Remembering Peter Clark: An Incredible Musical Talent and Even Better Man
By Nick Masuda   |   August 31, 2021

Dingle is a quiet port town along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, a little cove for some 2,050 people best known for its resident dolphin, Fungie. But on this particular night in 2005, it was another fun guy that captured the hearts of locals and the dozens of Santa Barbarans that had made the trek to […]

A Philanthropic Visionary: Celebrating the Life of Lee Luria
By Nick Masuda   |   June 24, 2021

It was a late afternoon in early 2017 and Jonathan Fox was en route to a pre-dinner cocktail with Lee Luria, the philanthropist extraordinaire that had just given Fox’s Ensemble Theatre Company a new lease on life — quite literally. With her favorite gin and tonic at her side and Fox acquiring a glass of […]

 

Recently Trending

More from Montecito

Mission ‘Impossible’: Despite Untold Obstacles, Campaign to Preserve San Marcos Foothills Succeeds
By Nick Masuda   |   June 17, 2021

“Improbable, but not impossible.” It became a rallying cry that the Foothills Forever campaign team leaned on since February 25, the day a lawsuit was negotiated to allow the community to rise and purchase 101 acres on the West Mesa of the San Marcos Foothills. Ninety days. $18 million. Quite improbable, but activists such as […]

Buying into Forever: Campaign to Preserve San Marcos Foothills Sets New Fundraising Standard
By Nick Masuda   |   June 10, 2021

It isn’t supposed to work this way. Raising just under $18 million in 83 days is foolhardy, a pseudo pipe dream. And Bob Bason would know a thing or two about lofty fundraising goals, having worked as a capital campaign consultant to charities and nonprofits all over the United States — including yeoman’s work at […]

A New Path for the Revitalization of Coast Village Road
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 10, 2021

After more than a year helping many of their business constituents navigate through catastrophic blows to business, the Board of Directors of the Coast Village Association has one primary goal for 2021: To form a Community Benefit Improvement District, or CBID, in order to take control of the street’s aesthetics, safety, and marketing ventures.  “We’re […]

A New Beginning: Husband’s Closet Spurs Kate McHale Jensen Clothing Line
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 3, 2021

Montecito alum Kate McHale Jensen has opened a brick-and-mortar shop in Santa Barbara to house her four-year-old sustainable clothing company, KMJ. It was nearly 12 years ago that Kate was on the cover of this newspaper after opening a Coast Village Circle studio and showroom to debut her first fashion foray, a line of fit […]

Mayo of the West? Sansum President Explains Why Santa Barbara is on the Cutting Edge of Medicine
By Gwyn Lurie   |   May 27, 2021

When my husband and I moved our family from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara in search of a more congenial habitat, we were determined to hold on to one key big city perk — excellent medical care. So, we kept our L.A. doctors despite the time we knew it meant we’d spend in the car.  […]

Advertisement
  • Her Star is Rising: Built on Family and Wanderlust, Meagan Harmon Earns Coastal Commission Nod
    By Nick Masuda   |   May 20, 2021

    On May 4 — a day already close to her heart as a self-proclaimed Star Wars “nerd”— Meagan Harmon did something that many local political pundits didn’t think was possible when she received a call that a handful of other veteran politicos were waiting for.  The call was from the governor’s office inviting Harmon to […]

    The Farmer + The Flea
    By Leslie Westbrook   |   March 26, 2021

    On the last Sunday of every month, the Summerland Post Office parking lot on Lillie Avenue fills up with a cornucopia of flea market and food vendors. Even volunteers from CALM (Child Abuse Listening and Mediation) are onsite to raise funds and awareness of the nonprofit. While parking may be a challenge – “It’s a […]

    Read more...

    Santa Barbara Launches Probe in Wake of Corruption Allegations
    By Nick Schou   |   March 17, 2021

    On Monday, March 16, Santa Barbara Interim Police Chief Barney Melekian issued a statement responding to a March 12 Los Angeles Magazine article that raised allegations of corruption and undue influence involving Anthony Wagner, the department’s public information officer, who previously helped run the city’s cannabis dispensary licensing process. Melekian’s announcement stated that he was […]

    Coast Village Association Seeks to Form Improvement District
    By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 11, 2021

    At a City Council hearing on Tuesday, March 2, the Council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance related to forming a Community Benefit District on Coast Village Road, an initiative set forth by the Coast Village Association Board of Directors. “This is just the beginning, the first starting block,” said CVA Board President Bob Ludwick, […]

    Santa Barbara Mayoral Candidate Deborah Schwartz is Not Your Figurehead
    By Nick Schou   |   March 11, 2021

    It’s sometimes said that Santa Barbara, with its powerful full-time city administrator overseeing more than 1,000 city employees in ten different agencies, tends to leave the mayor as a figurehead, not much more than a glorified seventh city councilmember who happens to represent all constituents rather than those in one district. But don’t tell that […]

    Founding the Granada Theatre
    By Hattie Beresford   |   March 4, 2021

    When Edward Johnson, principal stockholder of the Portola Theater Company, purchased the California Theatre on W. Canon Perdido Street in 1920, he envisioned a bright entertainment future for the town. At that time, there were only four movie houses, and one, the Strand Theatre, was being replaced by a motorcycle shop. By 1922, Johnson had […]

    The Eyes Have It Symphony’s Concert a Musical (and Medical) Marvel
    By Steven Libowitz   |   February 26, 2021

    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 […]

    Advertisement