Coastal View News • February 27, 2025 by Coastal View News

CARPINTERIA

Arriving in style

John Valikonis and Marina Mardueno walk the red carpet into the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s inaugural black-tie gala on Saturday, Feb. 22. The girls leadership program raised more than $230,000 throughout the night between donations, a silent auction, a live auction and the dessert dash. Read more about Carpinteria’s star-studded night on pages 14–15 of this week’s print.

BRIEFLY

COMPILED BY EVELYN SPENCE | COURTESY PHOTOS

Men-focused health series available with Carpinteria’s AgeWell program

Carpinteria’s AgeWell program is oﬀering a new four-session series: Longevity Series for Men, led by Scott Barash, LCSW, and John Carvantes, MD.

The series is designed for men and will focus on “evidence-based strategies to improve both health and longevity,” AgeWell’s Jena Jenkins told CVN. Attendees will tackle managing stress, improving physical health and creating a balanced lifestyle.

“Many of us know the basics, we generally know what helps us live longer, but there is so much more that we might not have thought of,” Barash said. “We are hoping to provide participants with pertinent research regarding lifestyle choices that can make a difference in the health and well-being of the older adult male.”

Carvantes added: “The fact is that men don’t live as long as women. Struggles with issues such as relevancy, isolation, and age-related stress are only a few of the common challenges for the older adult male. Some men may likely not realize that changing some simple behaviors or attitudes can make a huge diﬀerence on longevity.”

Classes are scheduled for March 11, March 18, March 25 and April 1, at 5:30 p.m. at Veterans Hall Meeting Room, 941 Walnut Ave. Learn more by calling (805) 881-1279 or emailing agewell@carpinteriaca.gov.

Santa Barbara Humane opens up small dog manners classes

Santa Barbara Humane is now oﬀering small dog basic manners training classes at its Santa Barbara campus, designed for dogs smaller than 25 pounds and older than four months old.

The six-week, reward-based training classes tackle the basics, including sit, stay, leash walking and greeting other people without jumping.

Christine Brewer, manager of Animal Behavior of Santa Barbara Humane, said small dogs can sometimes feel intimidated around larger dogs, which can cause training diﬃculties.

“This class is designed speciﬁcally for them — giving small dogs a comfortable space to learn, build confidence, and develop good manners alongside dogs their own size,” Brewer said.

The course is oﬀered a few times per year. Learn more online at sbhumane. org/training.

Library closed Thursday for staff training

The Carpinteria Community Library will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 27 for staﬀ training, according to a notice posted to the library’s website. The library will reopen Friday, Feb. 28.

The library’s normal hours are Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.

Learn more online at carpinterialibrary. org.

Coastal View News welcomes your le ers

Le ers must include your name, address and phone number. Le ers are subject to editing. Le ers over 300 words will be edited in length. Submit online at coastalview.com

The new proposed rate structure includes increases to the single-family residential service charge.

Summerland Sanitary proposes new rate structure

A new rate structure is proposed for Summerland Sanitary District customers, which could aﬀect residents over the next ﬁve years, starting July 1. The district provides wastewater, collection, treatment and disposal for 480 parcels in Summerland.

District Administrative Manager Mar Souza said in a press release that the proposed changes include increases to the single-family residential service charge.

“The SSD Board of Directors analyzed the service cost through an independent rate study,” Souza said. “This study adjusted the user classiﬁcation and rate calculation method to ensure equitable and appropriate sewer fees. The proposed sewer service charges are based on current and foreseeable ﬁnancial needs for debt service, operational and capital expenditures.”

A town hall, where community members can discuss the new rates, is scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at 5 p.m. at 2400 Lillie Ave.

Learn more online at summerlandsd.org.

The proposed rate structure also includes new classiﬁcations for coffee shops and gas stations.

Toad

From left, John Carvantes and Scott Barash are leading one of AgeWell’s newest series, Longevity for Men.

| 7 PM |

MARCH 1 • 7 PM WEDNESDAY MARCH 5 • 6:30 PM GET READY FOR A NIGHT OF NONSTOP LAUGHS with four hilarious comedians plus a guest appearance by An Embarrassment of Pandas. PG-13 and family-friendly.

ON THE COUCH WITH BRYAN MOOTZ AND DENNIS MITCHELL. Guests include Academy Award Winning Makeup Artist, Lois Burwell, Carpinteria’s own gem, artist, muralist and author, John Wullbrandt, Joanne Calitri, a Pro Music Photographer and Hector Hurtado, local musician.

MARCH 15 • 6 PM

JOIN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINGERSONGWRITERS for an evening of music for a fundraiser in support of fellow musicians in the Altadena community aﬀected by the Eaton Fire.

MARCH 8 • 3 PM

THIS YEAR, PIPPI LONGSTOCKING WILL CELEBRATE HER 80TH BIRTHDAY! Enjoy the Movie and dress up in your favorite Pippi-themed attire or character for a chance to win our exciting costume contest.

FUNDRAISER

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12 • 6:30 PM

THIS AWARD-WINNING FILM garnered widespread acclaim, receiving multiple nominations from esteemed critics and industry organizations. Notably, it secured three nominations at the 97th Academy Awards.

ALCAZAR FUNDRAISER! Doublewide Kings play a tribute to The Rolling Stones. This will be a sensational show and raise funds to help the Alcazar as they head towards 100 years.

ONE-OF-A-KIND CELEBRATION of the iconic sounds of the Grateful Dead! No Simple Highway embodies each member’s profound reverence and dedication to the timeless catalog of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia.

CITY BEAT

City boards tackle 2025 housing laws Council, Planning Commission,

BY LIV KLEIN

Last week, members of the Carpinteria City Council, Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board (ARB) met to review updated state housing laws that will be implemented this year, and the potential impacts these new bills will have on housing development projects within the city of Carpinteria.

While California s tate housing law already includes extensive and complex guidelines for local agencies to abide by during the housing permitting process, small coastal cities, like Carpinteria, have an additional obstacle to navigate: the California Coastal Act.

“As many of you know, implementation of these housing laws is made even more complex by the fact that the city is wholly located within the Coastal Zone and so implementation of these bills is required to be consistent with the Coastal Act,” said Carpinteria legal counsel Cody Sargeant.

While some new bills that will be implemented in 2025 come with a Coastal Act Savings-Clause — which means the bill will not interfere with the impact of the Coastal Act — other bills do not. City staff said there is no direction from the legislature at this time on how to harmonize these bills with the Coastal Act.

Sargeant and fellow legal counsel Mack Carlson guided the city’s council, commission members and ARB members through the complexity of the new bills, categorizing them into three legislative themes: incentivizing and facilitating housing production, impact fees, and enhancing enforcement of California housing laws.

Incentivizing

and facilitating housing production

Of the new bills passed under state housing law, several relate to incentivizing and facilitating housing production: Senate Bill 1123, Senate Bill 450, Assembly Bill 2243 and Senate Bill 1211. These bills broaden project criteria and requirements within existing housing laws to allow for more streamlined housing projects within the city, staff said.

Senate Bill 1123 amends the Starter Home Revitalization Act of 2021 to allow starter-home projects to qualify for a streamlined approval process. The existing law requires local agencies to consider subdivisions of up to 10 parcels for housing development projects located on multi-family zoned lots. SB 1123 will extend this law, allowing for projects on vacant lots zoned for single family residences that are no larger than 1.5 acres and are substantially surrounded by qualified urban uses.

SB 1123 is one of the handful of bills which does not contain a Coastal Act Savings-Clause. However, given the exceedingly few vacant single family-zoned lots remaining in the city, the impact of this law on Carpinteria is likely to be very limited, according to city staff.

“Given how few vacant single family lots we have in the city, I don’t think that we’re going to see too many instances of this particular Senate Bill being invoked here,” Community Development Director Nick Bobroff told the council.

New Senate Bill 450 also creates amendments to the existing law that will make it easier for homeowners in single-family zones to implement duplex housing projects or subdivide their property. Previously, a local agency could deny a project that had a significant impact on the physical environment; that option is

no longer on the table.

ARB reviewed

Under the new bill, a project can only be denied based on public health and safety concerns. It also prevents the city from requiring objective design standards for the project, like parking restrictions, that do not already align with the underlying zone standards.

“The new bill only allows a local agency to deny a project if they can prove that the project would have a specific adverse impact upon public health and safety and there’s no feasible method to mitigate that specific adverse impact,” Carlson shared.

However, in alliance with the previous law, the new bill still protects tenants and renters. Duplex and subdivision projects in these zones require the property to be owner-occupied or have long-term vacancy.

“The prior version of the bill had a limit that you could demolish no more than 25% of the existing structural walls (on the proposed project site) unless the local ordinance allowed or the site had not been occupied by a tenant,” Carlson explained. “The tenancy protection still applies, regardless of those changes, but SB 450 has eliminated that cap, so you can do a larger scale demolition in order to rebuild and construct a duplex unit.”

Assembly Bill 2243 alters the existing Affordable Housing and High Roads Job Act. The existing law allows 100% lower income, affordable housing projects to streamline the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), given the project meets the site requirements.

With AB 2243, mixed-income projects on sites identified as mixed-use will also qualify for streamlining if the site meets certain criteria, including being less than 100 acres.

It also lifts the previous buffer that prohibited housing projects within 500 feet of a freeway as long as they meet certain air quality requirements, which could include building air filtration systems and prohibiting balconies facing the freeway. This could possibly bring several previously prohibited commercial and industrial sites in Carpinteria back into play for housing development, per Bobroff.

Back in 2022, the city conducted a high-level screening to understand how the Affordable Housing and High Roads Job Act could apply to Carpinteria. That screening found the act could conceivably apply to the city’s Commercial Plan Development Zone as well as the Industrial Research Park Zone.

“The 500-foot buffer from the freeway (back) then took a lot of those properties out of play and so its immediate impact at the time was pretty limited,” Bobroff told the city boards. “Now, with the change under AB 2243 that lifts the 500-foot buffer if certain air quality standards are met, it may bring some of these commercial and office properties near the freeway back into play.”

Senate Bill 1211 revises the existing ADU law. Local agencies must now approve up to eight detached units on an existing multifamily dwelling lot as long as the number of ADUs does not exceed the number of existing dwelling units on the lot.

Tackling impact fees

Other new bills under new 2025 state housing laws limit the impact fees related to housing development projects.

A ssembly Bill 2430 , for example, eliminates excessive monitoring fees for lower-income housing projects. While previously a fee was typically charged to oversee compliance with the Density

new California bills on Feb. 18

“...implementation of these housing laws is made even more complex by the fact that the city is wholly located within the Coastal Zone, and so implementation of these bills is required to be consistent with the Coastal Act.”

Carpinteria legal counsel Cody Sargeant

Bonus Law, AB 2430 prohibits the city from charging a monitoring fee to projects with 100% lower income units that are already subject to regulatory monitoring agreements.

Additionally, Assembly Bill 2553 requires local governments set lower traffic impact mitigation fees for transit-oriented housing developments — any housing development located within a half mile of a major transit stop. For Carpinteria, the only major transit stop is the Amtrak station.

Assembly Bill 1820 requires local agencies provide informational fee estimates within 30 days of any housing development project request, make the current fee schedules with archives accessible to the public and provide a total sum of fees and exactions within 30 days of final approval. Carpinteria already complies with this bill, per city staff.

Enhancing enforcement of California Housing Laws

Additional new housing bills focus on enforcing California housing laws through clarifying language, narrowing project requirements and increasing fines.

Assembly Bill 1893, the Housing Accountability Act, for example, narrows the requirements for a project to qualify under the Builder’s Remedy Act.

Now, in an area with an uncertified Housing Element, builder’s remedy projects cannot be rejected if they meet objec-

tive standards and have restricted income units, including 7% of extremely-low income, 10% very low-income, 13% lower income, and 100% moderate income. This now also applies to sites with 10 or fewer total units, which are smaller than one acre, and have a minimum density of 10 units per acre.

The city of Carpinteria’s 2023-2031 Housing Element is certified as of Jan. 30.

“AB 1893 was the legislature’s attempt to put some further guardrails around the Builder’s Remedy in exchange for lowering the affordability requirements to qualify,” Carlson explained.

Senate Bill 1037 allows the attorney general to increase fines on local agencies that do not abide by state housing laws, including having a certified housing element and following approval requirements for certain housing projects.

Assembly Bill 2904 will increase the notice requirement from 10 days to 20 days prior to the Planning Commission’s consideration for amendments to the Zoning Ordinance if effects are expected to impact the permitted use of a property.

While t hese new bills do present a complex state housing law, Carlson said that the city is prepared for the challenge.

“Our office and planning staff is capable of reviewing project applications consistent with the state laws and providing guidance on how best to harmonize state housing law with the Coastal Act,” Carlson told the council, commissioners and board members.

In other city news…

City receives new proposal for 6380 Via Real parcel

The city of Carpinteria’s Community Development Department has received a new proposal for the former Lagunitas office park site, located at 6380 Via Real: a 93-unit townhome development.

The application was submitted by City Ventures Homebuilding, LLC. The proposal includes a mix of two- and three-story units, which would be divided into three- and four-bedroom configurations, according to the city manager’s report.

Developers are looking to use the state density bonus law, surpassing certain zoning requirements in exchange for 12 income-restricted units — 10 units at “moderate-income” levels and two units at “above-moderate” income levels.

The current proposal for the 6380 Via Real is less dense than the previous project brought to the board for the parcel last year by RPG Carpinteria, LLC. “The previous apartment rental proposal was about 159 units initially and this one is 93 units, so it is a little bit less dense,” Community Development Director Nick Bobroff told the council.

The Community Development Department is working with the applicant’s team to set up a date for the conceptual review hearing in the new future, Bobroff said. A copy of the concept plan and pre-application material are available at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave.

Earthquake preparedness grants open for Carpinteria homeowners

The 2025 Earthquake Brace and Bolt Grant Program is now open for Carpinteria homeowners until March 26.

The program offers grants of up to $3,000 to put towards a seismic retrofit, and $7,000 for income-eligible homeowners. In a retrofit, the foundation is bolted to the frame of the house, and walls in the crawl space under the house are braced with plywood; this program is designed for wood-framed, pre-1980 homes with a raised foundation.

March 2025 is Women’s History Month, council says

BY LIV KLEIN

On Monday night, the Carpinteria City Council designated March 2025 as Women’s History Month in the city of Carpinteria.

Preceding the council’s proclamation, Co-President of the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee Lisa Guravitz spoke on the importance of recognizing women’s history. “We celebrate the progress made but we recommit ourselves to breaking down barriers, amplifying women’s voices, and ensuring that future generations inherit a more inclusive society,” Guravitz said.

Women’s History Month in Carpinteria is about recognizing the milestones achieved in women’s rights and inclusion, while facilitating future progress, Guravitz added.

“This month is an opportunity to honor the trailblazing women who have shaped our history and continue to lead us towards a more just and equitable future,” she said. “Here in Carpinteria we are proud to support and uplift women in leadership, advocacy and public service.”

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Carpinteria Woman’s Club and the Women Making Change group will organize diverse and comprehensive

programming to educate, elevate, inspire and celebrate the achievements, courage and strength of women, according to the proclamation.

Carpinteria Skate Park hours extended

The Carpinteria City Council extended the Carpinteria Skate Park hours to 30 minutes before sunrise to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 30 minutes before sunrise to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Previously, the skate park was open 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset every day, with extended hours up until 10 p.m. subject to the city manager’s approval.

The Carpinteria Skate Foundation’s Peter Bonning thanked the council for approving the extension, stating the essential role that the skatepark lights and late-night hours play in the community.

“Last year, in the first 13 months of having the park, Carpinteria Skate Foundation hosted 12 free events,” he said. “The lights are a really huge asset.”

Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano said she appreciates seeing the lights on until 11 p.m., and Councilmember Julie Mayer — a former Carpinteria Skate Foundation member, and a prominent voice in the decades-long fight to build a skate park — said the city’s unwavering support from the skate park is why “we have zero complaints and only positive things that we hear about the skatepark.”

KARLSSON FILE PHOTO

Carpinteria kids carve it up during a June 2024 beginner skate camp.

The city manager still retains the right to adjust the hours as needed for maintenance or city approved special circumstances.

––Liv Klein

and Facilities Supervisor

from

March 9 as California

City will celebrate trees with California Arbor Day

On Monday, the Carpinteria City Council declared March 9 as California Arbor Day in the city of Carpinteria to align with California’s state-wide recognized Arbor Week, held March 7–14.

Trees provide invaluable elements to communities including, beauty, comfort, shade, quality air and more, the city’s proclamation said.

International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist and Parks and Facilities Supervisor Tiffany Smith accepted the proclamation. “I think our whole city is doing a good job with our trees,” Smith said. “Getting out to the public about Arbor Day is important. Thank you.” ––Liv

New appointments: Downtown T Advisory Board, Community Media Access Center

On Monday, the Carpinteria City Council appointed Murphy’s Vinyl Shack owner Kevin Murphy to serve on the Downtown “T” Business Advisory Board.

Murphy — who previously served as an alternate assessment paying member on the board — qualifies as an assessment paying member.

board for more than 30 years.

The council also reappointed a city representative to the Community Media Access Center (TV Santa Barbara) Board of Directors: Coastal View News publisher Gary Dobbins, who has served on the

“It’s been rewarding serving as the city of Carpinteria’s media representative for over 30 years,” Dobbins told the council.

Councilmember Wade Nomura commended Dobbins for his long-term ser-

vice. “I would like to commend and thank Gary for his position and what he’s done for so many years,” Nomura said. “He’s gone above and beyond with what he’s done here.”

––Liv Klein

KARLSSON

Members with Women Making Change accepted a proclamation on Monday from the Carpinteria City Council designating March 2025 as Women’s History Month.

KARLSSON

Parks

Tiffany Smith, third from the left, accepted

proclamation

the Carpinteria City Council on Monday designating

Arbor Day in the city of Carpinteria.

Klein

Obituaries

Bosworth “Todd” Lemere

04/05/1963 — 02/21/2025

Bosworth “Todd” Lemere passed away peacefully at home in Carpinteria following a courageous eight-year battle with Multiple Myeloma.

He was born in Santa Barbara and raised in Carpinteria, where he still maintains lifelong friendships. He was compassionate, hardworking and loved for his positive attitude. Todd was a proud graduate of the University of Southern California — a forever Trojan. He went on to earn his master’s degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, utilizing his international business skills and his secondary Spanish language throughout his worldwide career in sales and operations in the footwear and apparel industries.

Todd enjoyed spending time with family and friends and especially sports, music and travel. He was preceded in death by his dad Fred, mom Pat, and brother Scott. He is survived by his beloved children Camila and Jason, former wife and good friend Sebastania, stepmom Donna, sisters Denise Helm and Deanna Valle, sister-in-law Celia, aunt Virginia, and many nieces and nephews. Todd is also survived by hundreds of good friends here and around the world.

A Celebration of Life is planned at Todd’s family home, 1784 Ocean Oaks Road, Carpinteria, on Saturday, March 8 at 1 p.m. Lunch is planned. We hope you can attend. Please RSVP via text to (805) 570-2266.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Holy spirit, you who made me see everything and showed me the way to reach my ideals. You who gave me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I thank you for everything and conﬁrm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Thank you for your love towards me and my loved ones. Amen Persons must pray the prayer 3 consecutive days without asking the wish. After 3rd day the wish will be granted no matter how difﬁcult it may be. Promise to publish this dialogue as soon as favor is granted. Thank you.

Nobuye “Nobie” Matsuyama 07/06/1925 — 02/20/2025

Nobuye “Nobie” Matsuyama passed away peacefully on Feb. 20, 2025 in Ventura, California.

Nobie was born on July 6, 1925, to Tokuma and Kuma Tabata. She grew up in Santa Barbara on Milpas Street just a short distance from Santa Barbara High School. As a result of World War II, when Nobie was a sophomore at Santa Barbara High School, she and her family were sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans in Gila River, Arizona, where she earned her high school diploma.

In 1999, after a Dos Pueblos student wrote an essay on Nobie’s life at Gila River and through the students’ eﬀorts, Nobie was able to fulﬁll her dream and “walk down the hill” in a graduation ceremony with the Santa Barbara Dons Class of 2000 as a 74 year-old “high school graduate.” This event was covered by KEYT news station and the Santa Barbara News Press.

Nobie and her husband Jiro, along with her brother-in-law Kik and sister-in-law Mariko, owned and operated K.M. Nursery in Carpinteria, California for 45 years after moving from Gardena, California. Nobie loved to attend the Carpinteria Fireman’s Mother’s Day pancake breakfast with her young family, volunteering to help with the California Women for Agriculture plant sale and having afternoon coﬀee with her friends.

Nobie is survived by her sons Bob Matsuyama (Rachel) and Jim Matsuyama (Dot); grandchildren Brian, Monica, Tyler, Tanner, Thomas, Andrew and Isaiah; and numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jiro; parents Tokuma and Kuma Tabata; daughter Nancy Narasaki; brother Joseph Tabata; and sister Jessie Watanabe. The family wishes to extend our gratitude to the memory care staﬀ at The Palms at Bonaventure care facility.

MONTECITO

Previously published obituaries may be read online at coastalview.com

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Carolyn Humphrey Kincaid 07/21/1931 — 01/17/2025

Carolyn Humphrey Kincaid died Jan. 17, 2025 in Montecito, California. She was 93.

Carolyn was born in Fort Scott, Kansas on July 21, 1931, to Wilbur William Humphrey of Holton, Kansas and Bertha Harriet Lapham Humphrey of Clay Center, Kansas. Her family moved to Carpinteria, California in 1936. Carolyn graduated from Stanford University in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

She married Robert “Bob” L. Kincaid of Denver, Colorado the same year. In 1954 they moved to Cochabamba, Bolivia under a United States Department of State program providing technical mentorship to developing countries. During this time their son, William Kincaid, was born.

After four years in Bolivia, the family returned to the United States where Bob found employment with Allis-Chalmers Machinery Company. They lived in various states during this time, including Louisiana and California. In 1958 they settled in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, where their sons Peter and Duncan were born.

With Bob leaving Allis-Chalmers in 1960, Carolyn and Bob started a business analyzing lubricating oils from mechanical systems across various industries, among them: defense, power, transit, mining, manufacturing and maritime.

The demands of a ﬂedging business — to say nothing of a family — did not keep Carolyn from other commitments. These included serving as board member and

secretary for their children’s school; serving as president of their neighborhood’s homeowners association; and taking stewardship of a community library.

Carolyn’s time in Puerto Rico came to a close shortly after Bob’s death in 1998. After selling their business and house, Carolyn relocated to her childhood home of Carpinteria, California.

Soon after her return, Carolyn began supporting the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden as docent and served on the Garden’s board of trustees. In addition to her work at the Botanic Garden, she volunteered at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California as well as various other organizations.

She met her second husband, the retired medical doctor Edward S. Henderson of Santa Paula, California, in 2003 at their 50th Stanford University class reunion. The two married in 2007 and lived in Carpinteria and Montecito, California in the years following.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Wilbur William Humphrey and Bertha Harriet Lapham Humphrey; her brother, Bruce Humphrey; her husband of 45 years, Robert L. Kincaid; and her second husband of 13 years Dr. Edward S. Henderson.

She is survived by her sister Joyce Humphrey Powell of Santa Barbara, California and all three of her sons: William Kincaid and his wife Dolores of Palo Alto, California; Peter Kincaid and his wife Margaret of Keaau, Hawaii; and Duncan Kincaid of Massachusetts.

Carolyn is also survived by all ﬁve of her grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Nina Morris, husband Devon and child Shepard of Goleta, California; Michael Kincaid and partner Brandon Bostian of Atlanta, Georgia; Graciela Kincaid, husband Jeremy Jacob and child Emilia of San Francisco, California; and Risa Kincaid and Bruce Kincaid, both of Orcutt, California.

A service will be held at All Saintsby-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

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McCafferty book impacts generations

I read “Aliso School,” authored by the late John McCaﬀerty, who chronicled his own life experiences and those of the children who were segregated at Aliso Elementary School.

Soon after my read and on an outing with my mom (born and raised in Santa Barbara), to Carpinteria for lunch and beach visit, we passed the school. She told me that as a youngster she was bused to Aliso from her home on Gillespie Street in Santa Barbara’s west side. Until then I had no idea this had happened to her and her family. We had a wonderful outing that day, which included her letting me know more about her and our family during her childhood.

In collating his oral history of other segregated Mexican children, Mr. McCafferty provided an invaluable voice to the factual history of our county.

I also applaud our Carpinteria Valley Museum of History. It is a cultural gem in our community.

F. D. Hernandez Santa Barbara

City’s strategic business decision lacks a business plan

The city of Carpinteria, as the landlord, is committing to partner in a 55-year ground lease with the current developers group, as the tenant, for the Surﬂiner Inn. There are two decisions with the Surﬂiner: the building of the structure according to building/environmental regulations and the business decision of entering into a long-term partnership with a commercial developer/operator.

LETTERS

“Transparency is essential. If elected officials fear hurting someone’s feelings, well… tough. We put them in office to make difficult decisions, not to avoid them.”

— Jane L. Beneﬁeld

Face conﬂicts head-on

In my observations, most people do not handle conflict well, whether major or minor. Many react emotionally in the heat of the moment without thinking things through, while others avoid conflict altogether, fearing the response. Personally, I try to face conflicts head-on. It is not easy, comfortable, or something I seek out, but I believe it’s necessary.

When operating a hotel and to limit the future risks to the city, a business plan from the developers should be required. A documented business plan is a common practice to mitigate any potential future risks: marketplace analysis/competitive analysis/marketing plan/management team/operations plan/ﬁnancial projections.

Without a business plan from the developers, the city could enter the construction phase without knowing many operational details of the hotel, such as hours of the restaurant and rooftop bar open to the public; the type and hours of the restaurant (grab and go self-service or table wait staﬀ service); if breakfast will be part of the room rate; and the pricing of rooms/occupancy rates which determines a portion of the revenue the city will receive.

As to the actual management team, that is unknown at this time. The ground lease has a stipulation that there could be an independent hotel management company or the developers themselves can operate the hotel.

ARB approves The Palms renovations

BY JEN WON

The ﬁnal renovation plans for The Palms — Carpinteria’s famed historical structure at 701 Linden Ave. — were unanimously approved by the city’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) earlier this month.

That spot was originally home to a wooden structure built in the 1880s. After it burnt down in a ﬁre, it was rebuilt and replaced in 1912 by the existing building. This historic bar and grill restaurant has been closed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic; the third-generation owners of the property sold the building in 2023, and the new owners have been ﬁelding renovation plans through city boards over the past year.

available.

City boards had expressed concern over possible impacts from music on the rooftop, and after this concern was brought up at the preliminary review, the Planning Commission voted to prohibit live music on the rooftop.

Speaker music will still be allowed, and the owners will be able to apply for an Entertainment License to host live music on a lower ﬂoor.

The gaslights at the front of the building were discussed in depth at the ARB’s Feb. 13 meeting. ARB members expressed safety concerns around using gas lamps in the front; ultimately, the board decided to keep the rear lights electric and keep the entry lights gas, in order to maintain the nostalgic aspect.

The ground lease draft does mitigate the worst-case risks like bankruptcy. But, cannot understand how the city would enter into a 55-year lease commitment without this development group providing a detailed business plan to demonstrate its ability to operationally run a successful hotel.

Appears that the city is willing to trust its business partners without doing the necessary due diligence for the community it represents.

Not a prudent investment/risk management approach.

Alan and Carol Koch Carpinteria

Recently, the city council appointed a considerable number of local residents to boards, commissions, and committees. The turnout was admirable, but why was there a secret ballot? I believe we have a right to know why that person was appointed and why. What do these elected officials stand for? And why were some individuals, despite past ineptitude or clear biases, selected? Transparency is essential. If elected officials fear hurting someone’s feelings, well… tough. We put them in office to make difficult decisions, not to avoid them.

More broadly, why do people shy away from conﬂict? As a culture, we seem generally inept at handling disagreement and diﬃcult conversations. How do we reconcile this contradiction, of our demand for accountability with our fear of confrontation?

Jane L. Beneﬁeld

Carpinteria

Coastal View News welcomes your le ers Le ers must include your name, address and phone number. Le ers are subject to editing. Le ers over 300 words will be edited in length. Submit online at coastalview.com

After an ARB preliminary review in September followed by a Planning Commission review in December, the final proposal presented to the ARB for final approval on Feb. 13 included a darker color for the rooftop elements, a simplification of the rear rail design, a change for the gaslights and a final signage design.

Plans include a restaurant as well as a market/cafe retail area on the ground floor, a banquet/event space on the second floor, and a bar and dining area on the roof. The total floor area is 9,949 square feet, while the ground area and the rooftop add another 2,909 square feet. Nine parking spots will be

“This is a community gem, this building, and our goal has been a really historical restoration of the building and taking it back,” project architect Darrell Becker told the ARB.

Becker said the renovations were a matter of balance. “It’s really a matter of history versus current history,” he added.

The biggest discussion earlier this month centered on the signage. The board debated whether to completely change the font of the sign or keep it in line with The Palms’ historic nature. In the end, the ARB decided to have the sign match the existing font done in metal, in a diminished scale.

SPENCE FILE PHOTO

The Palms is located at 701 Linden Ave.

County Planners support tough odor controls for all cannabis greenhouses

BY MELINDA BURNS

In a 5-0 vote last week, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission endorsed the most consequential changes to the county’s cannabis ordinance to date, recommending that all indoor growers be required to install advanced carbon filters, a state-of-the-art clean air technology, in each of their greenhouses.

The “skunky” smell of cannabis, the commission said at its Feb. 19 meeting, must stop at the property line of the Santa Barbara County operations.

If the recommendation is adopted by the county Board of Supervisors on March 18, every greenhouse grower would have 12 months from that date — or until the date of state Coastal Commission approval, if it comes after the initial 12-months — to install the carbon filters, generally known as “scrubbers,” or an equivalent clean-air technology. Growers experiencing supply chain problems or delays in power upgrades could apply for hardship extensions.

All but one of the cannabis greenhouse operations in the county are clustered in the Carpinteria Valley just beyond the city limits of Carpinteria, a small and oncesleepy beach town. (There is one cannabis greenhouse operation on Dominion Road east of Orcutt.)

Of 27 greenhouse cannabis grows that are permitted in Carpinteria, 20 are currently under cultivation, and of these, only seven are equipped with scrubbers. The total acreage permitted for cannabis in the valley is 138 acres, or about 100 football fields worth.

Since mid-2018, Carpinterians have filed 3,900 odor complaints with the county about the pungent smell of cannabis, but it has been impossible to enforce them. The current ordinance bans the smell from being “experienced in residential neighborhoods,” but no one could prove which greenhouse operation was to blame.

“We have waited eight long years while our homes have been filled with the disgusting stench on a daily basis,” Carpinterian Wendy Spencer wrote to the commission, employing capital letters and urging “no more delays to mandatory odor controls.”

“Picture, after a lovely rain, opening the window to nasty odor or waking up every single morning to the stench; or getting in your new car, which is sitting in the garage, and you get to your destination, realizing it still stinks in your car. We can’t catch a break here, and it’s wrong.”

For some of the commissioners, Wednesday’s vote was a long time coming. Several have been on the front lines ever since the cannabis ordinance went into effect in 2018, fielding roomfuls of angry residents and dozens of greenhouse project appeals by Concerned Carpinterians and the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, two groups that have advocated for stronger regulations for the industry.

In the past, the commission would recommend tougher cannabis rules, only to be overruled by the board. This January, though, with former Carpinteria councilmember Supervisor Roy Lee in the First District seat — replacing Das Williams, an architect of the 2018 cannabis ordinance — the board directed the commission

“…We’re making a big, bold move here. I’m very excited about it.”

— Commissioner John Parke

to hold hearings on an across-the-board requirement for scrubbers in the valley, a longstanding demand of the citizens’ groups.

In addition to installing scrubbers, growers must shut down the “misting” systems that they’re currently using to neutralize the smell of cannabis after it escapes from the roof vents, the commission said Wednesday. In their complaints to the county, many Carpinterians have said that the “laundromat” smell of the misting system is just as offensive as the smell of cannabis.

“For the first time, really, we have an integrated whole idea of how to address odor,” said Commissioner John Parke, who represents the Santa Ynez Valley. “… We’re making a big, bold move here. I’m very excited about it.”

Hardship extensions

The commission spent much of its hearing last Wednesday mulling the question of how and whether to extend the deadline for scrubber installation and shutdown of the misting systems beyond the initial 12-months, a period that could be prolonged by the California Coastal Commission. A number of residents urged a shorter six-month or three-month deadline for compliance, with no extensions.

“The growers will push this to the max: that’s why we’re here,” said Paul Roberts, a La Mirada Drive resident who said he had filed more than 100 complaints about the smell. “They’ve known this was coming. Don’t give them any more time.”

The commission itself was split on whether to grant “hardship extensions” of the 12-month deadline for growers who might be experiencing delays in ordering the scrubbers or processing power upgrades. Jared Ficker, a spokesman for CARP Growers, an industry group, said: “Getting a simple electrical permit often is taking up to and in excess of six months.”

In the end, the commission voted 3-2 for allowing hardship extensions of up to 12 months beyond the initial 12 — and, for special cases, even longer. All extensions could be appealed, but the commission was divided as to whether the commission or the board should make the final decision.

South Coast commissioners Laura Bridley of Goleta and Mike Cooney, who represents the Carpinteria Valley, voted against allowing any hardship extensions.

“Let’s get the word out that you’d better get your scrubbers,” Cooney said.

In a written message to the press, Laura Capps, chair of the Board of Supervisors, warned that growers should not expect much leeway from the county.

“We are now moving swiftly on action

that has been long overdue: requiring the best solution to reduce the cannabis odor that has harmed Carpinterians for years,” she stated.

“Once the board takes action on March 18, those in the industry who have yet to install carbon scrubbers will need to do so. Several already have. It will be a high bar for me to grant any extensions to this overdue and commonsense requirement. The cannabis industry has known for years that this type of technology is the most effective and has already had plenty of time and financial resources to solve the problem.”

Scrubbers in use

In late 2022, a test conducted in the Carpinteria Valley showed that an advanced model of carbon scrubbers developed by the Envinity Group, an air purification engineering firm in the Netherlands, could eliminate 84 percent of the smell of cannabis, on average, before it escaped from the open vents on the greenhouse roof.

That same year, Ed Van Wingerden, the owner of Ever-Bloom, an 11-acre cannabis greenhouse operation at 4701 Foothill Road, installed 110 Envinity scrubbers to settle a coalition lawsuit, spending more than $2 million. The current price of an Envinity scrubber is $22,000.

In 2021, Cindy and David Van Wingerden, owners of CVW Organic Farms, aka Farmlane, at 1400 and 1540 Cravens Lane, became the first in the valley to install scrubbers in their greenhouses. They have 5.6 acres under cultivation and are using 18 units developed by Byers Scientific, an industrial odor management firm founded by Marc Byers of Summerland.

Last Wednesday, Michael Head, the firm’s chief operating officer, told the commission that the Byers scrubbers had been “a resounding success” and said that CVW, located close to urban neighborhoods, “has not received a single odor complaint” since they were installed. The Van Wingerdens are in the process of adding 27 new Byers scrubbers at CVW, he said.

Ficker reminded the commission that some of the valley growers themselves had helped develop the new technologies.

“If we roll up our sleeves and get carbon scrubbers installed in all these facilities, we look forward to that improvement for our community,” he said.

The “whole idea”

Carbon scrubbers are expected to eliminate much of the odor that lingers in hot spots around the valley, the com-

missioners said. But they recommended a set of additional measures to ensure a good result.

Growers would have to submit new odor control plans to the county, certified by a California-licensed professional engineer, showing the type and number of scrubbers to be placed in each greenhouse.

The county would conduct quarterly inspections of the equipment during the first year of installation and annual inspections after that. The scrubbers would be equipped with “run-time” meters showing that they were operating correctly.

Finally, trained county Planning & Development staffers would test for the smell of cannabis on the property lines of cannabis greenhouses in response to residents’ complaints — specifically, three complaints within 60 days or five within a 24-hour period.

(The late Dan Blough, the gruff but generous-hearted commissioner from Santa Maria, would have been pleased. Barely able to contain his frustration, he repeatedly tried and failed to convince Planning & Development that it was critical to draw up a rule prohibiting the smell of pot beyond greenhouse property lines. He would tell applicants: “If you can’t suppress odor at the property line, I’m not interested in approving the project.”) To perform the testing, the county would use Nasal Rangers, hand-held devices that look like hair dryers, to sniff the air. The odor threshold for compliance at the property line would be set just below the “nuisance” level, defined as the level at which the smell is “noticeable” but not “faint.”

A number of residents on Wednesday and at previous hearings urged the commission to set the odor threshold at zero. Noting that the Nasal Ranger is best used indoors, they worried that it wouldn’t work well in the valley, where the growers often open their roof vents to let hot air escape in the evenings or early mornings. By the time the county arrives with Nasal Rangers, it will be too late, residents said.

Among the critics of the Nasal Ranger was the city of Carpinteria, which sent a letter urging the commission to set a lower odor threshold and adopt “a more advanced odor detection tool.”

On Wednesday, Cooney said, “I have a lot of skepticism about the Nasal Ranger value in this whole process.” He was not happy about the recommended odor

SPENCE FILE PHOTO

A cannabis plant, pictured at the Van Wingerden’s Coastal Blooms operation last April.

Megan

Carpinteria native is new fire inspector

Garcia

BY JEN WON

joined

Megan Garcia is the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District’s newest fire inspector. Garcia, who joined the district in January, told Coastal View News earlier this month that she comes to the district after five years at Santa Barbara County Fire, where she worked in logistics and fire prevention.

“I wanted to come back here because I would be given the opportunity to learn things that I was unable to at my other fire department,” Garcia told CVN.

A s a fire inspector, Garcia and her team check fire safety features in hotels, restaurants, and schools, ensuring they are working and up to date. She also, at times, looks into the cause of different fires.

Garcia is a Carpinteria native who attended local schools, including Carpinteria High School (CHS). After graduating from CHS, she went on to Oxnard College to pursue her “dream at nineteen” — becoming a firefighter.

However, once she got to Oxnard, her goals shifted.

“My overall goal was to be a firefighter, and then I got into the logistics part and I realized that I don’t want to be a firefighter, but I really like the backside of all the different things that go into pre-

CANNABIS

continued from page 8

threshold, either, he said, but he would vote for it.

“Given the technology we’re proposing to use, it may be the best we can do,” Cooney said. “It’s the best of a bad situation.”

24/7 monitoring?

A number of residents also told the commission they were tired of filing complaints and wanted the growers themselves to bear the burden of odor monitoring.

“It would be far better to have continuous run-time measurements made at the roof vents,” said Anna Carrillo, a 52-year resident of the valley, a member of both the coalition and Concerned Carpinterians, and a frequent speaker at cannabis hearings. “There needs to be 24/7 monitoring and recording of odor violations by the cannabis operators.”

Such technology is available, but it’s expensive. VaporSafe, a gas chromatography service developed by Mark Kram of Goleta, is able to separate out the different chemical compounds in a plume of cannabis odor. The service has been used

the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District in January

newest fire inspector.

venting a fire,” she told CVN. “So from there, I decided I wanted to take the fire prevention route.”

She completed the Oxnard program, received her certificate in 2019, and was hired into the logistics section of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. On the county level, she worked for three years

by neighbors, growers and attorneys in the valley to track how far the smell is traveling. The equipment can be placed near cannabis grows in response to residential odor complaints and, combined with wind conditions, can pinpoint where the smell is coming from.

VaporSafe costs about $2,000 per day for a short duration run. Kram has suggested that if 10 growers, for example, were able to share the expense of longterm monitoring, they would save on energy costs and wouldn’t be getting any odor complaints.

Finally, a sophisticated cannabis odor sensor has been developed by Environmental Monitoring Systems, a worldwide manufacturer of environmental products, in conjunction with the Envinity Group.

This sensor can provide around-the-clock monitoring at the roof vents of greenhouses or along the property lines of a greenhouse operation. It is on the market for $55,000, and, according to EMS, Ever-Bloom is considering buying one.

Melinda Burns is an investigative journalist with 40 years of experience covering immigration, water, science and the environment. As a community service, she offers her reports to multiple publications in Santa Barbara County, at the same time, for free.

on a hand crew with the U.S. Forest Service before serving as a fire inspector for two years.

Garcia also educates the public about fire prevention and teaches people everything they need to know to keep themselves safe in case of a fire.

As a fire inspector, her average day includes coming up with plans with her team and fire marshals and executing them in the best way possible. She said she enjoys challenging herself and digging into the “whys” of her job.

“If I’m going to tell somebody that they have a violation, I need to know the why,” she emphasized.

Outside of her job, Gar cia loves spending her time outdoors, camping, road-tripping and hiking the Franklin Trail. Along with those activities, she “loves pretty much every restaurant here,” and visits the beach as often as she can to catch the sunsets.

Canalino, CFS host Career Exploration Week

SUPERINTENDENT’S DESK

DIANA RIGBY

CUSD SUPERINTENDENT

Editor’s Note: A copy of the Superintendent’s Report is run in print as a service for parents, students and community members who cannot attend Carpinteria Unified School District’s Board of Trustees meetings. This report was read aloud during the school board’s Feb. 25 meeting.

Canalino Elementary School and Carpinteria Family School (CFS) students will explore job training, job interviews, dream jobs and career choices during the week of Feb. 24, and on Friday, Feb. 28, Career Day, students will meet a variety of professionals including a former NFL player, a police officer, a chiropractor, a film producer, a screenwriter, a coffee business owner, an executive chef, a school counselor and a California avocado farmer and school board member. Staff and families appreciate the community’s volunteerism to help our students imagine a future with their dream career. Counselors Shanna Hargett and Tricia Humbles organized and facilitated this wonderful week of career exploration.

Appreciation

I would like to recognize all the Carpinteria High School (CHS) student-athletes, coaches, Athletic Director Pat Cooney, and Assistant Athletic Director Charles Bryant for a great winter season of water polo, basketball and soccer. All teams competed in several rounds of championship play with hard-fought contests, high quality sportsmanship and true Warrior spirit and grit!

Read Across America 2025

Read Across America is an annual event celebrated on or near March 2, which is the birthday of children’s author

Dr. Seuss. It is a nationwide reading celebration that was created by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1997 to promote literacy and encourage a love of reading among children. Guest readers will join our elementary classrooms to read aloud on Friday. We are grateful for all school staff in their support for our students as readers.

School safety plans

Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD) is committed to be prepared as possible for school emergencies and to maintain safe and orderly learning environments. Every year, school safety plans are reviewed, updated and adopted by the school site council or designated safety committee and approved by the school district.

California Education Code Section 32281 outlines the requirements which include an assessment of the current status of school crime, child abuse reporting procedures, disaster procedures, crisis response plan, suspension/expulsion policies and procedures, procedures for notifying teachers of dangerous students, school discipline and dress code, safe ingress and egress, discrimination/ harassment policies, protocols for secondary schools in response to and tactical responses to criminal incidents. CUSD school safety plans are posted on the district website at cusd.net.

Parent/student orientation for eighth graders

CHS hosted parents/students from the class of 2029 for parent/student orientation on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 30. An overview of CHS academic, athletic, art and extracurricular programs was provided in addition to a senior student panel.

UC Santa Barbara destination college MESA Day 2025 Carpinteria Middle School and CHS MESA students will attend UC Santa Barbara College MESA Day on Saturday, March 8. Our students will participate in college tours, college prep workshops and STEM events.

Diana Rigby is the superintendent of Carpinteria Unified School District. For more information about CUSD, log on to cusd.net, or contact Diana at drigby@cusd.net or (805) 684-4511x222.

GRACE RAMPTON

Megan Garcia is the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District’s

Exploring the Library of Things

MORE THAN BOOKS

JODY THOMAS

More than Books. That’s what we call this column, but why? The brick-andmortar Carpinteria Library building is ﬁlled with books, as well as print newspapers and magazines. But the library also oﬀers a collection called the Library of Things. Just what it sounds like, the Library of Things are items other than books that may also be checked out.

The Carpinteria Community Library offers California State Park passes, MOXI Museum passes, and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden passes, each for a one-week checkout period. The museum and garden passes will cover the entrance fee for up to two adults and ﬁ ve children. The passes can be checked out multiple times per year. The State Park passes will cover the day use parking fee for one car at almost every California State Park.

In addition to the passes, the library has a manual typewriter for checkout. The typewriter is in great shape, with new typewriter ribbon and a carrying case. Recently a patron borrowed it for an adult birthday party, so that guests could each type a birthday message to the guest of honor. The typewriter makes that a very satisfying tapping sound when in use. Remember that sound?

One of the most popular items for check out are the hotspots. The portable Wi-Fi devices can be taken anywhere to provide access to the internet. They are easy to use and provide digital access when otherwise not available. The library oﬀers twelve of these and they are in almost constant use.

The library also has three Tonies boxes and loads of Tonies. Tonie boxes are screenless audio boxes for children that are simple to use. Oﬀerings include children’s stories, bilingual songs, bedtime stories, long form stories, myths, rhymes and holiday speciﬁc stories. For families who already have a Tonie box at home, the stories — Tonies — are checked out separately. These are great for car trips

The library has a long-standing ethos of sustainability, sharing materials rather than owning. Trading a bit of convenience for the economic and ecological choice of sharing materials is good for the planet and the pocketbook.

or quiet time.

The library recently added a geology kit. The kit contains rocks and minerals to examine up close and encourages outdoor observation and collecting. Through a grant from the State Library, the library also has two stargazing kits and two hiking kits. The stargazing kits have a telescope, quick setup guide, one tripod and mount head, slow motion controls, eye pieces, a finderscope, a phone dock, a compass, a lens cloth, two pocket guides of the moon and the night sky, a flashlight and a portable stool. The hiking backpacks have trekking poles, binoculars, a compass, an emergency survival horn, a California wildlife field guide, a California plants and trees field guide, a flashlight, a pocket microscope, waterproof pouches for phones, two mosquito head nets and two emergency ponchos and are designed to provide tools and safe equipment for novice hikers.

The library also has a microscope for checkout. The microscope is durable and uses effective technology to capture enough light that it doesn’t require plugging in or a lightbulb. That makes the microscope uniquely able to be taken outdoors for observing the natural world. The microscope comes with a set of 25 prepared slides, as well.

The library also has a set of four Pickleball rackets and balls for checkout. These are for folks who want to try out pickleball or take guests to play. There are puzzles for checkout, as well. The library recently added ten Nintendo Switch games and two Switch consoles, all of which can be borrowed.

New city employees, from left: Darrell Brown, parks and facilities attendant; Mitch Perkins, chief building inspector and plan examiner; Torrie Cutbirth, Parks, Recreation and Community Services program manager; Juliza Briones, General Government program manager; and Megan Araghi, General Government management assistant.

City welcomes new employees

BY LIV KLEIN

The city of Carpinteria has welcomed several new employees across various city departments. The new employees introduced themselves to the Carpinteria City Council at the council’s regular Monday, Feb. 24 meeting.

The General Government Department welcomed management assistant Megan Araghi. She will be the primary point of contact for all city hall calls and walk-ins, manage appointment schedules, and maintain records and ﬁles.

coordinator at Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. “Grateful to be here and expand my service that I’m doing for the city of Carpinteria,” Brown said.

The Community Development Department welcomed a new chief buildings inspector and plans examiner to the team: Mitch Perkins. With over 30 years of experience in the construction and buildings trades and 20 years of operating his own ﬁrm — where he worked as a licensed structural engineer — the department is excited to have his level of expertise on board, Community Development Director Nick Bobroﬀ told the council.

The library has a long-standing ethos of sustainability, sharing materials rather than owning. Trading a bit of convenience for the economic and ecological choice of sharing materials is good for the planet and the pocketbook. More items are added each month, and the staﬀ would like to know what other things people might like to borrow and not own. Next to be added are a DVD player and a VHS to DVD transfer device, so patrons can move those precious family video tapes to DVD which can then be digitized.

The library is more than books. The Library of Things can be found in the regular catalog by typing in “Library of Things.”

“I’m very excited and grateful to serve the city of Carpinteria,” Araghi told the Council.

The department also welcomed a new program manager to the team: Juliza Briones. Briones will oversee several vital programs including community relations, public information, emergency management program and volunteer services.

She will also develop and implement comprehensive emergency management programs and strategies. “I’m very excited to work with you,” Briones said.

The Public Works Department has a new parks and facilities attendant, Darrell Brown.

Brown will help with events facilitated by the Public Works Department. He brings his knowledge and experience from his current role as the facilities

Perkins also brings an element of familiarity with Carpinteria; he previously worked with the city on plan checks and inspections.

“I am really happy to have the opportunity to work for the city of Carpinteria,” Perkins told the council.

The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department gained a new program manager, Torrie Cutbirth. She will help lead alongside Department Director Jeanette Gant, and will oversee AgeWell programs, the community garden and special projects. Cutbirth will also collaborate with Director Gant to create policy and procedures for the department.

“It is such an honor to join the team here in Carpinteria and I am so excited to work with the team and serve the city,”

Jody Thomas is the city librarian for Carpinteria. She has a master’s degree in library and information science, and before becoming the city librarian, she worked for the California State Library. She’s a Carpinteria High School grad with big love for Carpinteria. She passionately believes in the value of public libraries. She is happily married to her husband of 40 years, raised two adult daughters, and now spends all the time she can with her four extremely charming grandchildren.

KARLSSON

Happy BirthdaySharon

Love You ! Serena

Located in beautiful Carpinteria, California, SuperSprings International is a leader in the automotive aftermarket suspension market. The company has grown in revenue, profitability, and operating complexity and is in need of an experienced, detail-oriented Accounting Manager/Controller to manage its Finance and Accounting Team.

The Accounting Manager/Controller is focused on providing expertise and oversight of all Finance Team functions, assuring the department’s overall efficiency and accuracy. This role demands a high level of technical knowledge and the ability to lead people and process-improvement initiatives. The position can transition to a hybrid position once the training phase is completed.

Duties and responsibilities include:

- Oversee financial management, including financial reporting

- Manage tax return payments, government filings, and share holder distributions

- Lead the accounting period closeout process

- Provide expertise in Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable duties

- Oversee specialized financial tasks and ensure compliance with regulations

- Liaise with external partners and manage high-level financial administration tasks

- Participate in the development and implementation of new processes and procedures to enhance the workflow of the department

- Assist with audit and internal control processes, including coordination with management and other teams within the company

- Identify and suggest improvements to accounting processes to enhance efficiency and accuracy

Requirements, skills, and qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field

- CPA or CPA candidate preferred

- 3-5 years of financial management experience

- Demonstrated leadership and financial department management skills

- Strong analytical, problem solving, and management skills

- Excellent communication and teamwork abilities

- Prior ERP system experience is required. Experience with Sage 100 Cloud or a similar - Sage ERP system preferred.

- Experience with multiple state sales tax reporting and exemptions

- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, with advanced Excel skills

Compensation

- Competitive salary, including a target bonus and a generous benefits package

- Excellent health, dental, and vision insurance, with options to fit you and your family’s needs

- Casual office and remote dress code Apply at superspringsinternational.com/careers

Howard students recreate boats from history

Eighth grade students from The Howard School were recently tasked with constructing a model of a famous historical, or ﬁctitious, boat for Mr. Reed’s physical science class.

Students began after learning about buoyancy; they were told to build their masterpieces using only household items, with a maximum budget of $25. Boats could be modeled after any iconic ship, and students chose a wide variety, including the Titanic, the Mayﬂower and a Viking longship.

Once completed, the boats were put through a series of tests, assessing how much weight — in pennies — each boat could hold before it sank, and how the boats fared on the water.

“Designing and building the boats was a fun opportunity to apply physical science concepts to a hands-on project,” said Anita Betancourt, the associate head of school.

SCHOOL NOTES

COMPILED BY JUN STARKEY

The Carpinteria Education Foundation donation will support local school libraries, including the Canalino Learning Center, pictured, which opened in January of this year.

CEF donates $30k to K-8th grade libraries

The Carpinteria Education Foundation (CEF) has donated $30,000 to the Carpinteria Uniﬁed School District (CUSD) for the district’s kindergarten through eighth grade libraries.

“We are thrilled to invest in our students by strengthening school libraries,” said the CEF’s Executive Director Pam Werner. “These funds will directly impact young learners, providing them with essential resources to support literacy and academic success.”

The funds will cover access to books, technology and educational resources. According to the document submitted to CUSD during its Feb. 11 Board of Trustees meeting, the CEF has asked the district to allocate about $7,152 to Aliso Elementary School; $11,799 to Canalino Elementary School and Carpinteria Family School; $1,161 to Summerland Elementary School; and $9,886 to Carpinteria Middle School.

The CEF stated in a press release that it was able to raise funds through several community events, including its annual Carp-a-CaBOOna.

“The generosity of local businesses, sponsors, and attendees made this donation possible, demonstrating the community’s unwavering commitment to education,” the organization wrote in the release.

Canalino students to perform as inﬂuential women from history

Carpinteria Uniﬁed School District fourth and ﬁfth graders will perform Women’s History Monologues at Canalino Elementary School on Thursday, March 6, from 8:30–9:15 a.m. and 1:10–2 p.m.

Students have been learning biographical speeches from the point of view of a famous woman from history, and will now present their speeches in a homemade costume at a school assembly, according to Carpinteria Uniﬁed School District Gifted Education Coordinator Crystal Marshall.

Some of the historical women featured this year include Dolores Huerta, Simone Biles, Misty Copeland, Frida Kahlo, Sally Ride and Helen Keller, Marshall said.

All in for Carp Kids: March 13

The Carpinteria Children’s Project (CCP) will host its annual All in for Carp Kids breakfast on Thursday, March 13. This year’s keynote speaker is Canalino Elementary School dual language teacher Dr. Sonia Aguila.

“Proceeds from the event will help CCP continue its work preparing Carpinteria’s youngest learners for success and connecting families to resources,” the organization’s Ari Rodriguez said in a press release. “This year’s event will shine a spotlight on dual-language learning and what a superpower it is to be bilingual.”

Aguila, who was also recently named the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Teacher of the Year, will share how “programs like CCP’s set young learners up for success, strengthen cultural connections, and prepare families for the transition to elementary school,” CCP stated in the release. “We will also honor Lynda Fairly, whose commitment to Carpinteria’s youth exempliﬁes what it means to be all in for local children and families.”

This fundraising event is open to the community, but seating is limited. Those interested can RSVP at tinyurl.com/carpkids2025 or call (805) 566-1600 to reserve a spot. The event will be held at the CCP campus at 5201 Eighth St.

CCP reafﬁrms support for immigrant community

In response to the heightened fear expressed by local families following recent reports of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and arrests, the Carpinteria Children’s Project (CCP) is working with local organizations to provide families with resources and information.

“We are saddened that so many Carpinterians are afraid to go about their lives,” said CCP Executive Director Teresa Alvarez in a press release. “CCP, our staﬀ and wonderful volunteers are here to support families and children and to make the whole community stronger.”

To support local families, CCP is working with the 805Undocufund’s Rapid Response Hotline, a service used to verify reports of ICE sightings or arrests. The organization will also network with local schools and youth-oriented non-proﬁts to identify needs and support families who are afraid to leave their homes.

CCP also sent out a message to families, assuring them that the organization will prioritize “assisting immigrants of any status in spite of federal government actions designed to target immigrant populations,” according to the press release.

The organization also stated that it would assist families in resolving healthcare concerns, ﬁnding a safe space for their young children and in accessing basic necessities or immigration resources, “without judgment and with absolute conﬁdentiality.”

“Many would agree that the world feels heavy, but now more than ever, it’s important to put our arms around each other,” Alvarez said. “Together, we can build a stronger, more compassionate community for everyone.”

COURTESY PHOTO

The Howard School students show off their boats, including back row from left, Gunner Pampel, Alex Hansen and Felipe Molina, and front row from left, Jonah Heredia Herrick and Viktoria Lakner.

KARLSSON FILE PHOTO

BOSSES BY BOSTROM

INGRID BOSTROM

Kara Petersen, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, is accepting clients from five years of age and on to her new practice located at 5565 Carpinteria Ave. In the following interview, Petersen shares the depth of her local upbringing and psychotherapy offerings. Petersen’s practice can be reached at karapetersentherapy.com or (805) 7072074.

CVN: Please share a brief history of your life experiences and education that led to opening your practice.

Kara Petersen: I feel really grateful for my Carpinteria childhood. Beginning at an early age, I was steeped in community, connection and care starting with the Lou Grant Parent-Child Workshop, Canalino and Main School (now the Carpinteria Children’s Project). My most cherished memories are playing on the beach at Jelly Bowl and rallying to save the bluffs. My imagination was encouraged to run wild and free in nature. It is such a gift to grow up in Carp.

After high school, I attended UC Santa Barbara. I worked for nearly a decade at Santa Barbara Middle School (SBMS). I attended SBMS as well, and those experiences are woven into the fabric of my being. Heartbroken after the Thomas Fire and debris flow, I felt a renewed commitment to community. Inspired by the way everyone came together to take care of each other and this place, I wanted to increase my capacity to tend to others and contribute to the community. I applied to the Pacifica Graduate Institute (PGI), where I earned a master’s degree in counseling and depth psychology.

To hone my therapeutic skills and earn the hours required to become a licensed marriage and family therapist, I interned at the Carpinteria Children’s Project, Family Service Agency, and Santa Barbara Unified School District. I worked in private practice for a few years with offices in Santa Barbara and Ventura, before joining the Ventura County Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Team.

After two years as a senior clinician on the crisis team and the clinic administrator for the RISE (Rapid Integrated Services and Engagement) program, I am returning

Healing with Kara Petersen

to private practice. I’m thrilled to be able to open an office in Carpinteria. I feel truly honored to do this work and grateful for the trust and courage of my clients.

What does your range of services entail?

I offer traditional talk therapy, art and play therapy, somatic and eco-therapies. My approach is integrative, collaborative, and eclectic. As a graduate of PGI, I am strongly influenced by depth psychology and psychodynamic therapy, which is a highly relational approach that seeks to explore the impact of unconscious factors on one’s life. Combining this approach with skills and techniques from cognitive and dialectical behavior therapies allows me to attune to each client’s unique needs and offer tools and resources that we practice in sessions and clients can take into daily life as well.

I work with folks of almost all ages five and up on topics such as anxiety,

depression, life transitions and trauma. I have additional training in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and the Oaklander play therapy model. I offer in-person and online options, and my office is walking distance to the bluffs for nature and walking sessions.

Do you consider therapy to be a useful practice for everyone?

I do, but I’m a little biased. I think most

everyone could benefit from some form of therapy. And therapy is hard! There may be times when one is not ready or not interested. Having someone to talk to in a safe environment, free of judgement who is focused solely on your experience can be deeply healing. It can also be helpful to have a fresh set of eyes and ears to explore new perspectives and recognize patterns. Therapy is different for everyone. What works for one person may not work for the next. There are many different types of therapy and lots of great therapists so it’s really about finding what works for you.

In what ways could a new patient prepare for their first therapy session with you?

I am always very curious about the dreams folks have just before they begin therapy. Often imagery, feelings or themes emerge like guideposts signaling the way at the beginning of a therapeutic journey. I suggest that people record their dreams either in writing, drawings or voice memos.

There are two main types of folks I frequently meet in therapy: those who have an identifiable problem or issue that they want to work on and those that are curious about some aspect of their life and want to explore it. Some people come in ready with a list of concerns and other people are not sure where to start but know that they are ready to begin. I am happy to meet folks where they are at and help them find their way into the work.

What do you appreciate most about living and working in Carpinteria?

Without a doubt, the best things about Carp are the community and its SOUL (sacred open undeveloped land). Carpinteria has such a vibrant local community! Many of our friends and neighbors are putting their heart and soul into their work and their businesses. The natural beauty around us is unparalleled. We are so lucky to live in a deeply healing environment and I feel so grateful for the people that have stepped up to protect it. I feel really grateful to be a part of this community and hope to follow in the footsteps of so many others by contributing something beautiful, meaningful and helpful to people.

Ingrid Bostrom is a photographer, drawn to open space and stories told in each new face. Send ideas of impactful Carpinterian bosses to ingrid@ingridbostromphotography.com.

BOSTROM

Kara Petersen, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, is now accepting clients ages five years of age and older at her new practice in Carpinteria.

Girls Inc. raises over $200k at black-tie gala

JUN STARKEY | PHOTOS BY ROBIN KARLSSON

Girls Inc. of Carpinteria raised $230,000 for the organization at its Saturday, Feb. 22 gala, with more than 100 of Santa Barbara County’s movers and shakers in attendance at the black-tie event.

The honorees of Saturday night’s gala were Esther and Hans Brand, longtime supporters of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria and owners of the cannabis company Autumn Brands and B&H Flowers. The Brands were early supporters of the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s endowment fund, CVN reported, and the pair donated to the organization back in the mid-‘90s to help construct the Foothill Road campus.

“Girls Inc. is an amazing organization,” Esther said at Saturday’s event. “...and we gotta keep going, because it doesn’t stop here.”

The gala was held this year in lieu of the annual fall Evening in Bloom, which the organization had held since 2013. Saturday’s gathering included a silent auction, featuring dozens of items donated by locals; a live auction, which included several overnight trips and stays in high-end hotels and resorts; a wine ring toss game, which attendees could participate in for a small donation; and a dessert dash, with treats courtesy of local eateries, including SloDoCo Donuts.

The event also included a live donation portion, where attendees could offer donations ranging from $10,000 to $500. An anonymous donor offered to match the first $30,000 donated, bringing Girls Inc. of Carpinteria well over its goal of $80,000. As of Wednesday, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria has raised $230,000 from Saturday’s gala.

From left, Haley and Andrew Fedders browse the silent auction.

Alan Koch Lindsay and Jeff Densmore

Esther and Hans Brand were Saturday night’s gala honorees.

Kathy and

Valerie Powdrell tries her hand at wine ring toss.

From left, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria employees

Aubry Watkins and Lily Conklin.

Tara Towers

Koch snagged a cake during the dessert dash.

and Glenn Dubock pose for a photo-op.

T he dessert dash donuts were provided by SloDoCo Donuts.

From left, Vin Bennett, Caryn Doti Chavez and Terri Simber.

From left, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria Development Director Tess Ortega shares a drink with Lynda Fairly.

Jaime Diamond nails her shot at the wine ring toss. From left, Carol Koch, Jamie Collins and Betty Brown.

Girls Inc. of Carpinteria raised $230,000 during its recent gala.

CLUB SCENE

COMPILED BY JUN STARKEY | COURTESY PHOTOS

Noon Rotary donates 21 goats to Ecuador village

The Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon has donated 21 goats to Ecuador through its goat project, Rotary member Barry Enticknap told CVN.

All 45 members of the club have donated as well as a few family members and friends, which has added up since the goat project began in October 2024, Enticknap said. A goat costs about $120 each, and donors can fund the full cost or split the cost among others.

The project is done through collaboration with Project Heifer, which provides the club with local contacts. Project Heifer will also teach people who receive the goats how to care for them properly.

These donations can make a huge diﬀerence in the lives of people living in Ecuador or other similar places, Enticknap said. “All of the sudden you’ve made a village very viable,” he said.

Those interested can donate to the Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon’s goat project through the website, at zeﬀy.com/en-US/donation-form/buy-a-goat-help-a-village.

Lions welcome new member Robert Leahy

The Lions Club of Carpinteria recently welcomed new member Robert Leahy, a business owner who provides insurance products in the automobile industry.

Former club president Curtis Lopez was the installing oﬃcer for Leahy’s ceremony, and club member Carlos Brens was Leahy’s sponsor. Leahy told club members that he was inspired to join the club after his ﬁrst visit.

“(He was inspired) by the Americana aspect of Lions where they start their meetings with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and then singing a patriotic song,” said club member Doug Treloar.

Noon Rotary learns about food insecurity program

The Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon recently heard from representatives of Food from the Heart, a local non-proﬁt that provides fresh, healthy meals to low-income residents.

Food from the Heart’s Executive Director Steven Sharpe and Carpinteria Food Distribution Coordinator Shen Rajan spoke to Rotary members about their program. ”The club members were made aware of how the program works and who the program serves in our communities,” said club member Karen Graf. Those interested in learning more can visit sbfoodfromtheheart.com.

Members of the Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon, from left, Lin Graf, Karen Graf, Andy Bailard, Cheryl Wright, Paul Wright, Winddance Twine, Barry Enticknap, Bonnie Hammett and Jan Harrington.

The Lions Club of Carpinteria has welcomed new member Robert Leahy, left. His sponsor Carlos Brens, right, pinned Leahy’s name tag and Lions pin to his club jacket.

From left, Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon member David Powdrell, Food from the Heart’s Carpinteria Coordinator Shen Rajan and Executive Director Steven Sharpe, club member Harry Harper and club President Whitt Hollis.

“Cycling Without Age” publicly debuts in Carpinteria

Pictured, from left Debbie Nomura, Lucy Rogers, Joe Franken, Nancy Bradbury and John Siegel-Boettner wrap up a “Community Matters” presentation in front of The Alcazar Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Carpinterians gathered at the theater to view the award-winning “Cycling Without Age,” which follows ﬁlmmaker and a retired teacher Seigel-Boettner and a group of volunteers as they use pedal-powered rickshaws to give rides to those who have lost the ability to pedal themselves. The ﬁlm was shot on bike paths in Santa Barbara County, with support from MOVE Santa Barbara County and Cotopaxi.

The Cycling Without Age program — which gets seniors out into the fresh air — is coming to Carpinteria later this year through the Friendship Center’s Healthy Aging Hub. Volunteers are needed. Learn more online at cwasb. org.

FOOD

“Companion”

DUNCAN’S REEL DEAL

MATT DUNCAN

What’s with all of this year’s Valentine’s Day movies being horror movies? Here I am, trying to pick out a sweet little flick to review for that special day, and all I find is bloody murder. Are we really that cynical?

All right, “Companion” is supposed to be a good one of those horror love stories. It’s also about Artificial Intelligence (AI), so, really, it’s covering all the bases.

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is the AI. Josh (Jack Quaid) is the dude. Things start out on a sweet note, when the star-crossed lovers meet at a supermarket in the cutest way ever. Josh topples a fruit display in a way that’s so charmingly disarming it could have been scripted. Iris is sold.

Down the road — literally, like, a long way down the road — Iris and Josh are heading to a cabin in the woods for a vacation with friends. Turns out the cabin is more of a compound, owned by some Russian oligarch-type.

They all have a good time eating and drinking and laughing and dancing in the most stereotypically human way you can imagine. Which is funny, because Iris is a robot. Which is also funny, because Josh treats her like a human girlfriend. Which is funny, because that means he treats her like a robot.

…this movie isn’t, like, bad bad. It’s just not all that good. Or original. Or funny. Or interesting. It’s a jumble of tropes capitalizing on current interest in the limits of AI plus a prevailing itch for violent anti-patriarchy fantasizing.

“Companion” is written like someone was given an essay prompt. This person was familiar with all the horror movie tropes — particularly the cheesy ‘90s teenager horror movie tropes. Then they watched a bunch of “Black Mirror.” Then they studied up on contemporary trends in social commentary. Then they were told to write a movie about how a human dating a robot could go horribly wrong. I assume they also had like 90 minutes max to write it. This phenomenon used to be called “paint by numbers.” Now I’m pretty sure it’s called “ask ChatGPT.” Which would be ironic — if this movie were written by AI. But I swear it kinda seems like it was. Though, I’ve tinkered with ChatGPT, and if it outputted this movie, I’d follow up with, “ChatGPT, make this movie more nuanced,” and I swear it’d adjust.

ARTCETRA

COMPILED BY JUN STARKEY

Alcazar to host panel of artists in new “On the Couch” series starting March 5

The Alcazar Theatre will premiere a new series, “On the Couch” — featuring Bryan Mootz and Dennis Mitchell, hosts of Bryan’s Radio Lunch Truck on Carpinteria Valley Radio, interviewing local artists and creators — on Wednesday, March 5.

Though the pair originally only intended to host a one-on-one interview with a single artist, the idea quickly grew into a full-fledged panel show, The Alcazar’s Executive Director Debbie Nomura told CVN. “The vision is we’re going to do a Carpinteria version of ‘The Graham Norton Show,’” Nomura said.

Mootz and Mitchell have hosted Bryan’s Radio Lunch Truck on Carpinteria Valley Radio — which plays on Thursdays, from noon to 1 p.m. — for about a year and a half, Mootz told CVN. The pair recently celebrated 100 episodes.

Nomura said she chose Mootz and Mitchell as hosts because of their humor and affability. “They’re funny but they’re still smart, they’re intelligent and interesting themselves,” she said.

The show will be held on the first Wednesday of every month, Nomura said, and will include a wide variety of artists. The March 5 show, which Mootz said will be live and unrehearsed, will include makeup artist and designer Lois Burwell, local artist John Wullbrandt and veteran photographer and journalist Joanne A. Calitri. The show will also include music from Hector Hurtado. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Mootz told CVN that the show will be a good opportunity to introduce locals to talented artists.

“This town has a high ratio of very talented people,” he said. “(It’s) a good way to introduce Carpinterians to Carpinterians.”

Carpinterian featured in Ojai, SB plays

And this comes out more and more. At first Josh seems like a sweetheart, but, ultimately, he’s just like every other pig man, who is vain and self-centered, who sees loved ones as objects to be arranged and rearranged as he pleases.

Of course, Iris is an object, and she’s been programmed to be arranged and rearranged as he pleases. But, anyway, maybe you’re picking up on the social commentary.

Things take a turn, though. Iris’ original protocols have been, ahem, modified. Which, gosh, guys, if there’s anything we’ve learned from this genre it’s don’t do that. So, it’s a bunch of idiots against this robot. And the robot is a woman, too. Not really a fair fight.

Humans/misogynists do have their tricks, though, and they’ve mostly fended off this type of vengeance for a few millennia now, so you’re gonna have to stay tuned.

If you can muster the energy. “Companion” is low hanging fruit. The critics are gobbling it up. But maybe that’s just because they are all robots, or some other AI. Otherwise, I don’t get it.

That’s harsh, I know. And maybe it’s not totally fair. Because this movie isn’t, like, bad bad. It’s just not all that good. Or original. Or funny. Or interesting. It’s a jumble of tropes capitalizing on current interest in the limits of AI plus a prevailing itch for violent anti-patriarchy fantasizing.

I do think it’s interesting to think about a) how technology is reshaping our lives, b) what it can teach us about what it means to be human, and c) how we might incur obligations to it. Hell, I even think the play on the relationship between misogyny and objecthood is clever. But, sorry, this just isn’t the movie.

So, let me do you one better. A recent movie that’s way better on this: Kogonada’s “After Yang.” Watch that one instead. “Companion” is rated R for strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout.

Matt Duncan, a former Coastal View News editor, is now a philosophy professor at Rhode Island College. In his free time from philosophizing, Duncan enjoys chasing his kids around, watching movies, and playing the mandolin.

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Carpinteria actor Meredith McGinn will be featured in the productions of “Tea with Ganna, Pearl & Beatrice,” by MORE Theater/SB, performed at gardens in Ojai from March 5–9, and Santa Barbara from March 12–13. McGinn will portray Ganna Walska of Lotusland fame. The play was written and directed by MORE Theater/SB Artistic Director Meg Kruszewska, and is based on biographies and historical documents about three famous local women who made a lasting impact on their communities.

“Tea with Ganna, Pearl, & Beatrice” will be performed at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, 8585 Ojai Road, Ojai, on March 5–9 at 2 p.m.; and the Aloes in Wonderland Private Botanic Garden, 114 Conejo Road, Santa Barbara, on March 12–13 at 4 p.m. Tickets for “Tea with Ganna, Pearl & Beatrice” are now on sale with special discounted four-play passports available. Individual tickets are $30, and the four-play passport is $100. Tickets are available online or by phone at (805) 951-8648.

Poetry contest submissions open through March 31

The Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center is now accepting poems for its annual National Poetry Month Competition from applicants of all ages through March 31. Poems must be original, unpublished and no longer than 100 lines. Individuals are allowed up to three entries; there is no entry fee. Winning poems will be published in CVN and poets will have their entries read aloud at a reception at the arts center on April 13. Poems will be slotted and judged in three categories: children (ages five to 12) can earn $50; teens (ages 13-18) can earn $100; and adults (19 and older) can earn $300.

Poems can be submitted online at carpinteriaartscenter.org/events/poetry-awards.

Scandinavian Foundation to screen “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking”

The American Scandinavian Foundation of Santa Barbara (ASFSB) will host a screening of “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking” on March 8 at The Alcazar Theatre, located at 4916 Carpinteria Ave. Attendees are encouraged to wear their best Pippi-themed costumes.

The film follows Longstocking who, after a storm separates her from her father, finds herself in a series of exciting adventures with her horse, Alfonso, and monkey, Mr. Nilsson, as well as new friends Tommy and Annika.

“2025 marks Pippi Longstocking’s 80th birthday, and we invite everyone to join the festivities and ‘BE MORE PIPPI!’” the organization said in a press release. The event will include first and second place prizes for best costumes.

Proceeds from the event will go towards scholarships provided by ASFSB to local students. Tickets are $7 for general admission and are available online or at the door. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and the film will begin at 3 p.m.

CVN

CALENDAR

Thursday, Feb. 27

AgeWell Senior Program: Zumba Gold Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. 11 a.m. – noon. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Meeting: Rotary Club of Carpinteria Noon Lions Park Community Building, 6197 Casitas Pass Road. 11:45 a.m. –1:15 p.m.

Carpinteria Creative Arts Eighth Street and Linden Avenue. 2:30–6 p.m. Handmade pottery, beach art, cards, jewelry and sewn articles. (805) 698-4536

Carpinteria Farmers Market 800 block of Linden Ave. Thursdays, 3–6:30 p.m.

SBCC Nutrition Class Veterans Memorial Building meeting room, 941 Walnut Ave. 3:15–5 p.m. agewell@carpinteriaca. gov, (805) 881-1279

Live Music: Dylan Cunningham Corktree Cellars, 910 Linden Ave. 6–9 p.m. corktreecellars.com, (805) 684-1400

Friday, Feb. 28

AgeWell Senior Program: Pickleball Free Play Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, 5315 Foothill Road. 8–10 a.m. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Friday Fun Day Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 10–11:30 a.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Creative Studies: Printmaking Veterans Memorial Building meeting room, 941 Walnut Ave. 1–2:30 p.m. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Live Music: Jayden Secor Island Brewing Company, 5049 Sixth St. 6–9 p.m. A Book To Movie Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 6–8 p.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Women Making Change 2025 Corktree Cellars, 910 Linden Ave. 5–8 p.m. corktreecellars.com, (805) 684-1400

Live Music: Hibiscus Moon brewLAB, 4191 Carpinteria Ave., #8. 5–8 p.m.

Saturday, March 1

Salt Marsh Nature Park Docent Tours Meet at the entrance across from

the corner of Sandyland and Ash Avenue. 10 a.m. – noon. Free. (805) 886-4382

Sock Hop Dance Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. 5–8 p.m. Free. RSVPs required. Theme: ‘50s attire. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

South Coast Stand-Up Comedy The Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave. 7 p.m. Tickets: $15. Comedians: Jen Murphy, Feraz Ozel, Bryan Hellen, Dan Gabriel. thealcazar.org, (805) 684-6380

Sunday, March 2

Live Music: Jared Nels Island Brewing Company, 5049 Sixth St. 2–5 p.m.

Monday, March 3

Preschool Storytime Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 10–11 a.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

AgeWell Senior Program: Music Mondays Sing Along Veterans Hall, 941 Walnut Ave. 10:30–11:30 a.m. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Monday Mahjong All levels of play. 1 p.m. (805) 729-1310

AgeWell Senior Program: Mind Games Veterans Hall meeting room, 941 Walnut Ave. 2–3 p.m. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Clases de Computacion Intermedia Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 6–7 p.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Tuesday, March 4

AgeWell Senior Program: Walking Club Meet at Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 9 a.m. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 8811279

Seal Talk Carp Kitchen, 4945A Carpinteria Ave. 10 a.m. Topic: A Time To Dive. Naturalists, Seal Watch volunteers, members of the public welcome

AgeWell Senior Program: Program to Encourage Active Rewarding Lives (PEARLS) Veterans Hall Meeting Room, 941 Walnut Ave. 10:30 a.m. – noon. Available exclusively in Spanish. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

AgeWell Senior Program: Mind Body Balance Exercise Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. 11 a.m. – noon. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Senior Arts & Crafts Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center, 865 Linden Ave. Tuesdays, 9–11 a.m. Free. info@carpinteriaartscenter.org, (805) 684-7789

Carpinteria Writers Group Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 10 a.m. – noon. (202) 997-0429

Chair Yoga The Gym Next Door, 4915 Carpinteria Ave., Suite A. Tuesdays, 11 a.m. – noon. $15. (805) 684-2595

Bridge Group Veterans Hall meeting room, 941 Walnut Ave. 1–4 p.m. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 8811279

Spanish Conversation Group Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 2–3 p.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Carpinteria Songwriters Circle Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 4–5:30 p.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Meeting: Carpinteria Indivisible Rancho Granada Clubhouse, 5750 Via Real. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Facebook: Carpinteria Indivisible

Carpinteria Improv Classes The Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave. 7–9 p.m. Tuesdays, weekly. $10 at the door. thealcazar.org, (805) 684-6380

Wednesday, March 5

Meeting: Rotary Club of Carpinteria Morning Carpinteria Woman’s Club, 1059 Vallecito Road. 7 a.m. Speaker: Joey Gonzales, California Fish and Game Warden for Carpinteria and Santa Barbara

AgeWell Senior Program: Pickleball for Beginners Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, 5315 Foothill Road. 8–10 a.m. agewell@ carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

AgeWell Senior Program: Veterans

Morning Meet Up Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. 8:30–9:30 a.m. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 881-1279

Babies Are The Best Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 9–10 a.m. carpinterialibrary.org, (805) 684-4314

Science for Teens 11–13 Years Old Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 11 a.m. carpinterialibrary. org, (805) 684-4314

Knitting Group Carpinteria Library Community Room, 5141 Carpinteria Ave. 1–3 p.m. Free. (805) 886-4382

AgeWell Senior Program: Mindfulness Meditation Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. 3–4 p.m. agewell@carpinteriaca.gov, (805) 8811279

Adult Advanced-Beginner Spanish Classes Carpinteria Woman’s Club, 1059 Vallecito Road. 3–4:30 p.m. $8 per class. carpinteriawomansclub.com

On The Couch Series The Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave. Doors open 6 p.m.; show starts 6:30 p.m. Hosts: Bryan Mootz, Dennis Mitchell. Guests: Lois Burwell, John Wullbrandt, Joanne Calitri, Hector Hurtado. Tickets: $20 general admission, $15 student/seniors. thealcazar.org, (805) 684-6380

ONGOING

Senior Nutrition Program Carpinteria Veterans Hall, 941 Walnut Ave. Monday–Friday, 12:15 p.m. No cost for seniors ages 60+. (805) 925-9554, meals@ centralcoastseniors.org

Sunday, Feb. 16

1545 hrs / Incident / 4900 block Carpinteria Avenue

Deputies were dispatched for a subject disturbing outside of a business. Upon arrival deputies contacted a subject who was extremely intoxicated and unable to care for himself. The subject was arrested and booked into jail without incident.

Monday, Feb. 17

1450 hrs / Trespassing / 4500 block Carpinteria Avenue

Deputies responded to a report of a trespass suspect. Business management advised the suspect was in a room and refusing to leave after possibly attempting to ﬂood the bathroom. The subject refused to open the door which was then physically forced open, causing damage to the swing bar lock. The subject was taken into custody for trespassing.

1950 hrs / Warrant / 1000 block Casitas Pass Road

Deputies contacted a subject behind a local business. The subject was known to have two outstanding misdemeanor warrants for his arrest. A records check was conducted and conﬁrmed the subject had two active misdemeanor warrants. The subject was arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail.

2221 hrs / Death / 5600 block Carpinteria Avenue

At approximately 2200 hours, the decedent’s partner found the decedent unconscious and not breathing on their bed. Carpinteria Fire personnel arrived on scene and attempted life saving measures. After approximately thirty to forty minutes of providing life saving measures, ﬁre/medic personnel called Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and spoke to a doctor who pronounced the time of death at approximately 2252 hours. The decedent was transported to the Sheriﬀ’s Coroner Bureau by on-call.

Tuesday, Feb. 18

0914 hrs / Death / Calle Ocho

The decedent was walking southbound in the middle of the railroad tracks approximately 250 yards from Calle Ocho. The train was also traveling southbound enroute to Ventura. The train’s engineer blew the whistle, but the decedent did not turn around. No identiﬁcation was found on the deceased. The Santa Barbara County Coroner is attempting to identify the deceased.

1107 hrs / Vandalism / 300 block Linden Avenue

Deputies were dispatched to a vandalism investigation at a local restaurant.

2142 hrs / Incident / Linden Avenue and Seventh Street

Deputies contacted a subject on the corner of Seventh Street and Linden Avenue. The subject was found to be under the inﬂuence of a controlled substance, and was arrested for the violation.

0021 hrs / Assault / 1000 block Concha Loma Drive

Three male subjects assaulted another male in the rear parking area. The suspects punched the victim with closed ﬁst numerous times in the head, face, and the torso area. In addition, the suspects kicked the victim in the torso area and the legs while the victim was down on the ground. The victim sustained visible injuries to his head, face and neck area. The suspects also sustained scrapes on his knees and right hand. Two subjects were arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where they were booked. The third male was a juvenile, who was released to his mother from the Carpinteria Sheriﬀ’s Station. A referral is being sent to Juvenile Probation for charges.

Wednesday, Feb. 19

2346 hrs / Incident / 1400 block Linden Avenue

The reporting party called to report two incidents she was told about, which occurred about three years ago at a school.

2045 hrs / Incident / Carpinteria Bike Path

Deputies responded to the Carpinteria Bike path to investigate a report of illegal camping. During contact with a subject, it was discovered he had an outstanding warrant out of Santa Barbara County. Also in plain view, a methamphetamine pipe with a usable amount of meth, a broken meth stem pipe with a usable amount of meth and a small green plastic bindle of meth were discovered. The subject also admitted to taking a bike that wasn’t his own. The subject was arrested for his warrant and several other charges.

2306 hrs / Domestic / 4200 block Carpinteria Avenue

Deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance. A subject was arrested and booked at Santa Barbara County Jail. An emergency protective order was granted for the victim.

Thursday, Feb. 20

0642 hrs / Violation / 4200 block Carpinteria Avenue

The victim reported the suspect called him from jail, in violation of an emergency protective order.

0819 hrs / Theft / 6100 block Carpinteria Avenue

The reporting party called to report an employee who they believed had been embezzling nearly $600,000 from the company since 2006. The case will be forwarded to detectives.

1143 hrs / Assault / 4800 block Ninth Street

The victim called to report he was punched by three males. The incident was captured on video and the victim believes he knows one of the suspects. An investigation is ongoing.

1952 hrs / Incident / 4600 block Ninth Street

The reporting party called to report two male subjects and one juvenile tagging behind the backyard. The reporting party stated the group of male subjects were on the other side of the creek and painting graffiti. The reporting party also stated that prior to calling 911, they were seen spray painting on the fence. Deputies walked on the other side of the creek at Franklin Creek Park and took photographs of the graﬃti.

1301 hrs / Domestic / 200 block Linden Avenue

Deputies responded to a domestic assault. The suspect ﬂed and was not located. A report to be forwarded to the district attorney.

1500 hrs / Domestic / 1000 block Casitas Pass Road

Deputies responded to a domestic battery between a male and his 92-year-old mother. The male was arrested and booked at Santa Barbara County Jail and an emergency protective order was granted.

Thursday, March 14

had a local $25,000 warrant, and the other had a warrant out of Ventura which was cite-release only. The ﬁrst subject was arrested and booked at Santa Barbara County Jail.

0826 hrs / Incident / Franciscan Court

Library preschooler story time, 10:30 a.m., Carpinteria library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave., 684-4314

1359 hrs / Vandalism / 4300 block Verano Drive

Bingo, 1 p.m., Veterans Building, 941 Walnut Ave.

Rotary Club of Carpinteria meeting, 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m., lions Park Community Building, 6197 Casitas Pass road, non-members rSVP to 566-1906

Deputies found a subject laying behind a wall in one of a local apartment’s patios. The subject was intoxicated, unable to remember his name and when he did, he could not spell it. The subject was also unsteady and unable to care for himself. He was arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail without incident.

Farmers Market and Arts & Crafts Fair, 3-6:30 p.m., linden Ave. downtown, Craft fair: 684-2770

The victim reported her vehicle was vandalized and believed the suspect to be her child’s father’s new partner. The investigation is ongoing.

1626 hrs / Incident / 1000 block Casitas Pass Road

Free Stress Relief Veteran’s Acupuncture Clinic, 6-7 p.m. drop in, 4690 Carpinteria Ave. Ste. A, 684-5012

Karaoke, 8 p.m., Carpinteria & linden Pub, 4954 Carpinteria linden Ave.

Dusty Jugz Country Night, 9 p.m., the Palms, 701 linden Ave., 684-3811

1538 hrs / Fraud / 5700 block Carpinteria Avenue

Friday, March 15

The victim reported an unknown suspect took out a fraudulent loan in her name at Premier America Credit Union. The victim requested a report for her bank. The case is suspended pending leads.

CVCC Lunch & Learn, noon-1 p.m., Curious Cup, 929 linden Ave., 684-5479 x10. The Peace Vigil, 5-6 p.m., corner of linden & Carpinteria Ave.

Music in our Schools Month Concert, 7:30 p.m., CHS cafeteria, 4810 foothill road, 684-4701

Back Track, 9 p.m., the Palms, 701 linden Ave., 684-3811

2233 hrs / Stalking / 4800 block Ninth Street

Saturday, March 16

Carpinteria Salt Marsh docent led tours, 10 a.m., free walks start from the park sign, 684-8077

Magicarp Pokemon League, 11 a.m., Curious Cup, 929 linden Ave., (619) 972-3467

Energy Balancing, 2-4 p.m., Curious Cup, 929 linden Ave., free

“The Quiet Man,” 8 p.m., Plaza Playhouse theater, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., $5

The Groovie Line, 9 p.m., the Palms, 701 linden Ave., 684-3811

Monday, March 18

Deputies responded to a female subject that was disturbing the peace by yelling and playing loud music from her apartment. Upon arrival, the subject stated she had a restraining order against another tenant. The subject alleged the other party had violated the terms of the restraining order by being in the same common area as her and speaking to her. Upon speaking with the restrained person and the manager (who witnessed the encounter), it was learned that the subject was the one who approached the restrained person in the common area. Due to the subject’s history of disturbing the peace and harassment of other tenants, the manager served her with a written notice that she was going to be evicted. Due to these circumstances, an incident report will be authored.

Saturday, Feb. 22

for of

school

Women of Inspiration, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Girls inc. of Carpinteria, 5315 foothill road, $70, 684-6364

2114 hrs / Theft / 300 Linden Avenue

Mah Jongg, 1 p.m., Sandpiper Mobile Village clubhouse, 3950 Via real, 729-1310

Bingo, 1 p.m., Veterans Building, 941 Walnut Ave.

The victim reported that the suspect has been harassing the victim since October of 2023. The victim reported that she had been telling the subject to stop messaging her and would block the subject’s number. In an eﬀort to still communicate with the victim, the subject would create new numbers or message her through diﬀerent social media apps. The subject has a prior conviction for stalking with a protective order with no expiration date, with all the evidence considered, the subject was arrested and booked for the violation. An emergency protective order was granted and served.

Basic Bridge, 1 p.m., Sandpiper Mobile Village clubhouse, 3950 Via real, 684-5921

Friday, Feb. 21

1118 hrs / Warrant / La Brea Lane

The victim’s bike was stolen from a local park. At the time of this report, the two suspects involved have not been identiﬁed.

Celebrate Recovery (Hurts, Hangups, Addictions), 6 p.m., first Baptist Church, 5026 foothill rd., 684-3353

CVCC’s Cuba Trip Meeting, 6-8 p.m., Carpinteria library Multi-Purpose room, 5141 Carpinteria Ave., 684-5479 x10

Tuesday, March 19

The reporting party reported illegal campers smoking on the Carpinteria Creek side of his fence line, causing concern for his small children playing in the backyard. Two subjects were contacted in the bushes along the fence. One subject

0141 hrs / Narcotics / Meadow View Lane

A Community Toolbox: How to Serve the Depressed Person with Understanding, 7-8:30 p.m., Carpinteria Woman’s Club, 1059 Vallecito road, 684-2509

Coffee with Cops, 9-11 a.m., Crushcakes, 4945 Carpinteria Ave., 684-5405 x437

A subject was contacted as he was seated in a parked car and found in possession of narcotics. The subject was cited and released for the violations.

STAGE DOPE JAMB CORAL OBOE EMIR EDEMA MILLSTONE NONENTITY ASKEW TSAR INSPIRE LEANITWIT PROPERNOUN TIDE ROBOT CAN BELLE OTIS HERBGARDEN PESTLE LOG HAMSTER RAFT KARAT MISERABLE ICESHEETS ADIOS THAT BALE MIDST HYPE BRED POESY

Carpinteria Writers’ Group, 10 a.m.-noon, Carpinteria library multipurpose room, 5141 Carpinteria Ave., 684-7838

Sandpiper Duplicate Bridge Club, 1 p.m., Sandpiper Mobile Village Clubhouse, 3950 Via real, 684-5522

Battle of the Books club, 3:30 p.m., Curious Cup, 929 linden Ave., 220-6608

Beginner Meditation Workshop, 6:30 p.m., Curious Cup back meeting room, 929 linden Ave., 705-4703

Al-Anon Meeting, 7-8 p.m., faith lutheran Church, 1335 Vallecito Place, 331-4817

ESL Class, 7 p.m., first Baptist Church, 5026 foothill road, free, 684-3353

Wednesday, March 20

Morning Rotary meeting with Cyndi Macias, The Gym Next Door, 7-8 a.m., Woman’s Club, 1059 Vallecito rd., $10 Meditation, 10:30-noon, Carpinteria Woman’s club, 1059 Vallecito rd., 847-208-6520

Knitting Group, 1-4 p.m., Veterans Memorial Hall, 941 Walnut Ave., free, 684-8077

Fighting Back Parent Program, 5:30-7 p.m., Canalino School, 1480 Carpinteria Ave., 963-1433 x125 or x132

Kiwanis Club Meeting, 6 p.m., Veterans Memorial Hall, 941 Walnut Ave., 368-5644

Coastal View Book Club meeting, 7:30 p.m., Carpinteria Branch library, 684-4428

8 Ball Tournament, 7:30 p.m., Carpinteria & linden Pub, 4954 Carpinteria linden Ave.

ONGOING

Lani Garfield photography show, island Brewing Co., 5049 6th St., 745-8272

Michael Fisher Fish art show, Corktree Cellars, 910 linden Ave., 684-1400

Liz Brady art show, Porch, 3823 Santa Claus lane, 684-0300

Arturo Tello art show, friends of the library used Bookstore, 5103 Carpinteria Ave., 566-0033

“SPACE” exhibit, 855 At the Arts Gallery, 855 linden Ave., 684-7789

Carpinteria Plein Air Painters art show, lucky llama, 5100 Carpinteria Ave., 684-8811

Imagination & Inspiration show, Curious Cup, 929 linden

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Sunday, May 17

9:54 a.m. / Unregistered Firearm / 1400 block Sterling Avenue

firearm and contacted a man who reportedly had an unregistered Kimber 1911 firearm in his possession. The firearm was taken from the man and secured into the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office property department for safekeeping.

11:44 a.m. / Misdemeanor Hit and Run / 6500 block Rincon Road

Deputies responded to a misdemeanor hit and run call, but the male subject ﬂed the scene traveling southbound on Rincon Road. The man continued southbound on the northbound off-ramp of Highway 101 at Rincon Road. Deputies checked the area and were unable to locate the subject.

was recovered and booked into Santa

Halos& Pitchforks

A caller reported that she believes her laptop and credit cards were stolen by a female neighbor who lives at the Polo Field apartments. Follow up by deputies.

Tuesday, May 19

What’s new at the harbor seal rookery?

6 p.m. / Towed Abandoned Vehicle / 2200 block Lillie Avenue

This report covers Feb. 17–23, 2025

Deputies received complaints about an abandoned vehicle parked near Sandpiper Liquor. The vehicle was tagged and marked on Thursday, May 14. The vehicle was checked and was not moved. The vehicle was towed.

Wednesday, May 20

2:12 p.m. / Narcotics / 4600 block Carpinteria Avenue

A reader sends a halo to Burlene for making the Carpinteria Lumberyard Nursery area a joy to visit. “Her outgoing personality (Southern style), friendly conversation and plant knowledge make it a pleasure to visit and shop.”

A reader sends a halo to David Hernandez at city code enforcement for all he does. “He responds to violations immediately and respectfully.”

A reader sends a halo to the generous person for paying for the reader’s gas when she forgot her ATM card at the gas station. “I’m sorry I chose the most expensive oil, I’d love to reimburse you, and thank you. I’m deeply moved by your generosity.”

A reader sends a halo to Sean and Dayna for being wonderful neighbors and helping the reader through another frazzled mom situation.

A reader sends a halo to the 93013 Fund, Uncle Chen Restaurant and Marybeth Carty for the surprise delivery of a delicious dinner complete with a fortune cookie, candy bar and painted rock. “Wonderful kindness and quite a thrill!”

A reader sends a halo to Betty Brown, who attended the Girls Inc. gala on Saturday. “She was so sweet to everyone she encountered at this wonderful event. The Girls Inc. staﬀ was amazing and the food from Savory Thyme and Carp Kitchen was incredibly delicious. Congratulations on another successful fundraiser!”

A reader sends a halo to the anonymous person who left a $100 donation in the HELP of Carpinteria ofﬁce mail slot this past week. “Thank you for your kindness.”

A reader sends a halo to the staff of Jack’s Bistro for staying open during Covid-19. “Always a smile no matter how busy. A great way to start the day.”

A reader sends a halo to the Daykas for always being there to help with anything and never complaining. “Many thanks to the best neighbors ever. We love you all dearly.”

A reader sends a halo to Chris at Walk n’ Roll K9. “Our new pup had leash aggression and screamed while in her crate. He pinpointed her dominance issue in a matter of minutes and solved all of our problems in one session. Absolutely incredible. Day and night diﬀerence.”

A reader sends a halo to Mayor Wade Nomura for the city’s beautiful ﬂower wreath at the Carpinteria Cemetery for the Memorial Day program.

A reader sends a halo to Tami and John at Robitaille’s for their constant smiles and over-the-top customer service. “The wedding favors were loved by all and brought a bit of Carpinteria to the Seattle wedding!”

CVN’s Seal Watch weekly report, written by Seal Watch volunteers, covers activities at the Harbor Seal Rookery. The group can be reached at carpsealwatch@ gmail.com or at (805) 364-3194. The rookery is located immediately east of Casitas Pier, between Carpinteria Bluﬀs Nature Preserve and Carpinteria State Beach. There is no vehicle access from Dump Road.

Deputies responded to narcotic activity and contacted a woman who had two outstanding warrants: one out of Hermosa Beach but was non-extraditable, and the other out of Santa Barbara. The woman was arrested for the outstanding warrant out of Santa Barbara County.

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES

3 p.m. / 015F / Linden Avenue and Malibu Drive

A black purse was found at Linden and Malibu, then booked for safe keeping. The owner was not contacted.

8:28 p.m. / Meth Possession / 1100 block Casitas Pass

A man drove into a parking lot not wearing his seatbelt. A trafﬁc stop was initiated, and he admitted to being in possession of a meth pipe. During a search of the vehicle, his meth pipe was located, but also a baggie with 3.7 grams of meth. The subject was cited for the violations.

10:12 p.m. / Weapon and Dope Violations / Hales Lane and Via Real

The closed beach provides a sanctuary for many in addition to the harbor seals. Pelicans gather by the dozens and even hundreds. Egrets, herons, cormorants and other sea birds ﬁnd a resting spot free from disturbance. Occasionally a sea lion or elephant seal hauls out. Intertidal life may also ﬂourish away from people, though no studies of our “mini marine sanctuary” have been done.

VISITORS

Sunday, May 17

8 p.m. / Trespassing / 3200 block Via Real

The count at the overlook was 1,767 people. People came from France, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Palestine, China, Denmark, Israel, Poland, Germany, Norway, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, Oregon, New York, Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, Kansas, Utah, Washington, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Montana, Maine, Texas, Idaho, Nevada and Washington D.C.

DISTURBANCES

A caller who is renting a home on the Polo Field reported that several people forced their way into her rental home and started yelling and insulting her family. Deputies arrived and contacted six people, who admitted entering the home after they were directed to come look at the damaged caused by the caller. The caller showed cell phone video of the suspects entering the home without permission and were heard and seen yelling at the caller and her family. The husband-suspect fled across the Polo Field and did not return to the scene. A complaint will be forwarded to the DA’s ofﬁce for review.

A woman and man were contacted as their vehicle was getting dropped off by a tow truck. The woman is on active probation and a search of her property showed she had meth, a meth pipe and a container of pepper spray. She is a convicted felon and prohibited from owning pepper spray. A baggie of meth was found in the center console and since no one wanted to claim it, the man was given ownership since it was his vehicle.

3:38 a.m. / Dope Violations / 4100 block Via Real

A major disturbance flushing seals to the ocean was caused by viewers rushing to the rope at the bluff edge during a birth. Fortunately, the seals returned from the ocean with a newborn pup. A trespassing beach walker was met by sheriff’s deputies and given a warning. A minor disturbance was caused by a SpaceX launch.

MORE INFORMATION

Please consider honoring the Marine Mammal Protection Act by not walking the sanctuary beach all year. Do not bring dogs, bicycles, or loud voices to view the seals. Harbor seals, when disturbed, may ﬂee and become separated from their pups. Volunteers asked that dogs always remain outside the rope area.

5 p.m. / Open Beer Violation / Linden Avenue and 9th Street

Carpinteria Seal Watch volunteers monitor our local seal rookery. More volunteers are always needed. Contact Seal Watch at carpsealwatch@gmail.com or call (805) 364-3194 if you’d like to help!

A man was cited and released for possession of an open container.

A woman and man were in a vehicle with a stolen license plate, reported to Santa Barbara Police Department. A traffic stop was initiated, and it was determined the vehicle was not stolen, but was rented a few weeks ago by the woman. She thought the “PERM” on the Arizona license plate meant it was only a “permit” for the vehicle and not an actual license plate. So, to avoid getting pulled over, they placed a stolen plate on the car, she said. After a search of nearby motel rooms associated with the subjects, they, and the woman’s sister, were cited for possession of stolen property, meth and paraphernalia. Further investigation will be done for the fraudulently obtained

Registration / Carpinteria and Palm

A man was driving with a false registration tab. He was cited for the violation and allowed to park the vehicle at his

A man was stopped for not displaying license plates on his truck. A records check showed his driver’s license was

A reader sends a halo to Andy Sheaﬀer for “his willingness to have a candid conversation about the future of Family School and his willingness to discuss options for keeping this vibrant school of choice available to the community.”

A reader sends a halo to those who acknowledge people with disabilities. “When you encounter a person in a wheelchair or walking with a walker, please smile and say hello to that person.”

A reader sends a halo to Lance Lawhon at the Carpinteria Sanitation District for helping Kim’s Market.

A reader sends a halo to the Carpinteria Beautiful lady picking up trash in a neighborhood near the beach. “Thank you! We need all the help we can get keeping trash picked up in the neighborhoods on the beach-side of the tracks.”

A reader sends a halo to Elizabeth for her 89th birthday. “Happy birthday!”

A reader sends a halo to Kassandra Quintero at The Spot. “When the roof-top ﬂag was twisted and lodged in the rain gutter, Quintero jumped into action and climbed up to the roof and untangled it so that it could wave freely. Way to show patriotism!”

A reader sends a halo to Whitney Noll for “being an all-around beautiful human!”

A reader sends a halo to Emma and Justin. “It was a wonderful wedding, great food, spectacular location and great people! It was moving and wonderful.”

A reader sends a halo to Carpinterians who put out boxes in front of their homes full of surplus oranges, avocados, etc. from their trees. “Thank you for sharing your abundance.”

FOR SALE

A reader sends a halo to all the beach community residents. “Thank you for parking in front of your home with your permit.”

A reader sends a halo to Nikki at HEAT Culinary. “I went to my ﬁrst class this weekend with my sister, who has been to four so far. I had the best time! Someone get this girl a TV show, she should be on the Food Network already.”

A reader sends a halo to the generous customer who bought 30 boxes of Girl Scout cookies at Albertsons on Saturday in support of local Brownie and Junior Troop 55527 and shared those boxes with people in town.

Buildable lot on golf course on the 12th hole of the Mission Club Golf Course in Lompoc, .47 acre. Sight plans, lot & house plans included. Price reduction NOW $325,000 Owner will carry financing, for qualified buyer.

A reader sends a halo to Diana, a caregiver at Carpinteria Senior Lodge for nearly three years.

A reader sends a halo to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the local vet for working diligently to save the Rincon Beach bear. “It’s a terrible shame to lose one of these magniﬁcent creatures; however, I wouldn’t want it to suffer to a miserable death.”

A reader sends a halo to Giovanni’s Pizza for providing a great meal to the less fortunate in town. “Support local businesses.”

A reader sends a halo to Tom Sweeney for going out on Elm Avenue by the beach to clean up plastic bottles, bags, dirty gloves and masks.

A reader sends a pitchfork to the new parking zones. “All the “no parking/two hour” signs just made people park in my neighborhood. Seventh and the neighboring streets are a packed parking lot.”

Amazing Opportunity on the edge of the estuary! This large lot with commercial planned development, residential zoning and utilities at property is ready for your vision. A 2nd story would bring stunning sunset and estuary views. Call Debbie today @ 805-689-9696 for more information. $1,600,000

A reader sends a halo to Bill and Rosana Swing for spending their Saturday taking photos for Junior Warriors Football. “We appreciate all you do for our families, players and program. You rock!”

A reader sends a halo to Fon Ha, Brass Bird and Carol Nichols for helping the homeless.

A reader sends a halo to DJ Hecktic for coming out early Saturday morning to support the Junior Warriors. “It made the kids so happy to hear you say their names—you’re a local celebrity to them!”

Sweet 1 bd / 1 bath, loft condo at Sandpiper, just 1/2 block to the beach. 220 Elm Ave. #10, in Carpinteria $739,000

A reader sends a pitchfork to those who lied on their FAFSA and took scholarships away from kids who need it.

Submit Halos & Pitchforks online at coastalview.com.

All submissions are subject to editing.

2 bd. /1 bath at desirable Beachwalk complex. Light, bright and airy corner unit with balcony and garage. $779,000 Contact Leah Wagner @ 805-901-6096

A reader sends a halo to Diana Rigby, Superintendent of schools, and Debra Herrick, director of Boys & Girls Club, for removing the toxic Euphorbia ﬁre sticks from the pots and landscape.

suspended. The man was cited, and his vehicle was released to a licensed driver.

2:37 a.m. / Public Intoxication / Bailard Avenue

A reader sends a pitchfork to the city “The city beachcam needs adjusting. It’s been focused on the ocean since September 2024. It should be focused on the beach along with dwellings, and the west view hasn’t moved at all.”

A reader sends a pitchfork to the HOA property manager who “undermined our ability to get an alternative, non-toxic evaluation for termite treatment and railroaded us into having our complex tented, a toxic method that is harmful to people and the environment.”

Two men were contacted in a parked truck and both were extremely intoxicated with open containers of alcohol observed in the vehicle. One man was not being the most cooperative, but once he was convinced to exit the vehicle, a pat down search of his person was conducted. Deputies located a collapsible baton in the man’s front waistband. He was cited and both were released to a sober friend.

Friday, May 22

7:41 a.m. / Theft / 5500 block Calle Arena

VACATION RENTALS

he found a small baggie containing a white powdery substance underneath the driver’s seat of his recently purchased vehicle. The man stated he purchased the vehicle three weeks ago but didn’t find the small baggie until he’d removed the driver’s seat to fix the reclining mechanism. The incident was documented, and the baggie was booked into Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office property for destruction.

Saturday, May 23

5:49 a.m. / Domestic Violence / 4100 block Via Real

A reader sends a pitchfork to kids on electric bikes who go way too fast. “In particular the one boy who blew through the stop sign on Vallecito and Via Real the ﬁre department should take notice?”

Deputies responded after a woman reported her residence was burglarized the prior night. The woman stated a cartoon of almond milk and tools were taken from her garage. She told the reporting deputy that the tools belonged to her daughter’s boyfriend. The deputy attempted to contact the man via telephone multiple times with no response. The woman stated her garage door was unlocked during the night and is in the process of getting a new lock. She did not have any suspect information at the time. The incident was documented, and patrol will follow-up for further details of the stolen items.

Deputies responded to a motel on Via Real for a report of a domestic violence incident. Upon arrival, a deputy contacted a man and woman in the parking lot. After contacting both subjects, there were visible injuries on both parties. Due to conﬂicting statements regarding their mutual altercation and obvious injuries, both parties were arrested for corporal injury on a spouse.

10:36 a.m. / Hit and Run / Cameo and Casitas Pass roads

2:07 p.m. / Found Drugs / 6000 block Jacaranda Way

A man was contacted after reporting

Deputies responded to a report a of a black sedan crashing into a parked water truck. While en route, it was also reported the male subject driving the sedan ﬂed the scene on foot. Upon arrival, deputies observed the sedan abandoned in the middle Cameo Road with major damage to the front right passenger wheel

SPRING TIME BEACH PHOTOS Saturday, March 15th, 8am -10am Glenn Dubock will share his extensive experience helping you to take the best photos with your phone or camera $99, Come Click! Call 805-684-7789 to register.

KARLSSON

ON THE ROAD

CVN

in the

Big Apple

Carpinterian Lorraine McIntire brought her copy of CVN along for a trip to

New York City earlier this month. She stopped to snap a photo outside of

The house of Rock

GOING ON THE ROAD?

Long before Girls Inc. and Foothill Nursery occupied the property along Foothill Road between Casitas Pass Road and Seacoast Village, John and Ruth Rock owned the land, raising crops as well as their four daughters there in the first half of the 20th century.

Horses originally brought John and Ruth together, according to an article by Desdemona Bregante published in Coastal View News in 1996. Ruth, whose family had moved west from Chicago in 1907, loved to ride horses in the hills of Montecito. When Ruth was 11, her grandparents introduced her to John Rock, the son of family friends. Ruth and John rode together regularly, and the two married in their early 20s. Shortly after they wed in 1917, the Rocks purchased property on Foothill Road in Carpinteria from the George Cravens family. George had his home carted away, and John and Ruth built a small house in which to start their family.

Over the years, the Rocks expanded their family to include daughters Mary, Adell, Joan and Bambi. According to Joan Rock Bailard in a 1996 interview, the family home grew as the family itself grew. “Two wings were added as girls were added on,” she remembered.

The Rock girls acquired their parents’ love for horses and grew up riding the miles and miles of trails cut into the foothills and backcountry. “It was just wonderful growing up on a ranch,” Bailard said.

Bailard’s father grew apricots on the ranch, which were later replaced with walnuts, then lemons, then avocados—as demand changed throughout the country.

As babies, the Rock girls napped in their buggy under the shade of the star pine tree growing in the yard. According to Bailard, her childhood was a “lovely, serene” period in the history of Carpinteria as well as the history of the nation.

The Rock family purchased a beach lot on Sandyland Point in 1921 because Ruth loved the sea so dearly. In the 1996 CVN article, Ruth told author Bregante that she swam in the ocean every day until arthritis made it impossible when she reached 90 years old.

In the late 1950s, John and Ruth sold the ranch and moved into a nearby housing development recently built. John passed away in 1975 at age 79, but Ruth lived to 103.

The Rock family home on Foothill Road expanded over the years as John and Ruth Rock added new daughters to their brood.

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

Warriors baseball opens 2025 season with back-to-back wins

BY RYAN P. CRUZ | PHOTOS BY ROSANA SWING

It’s springtime again, and that means baseball at John Calderwood Field, where Carpinteria opened up its season on a perfect sunny Friday on Feb. 21, welcoming Coastal Christian for the first baseball game of the 2025 season.

The game got off to a slow start, but Carpinteria held on to a slim 1-0 lead through the first three innings. Junior lefthander Sam Medel started out the game on the mound for Carpinteria, keeping control through the first four innings with seven strikeouts and just two hits allowed.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Carpinteria erupted for three runs to extend the lead to 4-0, then in the fifth inning the Warriors added another three runs to extend the lead to seven.

Carpinteria’s relief pitchers Noah Morente and Charlotte Cooney came in to secure the win for the Warriors, with Morente pitching a solid two innings and Cooney coming in to seal the 7-1 win in the seventh inning with a perfect three-strikeout performance.

The Warriors had plenty of pop from the bats, with Shayde Juarez knocking in two RBIs with a double in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Aiden Alcaraz cracked a double and scored

impressive debut, reaching base on three out of four attempts and scoring two runs.

“Opening day is a special event each season and our club did not take it lightly,” said Carpinteria coach Pat Cooney. “So many firsts, good fan support and so much promise for a good season. It was great to see an aggressive approach to the game and some really good play from the entire roster. It was also valuable for the players to realize that there is much room for improvement.”

The next day, Saturday, Feb. 22, the Warriors headed to Santa Clara for the team’s first road test of the year, where Carpinteria built on its first win with another impressive all-around performance.

Carpinteria knocked in four runs in the first inning and another five runs in the second inning. By the time Santa Clara scored its first run of the game in the fourth inning, Carpinteria still held on to a 10-1 lead.

The Warriors tacked on another three runs in the fifth inning, then a pair of runs in the sixth to secure the win by a final score of 15-1.

Carpinteria’s defense and pitching was just as important in the win over Santa Clara, with three Warriors pitchers teaming up to hold the Saints to just three hits through the entire game. Martinez started the game with three scoreless innings, followed by Alcaraz providing four strikeouts and allowing only one run in two innings. Hernandez made his varsity pitching debut by finishing the win with two scoreless innings and five strikeouts. Alcaraz led the way at the plate with four hits and three runs, while Medel knocked in three RBIs on three hits. Three more Warriors — Martinez, Juarez and Cooney — each finished the game with at least two hits.

“The players did a good job arriving, preparing, and then playing with a purpose,” coach Cooney said. “It’s so early that we are still finding our identity as a group. So far, we like the effort and approach.”

The Warriors (2-0) will be back on the field on Friday, Feb. 28 for a rematch against Santa Clara at home at John

LEFT: Noah Morente came in to pitch two solid innings in Carpinteria’s season opener. RIGHT: Sam Medel makes a play at first base.

Sebastian Cervantes at the plate in the Warriors 7-1 win over Coastal Christian.

Calderwood Field.

two runs himself, while shortstop Gabe Martinez turned in a hit, a run and an RBI. Freshman Jonah Hernandez had an

Charlotte Cooney took the mound to close out the game with three straight strikeouts.

SHORT STOPS

BY RYAN P. CRUZ

Carpinteria softball drops first three games

Warriors softball started the 2025 season with a tough three-game stretch, with three straight losses against Bishop Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Paula.

Carpinteria opened the year with a home game against Bishop Diego on Feb. 18, in which the visiting Cardinals lit up the scoreboard for a 23-0 shutout.

Two days later Carpinteria played its first road game of the year at Santa Barbara, and in this game the Warriors were able to score six runs, but Carpinteria ultimately suffered another high-scoring loss, 22-6.

On Feb. 25, Carpinteria played its first league contest of the season at Santa Paula, but the Warriors were unable to keep up in a high-scoring affair, with Santa Paula coming away with the win, 11-1.

Carpinteria (0-3) will be back on the field looking for its first win of the year on the road against Santa Clara on March 4.

Warriors boys tennis loses tough matches

Carpinteria boys tennis is still looking for its first win of the year after suffering three straight losses to start the 2025 season.

The Warriors traveled to Ojai to face Thacher in the first match of the year on Feb. 18. The match was not officially finished due to darkness, but by the time the final games were called Thacher held on to a 13-3 win.

“Thacher seemed a bit more polished than we were today,” said Carpinteria coach Charles Bryant. “It was a good eye-opener for me and the boys.”

On Feb. 24, Carpinteria had another tough road test against Dos Pueblos in Goleta. In this match, the Warriors showed improvement with Elio Taha grabbing two wins in singles and Edwin Hernandez adding another win for Carpinteria.

In doubles, the Warriors played better but didn’t pick up any wins, and in the end Dos Pueblos took the victory, 15-3.

“Overall, it was a better showing,” coach Bryant said. “Although the result was still lopsided, I am encouraged by our quick progress.”

The next day, Carpinteria hosted its first home match of the season against Bishop Diego. In what was a very competitive match, both teams were locked at 9-9 and the match was decided by games won, with Bishop Diego taking the edge by one game, 66-65. Taha and Hernandez were both bright spots in the loss, with both players sweeping their opponents in singles.

“They were both fantastic today using a variety of shots and strategies,” Bryant said of the two players. “They’ve been playing well lately and it was good to see them earn their sweeps.”

Carpinteria’s doubles duo of Servando Campuzano and Ethen Almgren turned in a 3-0 sweep, pulling out close wins and keeping the Warriors in the running.

“Overall, we played well, just not well enough to push us into the win column,” Bryant said. “It was good to see exceptional sportsmanship from both teams as well.”

Carpinteria (0-3) will look to get in the win column with a home match against Foothill Tech on Feb. 27.

Carpinteria boys volleyball wins two of three

Carpinteria boys volleyball opened up the year with 3-0 sweeps over both Nordhoff and Fillmore during a Feb. 22 tournament, before the Warriors suffered their first loss of the season against Ventura on Feb. 25.

After picking up two wins on one day to open up the season, Carpinteria hosted Ventura for a Tuesday night non-league contest. The Warriors started out strong, taking the first set 25-23, before Ventura came to life to win the next three sets in a row.

Ventura took the second set 25-16, then won the third 25-18, and sealed the victory with one more win in the fourth set, 25-22.

“The team played with heart,” said Carpinteria coach Favian Muralles. “I’m proud of the effort we put in throughout the match.”

Coach Muralles gave credit to Carpinteria setter Alariuziel Rodriguez, who finished with 17 assists in the loss, and outside hitter Alan Maya, who pitched in 36 digs and five kills against Ventura.

“Their contributions helped keep us in the fight every step of the way,” Muralles said.

Carpinteria (2-1) will prepare for the Pioneer Valley tournament in Santa Maria on Friday and Saturday.

The Carpinteria 12-and-under boys team, “Guacamole,” from left: coach Lynzy Williams, Imre Patterson, Rodrigo “Roy” CampuzanoAviles, Jiyah Blackmore-Rojo, Anthony Parra, Jacob Understiller, Mateo Almanza, Damián González, Camden Ma, Kyree Williams, Leo Frank, Rafa Velazquez-Villegas, Reese Isaac and coach Leanne Patterson.

Carpinteria boys take third in section tournament

The local AYSO 12-and-under boys soccer team was invited to compete at the Bakersfield League Championship Tournament on Feb. 15-16 after winning first place in the Region 683 & Area 10W Tournaments back in November 2024.

The boys soccer team — unofficially known as “Guacamole” for the team members’ green jerseys — took third place in the League Championship Tournament, competing against 16 other teams who were also first-place winners in their respective regional and area tournaments.

In Bakersfield, the Carpinteria team won all three games on the first day of the tournament, then won one out of two games on the second day, earning a win in the third-place match against Camarillo by a score of 2-0. The team was coached by Leanne Patterson and Lynzy Williams.

season opener.

Cate Rams Roundup

Cate School is ready for a new slate of spring sports, with the boys soccer team ending its magical season in the CIF quarterfinals — officially marking the end of winter sports — while baseball and boys tennis played the first games of their respective seasons.

Cate boys soccer won 16 straight games this season, but suffered its first loss in the Division 1 CIF playoffs, losing to El Segundo on Feb. 19 by a final score of 3-1.

Cate baseball opened up the season on the road against Nordhoff on Feb. 25, where the Rams were in the lead for most of the game before Nordhoff came back to take the win by a score of 8-7.

Cate senior Quinn Pullen provided a spark in the loss, going three for four at the plate with a triple and an RBI. Senior Peter Lehman knocked in three more RBIs, and five more Rams players had hits against Nordhoff.

“It’s hard to have a ‘good loss’ but we are coming away from this game feeling encouraged,” said Cate coach David Soto. “We have so much to work on and I have no doubt this group will correct what needs to be corrected as we go forward.”

Cate boys tennis had a better result in its season opener against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 20, where the Rams swept the Seraphs in doubles play and Cate came away with a 15-3 match victory.

Cate has some new talent on the team, with freshmen Bruce Li, Andrew Jayich, Alex Danely and Kendrick Suen all turning in strong performances in their first varsity match together.

ON DECK

Thursday, Feb. 27

*Carpinteria Boys Tennis vs Foothill Tech, 3 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 28

Carpinteria Boys Volleyball at Pioneer Valley, 1 p.m.

*Carpinteria Baseball vs Santa Clara, 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 1

Carpinteria Boys Volleyball at Pioneer Valley, 8 a.m.

*Carpinteria Track & Field hosts Rincon Races, 10 a.m.

Carpinteria Baseball at Orcutt Academy, 11 a.m. *Denotes Home Game

ROSANA SWING

Alondra Carrillo was in the circle for the Warriors’ home opener against Bishop Diego.

COURTESY PHOTO

Senior Quinn Pullen went three for four with a triple and an RBI in Cate’s

IT’S ALL SURFING

CHRISTIAN BEAMISH

Life, as we all know, involves compromise. On the other hand, perhaps it is full adherence to one’s vision — being “non-compromising” in the pursuit of personal goals and aspirations — that creates something extraordinary.

I don’t know for sure, and as time goes on, I am less sure of anything — certainly less sure about absolute declarations. I’m finding that life more often requires a “both/and” rather than an “either/ or” response. As in: both full-adherence to one’s vision and compromise in the day-to-day.

In this spirit of adherence-and-compromise, I made a business trip to Japan last week, and brought my nine-year-old son Miles along for the experience. The adherence-to-vision part was growing my surfboard business by connecting with surfers and shops in Japan. The compromise part was putting Miles through a few grueling days on Japanese highways followed by surfboard events, rather than providing him a pure vacation of sightseeing and fun activities.

But we were in Japan, so even just going to the 7-11 was a cultural experience. We couldn’t have had it any easier, as my friend Nathan (an Australian surfboard broker married to a researcher at Kyoto University) met us at the airport with his 13-year-old son, who took Miles under his wing.

Piling into the van with the thr ee boards I’d brought, we were off into the night back to Kyoto. We stayed at Nathan’s place, and us dads were up and out for a walk early the next morning. Snow was falling like the lightest feathers, and we strolled up a path through the woods, then through a neighborhood to a temple complex that appeared as an exquisite vision of Japan in cultural perfection.

I would have loved for Miles to see this but he was pretty wrecked from 13-hours over the Pacific, and needed his sleep. We did, however, visit a Samurai museum later in the day, and the weaponry and armor were yet another vision of mastery. Later in the day, we explored a five-story store full of flashing lights and loud Tokyo-pop, with every plastic trinket, sticker-pack, and do-dad one could imagine. (A real “both/and” kind of day.)

Next was a four-hour drive down to Shizunami Beach and Seab Surfshop, where about 20 local surfers had gathered to check out the boards I’d brought. It was really fun to meet the crew, some of whom had surfboards I’d shaped and shipped over in recent years. The shop there is in two shipping containers set perpendicular to one another, fitted with sliding glass doors and elevated on piers with a spacious deck built at the intersection. Simple, elegant.

The beach is straight across from where the shop is located, but the surf was only six-inches high. Still, there was the interesting feeling of standing on the opposite shore of the mighty Pacific. California felt very far away. The shop owners hosted us to a beautiful traditional dinner at a local restaurant, and we sat together around a low table as plate after plate of fish and meats and drinks flowed.

A Japanese sensibility

We made the long drive to Tokyo the following day. Our friend Koji at Ride Surf took Nathan and me and our friend Yuichi out to Koji’s secret Yakitori place, where only locals dine, and where autographed photographs of Japanese film and TV stars adorn the walls. The Wagu beef in various cuts, cooked on an open grill, was absolutely amazing. Because there is zero tolerance for driving under the influence in Japan, there are really good zero-percent alcohol beers and I was able to enjoy one with dinner. Miles and Nathan’s son Eric stayed at the hotel and watched movies.

Nathan and Koji had arranged for me to narrate a slide show and talk about surfboard designs and ocean adventures both in the surf and aboard Cormorant. So, I riffed as I do, describing my experiences aboard my 18-foot open boat Cormorant (which I refer to as an 18-foot pintail, since I essentially surf that boat to the destinations I set out for) and connecting ocean voyaging to big wave riding. The talk was fun and the crowd was interesting and interested in what I was going on about.

Got a few board orders that night, and I may also be returning to shape a big stack of boards later in the year. You’ll forgive my possibly boring day-by-day narration of our trip I hope, as I’m feeling a bit rusty as a writer. Nathan had a copy of Haruki Murakami’s memoir “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,” which he let me take, and I am thoroughly inspired — not to take up running, but to resume a more-regular writing practice.

I pitched a book somewhat recently about wanting to trace my ancestors’ journeys to Aotearoa New Zealand from Ireland in 1868, and how they became soldiers who battled Maori in Taranaki where they settled, and how surfing is a pan-Pacific activity with the potential to become a point of cultural reconciliation. It was too opaque I’m afraid, too academic, and a little too all over the place to have a real shot at funding.

Of course, just because one publisher doesn’t want the book, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for it somewhere else.

But I also sense that whatever calamities may lie ahead, political or environmental, we as a people will respond, adapt, and find a way forward. The idea I have is that we must become archeofuturists, utilizing old knowledge to harness and control new technologies.

reality of the earth and her systems. But I also sense that whatever calamities may lie ahead, political or environmental, we as a people will respond, adapt, and find a way forward. The idea I have is that we must become archeo-futurists, utilizing old knowledge to harness and control new technologies. The old ways of Japan persist after all, even in the neon and the pop.

However, the reality is that I live here where my children are, and doing the book would require months away in West County Cork, Ireland, out to Oahu, and on to Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand to comb through archives and meet and get to know local community members. All that travel sounds good and interesting but my life is here, which is very good. I am also interested in the ways that a person’s world view can become a kind of mythology, whether it’s the belief that an un-elected foreign-born billionaire should take a wrecking ball to the American government, or that the Russians are actually the aggrieved party in Ukraine. I’m battling a sense of foreboding these days — a rising fear that too many of our experiences are more and more manufactured and disconnected from the physical

Christian Beamish took leave of his position at Coastal View News in October 2020, to pursue his surfboard business, Surfboards California, full time. He continues his monthly column, and shapes at the surfboard factory showroom at 500 Maple Ave., in Carpinteria. The former Associate Editor of The Surfer’s Journal, Beamish is also the author of “Voyage of the Cormorant,” (Patagonia Books, 2012) about his single-handed expedition down the coast of Baja California by sail and oar in his self-built Shetland Isle beach boat. He now lives with his two children in Ventura.

Car • PET • teria

Meet Jersey the good boy

Meet Jersey, a 92-pound love bug who has been waiting for his forever home since July 2024. Jersey is a 2.5-year-old neutered male Rottweiler mix who is loyal, great in the car and loves toys.

Santa Barbara County Animal Services (SBCAS) staff said Jersey walks well on a leash for all outdoor adventures and loves making new friends. “Whether you’re ready to adopt or foster, Jersey would love to bring joy, loyalty, and tail wags into your life,” staff shared. Interested in fostering or adopting Jersey? He’s in Goleta at 5473 Overpass Road; the shelter is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, email deannturner@yahoo.com.

Tell us about your pet and send us a picture, too. Favorite snacks, special tricks, nicknames, let all of Carpinteria know about your furry, feathered or scaly family member. Email news @coastalview.com

The author and his son Miles enjoy the Samurai Museum in Kyoto, Japan during a week-long surf shop tour.

The lifeline of women’s friendships

COFFEE, CAREER AND KIDDOS

A few weeks ago, I sat on the couch of the Carpinteria Skate Shop (thank you, Peter, for letting us use your space), surrounded by women who have, over time, become my people. We were supposed to be discussing our book — a novel written by a Latina that all of us could relate to — but instead we found ourselves unraveling the threads of our own lives: work stress, parenting struggles, aging parents, marriage and the question of whether we’re doing what brings us joy.

I n honor of March being Women’s History Month, I wanted to highlight the magic of women’s friendships. Book clubs, coffee dates, Zumba classes — these gatherings are more than just social engagements; they are lifelines. Research confirms what we already know in our

hearts: strong social connections improve mental and physical health, lower stress, and even increase longevity. As a woman and a mom, these friendships serve as a sanctuary, a space where I can be vulnerable, supported and understood without judgment.

Yet, in the rush of daily life, female friendships are often the first to be sacrificed. Between work, kids, caregiving, and endless to-do lists, we push off the things that nourish us, convincing ourselves that we’ll “get together soon.” But soon turns into months, and before we know it, the friendships that once grounded us start to fade.

Book clubs and similar rituals are more than just an excuse to read (or not read) a book. They permit us to show up, to prioritize ourselves, and to be in the company of women who remind us of who we are beyond our responsibilities and encourage us to pursue our dreams. These friendships are an antidote to the loneliness so many women quietly carry. For this reason and other reasons mentioned above, we also embed this in our work at Carp Children’s Project. Creating spaces for engagement and connection: Abuelos group, playdates at the park, family picnics and support groups for new moms.

So, this is a reminder to make the plans. Send the text. Put the date on the calendar and protect it like you would any other important obligation — because it is.

This is a reminder to make the plans. Send the text. Put the date on the calendar and protect it like you would any other important obligation — because it is. Our friendships are not luxuries; they are necessities.

Our friendships are not luxuries; they are necessities. If you don’t have the time or energy to plan, let us do it for you. We offer monthly support groups, quarterly parent classes, and ongoing opportunities for connection. All you have to do is show up. Most of the time, childcare and dinner are provided, which is one less thing to worry about. Who knows, the women in those groups may become your people.

To my Latinas and Libros book club girls, you know who you are — thank you!

Teresa Alvarez is the executive director of the Carpinteria Children’s Project. She has over

a decade of experience in the nonprofit field and a passion for helping children and families. Teresa was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, and moved to the U.S. with her parents at age two. Growing up as an undocumented student, she learned the importance of having mentors, a strong work ethic, and the value of education. Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UCSB and a master’s degree in psychology from Antioch Santa Barbara. She currently serves on the Future Leaders of America board and is a founding member of the Santa Barbara Latino Giving Circle. Teresa loves to travel, read and chase after her two boys.

Manufactured by Skyline Homes, Inc. in 2003, the home features two bedrooms, two baths, convenient kitchen, living room, den, vaulted ceilings, and dual panned windows. There is a nice storage shed and small yard area in back. Park amenities include Pool, Clubhouse, and RV parking. Located near Carpinteria Bluﬀs, Beach and downtown Carpinteria. San Roque is a gated park, for added security. OFFERED AT $495,000.

Please call Shirley Kimberlin at 805-886-0228

TERESA ALVAREZ