It would be nearly impossible to list the many unique features of Santa Barbara County that differentiate us from other places across the country. In contrast to all the incredible positive attributes, I recently learned of one startling distinction that may surprise you: our county is one of the fastest-warming places in the nation. According […]
A macroeconomic argument circulating during World War II stated that the nation couldn’t afford both “guns and butter,” pitting the costs of waging war against luxuries like silk stockings and abundant food choices like creamy milkfat. In fact, this saying originated decades earlier, with the passage of the National Defense Act of 1916 as the […]
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As a new resident of Montecito, I’m learning about issues and concerns in our community through reading the weekly Montecito Journal. Since the climate crisis is my major concern, I particularly appreciate articles by columnists Rinaldo Brutoco, Tom Farr, and Robert Bernstein, as well as frequent reports of news and opinions from local environmental groups. […]
Regarding the May 3rd, 2022 Montecito Association meeting topic of trailhead parking at Montecito Hot Springs. Many years ago, at the launch for the “Campaign for Hot Springs Canyon” both Kellam De Forest (Pearl Chase Society) and I were in attendance at the little green park on the corner of East Valley and San Ysidro […]
The Russian military strategy for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has been to unleash a campaign of genocide, defined as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation (or ethnic group) with the aim of destroying that nation (or group).” A deliberate attempt to maximize civilian casualties using targeted cruise […]
On April 14, this column introduced the concept of “Freedom Fuel.” It outlined the potential unlocked by shifting from a planetary fuel system based on fossil fuels to a system based on the wide availability of hydrogen created by electrolyzing water with renewable energy (so called “Green Hydrogen”) at prices below fossil fuel. As that […]
Pierre Lafond passed away this past Sunday at the age of 92, after 60 years in Santa Barbara enterprise overlapping a 25-year career in architecture. Pierre Lafond and his wife, Wendy Foster, developed a number of shops in Montecito and in greater Santa Barbara. And they were vintners and early adopters of Central Coast viticulture, […]
I look forward to reading the studies that the Montecito Water and Montecito Sanitary districts have jointly commissioned, one by Carollo Engineers to evaluate recycling options and the other by Raftelis to explore the pros and cons of a business case for district consolidation. The need for recycled water supplies is rather self-evident. The self-evident case […]
1,000,000,000 = 1 billion Euros ($110 billion in U.S. dollars) per day. That’s what Europe sends to Russia in cash every single day. At that rate Russia can finance a war for a very long time. At that rate, Russia can commit unlimited atrocities. And, even though some are afraid to call what Russia is […]
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These K-Rails on the 101 are extreme causes of fear. Who pays for the cleanup after accidents, including the semi on fire in Summerland backing up traffic for hours? Does the City have recourse for cleaning up after the fire and accidents? This superhighway they are building will have big effects on the community. I […]
Last week, the Independent published an editorial titled, “Merger in Works for Montecito Water? Push to Combine Water and Sewer Districts is Solution Without a Problem, Critics Say.” The implication in the Independent editorial is that there is no good reason for the Montecito Water and Sanitary districts to challenge the status quo, to study […]
When my daughter started high school, I stopped sleeping. I spent nights awake curled like a dog against the cold, trying not to remember my tenth-grade history teacher’s thick hands on my thin thighs, the way he looked at me with his mouth half open, everything he gave me and all that he took. I […]
Forest fires, cyber warfare, sabotage, and plain old utility company incompetence, greed, and malfeasance have brought us to the point where we must abandon the electrical grid. It isn’t safe. It does cause a significant percentage of forest fires here in California, it supports a utility (PG&E) that has been convicted of multiple felonies for […]
This is the story of three Vlads. Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Volodymyr Palahniuk, whom you knew by his stage name: Jack Palance. I did not know until recently that Jack Palance died here in Montecito at the home of his daughter Holly. Nor did I know until fairly recently how much Holly Palance has […]
