,” says Arlene. “Whoever did it fixed it so we could not send out letters to let everyone know.” The dynamic duo have […]