Tag archives: covid 19

What more can I possibly say about the nationally and internationally lauded Cate School located in the hills above Carpinteria overlooking the ocean? So much has already been written about this excellent 9th through 12th grade co-educational college preparatory school that offers a rigorous academic yet broad-based curriculum and an all-embracing student life. Cate’s diverse […]

On Saturday, March 28, 2021 at about 5:30 pm, I took my bicycle to the Hot Springs Trailhead, which is about a 10-minute ride from where I live. A vehicle which had printed on it “Hillcrest Security” had stopped on Mountain Drive next to the trailhead parking lot. I asked the driver, Mark, what he […]

Two years – and a century (it seems) – ago, I had the pleasure of taking my wife, Helen, our son, Tim, his wife, Jacqueline, and their two boys, Deacon and Kessler (then five and seven years old) on a glorious seven-day Christmas Market cruise on AmaWaterways’ 164-passenger river cruise ship, AmaCerto. We traveled down […]

In one of those quirky COVID coincidences, Metropolitan Theatres is reopening its doors just as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is about to get underway with a hybrid virtual/drive-in edition.  Nine days after the county moved back into the red tier, movie theaters will be allowed to open indoors at 25 percent capacity or […]

To say that the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has been busy is an understatement – the nonprofit distributed 9,708,944 pounds of food over the course of a year, including some four million-plus pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits. Sounds like a lot, right?  Sure, but that’s the year preceding the COVID crisis in California. […]

At the very least, travelling will be lot easier and safer with your “soon to be issued” vaccine passport. Crystal Cruises has already announced it will not accommodate any future passengers who cannot provide proof of vaccination at the time of departure. And, even then you also have to provide a current negative COVID-19 test […]

At a Board of Supervisors hearing on Tuesday, Santa Barbara County’s Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso announced that the county, after meeting several decreasing COVID-19 case rate thresholds, would be entering the less restrictive Red Tier outlined in California’s pandemic blueprint.  Do-Reynoso reported that COVID-19 case rates have decreased 42% over the last two weeks, […]

This winter, public officials asked restaurant owners, workers, and diners to mostly stay home as lockdowns once again took effect. Now that progress is being made with vaccinations going up and COVID-19 cases going down, restaurants are opening up again just in time to unveil spring menus and debut new outdoor dining spaces. That means […]

In addition to the majority of the business sector permitted to reopen indoors with modifications earlier this week, most county public schools – bolstered by happy and tired parents and caregivers – reopened in early March. Montecito public schools, Montecito Union School and Cold Spring School, have been open for in-person learning since late September, […]

In 2020, the Montecito community witnessed a growing population of unsheltered individuals in the area. Encampments mushroomed and became quite visible. Bicycle thefts were up as were incidents of trespassing on private property. I started visiting the encampments in Montecito with Luis Alvarado, a case manager from Homeless Outreach Services at Santa Barbara County’s Behavioral […]

Wayne Siemens and his wife, Sharol, have been customers of Montecito’s iconic San Ysidro Pharmacy for the past 35 years. When he was younger, Siemens and as many as eight of his tennis pals, known as the “Pharmacy Boys,” would drop by, dripping wet, after their morning games to eat at the adjacent Montecito Coffee […]

You can still experience the thrill of visiting a winery and taking part in its on-premise wine tasting with a handful of carefully curated wine programs offered locally. Since the onset of COVID-19, many wineries across the country have either suspended or limited in-person attendance at their tasting rooms. To compensate, some of our local […]

On March 6, 1920, the Morning Press reported that the petroleum industry was booming in Ventura, prohibition agents were arresting bootleggers and rumrunners, and fruit vendors were setting up stands along the highways so booze-deprived drivers could quench their thirst by sucking on oranges. (I kid you not, there was an article in the newspaper!) […]

–From County Public Health Office Appointments for first doses of COVID-19 vaccines are available to eligible Santa Barbara County residents every Monday at 9 am through the county’s public health vaccination sites. People who are eligible for these appointments are those who work in emergency services, agriculture, and food services, and any remaining Phase 1A […]

Now that Governor Gavin Newsom has lifted the total ban on eating out, I ventured to the historic Santa Barbara Yacht Club to dine with my trusty shutterbug Priscilla, the Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff and her longtime beau Miles Hartfeld. The dining room on the outside terrace overlooking the Pacific was socially gridlocked, with […]

On February 19, the Montecito Journal hosted a mid-morning Zoom meeting during which several local politicians and health officials answered questions and addressed the challenges that have affected Santa Barbara County’s ongoing efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to residents. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Gwyn Lurie and Chief Operating Officer Tim Buckley, the meeting’s guests included U.S. […]

There’s plenty to celebrate in Santa Barbara these days, and not just the spurt of greenery and wildflowers poking up from the earth in the sunshine following last month’s rains or the fact that the number of daily COVID-19 cases has dropped down to double digits for the first time in nearly two months.  Joy […]

Contrary to Nick Welsh’s February 10 piece in the Santa Barbara Independent, at no point did I suggest in my Montecito Journal editorial replacing Dr. Ansorg or Van Do-Reynoso with Thomas Tighe or Charity Dean. My letter made the fairly obvious suggestion that our county would benefit from a COVID Czar that has the independence […]

Five new members have joined Santa Barbara Zoo’s board of directors. The menagerie’s quintet includes attorney Jessica L. Diaz, Tracy Krainer, Bob Myman, retired veterinarian Dan Segna, and the Zoo’s former education director Betsy Turner. Montecito Bank & Trust executive George Leis chairs the board. Wedding Bells CBS morning show anchor Gayle King’s daughter, Kirby […]

This Friday, February 19, at 10:30 am, the Montecito Journal will host a Community Zoom Forum on the subject of our County’s COVID Vaccination Rollout. Present at this forum will be: Congressman Salud Carbajal, State Senator Monique Limón, County Supervisors Das Williams and Gregg Hart, Santa Barbara County Director of Public Health Van Do-Reynoso, and […]