Tag archives: covid
Montecito Water District has announced that this Friday, February 4, they will host a pop-up distribution center for at-home COVID-19 test kits. It will be a drive-through site, where those needing test kits can drive up and will be given one kit per person in their household. The distribution is from 10 am to noon, […]
The Santa Barbara Unified School District is making a public effort to attract and recruit more substitute teachers as COVID-19 continues to deplete staff across most places of employment throughout Santa Barbara. The district has raised its pay for substitutes, including $190 per day for daily subs, $210 per day for designated site subs, and […]
The Broadway run of the show Waitress may have ended prematurely because of COVID, but the American Theatre Guild’s touring production at the Granada served up a highly entertaining show. With music and lyrics by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, the production, based on a 2007 comedy-drama film of the same name, is about a young […]
Santa Barbara Schools Superintendent Super Intends to Get the Job Done Some jobs are just plain hard. Hard because no matter what choices you make, some people are bound to be disappointed. I sometimes felt that way when I served on the Montecito Union School District Board, because everyone wants what’s best for their children, […]
As schools across Santa Barbara County reopen following the winter break and prepare for a successful return, I wanted to take a moment to reconnect with our community. We are welcoming our students back at a time when surging COVID-19 case rates have created new layers of uncertainty and concern for our schools. From interpreting […]
With COVID-19 numbers skyrocketing all over Santa Barbara County, mostly due to the Omicron variant, the Santa Barbara Unified School District installed mandatory testing for students and staff on January 10. While the county deals with an overall shortage of tests, SBUSD indicated that it had plenty on hand to test every student (roughly 13,000) […]
Instruction returned to campuses throughout Santa Barbara Unified School District on January 3, with a flurry of communications helping both staff and students navigate an expected rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the area. Superintendent Hilda Maldonado delivered a message to the district on January 3 that provided clarification on health protocols, as well as some […]
There’s a plethora of a cappella singing groups at Yale, the Ivy League School known for theater and music as much as the liberal arts. “I think there’s 16, including four all-male,” said Jacob Wu, the current tour manager and a bass singer for Baker’s Dozen (BD), which despite its name actually boasts 16 singers. […]
As we face the new year, it is lost on no one that those of us fortunate to have made it this far are heading into our third year living with COVID. At the same time, we are careening toward another all-important midterm election inside a nation seemingly as politically divided as ever. In addition, […]
Holidays bring a jumble of emotions and 2021 is no exception. But there’s a particular grimness this season and I find myself lingering in the shadows of Thanksgiving for illumination. November in Santa Barbara: Why have there been so many deadly traffic accidents? Just earlier this month we saw dark smoke along Highway 101 and […]
Inflation is on everyone’s mind these days. Currently running at 6.2% (4.6% if you strip out food and energy), inflation is at its highest rate in many decades — since 1990 to be precise. And, although that number is unacceptably high, a historical lens can put things into perspective. From the early 1970s to the […]
The past 20 months for educators have been ones of great angst and innovation — with the need for patience and a willingness to embrace the unknown paramount to serving thousands of students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. It has also been thankless. Educators have not only had to teach students through computer […]
The last six months of my father’s life were spent in isolation from our family and his friends, but not, as I was to learn, from a new, adhoc family that embraced him. Like millions across the U.S., the COVID lockdowns kept me, my mother, and my siblings completely apart from my 80-year-old father. But, […]
On Rinaldo Brutoco’s essay this week on the idea of red states and blue states: I like how he analyzed the question. The only problem with whole states going red or blue: every state has a ratio of each. Would such a divide then require that all “blue” persons living in a “red” state move […]
It’s autumn in Santa Barbara and the landscape is painted with a golden glow as falling sycamore leaves carpet the ground. Halloween is just around the corner. And, at long last our kids are settled back in school and ready to celebrate the season. During these uncertain times, “back in school” has become an event […]
Dennis McFadden, a respected architect and member of UCSB’s Design Review Committee, has resigned from the Committee in protest over the university’s proposed Munger Hall dormitory project. As a long-time Santa Barbara architect, community resident, and fan of UCSB, I am writing to add my objections to the Munger Hall “Mega Dorm” currently proposed for […]
In an effort to remain as COVID-safe as possible, Montecito Association is hosting a smaller-than-normal Beautification Day this Saturday, November 7, beginning at 9 am. This year’s event will be based at a new location: the upper green on the corner of East Valley Road and San Ysidro Road, in front of Pierre Lafond. After […]
The year of COVID made us rethink a lot about interiors and exteriors. Some of us holed up inside, either by choice or by decree. Others found themselves outside more than usual, discovering or renewing their love affair with our beautiful landscape. For painter Tara Rose Toner, that led to a new interest in plein […]
The Santa Barbara Unified School District board will hold a special meeting on September 23 to vote on a proposed resolution that will make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for staff, while the Montecito Journal has learned that two school board members are gearing up to also propose requiring masks at events larger than 250 people, regardless […]
By Laura Capps and Kate Ford, Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education Our world is not the same, and we’ve learned so much since COVID-19 struck nearly 20 months ago. Above all, we must do everything possible to keep students and staff in school, safely. We are 150% committed to doing so, as […]
