A BREW WITH A VIEW

IT’S CRIME TIME

BUSTED! RITE AID LPS (LOSS PREVENTION SPECIALIST) CORNERS AND CATCHES COUGH SYRUP Crook IN ALLEY, P. 6

MARA’S TAKE

win, lose or draw, discrimination lawsuit AT ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY harmS area kids and families , P. 5

THE DISH

FINDING SCARLETT BEGONIA IN VICTORIA COURT IS EASY; JUST FOLLOW YOUR NOSE AND TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS, P. 8

SANTA BARBARA

once a week from pier to peak

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A BREW WITH A VIEW

by Matt Mazza

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

L

Spring Has Sprung In SB (For A While Anyway) So Head Down To The Harbor For Brophy’s And Some Fun In The Sun

ife can be tough; there’s no way around it. Sometimes things just don’t go the way you plan. In fact, sometimes things fall apart completely and you’re left standing there, cold and alone, faced with the prospect of picking up the pieces and starting anew.

Again.

Take this past Wednesday. I had my day all mapped out. The previous week had been a busy one, so I’d promised my wife and kids that I would make dinner. It had been cold outside, quite cold indeed, so I suggested a beautiful little saffron-roasted butternut squash risotto from homemade chicken stock, with a little salad from the garden out back and a splash of a lovely Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir for me and the wife.

That’s right. The whole nine yards. The cat’s meow. The full monty.

The excitement was palpable that morning. Wendi was glowing, visibly thrilled with the prospect of a night off from the kitchen, and the girls were bubbling with the knowledge that whenever I cook, there’s a reasonable chance of a decent meal and a near lock on a surprise dessert. Things had started well.

But then I took my morning coffee out into the yard to spend some time with the ...continued p.3

SBVIEW.com PAGE 10

PRESIDIOSPORTS PAGE 16

PLAN B PAGE 20

LOVEMIKANA.com PAGE 21

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...continued from 1 chickens and dog before sitting down for some editing and writing (and legal work).

Uh-oh.

It was gorgeous out. Bright blue skies, not a puff of wind anywhere, sun shining brightly, mountains vibrant, the ocean brilliant and shimmering.

Not cold. Not saffron-roasted butternut squashy. Not Pinot Noiry.

Instead, it was fresh-fishy. Sauvignon Blancy. You know, Santa Barbara summery.

The plan was in jeopardy. My mind was racing.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

An Innocent Suggestion (or A Woman’s Intuition) “Honey,” I started, too jovially, as I walked back inside, “it’s quite a day out there. I’m thinking fresh fish for tonight; let’s scrap the risotto until it gets cold again.”

“Well, okay,” she responded suspiciously; her eyes narrowed.

“Great, I’ll just head down to the Santa Barbara Fish Market and…”

“Matt,” she interrupted, “you know what happens every time you go to the Harbor on a sunny day. You wander around for a few hours and end up at Brophy’s or on somebody’s boat or…”

“Come on, baby,” I countered, smooth as silk, “it’s not always like that. And what, I don’t have any self-control? Don’t worry, this time will be different. I’ll just go pick

Santa Barbara Fish Market Manager James Fuller (right) and his minions, Steven Sanchez (center) and Nick Barnett (left), know their trade. (I’ll buy something next time, guys, I swear.)

up some fish and be home quick – dinner is mine tonight, sweetheart, I own it.”

My words hung in the air as she considered her position. She sized me up.

Then she blinked.

“All right, go get your fish. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

Old Dogs, Old Tricks It was late morning by the time I left the house, and the day had only improved. The digital gauge in the Volvo read 68 degrees Fahrenheit and it was still before noon. A stunning Santa Barbara summer day was unfolding – in the middle of winter – right before my eyes.

I took the long way to the Harbor, enjoying pristine bluebird views of the islands the whole way, windows down, singing aloud.

It was the middle of lunchtime when I

pulled into the lot, and I quickly found a free spot near the fish market. It was meant to be.

The rest of the day was a blur.

I remember being in the Fish Market and chatting with manager James Fuller, unable to decide between fresh local halibut, local black cod, mussels farmed up in Hope Ranch and local ridgeback shrimp.

I remember walking over to the Harbor Market for a drink and bumping into an old friend, long time market owner and proprietor Lisa Clagg. (Lisa was a neighbor on the Westside for a few years and it was great to see her.)

Then I stopped in to Channel Islands Outfitters’ Paddle Sports Center on my way back to the Fish Market, and got caught up learning about the center’s quite reasonable membership program from General Manager Karine Line – members can use SUPs, kayaks and surfboards anytime, and not have to deal with self-

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Brophy’s bartender Brett Lyons shakes up a martini for some lucky patron. (It wasn’t for me, honey, I swear.)

storage and hauling gear all over the place – and talked with member and UCSB Marine Science PhD candidate Karly Miller, who kindly showed me the Paddle Center’s board storage area.

Then I bumped into Cybil Gilbertson and her son Trey, and learned a little bit about Nectar, Cybil’s Santa Barbara-based non-profit that focuses on understanding and exploring relevant social issues through various artistic interpretations. (Sounds very cool; we’ll have to talk more another time, Cybil.)

And the next thing I knew, I was up at Brophy’s enjoying a cold beer and some delicious fresh mussels over colorful conversation with a few local characters.

My wife had seen the future. And I never ...continued p.4

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ONTENTS

...continued from 3

Cover P.5 P.6

Mazza’s Missive – A summery Santa Barbara day in the middle of winter distracts Editor-in-Chief Matt Mazza from his prior obligations and leads him to familiar haunts in the Harbor. Will his marriage survive?

Mara’s Take – Guest Editor and Sentinel columnist Mara Peters describes a side of Roosevelt Elementary that is quite different from the one alleged in the pending lawsuit filed by teacher Yolanda Pandolfi-Hopkins against principal Dr. Donna Ronzone.

Karly Miller takes some time off from those Marine Science Ph.D studies at UCSB and gets at least a paddle a week in.

(Thanks for showing me the ropes, Karly.)

It’s Crime Time with SBPD – A Texan transient “makes a living” by harassing women near movie theaters; Rite Aid Loss Prevention Specialists are gnarly; Eastside gang-banger “Prankster” should clean up his act; so should a local actor caught banging on random doors with a concealed weapon and methamphetamine; and a Nipomo man “tries to defecate” on Westside and succeeds… sort of.

P.7

Letters to the Editor – A local homeless man asks the anonymous author of last week’s “Pick Your Battles” letter to coffee; William Lockwood suggests imprisoning the mentally ill (you know, like the Chinese do); Wendy Jenson serves up another winner in The Dish with Nardonne’s La Famiglia Pizzeria; Jeff Harding responds to Andrew Dunn’s critique of crass materialism; local acupuncturist Dr. Edmund Geswein weighs in on the use of “Dr.”; and Riana V. likes the Sentinel so much that she wants to copy and paste from our website.

P.8 P.9 P.10

The Dish – Wendy Jenson indulges in dinner with Executive Chef Joel Huff and Proprietor Crista Fooks at Scarlett Begonia (yeah, that’s right, they’ve opened for dinner three nights a week… hooray!), and talks Tibetan Cultural Week.

The Beer Guy – Zach Rosen is back again, this time to introduce Beer Matinées at the Mercury Lounge. He’ll pair great beers with movies and characters and scenes, starting with The Big Lebowski on February 3. The entire Sentinel staff is going. (Not sure how we found you, Zach, but it’s love at first sight for us.)

S anta Barbara View – Sharon Byrne beat the flu and wants to help you avoid getting it, so she sat down with local “flu evangelist” Geoff Bard to get some facts. Ray Estrada brings us a few upcoming events for the SB Young Professionals Club and Green Drinks as well as Dr. B’s Online Radio Show, “I Want a Better Life.” (Yeah, yeah, yeah… who doesn’t?)

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Goleta Girl – Jana Mackin finds living culture – and a pretty damn good huevos motulenos – at Del Pueblo Café in the Magnolia Shopping Center. Muy bien!

Presidio Sports – A tribute to legendary UCSB women’s volleyball coach Kathy Gregory, who recently retired after 38 years at the helm (Long Live the Queen!); SBART Athletes of the Week are SBHS’s Maddie Trabucco and Westmont’s Preston Branson. Weekend Sports Calendar is back, too.

The Weekly Capitalist – Jeff Harding decries Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand and celebrates the Consumer Electric Show in Vegas. It’s all for us, the people, man, that’s what capitalism is all about. (Attaboy, Jeff.)

Plan B – Briana Westmacott destroys skiing for her family in Tahoe.

Or does she?

LOVEmikana – Steven Soria and his Make Smith Leather Co. turn out some quality products here in town. And Elliot Karpman brings his Winter Wine Report.

(Leather and wine together? Oh yeah.) And, as always, be sure to check out LOVEmikana’s Weekend Guide as we head into another busy week around town.

Commercial Corner – Austin Herlihy looks back at a December to Remember for local commercial real estate transactions. Thanks President Obama!

Residential Real Estate – Michael Calcagno sees a strong start to 2013, which could turn out to be quite a year for residential real estate. Justin Kellenberger runs the numbers on a few purchases in the New Year… at least some of which you might have actually been able to afford.

Paddle Sports Center’s GM Karine Line working hard. Real hard. (Kidding, Karine, thanks for helping me out.)

even saw it coming.

“Back again,” proprietor Kerry Bennett smiled knowingly, “where’s your wife?”

Damnit. It was like she knew.

“Beautiful day, Kerry,” I dodged what I saw as a rhetorical question, “perfect for a brew with a view.”

Local carpenter Gary Whitted – also known as Cappy – was across the bar, enjoying a few moments to himself as well.

Gary’s a fixture around the Harbor, perhaps especially around Brophy’s, having lived aboard his sailboat Storm Chaser for some twenty years.

“This is sort of a second office for me,” Gary relayed, “anybody who wants work done usually knows right where to find me.”

Sounds familiar, Gary. Very familiar indeed.

Checkmate It wasn’t late afternoon when I got home, but it wasn’t exactly early afternoon either.

My wife sat waiting, patiently, in a beach chair positioned carefully in the middle of a sunny patch in the yard with her eyes closed, clearly enjoying the day.

“Well, what did you decide on,” she queried.

“Saffron-roasted butternut squash risotto,” I said triumphantly.

“But it’s so nice out,” she looked at me, wryly, “so summery. Maybe I should head down to the Harbor to get some fish…”

Touché, my dear, well played. I underestimated you… again. Enjoy your gorgeous Santa Barbara mid-winter (summery) evening off. Eat well. Drink well.

The kids and I are having rice.

Stuff I Like There is a lot happening right now. I’ll be brief.

I like Santa Barbara High School. Student Directors Mary Cusimano, Clayton Barry, Elli Harb and Emilio Madrid are opening the thirteenth season of Music of the Night, in which a cast of 34 students will perform production numbers from

Harbor Market owner Lisa Clagg enjoys the day with employee Lori Courson. (I’m dropping you guys some papers this week, thanks for distributing.)

a variety of popular Broadway musicals.

Should be a blast. Opening night is January 25, and tickets are first come, first served for each performance. $10/adults, $5 students/ seniors/kids. Check out http://sbhstheatre. com for more details and show times.

I like the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, which has a couple openings in a single night, Saturday, January 26. Start at 5pm at Hotel Indigo, where CAF will present a group exhibition, entitled Limuw: An Ode to the Sea, which features a range of artists exploring our passionate, compelling relationship to the sea. From there, move on to CAF’s main location at Paseo Nuevo to experience A Handful of Dust, an exhibition of sculpture works that reexamine the fundamental qualities of material (organized by guest curator Laura Fried, and featuring New York-based sculptor Molly Smith).

This should be quite a night for any art enthusiast, so do go check one or both out.

Admission is free. More details at www. sbcaf.org.

I like gardening, too, and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network’s 5th Annual Santa Barbara Community Seed Swap is coming up on Sunday, January 27, from 11am to 3pm. Over 400 people were there last year, sharing seeds and knowledge with other backyard gardeners, plant lovers and farmers. Fun for all ages, for sure. The swap goes down at the Santa Barbara Central Library (40 East Anapamu Street). Find out more at www.sbpermaculture.org.

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take

Another Side of Roosevelt

S

Roosevelt Manages Diversity and Academic Excellence Pretty Damn Well Late last year, the Independent’s Brandon Fastman wrote a story (“Juan Crow Lands in S.B.?”) about a lawsuit filed by Roosevelt teacher Yolanda Pandolfi-Hopkins alleging that, in an effort to raise test scores, Roosevelt principal Dr. Donna Ronzone “singles out Latino parents to determine whether their children meet the residency requirements to attend Roosevelt.”

But that has not been my experience at all in the more than five years my family has been at the school.

Instead, my own experience is that we are all feeling the squeeze – whether black, white, brown, green or red. Our reality in Public School 2013 means that we are watching our class sizes grow while our funding is cut. We are all hassled, and sometimes even a little harassed, to prove we are in district. It’s the only thing a school can do to function.

I’ve suddenly read much about the alleged discriminatory tactics of Dr. Ronzone, but have not read much about neighboring Montecito Union sending a letter home this fall telling its community that more than a dozen families are there illegally and need to come forward. As an outsider, I questioned such a public airing by school administration. I heard that some parents had taken the role of sussing out violators into their own hands – sometimes by going so far as to follow kids home after school – as part of some kind of clandestine and vigilante attempt at retributive justice in the tough streets of Montecito.

I’m sure there are similar stories at Peabody, Washington and Cold Spring. The point is that no one can handle the growing pressure perfectly. There are definitely cracks in the veneer, for all of us. I felt compelled to write this column because my school, Roosevelt, may have some chips but it’s pretty damn smooth in my book. It manages a remarkable balance of diversity and academic excellence.

Indeed, I find it ironic that Roosevelt has been singled out for discrimination against Latinos when it has a higher number of Hispanics taking the API test than Washington – similar to Peabody – and had the second highest API score in the district this past school year. (And one of the highest API scores for Latinos district-wide, beating the state goal of 800 for any student population.) Further, the oft-cited “achievement gap” between white and Latino students has been more successfully addressed and minimized at Roosevelt than just about anywhere else.

life is harder for most. The point, in all of this, is to help those people rise with you. That is where the real achievement is.

Roosevelt has helped us do that.

A Discriminatory Monster or Champion of Minorities?

Which brings me back to Dr. Ronzone and a day I remember quite clearly, because I cried. It was over four years ago and she was at an all-school assembly. She announced in the auditorium that President Barack Obama was just elected as the first African-American president, “a victory for all minorities,” she said as the packed room exploded, everyone standing on their feet cheering and applauding.

My husband and I looked around the room and felt it all around us.

Hope. Hard not to believe in it.

And I’ll always remember Dr. Ronzone’s words, “Now you know,” she encouraged the eager young faces, “work hard and you can become president too; today the world just opened up for you.”

The bottom line is that we are already faced with myriad challenges in the public school system – now we at Roosevelt (and perhaps an even larger “we”) have a self-inflicted wound.

I suppose that the courts will ultimately decide who wins and who loses here, but my feeling is that those of us with kids at Roosevelt will lose the most.

And that’s a shame.

Get your boots dirty!

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A Well-Rounded Education But let’s forget about the numbers for a minute. In the five years I’ve been there, I have grown to appreciate the diverse community; it’s the best thing going for our school. My daughter’s best friend is Latina. They met in kindergarten and, talk about two worlds colliding: her mother couldn’t speak English, nor I Spanish. In spite of our cultural differences, economic gap and language barrier, however, we have developed a very strong friendship. We share the same birthday. She brings me a traditional Jell-O cake and the day is full of a lot of hugs and gratitude. She told me she considers me a sister and I am very honored.

We’ve also managed to navigate the school together for the girls. As Olivia’s friend’s advocate, I have watched the best of public school teachers work to get her up to speed. Last year, her third grade teacher came racing over after school to proudly tell me that her recent essay showed no signs that English is her second language. Her younger brother, six months into kindergarten, suddenly speaks fluent English.

I was recently in New York – our former home – and spent time with old friends and family. I listened to them complaining about the use of iPhones in the schools and discussing the entitled friends their kids had. And I thought about Olivia’s friend struggling with living in two worlds – her Spanish-speaking one at home and her more Americanized one at school and with us – always grateful for any opportunity and incredibly generous when she couldn’t afford to be. And I realized how lucky my family is for our daily reminders that

5

Best friends since kindergarten, Ashley Sanchez (left) and Olivia Peters are students at Roosevelt

by Mara Peters

he has short brown hair and big brown eyes – so do her brothers. They go to Roosevelt and when their rental didn’t work out last May, the office started asking their parents to make sure they had proof of residence before school was out. Repeated the “request” four times, in fact. Then the call came in over the summer, “We need written verification of your residency in this school district in Santa Barbara or your children will not be allowed to attend.” Finally, the parents produced a new lease documenting an address in the Roosevelt district. And the kids were permitted to attend the school.

How do I know this happened?

I was the parent, and Olivia, Jackson and Teddy go to Roosevelt. We are not Hispanic.

My close friend has a blonde-haired, blue-eyed first grader who was not given his new classroom number on the first day of school until proof of residency was provided to the front desk. They are not Hispanic either.

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It'sCrimetime...

...with the SBPD

A variety of crimes are committed every day in Santa Barbara; most of these crimes are petty but they do offer a window into if not the soul of the perpetrator, at least his or her thought process. Our following (and totally unsolicited) thoughts, observations, and comments are put forth for your consideration.

Riddle Me This…

W

e like jokes here at the Sentinel, and this week we’ve got one of our own. What do a Texan transient, a Rite Aid Loss Prevention Specialist, an Eastside gang member and an out-of-work actor have in common? Read on to find out.

Making A Living In SB…The Hard Way CRIME: SBPD approached a young mansient outside a movie theater on State Street after

watching him “harassing people” and “yelling at women.” “I’m just making a living,” the 21-year-old said, just before he was detained for public intoxication. “It’s mine, you can’t go in there,” he said, just before officers searched his backpack and found 17 grams of marijuana and 28.8 grams of psilocybin – a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in wild mushrooms – as well as a digital scale. (Cops also found a ticket from another government agency that listed the young man’s real name, not the fake one he’d given them earlier.)

OBSERVATION: The last thing this guy said to officers before he entered the jailer’s iron grasp was, “Hey, can you give me some ‘shrooms?” How respectful. Nice.

COMMENT: Maybe we’re starting with the obvious here but why eat a bunch of magic mushrooms before going behind bars? Sounds terrible, man, talk about a bad trip. (‘Shrooms are often edgy, we hear, so why tempt fate?)

In any event, now that the hallucinogenic fungus issue is out of the way, we have a few suggestions for homeless folk, especially the young, obnoxious and belligerent ones (at least some of whom come from middle-class or well-to-do backgrounds): 1) Leave people alone; 2) Stop selling drugs on State Street; and 3) Obey the law.

We hear a lot about respect and autonomy and, well, let’s just say you get what you give.

And who knows? Maybe people will actually start thinking differently about the homeless issue if you show some decency and kindness. We’re just saying. Treat people the way you’d like to be treated and see what happens. It couldn’t hurt.

Female Rite Aid Loss Prevention Specialists Are Tougher Than You CRIME: A Santa Barbara woman was arrested last week for robbery and providing a false name.

OBSERVATION: She’d have gotten away with it but for the bravery and toughness of a

female Rite Aid Loss Prevention Specialist (LPS), who watched the woman steal some generic cough medicine. The LPS confronted the shoplifter once she’d walked out the front

Editor-in-Chief • Matt Mazza Design/Production • Trent Watanabe Advertising/Sales • Tanis Nelson • Sue Brooks Contributing Partners Opinion • sbview.com • Sports • Presidiosports.com Santa Barbara Skinny • LoveMikana.com Columnists Goleta Girl • Jana Mackin • She Has Her Hands Full • Mara Peters Plan B • Briana Westmacott • The Dish • Wendy Jenson The Beer Guy • Zach Rosen • Real Estate • Michael Calcagno Commercial Corner • Austin Herlihy • The Weekly Capitalist • Jeff Harding Man About Town • Mark Leisure • In The Garden • Randy Arnowitz Published by SB Sentinel, LLC, Tim Buckley, Publisher PRINTED BY NPCP INC., SANTA BARBARA, CA Santa Barbara Sentinel is compiled every Friday 133 EAST DE LA GUERRA STREET, #182, Santa Barbara 93101 How to reach us: 805.845.1673 E-MAIL: matt@santabarbarasentinel.com

CRIME TIME QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I’m just making a living.”

- A 21-year-old male transient from Texas to SBPD after officers watched him “harassing people” and “yelling at women” outside a State Street movie theater. (No comment.) door, but that’s not the end of the story.

Not by a long shot.

The thief shoved the LPS hard against a concrete pillar and took off running. But the LPS got up and took off after the woman, eventually catching her in an alley, grabbing her by the sweater and “persuading” her to return to the store, where representatives affiliated with SBPD were waiting.

COMMENT: We don’t have any idea how much Rite Aid pays its Loss Prevention Specialists, but we have little doubt they don’t pay them enough. This woman chased down a potentially dangerous criminal and dragged her back to the police – all for a bottle of cough medicine.

Generic cough medicine. Wow. That’s employee loyalty. Rite Aid must be doing something right.

Prankster Gets Caught…And Doesn’t Seem To Care CRIME: An 18-year-old Eastside gang member known as “Prankster” was caught crossing out rival gang graffiti with spray paint and was arrested on an early Monday afternoon.

OBSERVATION: When SBPD approached the young man and described what they’d seen him do, Prankster exclaimed “Ah man, you caught me. I screwed up!” (Nice defense.)

COMMENT: Yes, Prankster, you did “screw up.” But not just with the spray paint. With the gang membership and the ridiculous pseudonym. Shouldn’t you be in school? Or at work?

You have a choice to make, man, and if you don’t choose wisely and soon, you’ll either be scribbling gang tags on local walls and calling yourself Prankster forever, or spending 23 hours a day in a prison cell looking forward to that one-hour outside walk with the rest of the losers. Is that actually appealing to you? Do better.

Lights, Camera…Jail Time?

CRIME: A 41-year-old actor who lives in SB was arrested at 11pm on a Sunday night after

SBPD received a call regarding a suspicious male knocking on random doors. After officers found the man, who consented to a lawful search, they discovered a four-inch fixed-blade knife tucked into his right sock and took him into custody. Then they searched his vehicle and found almost 18 grams of marijuana and a white, crystal-like substance that ultimately tested positive for methamphetamine.

OBSERVATION: Talk about a fall from grace. This guy has been in all sorts of popular movies and TV shows over the past two decades. We like him. And we hated seeing him in the police reports.

COMMENT: This ain’t no movie, man. Quit banging on doors with a knife in your sock and doing meth (assuming it was yours). Pull your shit together and get back to work. You’re actually pretty good at what you do and we’d love to see more of you. Seriously.

…RIDDLE ME THAT So, you ask, what do a Texan transient, a Rite Aid Loss Prevention Specialist, an Eastside gang member and an out-of-work actor have in common?

One thing.

They’re all doing marginally better, perhaps, than the 25-year-old, 6’1”, 200-pound Nipomo man who was seen by passersby with his “pants down, trying to defecate” on the Westside. (He’s just trying, isn’t that ok? Can you see him straining?) By the time the cops got to him, unfortunately, he had apparently moved past the relatively benign act of “trying to defecate” and was covered in feces, quite drunk and unable to say where he was coming from or going to. (The bathroom would have been the obvious choice, but we digress.) Not surprisingly, he was arrested. We feel sorry for anybody who may have had to share a cell with him.

These things happen on our streets, friends. Right here in Santa Barbara. (And, for the record, we generally stay away from domestic violence and rape and other more violent crimes… but they are here too, more than you’d think.) It’s a special place, and we need to respect it and to care for it. Think about that the next time you are considering harassing people for spare change, stealing from a local store, doing meth and acting nuts or defacing our beautiful architecture.

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Letters

Although you might not believe it, we actually want to hear from you. So if you have something you think we should know about or you see something we've said that you think is cretinous (or perspicacious, to be fair), then let us know. There's no limit on words or subject matter, so go ahead and let it rip to: Santa Barbara Sentinel, Letters to the Editor, 133 East De La Guerra Street, No. 182, Santa Barbara, California 93101. You can also leap into the 21st century and email us at letters@santabarbarasentinel.com.

Down But Not Out

T

his is a response to the letter from Anonymous last week about the homeless here in Santa Barbara (“Pick Your Battles”). I was born in Santa Barbara in 1956 at St. Francis Hospital. My mom was a live-in housekeeper in Montecito, first on Sheffield Drive, then elsewhere. We lived on Miramar Lane for awhile until 1960 or 1961, then we moved to the Eastside on North Voluntario the end of the 300 block for a year, then to the middle of the 400 block of North Voluntario. I grew up on the Eastside, went to Franklin School, Santa Barbara Jr. High and Santa Barbara High School, and ultimately did about a year and a half at Santa Barbara City College. (I never finished my studies there.)

Growing up here in SB, there weren’t that many homeless people. But I do remember as far back as 1959 (I was three years old) when mom and I would come into town for shopping, doctors appointments, the movies at Mission Theater (now the Metro Four), that lower State Street was a mini Skid Row. Starting from the 700 block down to the 500 block. There was your down and outers, bums and derelicts. The Faulding and Virginia were both fleabag hotels.

Many of the homeless folks were out of town drifters looking for odd jobs before moving on.

Yes I do remember Santa Barbara was a quiet sleepy little town up until mid ‘80s, early ‘90s. Then, boom! Slowly the homeless situation was starting to grow.

Many of these individuals are from other states and they come here. Why? The weather, of course. Yes, I know and so do you as well. Many of them are alcoholics and drug addicts, and many of them have mental issues. And let us not forget that many of them are vets, which only shows that our government does not care about them. So, what do we do? Round them all up and put them on freight trains and send them off to some death camp?

If that’s the case, then I will be willing to be the first one to go. That’s right! I am homeless as well. Yes, at one time I used to work. When I was about 15, I worked for Kitson Nursery when old Kitson and his wife were just starting out. He was also my mom’s landlord. I also worked for a couple of janitorial services, I was a baggage clerk for Greyhound for a short period of time, worked at Mission Linen, delivered the LA Times, worked at International Transducer Corp., HTL Electro Kinetics Corp. (later Pacific Scientific), Delco Electronics (first as a temp then later fulltime), was a taxi driver for six years (after Delco laid me off) and then lastly Hendry Telephone Products. I was laid off there one month after 9/11.

October 31, 2002. That is when I first became homeless. My sister took over the lease, and kicked me out of the house that I’d rented for ten years. After staying with

a friend for a couple of weeks I went to the Rescue Mission: a horrible experience. Then I went to Casa Esperanza for the winter of that year and I did not know what to do.

Back to the Rescue Mission after winter and in June of 2003 I went to Phoenix, Arizona, to stay with an old high school friend for a month before moving on. I worked there as a temp earning minimum wage from 2003 to 2011 and once again I lost my job, lost my trailer (I lived in a trailer park). For a short period of time I was renting a room from one of the full-time employees but he eventually kicked me out of his house.

I was having a very hard time trying to get unemployment from the State of Arizona.

So, mid October 2011, I came back to Santa Barbara. Mi tierra. Yo soy Californio.

And I am still homeless.

So, to Mr. Anonymous: I am not an alcoholic, and not a drug addict. Never been to juvenile hall, jail, prison or the military, and I do not have a bunch of tattoos up and down my body. I also do my very best to treat everyone with respect (which I learned at a very early age). But I do have some issues that I must deal with and I have a couple of social workers who are helping me out.

I do understand your frustration and anger, and if it was me on that bench I would have been more than happy for you to sit down and text your girlfriend. Maybe we would have talked about the movie you saw. I do love westerns. Grew up watching them with my mom.

Yes, the homeless problem is bad and it is going to get worse. But not just here in Santa Barbara, all over this country.

The manufacturing industry in America is ...continued p.12

sold

Off Market

740 State St., Santa Barbara

auStin hErlihy 805.879.9633

Austin Herlihy, Steve Brown & Chris Parker represented both parties in the approximate $11,250,000 sale of this approx. 22,000 SF retail/office building.

DRE: 01518112

StEvE Brown 805.879.9607 DRE: 00461986

ChriS parkEr 805.879.9642

2 05 E . Ca rri l lo, S u itE 100 | Santa Bar B ar a , Ca 93 1 0 1 805.96 5. 5 5 00 | w w w. ra d i u S gr o u p.Co m

Storewide Anniversary Sale!

Jan 17-22

DRE: 01887788

20% Off All Merchandise Throughout the Shop!

Thank You for 5 great years!

Debra Ann Galin First Vice President Wealth Advisor 1014 Santa Barbara Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 805-564-7987 www.morganstanleyfa.com/galin debra.a.galin@morganstanley.com

© 2012 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. NY CS 7181360 BC007 07/12

GP10-01505P-N06/10

B

JA N I E

Reed Barton

FINE GIFTS

AND

HOME DÉCOR

1482 East Valley Road 805 969-4400

Montecito’s Upper Village

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by Wendy Jenson A former magazine editor, Wendy worked at

Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and Us Weekly in NYC, before moving west with Santa Barbara Magazine. Currently a public relations consultant, she relishes being out and about working on this column.

Dinner at Scarlett Begonia

Scarlett Begonia Executive Chef Joel Huff is a food artist.

Risotto with Essence of Forest, Winter Truffle and 63 degree egg is $29. The egg is slow cooked in its shell in a water bath at 63 degrees Celsius (that’s 145 degrees Fahrenheit).

Scarlett Begonia Executive Chef Joel Huff with proprietor Crista Fooks.

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veryone and her brother has been to Scarlett Begonia for breakfast and brunch. On weekends, the tiny restaurant somehow manages to feed 250 guests from 8:00am to 2:00pm. Dinner is now served Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5:30pm to 9:00pm.

Proprietor Crista Fooks’s husband, Chris, is a Deadhead. When they were brainstorming names for the restaurant, the Grateful Dead song “Scarlet Begonias” came on the radio. Scarlett also happens to be their daughter’s name. They also have a son, Mick.

Prior to opening the restaurant (using an inheritance), Crista was a women’s studies major at UCSB, an editor at Food & Home magazine, and a caterer at the Biltmore.

Eighteen years ago, she met Executive Chef Joel Huff when they both attended SBCC’s School of Culinary Arts.

Ventura-born surfer Joel has quite the resumé. Esquire magazine declared him a “Chef to Watch” in 2006. He’s appeared on The Today Show and cooked at James Beard House in New York City. He’s toiled away in kitchens in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Sydney and Copenhagen. Locally, he’s worked at the Biltmore/Coral Casino and at the San Ysidro Ranch.

Joel is known for his high standards and unusual presentations. His dishes are imaginative, but not too out there for an American palette. Everything tastes marvelous and is made from scratch.

The limited dinner menu changes week to week. At one time it included: Diver Scallop with Cauliflower, Vadouvan, and Kohlrabi Nage, $16; Lamb Meatballs with Chermoula, Goat Milk Polenta and Mint, $17; Tataki with Albacore, Pumpkin and Blood Orange, $18; and Short Rib with Beef Glaze, Textures of Carrot, and Smoked Potatoes; $31. All are incredible and executed with great care.

A food dictionary helps decode the lesser known ingredients and terms.

A multi-bowled meal of Lobster with Bilbao Chorizo, Salted Potatoes and Salsa Verde is $31.

Interior of Scarlett Begonia, a sleek black banquette is out of frame.

Vadouvan is a blend of spices similar to Indian curry, but with a French influence.

Kohlrabi is German for “cabbage turnip.”

Chermoula is a green Moroccan sauce.

Tataki is a way to prepare fish in Japanese cuisine: seared, marinated in vinegar, and thinly sliced.

How good is Scarlett Begonia?

Whenever they are in town, an L.A.

couple with a home in Montecito comes for breakfast and dinner.

Even the beverages stand out. All nonalcoholic beverages are organic, free trade and local. Dining Room Manager Chris Sullivan knows beer. His choices include the impossible to find, limited release Anchor Christmas Ale. It’s a rich, dark spiced ale only available from November thru January.

Currently licensed for beer and wine, the café is in the process of obtaining a full liquor license.

A sweet treat is always presented with the bill. A caramel corn lollipop is perfect for eating on the way home.

Scarlett Begonia is tucked away in the interior courtyard Victoria Court, corner of State and Victoria; 11 W. Victoria Street #10; (805) 770-2143; scarlettbegonia.net.

Open 8:00am to 2:00pm everyday but Monday, and 5:30 to 9:00pm Thursday thru Saturday.

Sand-sational!

Santa Barbara Summit for Tibet is hosting a “Tibetan Cultural Week of Celebration and Education” from Saturday, January 19 thru Saturday, January 26, 2013.

As part of Tibet Week, a sacred sand mandala will be created – over the course of four days, no easy task – by Master Losang Samtem and Tenzin Thokme. A former Buddhist monk, Losang is one of about 30 people in the world qualified to teach the traditional art of colored sand painting.

Tenzin is an architect by profession.

Entitled “Wheel of Life,” the mandala will feature the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aversion. Buddhists believe these are the main causes of suffering in the universe.

On Wednesday, January 23 from 7:00 to 9:30pm, there will be a public viewing of the completed mandala and a concert at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, at the corner of Arrellaga and Santa Barbara Streets. Afterward, the mandala will be ritualistically destroyed, symbolizing the Buddhist belief in the transitory nature of material life.

For more information regarding Tibet Week, visit sbtibet.com. All events are free and open to the public.

Eagerly awaiting tips, tips, tips: If you have any restaurant information, please contact me at wendy@santabarbarasentinel. com.

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by Zach Rosen

Beer Matinées at The Merc

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s Vincent Vega – John Travolta’s character in Pulp Fiction – so coolly stated about the little things in Europe, “All right. Well, you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like in no paper cup; I’m talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald’s.” This isn’t happening just in Europe anymore. Starbucks and Burger King have actually begun experimenting with serving beer and wine at trial locations.

Or so I’ve heard, anyway, because, like the aforementioned Mr. Vega, I just don’t go into Burger King.

Being a Certified Cicerone® (beer Sommelier), I work a lot with beer and food.

Beer goes tremendously with all sorts of eats (no surprise there) way beyond pizza and wings (indeed, see my previous column).

But I don’t always want to be eating when I am drinking, and I don’t always want to be drinking when I am eating. So as well as the two interact with one another, beer and food don’t always want to be together. Eating is only one of the many moments that call for a beer. Watching movies, listening to music, good conversation... quite a few situations can be bettered by having a beer in hand.

Zach Rosen is a Certified Cicerone® and beer educator living in Santa Barbara. He uses his background in chemical engineering and the arts to seek out abstract expressions of beer and discover how beer pairs with life.

The Dude Jeff Bridges plays the iconic character, The Dude. This post-60s stoner drinks White Russians – a lot of them. That’s admittedly not a very beer-centric beverage, so how will we capture the spirit of The Dude’s infamous persona and his signature drink? The answer lies in a Black and Tan – but we’re not just going to throw together some Guinness and Harp as we do on the day our beer turns green. No, we will be layering Old Rasputin, a Russian imperial stout, and Allagash White, a Belgian-style witbier (white beer). When placed together, you have a “white” and a “Russian” to

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More to Come These are just two of the beer pairings that will be served at the Beer Matinée. Other matches will be made for The Rug, Bunny, Walter, and more!

Recently, California’s Stone Brewing Co. announced it will soon make a collaboration beer, Dayman Coffee IPA, to pay homage to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and New York’s Brewery Ommegang is set to release a Game of Thronesinspired Iron Throne Blonde Ale, for the third season premiere in March.

So with movie and TVinspired beers being made, the Beer Matinee will certainly not be “out of [its] element,” and there Pairing beers with The Big Lebowski at the Merc – not a bad way to spend a is something to be said Saturday evening. about how the drinking where the audience is first introduced to The and viewing experience correspond with Big Lebowski. Belzebuth’s overt sweetness one another. Or I don’t know, as Walter says corresponds to the sympathy the Big in the flick, maybe it’s just “F*** it Dude.

Lebowski’s immobile state inspires. But don’t Let’s go bowling.” be fooled by either his or this beer’s sugary disposition. At 13% ABV this beer certainly Where: The Mercury Lounge; is big and desiring of power. Its spicy flavor 5871 Hollister Avenue and devilish title provide the evidence of When: Saturday, February 2, 5 – 7pm Lebowski’s greed and immoral content to Cost: $25 per person. On sale now and tickets will not be sold at the door. which the audience is eventually exposed.

Beer Matinée While I have paired beer with both art and music (yeah, that’s right), I am ecstatic to introduce a new series of events. The Mercury Lounge and yours truly are proud to present Beer Matinée. During these events, we’ll screen a movie and pair beers with different characters and memorable scenes. Viewers will get to relax at the lounge while beers are brought out to the table at different times of the film. And since we’ll be at the Merc, there will be popcorn!

Saturday, February 2nd, from 5 – 7pm will be our premiere event and we’ll be enjoying the cult classic, The Big Lebowski.

This wonderful Coen Brothers film is about a burnt out bowler caught up in a case of mistaken identity, and is full of laughs with many memorable lines and personalities.

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The Winehound is

Belzebuth just screams The Big Lebowski – does a specialized Black and Tan do the same for The Dude? Go find out.

form the mellow, intoxicating flavor of The Dude. The witbier’s unmalted wheat brings a soft and comforting mouthfeel, almost reminiscent of wearing a bathrobe – his clothing item of choice. Russian imperial stouts are stronger and richer than their Irish counterparts and the high alcohol content and boozey flavor brings the intoxicating mindset that His Dudeness must always have. The slogan for Old Rasputin is, “Never Say Die,” and just like Rasputin’s persistence, “The Dude abides.”

The Other Lebowski The movie progresses from The Dude, whose real name is Jeffrey Lebowski, being mistaken for a handicapped millionaire of the same name. This “Big Lebowski” and The Dude’s paths become entangled in a series of mysterious events that are lined with theft, kidnapping and even Nihilists.

But of course in the true fashion of detective writer Raymond Chandler, all is not as it seems. To match with the other Lebowski’s “big” character we will be serving the French strong ale, Belzebuth. The deep golden color of this beer reminds one of his “award” room

MOVING to La Cumbre Plaza!

3849 State Street

(next to See’s Candies) • More Wines!

Easy Parking!

• More •Wines!

• Easy Parking!

Opening in October!

• Grand • Stay tuned for news & specials...

Subscribe to our emails at www.thewinehound.com

The Winehound

– Cheers, Bob Wesley & the Winehound Crew

3849 State St. Santa Barbara • (805) 845-5247

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W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M

Opinion, stories, events, and people that shape Santa Barbara

sbview.com

around you, seriously this winter.

Use these measures to avoid the flu. Stay home if you’re sick. Get that flu shot.

I know I will be.

Milpas on the Move

by Sharon Byrne

Watch Out For the Flu!

F

ull disclosure: I am one of those people who pays little attention to flu. I rarely get sick. I never bother getting flu shots.

I came down with the flu over the holidays, and trudged off to the drug store for decongestants and aspirin. I took to bed for a couple of days, and coughed and sneezed for a couple of weeks. It was annoying, debilitating, and exhausting.

Then I saw all the headlines about the flu outbreak in the U.S. This year seems to be the most lethal in a decade for influenza.

Boston had 70 cases reported last winter, but over 700 this year, prompting the city to declare a state of emergency. Fortyseven states have reported widespread outbreaks, though California is not one of them, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Public health officials are tracking the outbreak, and even using Twitter and Google to keep on top of the situation.

Even though the flu is like a nasty uber-cold on steroids for some of us, it can actually be deadly – particularly to vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Dr. Wada, head of Santa Barbara County Public Health, presented flu data for the county at the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning.

He said our first death in the county from influenza occurred this week, an 80-yearold woman.

I’ve also been receiving emails and updates from Geoff Bard, a self-described community health activist, and a man who has taken flu evangelism to new heights.

Geoff became an activist in New York at the height of the AIDS crisis, considered a significant turning point in the National Institute of Health’s response to the public outcry. Now residing in Santa Barbara, Geoff has taken to educating others about the flu, speaking out at the Board of Supervisors and City Council meetings. His particular interest right now is in preventing the spread among a group that often struggles with a compromised immune system, and spends a lot of time outdoors: the homeless.

With the onset of cold temperatures, warming centers began opening up. Geoff saw the potential for problems: people congregating and sleeping in common areas, unaware of the potential for flu outbreaks, lack of prevention measures in place, and with no method of containment readily available.

He decided to do something about it.

Geoff teaches cough hygiene as a way to prevent the spread of influenza.

He’s launched the Cough Hygiene Initiative, a sub-project of his Alliance

Ray Estrada

Ray Estrada is a writer, editor and media consultant who has worked for newspapers, radio news, wire services and online publications for the past 40 years. He has taught journalism at the University of Southern California and now runs his own consulting business based in Santa Barbara.

sbview.com

Business Beat

by Ray Estrada

‘$100 Startup’ Author to Speak Next Week

T

Flu evangelist Geoff Bard urges you to cough into your elbow and wash your hands frequently.

Sharon Byrne

Sharon Byrne is executive director for the Milpas Community Association, and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the Salvation Army Hospitality House and Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Problems.

sbview.com to Teach Everywhere About Community Health (causes.com/TEACH). Like any good evangelist, he’s fierce, tenacious, and naturally ruffles feathers, including those of warming center staff and Reverend Mark Asman, over conditions at that camp at the labyrinth of Trinity Episcopal Church last year.

I sat down with Geoff to see why he was so determined to spread awareness about this year’s flu outbreak. Flu is viral, in the literal sense of that word. It spreads. The National Institute of Health published a study in 1982 showing that flu viruses can live up to 24 hours on stainless steel and plastic. Those same viruses lasted for 8-12 hours on cloth, paper and tissue surfaces.

Think about how much transference is possible just by hand, when you touch money, door handles, clothing, blankets, cutlery, etc. Then touch your nose, mouth, or rub an eye, something we all do, unconsciously, multiple times daily, and you’ve got it.

To prevent flu spread, wash your hands often. Use anti-bacterial gel and hand sanitizer.

Influenza transmission is also airborne.

Droplets from coughing or sneezing can extend up to 6 feet outwards. Super-

tiny particles from talking or breathing can remain airborne for hours. In close quarters like a warming center, influenza spread would be nearly guaranteed.

To minimize exposure, Geoff urges that you cough and sneeze into your elbow, rather than into your hands. This will reduce the airborne contingent, and reduce chance of touch transmission.

Geoff is relieved that the national flu outbreak is making it into the public awareness locally, and is focused on helping the homeless avoid contagion. He secured funding for and distributed personal headlamps to those who successfully modeled the elbow cough technique. He distributes the hand sanitizers to homeless outreach organizations, meal providers and, of course, to the homeless.

Take your health, and the health of those

he Santa Barbara Young Professionals Club will host entrepreneur and author Chris Guillebeau at the group’s first FUEL event of 2013, which will start at 6pm, January 22, at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Blvd.

The event is free for SBYPC members and also to guests who sign up in advance at http://100startup.com/#tour. Door admission is $10.

As part of his tour to promote The $100 Startup, Guillebeau will give a brief talk followed by an open question-and-answer session. Guillebeau has visited more than 175 nations in his 35 years. He has never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck and has found a knack for turning his ideas into income instead.

The $100 Startup focuses on inspiring individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment. Rather than competing in a crowded job market, these “unexpected entrepreneurs” have monetized aspects of their personal passions to create a life with greater freedom and fulfillment.

The $100 Startup was a New York Times

Chris Guillebeau will stop at Fess Parker’s Doubletree on his tour to promote The $100 Startup as part of a Young Professionals Club FUEL event.

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and Wall Street Journal best seller, with more than 100,000 copies sold in its first three months of release. Translations into 15 languages are in progress for the motivational book geared toward the “new economy entrepreneur.”

This Young Professionals Club event is being held in conjunction with the group’s monthly mixer. Networking will begin at 6pm followed by Guillebeau’s talk at 7pm.

FUEL is a quarterly series presented by the Young Professionals Club to provide learning and discussion with industry experts who offer a unique perspective.

Each event focuses on a different topic designed to empower members to achieve success in their professional lives.

First 2013 Green Drinks Set For January 22

T

he first Green Drinks of 2013 will take place from 6 to 8pm on January 22 at Municipal Winemakers, 22 Anacapa Street, in the Funk Zone.

Geoff Green from the Fund for Santa Barbara will speak about the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Social Justice Documentary.

Green Drinks is an almost monthly gathering of South Coast business people and nonprofit group members who believe in eco-friendly, sustainable and environmentally beneficial programs and products.

‘Dr. B’ Answers Online Radio Questions

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Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum presents a dazzling evening of arts and culture

S

anta Barbara-based writer and teacher Jeannie Bertoli, Ph.D. offers free advice to callers on her live online radio program, “I Want a Better Life.”

Bertoli started the program in November and is quickly building a following.

She explained the format of her radio program: “Each week we have a different topic for the show,” Bertoli said. “I do lots of shows on families, dealing with various relationships (love relationships, co-workers, friends, people who bug you, etc.), and on living a deeper, more fulfilling life.”

Callers discuss grieving, how to balance “I” and “we” in a marriage, how to leave old relationships in the past, and many other things, Bertoli said. “For the first five minutes or so, I talk about some topic that has been on my mind or in the news,” the host said. “My goal is to help listeners learn of a new way to deal with various life circumstances. After that, the lines are open and I take your calls for the rest of the hour.”

“I Want a Better Life” is live each Wednesday at noon Eastern and 9am Pacific time. Listeners may call in at (347) 326-9625 or by going to the show’s webpage: blogtalkradio.com/ IWantABetterLife.

16th Annual Valentine’s Day Benefit

8 pm to Late

Tickets available at sbcaf.org or call (805) 966-5373

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Artistic Director David Maldonado creates a glimmering setting with an array of festive delights, including: G Perfume Mixing G Valentine Crafts G G Photo Booth G Dancing G G Truffle, Tequila, and Cheese Tastings G G Tempting raffle items such as jewelry, wine, and original contemporary artworks! G

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...continued from 7 almost non-existent, more and more people will be losing their jobs, their homes and the politicians are out for themselves. Does not matter which party.

For the record, I do not like being homeless. I wish it were different.

Anyway, kudos for you in helping out our four-legged friends. I do agree that many of them behave better than the two-legged human beings, homeless or not.

If you ever want to get together and talk, I sometimes hang out at the Coffee Cat (where I read your letter) on the weekends if I have money to buy a cup of coffee. Or you can sometimes find me at Ralphs sitting outside in the afternoon or early evening. I’ll even be willing to buy you a deli sandwich, some chips or a salad and a drink. But it will be on my food stamp card.

Just look for the big guy with the goatee. I usually sit by myself. Do take care.

Jose Arturo Ortiz de Martinez-Gallegos Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Like I said last week in

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response to the very letter at issue here: “For what it’s worth, my own personal take is that this is a hugely complex issue for many reasons, not the least of which is that many people make large generalizations about the homeless population or available treatment options and how they might best be dealt with or implemented (respectively).” The foregoing (thoughtful, insightful) response clearly seems to break the mold when it comes to the way many people think about homelessness, and I really appreciate the perspective. Thanks for taking the time to tell your story, Jose, I will look for you and take you up on that coffee.

– MSM)

China: Last Bastion of Human Rights and Dignity The anonymous author of the recent “Pick your Battles” letter seems reluctant

to face reality. We don’t live in a perfect world. A hundred years ago 50% of children that were born did not survive to become adults. The infant mortality rate was 30% and another 20% succumbed to serious childhood diseases. It was the chance that all parents took when they decided to have children.

With the advent of modern medicine, however, virtually all children are now surviving into adulthood, however impaired they may be, mentally and/or physically, by the medical problems of their youth. None of which is anyone’s fault; it’s simply the world we live in.

The problem is that impaired adults can’t support themselves, so they turn to welfare or crime or both. In China, such individuals are placed in secure camps where they not only have a roof over their heads, three meals a day, medical care, and something to keep them occupied, but social opportunities within their group. Should they misbehave, guards keep them in line with pepper spray.

All of which seems to me a far more sensible option than letting them run loose in our streets where all too many of them spray men, women, and children with gunfire in our schools, shopping malls, movie theaters, and post offices, such as the 2006 Goleta Post Office massacre that claimed the lives of five people.

Is it any wonder that the crime rate in China is a fraction of the rate in this country?

William G. Lockwood Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: First, William, I did exactly no research here and am thus shooting from the hip. Assuming everything you say is actually true, however, I guess I’m at a loss. You start by acknowledging that certain people have mental, physical or other medical problems for which they have no fault. Then you suggest placing these people in secure camps where they may be subjected to frankly inhumane treatment for stepping out of line, like the Chinese (allegedly) do. I don’t get it. If we have diseased people around us, shouldn’t we work on better, more effective treatment rather than imprisonment for that group? Do we really want to bring our moral and ethical standards in line with the Chinese insofar as human rights? Remember Tiananmen Square?

We have places where people are kept in line with pepper spray (and worse); they are called prisons and they are already overcrowded and obscenely expensive to maintain. Let’s save them for the real criminals and reconsider our treatment of the sick among us. Who knows, maybe a more compassionate perspective will lead us to less gunfire in our schools, malls, theaters and post offices. Just a thought. I’m glad for the letter. Thanks very much. – MSM)

The Dish Serves Up Another Winner The other day I read The Dish by Wendy Jenson and wanted to let her know that Nardonne’s La Famiglia Pizzeria was amazing. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was great. I will definitely be a return customer. Can you pass on my thanks for recommending that restaurant?

Thank you.

Larissa Kenney Santa Barbara (Note: Thanks Larissa. Sitting solo at a computer all day is like working in an abyss.

It’s always nice to know that people are reading – and even taking recommendations from – my column. Nardonne’s was recommended to me by Jann Jaffe, a regular. Maybe I’ll see you at the restaurant, as I plan to be a regular too.

For now, buon appetito! – Wendy)

Critiquing Crass Materialism Jeff Harding made an interesting point in his last column (“Weekly Capitalist” # 1/13): the holidays can serve not only as an opportunity to celebrate the loved ones in our lives and to observe religious rituals, but also to be grateful for material goods. I agree it’s important to take a moment every so often to look around and give thanks for all the material abundance we enjoy. However, I’m not sure Mr. Harding understands where critics of “crass materialism” are coming from. I am one of these critics, and I don’t think cherishing material items is crass in and of itself.

Materialism is problematic when it comes at the expense of even more important things. It is fine to lavish gifts on those you love during the holidays, but our “orgy of gift-giving” has a dark side. Think of the people who are trampled, injured, and even killed by rabid shoppers on Black Friday.

How about the minimum-wage workers who are compelled to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas – either by company decree or just to make ends meet – when they’d rather be home with their families? On top of quotidian injustices here and there, our frenzied consumer culture succeeds because of factors like slave-labor conditions in Chinese factories that make our goods, and Indian villages having our consumer waste dumped in their backyards. The incredible amount of goods we go through impacts people and our environment in negative ways around the globe. It’s easy to ignore it when these costs are hidden from us, but we must own up to how our pleasures impact others. A good critique of materialism does not blame individuals for interacting with the wonderful material goods available, but critiques a system of interactions that creates harm in many ways.

Andrew Dunn Santa Barbara (Note: Andrew, thank you for your thoughtful response. While I appreciate your sentiments, for the most part I believe your critique of “materialism” is not based on good economics. The reality is that such activities are the height of voluntary cooperative behavior by the world’s citizenry which brings about the best in all of us and raises everyone’s standard of living.

I don’t see the injustices you see in the chain of events that brings that new TV to your home: (1) I follow the news and the odds of being injured from shopping on Black Friday are infinitesimal. Don’t swallow the sensationalism. (2) Minimum wage workers are not “compelled” to do anything. By

“compel” I assume you mean that economic circumstances require them to work as much as they can to get by. What about the higher wage workers who work the same hours? What about management which has to work then as well? No pity there? Aren’t they all working those hours to “get by?” Your real criticism has more to do with the minimum wage being “too low” and I would assume you would raise it to eliminate poverty. If that were so, we’d just raise everyone’s wages to $75,000 and end poverty.

Of course that doesn’t work. (3) The poor Chinese? China has experienced the largest mass migration in human history by people escaping grinding poverty in the countryside to get good paying jobs in Guangzhou-Shandong.

You see it as “slave-labor,” but those people are far better off than they were on the farms, or else they wouldn’t have fled them.

Capitalism and free markets have dramatically raised the standard of living in China. The “harm” you see is nonexistent.

The real harm I see from the annual spending orgy is that people go into debt to spend. They should be saving because that is what creates wealth, not spending. But that behavior too is a product of bad economics: the Fed’s constant boom-bust policies. Things aren’t always what they seem. – Jeff )

Acupuncturists Are Doctors Too Matt – I read the “Sentinel’s Take” last week regarding a variety of laws our state legislators passed in 2012. Don’t they have anything better to do than to oppress holistic health practitioners even more than they already do? Who could have lobbied them to get rid of the doctor title of acupuncturists?

Could it be the AMA? Acupuncturists are very well educated having the equivalent of eight years of study, just like any other elite professional or PhD. Myself, having a Doctor of Chiropractic degree (DC), I’m afraid the chiropractors will be next.

Then, in contrast, they will be giving the doctor title to physical therapists, since they traditionally have had more of a connection to the medical community. Acupuncturists are knowledgeable, skillful, and professional holistic healers who provide a valuable health care service. They deserve to be called “doctor.” If anything, our legislators should be working on ways for holistic care patients to get covered better by insurance, and for holistic providers to get paid more fairly by insurance.

Dr. Edmund A. Geswein, DC Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Thanks Dr. Geswein, it’s an interesting letter. On the one hand, I agree that our Western medical “tradition” (read: business) could be more inclusive of what some might call alternative treatment methodologies. My admittedly limited but not altogether absent experience is that each patient responds differently to different treatments, so perhaps you are right that our legislators should be working on being more inclusive of holistic care providers and others.

The Hippocratic Oath is (mostly) about patient care, isn’t it?

On the other hand, the title “Doctor” refers to a specific, defined set of people who have endured

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a hell of a road through a science-heavy education and grueling medical school curriculum. I can’t say I know the precise training it takes to earn a Doctor of Chiropractic (or Acupuncture) but if it differs materially then perhaps the title is inapplicable. That’s not meant to bash anybody, I just don’t get the attachment to the title.

With that said, I suppose I would be disappointed if I spent the time, effort and money to earn the “Esq.” behind my name, and then someone who’d spent less time, effort and money got to use the same letters to attract clients… and perhaps provide a lesser service, thereby degrading the value of the title for everybody. Either way, though, it does indeed seem wasteful for legislators to be spending time on such an issue given the current state of affairs in California. Thanks for the letter.

– MSM… er, ah, Matthew S. Mazza, Esq.)

Big Brother Is Watching… the Sentinel!

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Hello, Matt! In your December 21 – 28 issue, I was most interested in the item, “Big Brother is Watching, Too.” So much so, I wanted to forward it on to about half-adozen friends who think I’m a “conspiracy nut” when I speak of anything remotely close to what you reported. Unfortunately, no matter what I did, I was unable to “cut ‘n paste” it from your site – I’m sure you know the reason for that.

However, I’d like to suggest, the inability to do just that from the online site prevents your great reporting from being exposed to folks who otherwise don’t read it. This was a perfect example. Is there any way I might receive a copy of those three paragraphs, please – maybe as an attachment? Thank you for your consideration.

Keep up the good work, Matt. I look for the Santa Barbara Sentinel each week (since I discovered it with your second issue), the same way I have sought out The Independent for many years – you do the kind of reporting that Nick Welsh does, incisive, robust and with humor (the latter, IMHO, being most important when one is attempting to present a POV not always accepted by folks in this town.).

Riana V Santa Barbara (Editor’s Note: Thanks, Riana, I’m glad you’re enjoying the paper. Of course we’ll provide the article in a digital format – but we won’t be changing our website anytime soon. We are contrarians over here, I suppose, far more interested in the print world than the online one. I know, I know… print is dead.

Papers are folding all over the country. We’ve made a terrible business decision. But that’s what happens when a creative young publisher, who thinks a bit differently than most, pairs up with a stubborn old litigation attorney sans experience as editor-in-chief. Bad decisions are made. As for the comparison to the Angry Poodle, well, I’m flattered. Nick is a hell of a writer, truly, and I can only hope to achieve his level of success someday. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll start a new column called the “Mild Mannered Labrador” to see where it goes. On second thought, maybe I should talk to the aforementioned publisher first… thanks for reading, Riana. – MSM)

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Delicious Desserts & Dinner. Extensive Wine & Beer List.

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A journalist and a poet, Jana has lived everywhere from New Orleans and Butte, Montana to Saudi Arabia, where she taught English to children.

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Enrique Arreola, Del Pueblo Art Director and Manager, with his mother, Esperanza, at the restaurant – truly a local family business.

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ometimes chance leads us to an illuminating experience drenched in the nacre iridescence of an abalone pearl, rare because it is found by the agent of discovery. When I recently happened upon Del Pueblo Café – my publisher suggested it, but I refuse to let something as mundane as mere fact interfere with a good story – I experienced that same chance thrill one might feel when one pries open an abalone and discovers that pearl.

Within the nondescript Magnolia Shopping Center is that phantasmagorical Mexican restaurant and cultural galleria that engages a multi-sensory experience of regional cuisine and art. A breakfast of huevos motuleños, a Yucatan specialty, with Cafe’ Abuelita (Grandmother Coffee) pairs up with a visual fete of Mexican and Latin American visual art, pottery, multi-media works and sacred shrines – expressing Dia de los Muertos, magical realism, surrealism, folk art, traditional sacred and/or secular motifs, an array of art delights. There’s everything from a Mexican lotteria bingo mural and Aztec codex to Santa Barbara Fiesta motif paintings, three-dimensional works of skulls and marigolds, and a huge head Quetzalcoatl.

What a scene. Del Pueblo’s exquisite food and art coalesce into a multi-sensory pearl of experience found by chance inside the barnacled rough exterior of the everyday.

“We create a cultural experience – food for the palate and art for the senses,” said Enrique Arreola, 37, one of the sons of restaurant founders Alejandro, 65, and his wife, Esperanza, 63.

Making a Life in Santa Barbara From Abalone In 1968, Alejandro emigrated from Mexico to the Santa Barbara area where he worked as an abalone processor for various harbor seafood processors, as well as his own company, for nearly three decades. He and his wife raised their children here: Gina, 41, Alex, 39 (Del Pueblo Manager), Enrique, 37 (Del Pueblo Manager and Art Director), and Danny, 33. When Alex and Enrique were in high school they also worked with their father as abalone processors. Alejandro loved the abalone business but he also foresaw its decline due to “overfishing.”

“Muy bueno,” said Alejandro about his old business, “I spoke no English. My wife and I worked hard to make a life for our family here. When I started, abalone was fifty dollars a dozen,” he continued, “and I remember making abalone pearl rings for wife and daughter. When I closed my business, abalone was $450 a dozen.”

The demise of commercial abalone fishing came too soon, and Alejandro was prompted to open a restaurant. (He still misses the good ol’ abalone business, though.)

Making a Life in Santa Barbara From Food and Art So Alejandro and Esperanza opened this family-owned and operated Mexican restaurant in 1997. Over the years, Del Pueblo Café has evolved from a traditional tacqueria into a full-blown Mexican

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Enrique with his own family, wife Gloria and daughter Paloma.

restaurant, Latin American gallery space, and community and event center that showcases local Latino artists, scholars, poets, musicians and writers. Usually, the restaurant hosts a spoken-word poetry night every month that is open to anyone.

“The Del Pueblo Café is a treasure in Goleta and Santa Barbara as well as a destination for out-of-towners,” said Marisela Marquez, lecturer at the UCSB Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies. “It produces great food and honors our connectedness with Latino culture in ways that are respectful, appropriate and

true to the historical reality of Mexico and Latin America.”

When Del Pueblo first opened, the restaurant occupied only one room. Then, about 11 years ago, it expanded into an adjacent space, and now totals around 2,400 square feet. When designing and decorating Del Pueblo, Enrique looked to legendary Mexican Architect Luis Barragan for inspiration. Barragan was known for his Mexican interpretation of the International Style, infusing bright colors, contrasts and ...continued p.18

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Long Live the Queen

by Barry Punzal

UCSB head women’s volleyball coach Kathy Gregory has retired after 38 years.

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etired UCSB men’s volleyball coach Ken Preston couldn’t have described Kathy Gregory any better.

“They threw away the mold when they made Kathy,” said Preston about the legendary Gregory who, after 38 years of running the UCSB women’s volleyball program, is retiring. “The Mike Maases, John Roberts, the Larry Millikens, those kind of volleyball people aren’t produced anymore.

They lived and breathed volleyball.”

“Kathy is a very unique person, she has her ways and her philosophies, and she has her ways of communicating.”

Presidio Sports reached out to some of Gregory’s former players, coaching colleagues and friends, and asked for their comments on the volleyball legend known as “The Queen.”

Preston, who retired in 2008 after a 30year coaching career at UCSB, shared an office with Gregory in Rob Gym during his first eight years on the job, and he coached volleyball camps with her for more than 20 years.

“I was around her a lot,” he said.

Preston said her style of coaching was tough on players. “Those who ended up playing four years or two years as a transfer student were very tough-skinned individuals,” he said. “She would bring out the best in some players. She had a unique style that’s based on heart, dedication and desire.”

The following are more reactions from Gregory’s former players:

day she seemed to find new ways to push us to the limit and let us see what we were made of. Whether it was 6am mile runs or stadium workouts, or practices so hard that most of us had to change our sweaty shirts more than once, Kathy gets the best out of her teams.

I learned so much about myself, my teammates and my coaches during those years. It wasn’t about the wins (we had a lot while I was there) but about the connection Kathy made with each player and the lifelong friendships I made with my teammates while our coach pushed us to our limits each day.

Kathy has meant so much to me over the years. She went from my coach to my mentor, to now one of my close friends that I can call at any time to get advice. No matter what is going on in her life she always makes time for me. I currently play on the FIVB beach tour and the domestic beach volleyball tours, and Kathy still provides me with coaching tips and advice. She doesn’t stop at teaching her players volleyball. I learned so many valuable life lessons while at UCSB and it really has made me the person that I am today.

Kathy is a legend in our sport and I’m so grateful that I was able to play for her and sad that no one else can experience what I did at Santa Barbara.

Kathy retiring is the end of an era but I’m excited to see where she goes next and now maybe she’ll have more time to come out to the beach and help me out.

Brooke Hanson (1999-2002): She is Santa Barbara volleyball, and the school is going to miss her. Playing for Kathy was the best four years of my life! Our teams went to the Elite 8 twice and the Sweet 16 once. Every

BRIE LAMPE (1998-2001): Kathy took a chance on me when not many others would.

In the same conversation that I verbally committed to Kathy and UCSB’s program, I also disclosed to her that I have cystic

fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease affecting the pulmonary and digestive systems. Although my case is more on the mild side, you would still expect any coach to retract the scholarship offer at that point. Not Kathy. Secondly, I was not what you would call a “refined” volleyball player.

I lacked fundamental skills that all of the other UCSB recruits had already developed.

But Kathy saw something in me and she stuck with me until the end of my career.

I came from a very sheltered home and Kathy took the time to build a relationship with my parents. This was very reassuring to my family that I was in good hands at UCSB. While running a volleyball program, Kathy made time to call my parents when successes were had, or when I slipped up, and even to inform them of when I had my first boyfriend. Kathy was involved in every aspect of my life.

In the four years I played for KG, she broke me down but then built me back up into a person I didn’t know I could be. She was relentless and always pushed you to reach the potential that you never knew you had inside.

Kathy continued to have faith in me even when I had none in myself. She helped me gain confidence and strength. Kathy taught me to have passion in life. She taught me to set goals and that with hard work anything is possible, no matter your situation.

It probably sounds funny saying that the coach who pushed me until I thought I’d break, is also the one who I attribute my life’s happiness to. Kathy paved the way for me to have the happy life, which I now live. She gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. She made it possible for me to get an amazing education, make athletic achievements, meet the man of my dreams.

She was at my wedding, and my husband, Mark Hull (former UCSB basketball player), and I have a special place in our hearts for this woman. She made it possible for our paths to cross and for that we are forever grateful. I have caught myself thinking over the last few years how Kathy is the person who made my happily ever after possible. To Kathy Gregory, I owe everything.

ERICA MENZEL (2000-2003): I have a unique perspective as a result of playing for Kathy and also as a result of being born and raised in Santa Barbara. I first began to learn of the legend that is Kathy Gregory when I began playing club volleyball in Santa Barbara. Many of my coaches I had growing up in the Santa Barbara Club, including Larry “Boomer” Milliken, were able to watch and play against Kathy and they often described to me how amazing a player Kathy was.

I began to appreciate right away what a pioneer for women’s volleyball she was and what an accomplished player she was.

I realized Kathy Gregory was the gold standard first as a player and as local legend at a very young age. Being raised in Santa Barbara, I was able to attend many of the UCSB women’s volleyball team’s games with my family and club teams and I began to be mesmerized by watching Kathy stalk the sidelines as the coach of the Gauchos.

Her intensity and her competitiveness was

unmatched and her players played hard for her every match.

Kathy has a love and energy and enthusiasm for teaching volleyball that is second to none. When I decided to attend UCSB and go play for Kathy, I knew that every day would be a challenge and that Kathy would expect all of her players to leave it all on the court each day. Kathy inspired you to dig deep and push harder than even you thought you could. While there were times you would be angry with her, you knew she was right and she was testing your mental fortitude.

I appreciate now what she was doing by pushing me and the lessons she was teaching me about life and volleyball on a daily basis.

Now that I am a coach at San Marcos I use a lot of bits and pieces I learned from Kathy to drive, motivate and teach my players.

I am a much better person and coach because I played for Kathy and I am forever indebted to her for the lessons she taught me at UCSB. I still talk to Kathy on a regular basis and she is a friend and mentor to me to this day. I am sad to see her leave UCSB and I thought this day would never come. I can tell you this right now, I will be asking her to help me build the program at San Marcos as soon as she moves on from UCSB! HEATHER COLLINS (1991-94): There is no doubt that Kathy Gregory is a demanding coach. Luckily for me, I had the good fortune of learning from one of the best, who pushed her players to be present and accounted for every single time they stepped on the court.

She expected her players to do three things: compete, work hard and communicate. Pretty simple expectations for college student-athletes, especially those on scholarship, getting paid to do something they love. What too many players don’t understand is that Kathy was also preparing them for their adult life, beyond volleyball.

Her continuous friendship and guidance outside of college volleyball has helped me through the good and the bad: a divorce, losing my job after 13 years, finding love again and getting married, and adjusting to a new coaching job that has turned out to be the perfect place for me, come full circle to becoming a mother last week.

As I write this, I am taking care of my one-week old baby girl, and I recollect on how (Kathy) talked me through all of these milestones in my life and helped me to be thankful for what I had at the time and look at the positive side of things. I cannot thank her enough for pushing me to my limits and expecting the best out of me. I take many lessons I have learned from her and apply them in my own coaching philosophy. It becomes difficult when my players do not understand the tough love. I just need to have faith that some day they will appreciate the life lessons I am trying to instill in them, for their well-being as a player and as a person, as Kathy did for me!

(Heather Collins is the head women’s volleyball coach at Occidental College.)

MIKE MAAS (Former UCSB men’s player, club coach, longtime friend): I coached with her the first year she got here and I

have known pretty much the makeup of every player who has played for her, and 95 percent of the players who played for her have overachieved, have done things they are surprised they did. In the final analysis, they became better people, better players.

That’s what Kathy really does. She sends her kids off with the taste of the real world.

And, the real world is not a slap on the back and good job when it’s not earned.

There are people that come to the school and it’s not their taste. That’s not a negative on Kathy. Parents and athletes who come here, they both know the stories, they have the information. And yet they still come.

It’s like those people that buy a big beautiful house on the Florida coast. They move there and they’re surprised when five hurricanes beat the crap out of them.

Are you kidding me? What do you expect?

I love her.

NINA MATTHIES (Pepperdine women’s coach): She is very happy with her decision and I wish her the best!

She has been a great leader and proponent for women’s sports and a wonderful and very colorful voice for women’s volleyball, both indoor and beach. Having been friends and colleagues for the past 40-plus years, I actually am very jealous that she is going to be able to retire and start a new phase in her life!

My family and I want to say: WAY TO GO! Love ya.

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Presidio Sports Female Athlete of the Week Maddie Trabucco.

Press Luncheon: Southern Section Commissioner visits SB

by John Dvorak

The Santa Barbara athletic community broke bread with CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press Westmont’s Preston Branson, Male Athlete of the Week. luncheon.

Wigod was in town to promote a number Dons won the title from an extremely tough of CIF initiatives, including a sportsmanship 16-team field. Trabucco is the goalkeeper program called “Pursuing Victory with for Santa Barbara High’s girls water polo Honor,” and a commemorative team made team, which now shares the No. 1 ranking of its 100 greatest athletes celebrating the in Division 1. Trabucco was the backbone Southern Section’s 100th year. of a defense that allowed a tournament-low Round Table president Rich Hanna 19 goals in four victories.

Heffernan, a junior, plays water polo and introduced Wigod.

“Thank you very much, that’s not very is on the swim team while also carrying a color full in the classroom. often that the CIF gets claps and applause,” GPA of 4.75 he joked.

“He really is one of those special kids,” “I’m color always happy to be somewhere said Santa Barbara High aquatics coach full hemming & grommets included student-athletes are being recognized for Mark Walsh. “Obviously in the classroom their great achievements, not only for the he does a great job but also in the pool he’s they have on the courts, and in as dedicated as all the kids. But really it’s the included & grommets ming success the pools, and on the places in the fields, extra integrity, it’s the character.”

The Round Table presents the Phil but also for the kind of young people they Womble Ethics in Sports Award to studentare.”

The Southern Section includes 579 athletes who demonstrate the highest standards of ethics and sportsmanship. schools with over 800,000 students.

Twenty-two of those students were in With this award, the Round Table seeks to attendance with their coaches, including recognize and promote the development special honorees Tyler Heffernan and of good character, positive attitude and conduct, and respect of others.

Madeline Trabucco.

Walsh credited Heffernan for his work Heffernan was introduced as the Phil Womble Award recipient for Santa Barbara ethic as well, saying he’s often the first to High while Trabucco was the Female Athlete practice and the last to leave.

Heffernan thanked Walsh along with his of the Week.

Trabucco was the MVP of the weekend’s family and Santa Barbara High principal John Tournament of Champions, where the Becchio and athletic director Joe Chenoweth.

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Tyler Heffernan received the Phil Womble Award for Santa Barbara High.

“I’m just so honored to have kids like that in the program,” Walsh said.

Westmont College’s Preston Branson was the Male Athlete of the Week.

Branson led the Warriors’ basketball team to a pair of GSAC victories last week, including a 77-61 dusting of rival Biola.

Branson posted point totals of 23 and 27 points, both team highs.

“We’re having a great season,” said Warriors head coach John Moore, whose team is ranked No. 8 in the country. “A lot of that has to do with the competitive spirit of this big-time Warrior. It’s a privilege to coach him.”

Moore started with words of support for Westmont women’s coach Kirsten Moore.

“Kirsten Moore is a remarkable woman, and if you didn’t notice that today then you need to get a heartbeat,” John Moore said.

Saturday was the Alex Moore Classic, a double-header at Westmont in honor of Kirsten Moore’s late husband, Alex.

“Really my main goal today is to somehow

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Weekend Sports Calendar SATURDAY Men’s Basketball: Cal Poly at UCSB, 4pm – The Central Coast rivals meet in an important Big West game at the Thunderdome. UCSB is 2-3 in league while Cal Poly is 3-2. The Mustangs own a victory over UCLA this year. They’ll be playing a Gaucho team that is led by powerful Alan Williams, who is coming off 28-point, 11-rebound performance, his ninth double-double of the season.

Surfing: Rincon Classic – The annual surfing contest at the famous break at the Santa Barbara-Ventura County line has been postponed again.

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express how overwhelmingly full my heart is of thanks to this community,” Kirsten Moore said before giving a report on her team, a national championship contender featuring Olympian Tugce Canitez.

Many at the luncheon were wearing bracelets handed out on Saturday that read, “Do the Work.”

Santa Barbara High is another local women’s basketball team with a high ranking. The Dons, No. 2 in Division 3-AA, are shooting as well from outside the 3-point arc as they are from inside it.

Dons head coach Andrew Butcher wondered if that meant his team should just shoot three-pointers all the time then.

Bishop Diego head coach Jeff Burich has three players who love to shoot the three.

“If they heard that, that they’d only be shooting threes, they’d all be going over to Santa Barbara,” he said.

Luckily he brought with him two post players, Charlie Fling and Daisy Poindexter.

The upcoming Women and Girls in Sports Luncheon is coming up on Monday, February 4. Local female student-athletes will be attending Earl Warren Showgrounds to hear Olympian swimmer Kaitlin Sandeno speak.

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Ernique with Café patron Marisela Marquez, lecturer at the UCSB Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Alejandro, always smiling, even after a long day’s work.

textures in his work. But even after the high walls were painted in bright colors, Enrique still felt that something was lacking.

“The walls were bare,” said Enrique, “artists were approaching us to use it for display of their artwork. It wasn’t overnight.

It took years to become what it is today.”

“It’s alive and breathing,” he said. “It is living.”

No Boundaries Works of all mediums decorate Del Pueblo, drawing from Mexican, Latin American, Chicano and local Hispanic influences. Famous works by Alvaro Angeles Suman – El Corazon de Copil (acrylics on burlap) or Oyamel, La Estrella Flor (etched Plexiglas printed in color on arches paper) adorn the walls. Charlie Dorado’s stunning mixed-media mural, The Four Elements,

dominates one of the walls near Enrique’s mixed-media work-in-progress entitled We Are Living Culture. His mother has created a stunning traditional shrine to Juan Diego and the Virgin.

No matter what medium, however, the art is joyous, jubilant, haunting and breathtaking.

“I like the diversity, there is great synergy,” said Del Pueblo artist and customer Oscar Guevara, 52. “Most artists paint without any frames, they paint without boundaries. We have no boundaries here at Del Pueblo.”

Oscar is right.

And what makes Del Pueblo special is that melting of boundaries between art and food as well as social and labor divisions of customers. All are welcome, whether academics or roughnecks, to delight in the visual and culinary feast offered.

Offering On Site After School Care • Art • Music • Library • PE Spanish • Gardening • After School Enrichment

Call to schedule your tour today!

805-683-9383 www.MCSSB.org

What is a Montessori school?

Patricia M. Colby, PhD, Head of School

Montessori schools follow a unique and exciting educational approach that nurtures a child’s intrinsic desire to learn. Founded on the work of Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Montessori schools focus on each child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Our classrooms are mixed-age environments designed to entice children to develop concentration while they are exploring and discovering concepts at their own pace, guided by a Montessori credentialed teacher that is an expert in the particular age group. Montessori classrooms foster independence, organization, and problem solving skills while providing children with a solid academic foundation.

Through exploration, discovery, and team work, the children are actively pursuing a learning goal, deciding on the scope of the project, pursuing primary sources of information, preparing the information to be shared with others, and teaching others in the class what they have learned. Learning is made meaningful and feels important to the children. The teacher is an aid to academic discovery and not the keeper of the information. When you walk in to a Montessori room you will see groups of children pursuing a variety of academic subjects as they meet their goals for the day. Some children will be working on math, others on language, or science, or geography, etc. In a Montessori classroom academic strengths are celebrated and differences supported therefore there are no limits to what each child can learn.

Montessori Center School (MCS) of Santa Barbara has a 47 year history of preparing students ages 18 months through 6th grade for academic excellence. MCS students develop critical thinking, social collaboration, and creative problem solving skills, coupled with global and environmental awareness that will serve them well as they become the next generation of innovators and global citizens. Adding to the richness of the Montessori curriculum, MCS is located in a spacious garden campus that houses a low student to teacher ratio, credentialed teachers, fully equipped classrooms, a library, music and art studios, performing arts and auditorium space, after-school care center, outdoor classroom environments and play areas. With an enrollment of approximately 280 students, our school offers a rich social environment, a community of committed teachers, and supportive parents and administrators. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions and to schedule a campus tour. We look forward to saying hello!

It is quite a place.

To think that an immigrant’s dreams were realized by virtue of a lowly gastropod whose existence incorporates artistic and culinary possibility. As rare as an abalone pearl.

“From abalone,” said Enrique, smiling, “to, what’s next?”

This would be Del Pueblo Café’s slogan (if it had one).

Goleta Girl’s Picks

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an last year’s stress once and for all with a hands-on, nurturing course in Pressure Canning, a new class offered on how to use pressure canning to make your own vegetable soup. The course, led by Cindy Shipp, certified Master Food Preserver and SB Canning author, will help you learn the gift of Preserving for the Future. During the class you will learn how to prepare your own produce and put it together in your choice of soup processed using the canning method. Class will be held Saturday, January 19, at The Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, 598 North Fairview Avenue, Goleta, from 9am – 2pm. Call the farm for information and registration (805-967-7369), or go to www.fairviewgardens.org.

Travel the world through the lens of National Geographic’s Annie Griffiths. This worldclass photographer has worked as one of the magazine’s first female staff photographers on every continent except Antarctica while raising two children. In this illustrated photographic journey, Griffiths will share three decades of international journey as photographer and gypsy mother toting her kids with her, whether through Petra, Jordan, the Galápagos Islands or just about anywhere else. The presentation will be held at UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Sunday, January 20, at 3pm. Cost is $20 general public, $15 UCSB students and $15 youth. For more information, check out https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu. (And yes, I know Matt had this in Stuff He Likes last week, but it bears repeating. Griffiths is amazing.)

Finally, the Sentinel’s own Beer Guy, Zach Rosen, resumes his Beer School at the Mercury Lounge on Saturday, January 19, from 4pm – 7pm (or so). His class is super fun and informative, and this time Zach has set his sights on a wild afternoon of sours and fruit beers. Come and see where fruit and beers collide, and enjoy the highlight of this special evening: A keg of dark ale aged on blackberries in wine barrels from our own local Telegraph Brewing Co. Try some tasty food pairings too. Tickets are $45 (some of these beers are rare!) and are on sale now at the Merc.

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The Weekly Capitalist

by Jeff Harding

Jeff Harding publishes The Daily Capitalist, a blog on economics and finance. He is the president of Montecito Analytics, LLC, and is a real estate investor who lives in Montecito.

The Consumer Electric Show and The Invisible Hand

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had planned to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, but wasn’t able to do so. I’ve been twice before. It is a huge Toyland for technophiles and gadget lovers. Since I include myself in those categories, I have a lot of fun ogling the latest devices that will reach our store shelves next year.

You cannot imagine what a spectacle this show is. There are 139,999 other people like me wandering through displays of anything you would ever want electronically (APPLE refuses to attend now; they’ll be sorry some day). Let me tell you, if anyone ever thought of anything electronic, someone else already made it and it’s there. There are 3,100 exhibitors in several huge convention halls the size of 37 football fields (1.85 million net square feet of exhibit space). The exhibitors and attendees are from all over the world.

I, being a pretty good linguist, heard languages that even I couldn’t recognize.

The major exhibitors, like Samsung and Sony, have huge display areas that had to cost $10+ million. They have to rent the floor space by the square foot, use union labor for the set up and construction, pay for equipment logistics, the cost of structures and exhibit area, staffing (hotels, food, transportation), conference rooms, suites for parties and entertaining customers, pretty girls, and celebrities, if any, etcetera. Little companies with the smallest 8’ booths have to spend about $100,000 I am told. Last year Justin (“OMG”) Bieber was there. But so was Snooki… Keynote speakers this

year are the presidents of Panasonic, Samsung, Qualcom, Verizon, plus Mark Benioff (Salesforce.com) and will.i.am.

Celebrities include Tim Tebow, Snooki (again!), LL Cool J, 50 Cent, Benicio del Toro, and Danny DeVito, and Maroon 5 will perform.

You would not believe the variety of products that manufacturers from all over the world would entice us with.

Walking around the floor you hit the smaller booths and, after about ten rows of folks selling cases for cell phones and tablets, you kind of wonder how there can be so many manufacturers – mostly Chinese or Taiwanese – selling the same damned things. You want cases decorated with serious bling, or made of wood, or bamboo, or carbon fiber, or leather, or silicone, or materials I had no idea what they were, they’ve got it. You get numb and overwhelmed by the quantity.

When you think about it this entire show is dedicated to one thing only: pleasing me and you. They provide us with gadgets they hope we will want. These products are made all over the world from materials that come from all over the world. It requires complex coordination and cooperation between private individuals and businesses worldwide to get it done.

The ultimate goal of production, all production, in a capitalist system is us. This was something Adam Smith figured out in 1776 when he published Wealth of Nations, one of the great capitalist manifestos. The entire goal of all production is the consumer. From the

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beginning of shoveling dirt out of the ground to the consumer end product, the whole system is geared to pleasing us.

Think about that for a moment. I learned in my econ classes that capitalists manipulate us for their own greed. They decide what we shall buy and what we shall pay.

But how stupid is that.

If that were the case then there would be no competition. Instead there would be some secret group that makes these decisions for us. The quick answer is that

“The ultimate goal of production, all production, in a capitalist system is us.” no cabal exists, at least not without the government’s seal of approval (Ma Bell, Edison companies, cable companies, and other government sanctioned monopolies). The purpose of competition is to sell us stuff and out compete others for our favor.

This is from DigitalTrends writing about the first day of the CES show, in which it said Samsung is now the innovator, the driver, of consumer hardware (poor Sony): “As CES goers saw Monday afternoon, [Samsung’s] hardware-centric blueprint will continue to guide Samsung throughout 2013 (and presumably beyond): Better Series 7 Ultrabooks (powered by Windows 8, of course),

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bigger and better UHD TVs, better cameras, better refrigerators. Better better better.”

I am the one who decides if Samsung or Sony or Panasonic or Microsoft or Apple will be successful. They don’t tell me; I tell them. Just a few years back Sony had us with the Walkman and great TVs. Now they are losing money while Samsung is raking in billions. No government, no large monopoly, no single corporation can tell me what to buy.

This is what Adam Smith called the “Invisible Hand,” which is now referred to in the pejorative by those who reject capitalism. That is because they don’t have a clue what Smith was talking about.

Today we might refer to capitalism as an “emergent system” which is a word that those in the natural sciences use to describe the workings of self-directed systems (slime mold colonies, bee hives, bird flocks). Emergent systems are all “bottom up” cooperative systems, which are self-organizing and spontaneously emerge (they are all “successful” in that if they aren’t, they don’t “emerge”). Life and evolution can be termed emergent systems.

They also apply to social organization.

Capitalism and free markets are emergent.

No government or entity organized them; they emerge through cooperative behavior because they work.

Please spare me the revisionist history of capitalism that was drilled into you in college. That history was invented mostly by those who sought to organize society from the top down, like socialists and totalitarians who believe that they can better organize society and your life. That’s not what really happened. What really happened was the greatest expansion of human health, wealth, and welfare in our short history on the planet.

What a great system. And CES is ground zero.

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Plan B

by Briana Westmacott Hailing from NorCal, Briana has lived in Santa Bar-

bara for the past fifteen years. While she is indeed an adjunct faculty member at SBCC and has contributed to LOVEmikana, Wake & Wander and Entrée Magazine, much of her time is spent multi-tasking her way through days as a mother, wife, sister, wantto-be chef and travel junky. Writing is an outlet that ensures mental stability… usually.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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his cold actually hurt. Pricks of pain shot through our fingers and toes (and beyond). I think at one point I heard the mountain weather report say it was fourteen degrees, with snowy conditions.

But that didn’t stop us from charging up to 8,000 feet and throwing the kids into ski school.

Looking back, I’m not sure this was the brightest idea.

Our two girls are beach babies, born and raised in SB. We’ve done a couple of snowy mountain trips and I drag them up to Nor Cal quite often to visit my parents. Let’s just say they have dipped their toes in the snow – some years maybe just to throw a few snowballs at the top of La Cumbre Peak after a cold snap.

But this year was different. It was below freezing. It was extreme winter conditions.

This year was Tahoe.

Dressed and Ready Gone are the days when I was one of the first people on the ski lift in the morning, more than ready to make some fresh tracks in the snow. Long gone. This trip really shoved that in my (frozen, chapped) face as I struggled with tiny long johns, wrestled with mittens, battled with boots – none of which were my own. It took around three hours (yep, that’s right) to get two girls into their snow gear.

Good grief! I kept wondering how, exactly, people who actually live their daily lives in the snow deal with simply clothing their kids each morning. Tears streamed from the girls’ faces, “I don’t want to wear the black pants, Mommy!” Or “This is making me too hot, Mommy!” Or “I can’t move, Mommy!”

It went on and on (and on) as my patience dwindled.

And we hadn’t even stepped off the front porch.

When we finally got ourselves equipped

They seemed so happy to be going skiing…

and left for the base of the mountain, Lila (my littlest) was in a ski bib that was two sizes too small (because they were her favorite color) and we were already looking at half-day lift tickets. You pick your battles.

Back in December when I began planning our snow adventure, I had visions of my daughters sliding down the slopes with huge smiles on their faces, falling in love with one of my favorite places in the world. It’s a classic example of my (clinically) incurable optimism. The reality is that skiing is hard, and skiing in harsh conditions is even harder.

AWOL My husband and I looked on as the ski school groups gathered with their instructors. We were peering hard from behind the parent fence at the boy who had both of my daughters in his possession.

(I’m not sure he had even graduated from high school.) After much assessment, we concluded that Ski Scott appeared to be a good guy and so we were going to take off for a few runs together. But just then, just before what I envisioned as a dreamy two hours of uninterrupted skiing bliss, we saw a flash of pink.

A very familiar flash of pink.

“Wait, did you see that?” I asked, like some sort of television detective.

there is a better way...

“Yep,” my husband confirmed, mildly amused, “that is definitely Elli’s pink jacket.

And it looks like she has actually broken out of the whole school.”

He was right. We watched an apparently terrified pink blur shoot shockingly swiftly around the outside rim of the ski school.

(Think Haley’s Comet.) I couldn’t help but panic.

Why wasn’t anyone looking? Ski Scott, what are you doing? We’ve got a runner here, damnit!

Pink was booking – she’d completely left her skis behind – running as fast as her sevenyear old legs could take her in ski boots.

Somewhat dumbfounded (awestruck?), we just stood there watching her. There really wasn’t much we could do, frankly, a mesh gate meant to keep parents out of the “professional instruction” area separated us from the chase.

Elli was making a break for it. And nobody knew it but us.

The whole scene was quite surreal – sort of like a child Super G racer gone mad – until our horrified kid literally leaped over the mesh fence, icy tears flying off her face, and dove into our arms.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

We hugged and conversed and consoled and coerced to all ends, and eventually we lost. Ski Scott had finally caught on to an AWOL pink jacket and had joined us to help with the persuasion. But she wasn’t having it. And Ski Scott didn’t help by informing us that he had never had a child do this before.

Gee, thanks Ski Scott, for letting me know that my child is “AWOL unique.” Lovely.

My Kids Will Never Ski Again…

Meanwhile, my younger daughter, Lila (she’s four), continued with the group instruction (minus Ski Scott since he spent a half hour trying to talk Elli down). She was all strapped in, wedgies in place and goggled up, ready to hit the magic carpet.

I smiled, happy, then succumbed to the fact that one child in ski school would be our reality for the day.

My husband and I took Elli on the bunny slopes during Lila’s school session. I got to break free and take a few runs, reminiscing of the winter that I spent away from Santa Barbara living in Squaw Valley. I got my dreamy moment, even if it was fleeting.

The clock ticked quickly, and it soon came time to scoop up the ski schoolers. I waited for Lila at the parent gate (I spent almost as much time on the slopes as I did waiting, by the way). Ten minutes past the “end” time, I began to get nervous.

Where is my little girl? And where is Ski Scott? Could I have two runners in a single day?

But, after getting some (edgy) reassurance from other mothers waiting for their littles in Ski Scott’s group, we all continued to wait, relatively calmly.

Fifteen minutes later, a curtain of snow opened and down the mountain came our group of little ones, following behind Ski Scott like ducklings. As soon as Lila saw me, though, she burst into tears. (Great, more icy tears, could this be any more unsuccessful?) I grabbed her, threw her gloves off and started to warm her hands. Ski Scott reassured me (again) that she hadn’t cried the entire time until she saw me. He said that she loved going on the big lift. (WHAT? The big lift, Scott, really?) And so I quickly thanked him and took my tearful tot into the lodge.

I was convinced that skiing had been forever ruined for my children.

…On Second Thought We stripped off the wet socks, wiped the frozen snot and tears away, and warmed up by the fire in the lodge. We quickly spent the partial refund from Elli’s ski school debacle – Ski Scott gave us a whopping $20 back – on some aprés beers (for us, not the kids). We sat around the lodge, getting cozy, telling stories about our day.

Almost unbelievably, it soon became clear that we had all had… fun.

When we got to Lila, she smiled wide and pointed up to a framed photo on the wall. It was a stunning shot of the ski lift climbing up the side of the snowy mountain on a brilliant, sunny day. She looked at that picture, then at us, and declared, “That was me, Mommy, I was a bird!”

And little by little, as eyelashes defrosted and clothes dried, we saw the light. We saw tiny smiles filled with pride and accomplishment. We too, in turn, smiled with pride and accomplishment.

Both girls had braved the winter conditions and skied. And I think they’ll do it again.

Next year.

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ahoe is a trek (approximately ten hours by car). If you can’t swing such a journey, SB usually gets a couple days a year where the weather will dust our local mountains with fresh snow. La Cumbre Peak is the spot to charge to when you see those white caps on the hills. Bring a sled and make your own fun with snowballs and snowmen.

Getting Bundled

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he way kids grow, it’s silly to buy new snow gear if you are only going up to ski once or twice a year. I’ve had great success finding my kids snow gear at The Polar Bear, which features consignment clothing for children of all ages.

Gear up for less at The Polar Bear (726 Anacapa Street).

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LE Y ST ILE F

weekend guide

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by

• LOVE IS FREE What: “Show People” – Accompanied by Dennis James Where: The Arlington Theatre, 1317 State Street When: Sunday, January 20, 2pm Why: View one of the last silent films made by a major studio, MGM’s Show People. Pipe organist, Dennis James, will bring the movie to life with his music as he plays live, alongside the film.

How: Show people your old-fashioned side by taking a seat at this comedic classic.

.com

by Briana Westmacott (photo by Cara Robbins)

The Skinny on SB Skins

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What’ll It Cost Me:

Kids 14 and under are free.

Adults are $11/ticket.

• LOOSE CHANGE What: Santa Ynez Valley Restaurant Week Where: Participating restaurants in the Santa Ynez Valley When: Sunday, January 20 – Friday, January 26 Why: Celebrate 2013 in “dining-style.”

How: For one week, enjoy gourmet and affordable 3-course meals from the best of Santa Ynez, including selections from some of our faves... Bell Street Farm, Trattoria Grappolo, Los Olivos Cafe and more. See www.visitthesantaynezvalley. com for additional details.

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(photo by Cara Robbins)

hat rubs you the right way? Buckskin, rawhide, suede, cowhide? There are tons of leather-types that might suit your fancy. And lucky for us, here in SB we have a local guy who knows just about any and every leathery fact imaginable.

Steven Soria is a third-generation leather craftsman and artisan. His father and grandfather were saddle makers in Santa Barbara and passed down their craft to Steven, who now owns and operates Make Smith Leather Co. We first spotted these skins a few years back.

But, more recently, we got an up close and personal chance to see Steven’s workshop and were quite impressed with what is going on inside. There are wallets, money clips, belts, billfolds, luggage tags, key chains, and more… all available to be customized.

Each piece is handmade by Steven with the type of quality that only comes from individual attention.

You can visit Make Smith’s website, or stop in the shop at 117 West De La Guerra Street from 12-6pm Monday through Saturday (or by appointment).

Trust us, if you go see Steven’s work, you will definitely want some for yourself.

Got any interest in creating your own leather treasure? You’re in luck! Make Smith is offering three workshops in the upcoming month. You can choose between crafting your own belt, folding wallet or hanging planter. For $75.00 you can participate in a threehour evening class that provides you with all the materials, instruction and technique to handcraft your own leather goodie. Go get your hands on some skin!

Make Smith Workshop Schedule:

Leather 1: Basic (leather belt) – January 24, 25 and 26 Leather 2: Intermediate (folding wallet) – January 31, February 1 and 2 Leather 3: Advanced (hanging planter) – February 7, 8 and 9 For more information, please visit www.makesmith.com.

WINE & DINE

Winter Wine Report

by Elliot Karpman

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e met up with our trusty wine aficionado, Elliot Karpman of www.trueterroir.com, to get the winter wine report.

Here are five sips you simply must savor this season.

McPrice Myers “Beautiful Earth” – An incredible blend of

What’ll It Cost Me: $20.13 per meal 3-course meal (excluding tax, tip and beverages)

• HEY BIG SPENDER What: Winter Wine Classic Where: Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard When: Sunday, January 20, 6:30-9:30pm Why: Wine lovers and aficionados, here’s your chance to taste nearly 100 classic California wines all in one place. This rare grape gathering is not to be missed.

How: Follow the 5 S’s in wine tasting: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, and Savor.

What’ll It Cost Me:

$40 – $120

Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre at a very fair price. Living up to its name, it has concentrated flavors of both fruit and earth. I highly recommend this juice from an extremely talented up-and-coming producer.

2010 Jaffurs Syrah, Santa Barbara County – A classic Jaffurs-style Syrah. Rich and deep with dark violets and hints of blackberry pie. It’s a crazy value at $27, especially given the high scores it’s received from all the major wine publications. And it’s grown and made in your very own backyard.

2009 Piedrasassi Central Coast White Wine – White wine isn’t usually the go-to choice for a cold winter night, but this is no ordinary white wine. The juice is fermented “on the skins,” which is usually not the case in white wine production. Consequently, the roundness and depth of this wine make it come off more like a red wine in terms of texture. However, the flavors are totally unique and might even turn a red wine loyalist into a convert.

2009 Huber Dornfelder – This is one of the most interesting red wines you’ll ever taste.

Dark as ink with aromas of pine and clove, the Dornfelder grape is originally from Germany, and it is very rare to find it growing outside its native region. However, the Huber winery, which is located in the Santa Rita Hills, has a few acres planted to grow this wonderfully expressive grape. The winery is open for tastings by appointment if you want to try it at the source.

Gypsy Canyon Angelica – This is a highly secretive wine with a very mysterious past.

However, if you can manage to track down a bottle, you will be rewarded with one of the most magical tasting experiences of your life. Think maple syrup meets hazelnuts in amber honey. In other words, the ultimate winter night-cap.

It’s going to be a great winter… so we guess there’s only one thing left to say: Cheers!

For more on sustainable California wines, visit Elliot’s website at www.trueterroir.com.

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COMMERCIAL CORNER

by Austin Herlihy A Commercial Real Estate Agent with Radius Group who

has completed over $400,000,000 in total transaction value and Leased / Sold over 1,500,000 SF since 2005, Herlihy was the lead Agent on the sale of the Fairmont Orchid Hotel listed in 2011 for $150,000,000, as well as the high profile transaction of the sale of the Hotel Californian

A December to Remember

Commercial Real Estate Market Sees Big Sales Numbers to Close Out 2012

Woodbridge Capital Partners, LLC bought 401 Chapala Street…

1046 Coast Village Road sold in December 2013 in an off-market transaction.

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arly last December – it seems like ages ago – I published an op-ed article here titled “Now or Never: Better to Take Your Gain this Year… Before the Government Takes it Next.” In that article, I predicted that we could see more commercial real estate sales in the 4th quarter than any other quarter Radius had recorded since the company was established over 10 years ago.

That prediction came true, due in large part to a rush of investor activity within the last several days of the year. Thank you, President Obama, for helping spur truly significant activity; what an amazing December for commercial real estate sales in Santa Barbara.

In that December article, I wrote that the market was on track to potentially see 30 or more commercial real estate sales transactions in the 4th quarter. The final tally was 36 sales, of which 18 were in December alone. To put this into perspective, the quarterly average for the market over the last 15 years is 16 sales.

So what drove many of these properties to close in the 4th quarter?

One word: Fear.

The expected increase in capital gains taxes and the new 3.8% real estate tax were big motivators to get some investors off the fence in a hurry. I think just as impressive as the large number of sales in the 4th quarter was the caliber of those properties up for market.

Most noteworthy was the sale of the mixed-use, 46-unit condo project located at 401 Chapala Street, which sold to Woodridge Capital Partners, LLC, who also bought the eight luxury condo units located at 618-620 Anacapa Street in the 4th quarter. (As you may know, Woodridge Capital also purchased the Entrada de Santa Barbara beachfront hotel project in January 2011.)

Hotels in Santa Barbara rarely change hands. Recently, however, Days Inn and Suites – also known as the Prado Hotel – located at 1601 State Street, sold to its fourth owner since it was first built in the 1960s. The 68-room hotel was quietly listed for $15.25 million and the buyer was a local investment firm.

Lower State Street was not to be left out in December, as the prominent downtown office/retail building located at 740 State Street sold for nearly $11 million. The 22,000 square foot mixed-use property located on the corner of State and De La Guerra Streets just across from El Paseo, is now 100% leased with Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt and three new tenants who recently signed leases and will open their doors soon. Those tenants include the trendy athletic clothing company Lululemon, custom jeweler Troung & Co. Jewelers and up-and-coming custom furniture maker Industry Home.

And let’s not forget Montecito, as the retail center located at 1046 Coast Village Road was also a notable December sale. Tenants include Starbucks, Sakana Sushi and most recently Vons Pharmacy. The sale was an off-market transaction and the buyer a seasoned local real estate investor.

But, in the commercial real estate industry (as in most others), yesterday is so… yesterday. What does all this December activity really mean for the market headed into 2013?

…as well as 618-620 Anacapa Street in Q4.

1601 State Street – the Prado Hotel – sold for more than $15 million in December 2012.

December also saw 740 State Street change hands for nearly $11 million.

It would be foolish to say that we will continue to see more quarters like the 4th quarter of 2012. But I do believe we’ll continue to see strong activity in 2013 despite low inventory, and we will likely see more inflation, meaning higher prices and lower capitalization rates.

In other words, 2013 is shaping up quite nicely. Quite nicely indeed.

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REAL ESTATE

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601 East Micheltorena Street

by Michael Calcagno Michael has consistently been ranked in the

top 1% of Sotheby’s agents worldwide. Shortly after joining Sotheby’s, he partnered with Nancy Hamilton to form one of the most successful real estate teams in Santa Barbara. Michael can be reached at Michael@ HomesinSantaBarbara.com

New Year, New Beginnings

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t seems that 2013 is already off to a good start for residential real estate. In only the last seven days, we’ve had thirteen properties go pending and seven close in the range of $500,000 to $1,500,000. Keep in mind that this is only in the Santa Barbara districts known as “East of State” and “West of State” (there are many others, of course). Inventory is also up substantially in the same areas and price parameters with 22 new listings coming on the market already this year.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, the spring season is when sales really start to heat up in Santa Barbara. If the numbers from the past two weeks are any indicator of what is to come, then it looks like 2013 might turn out to be a (very?) good year for real estate.

Take a look at a few of these recent either pending or closed sales, and you’ll see what I mean.

1064 Cheltenham Way

Sales price (pending): $815,000 Down payment (20%): $163,000 Loan amount: $652,000 Loan payment: $2,946

(30-yr fixed at 3.55% (3.59% APR)) Property taxes estimate: $747 Home insurance estimate: $80

Total Monthly Payment:

This Mission Canyon home was built in 1950 and has three bedrooms and one bath, with about 1,029 square feet of living space. It sits on an approximately 0.21 acres with fruit trees and a large yard. Located in the Roosevelt school district in a quiet neighborhood, the property has lots of possibility.

601 East Micheltorena Street Walk downtown from this urban pied-a-terre in the heart of Santa Barbara. Recently completed, this front row Bella Riviera townhome is move-in ready with a generous floor plan, gourmet kitchen/great room, ocean and city views from master, private patio and gated two-car garage. Great for empty nesters, vacation homeowners and investment clients.

839 Mission Canyon Road Hear the Mission bells from this unique property, once the home of renowned photographer Josef Muench. The home is replete with a flexible floor plan and Craftsman charm, as well as a separate spacious studio (with bath), porches, leaded glass windows, hardwood floors, flourishing vegetable and rose gardens, and orchard. It is surrounded by oaks, boulders and stonewalls – quite the artist or nature lover’s retreat in the Roosevelt Elementary School district.

$3,773

839 Mission Canyon Road Sales price (pending): $1,195,000 Down payment (25%): $298,750 Loan amount: $896,250 Loan payment: $4,049 (30-yr fixed at 3.55% (3.59% APR))

Property taxes estimate: $1,095 Home insurance estimate: $100 Total Monthly Payment:

$5,244

1064 Cheltenham Way

Sales price (pending): $750,000 Down payment (3.5%): $26,250 Loan amount: $723,750 Loan payment: $3,149 (30-yr fixed at 3.25% (3.29% APR))

Mortgage insurance: $874

(Required when less than 20% down) Property taxes estimate: $876 Home insurance estimate: $80

Total Monthly Payment:

$4,979

Mortgage statistics provided by Justin M. Kellenberger, Senior Loan Officer at SG Premier Lending Group, Inc. Justin can always be reached at justin@sgpremierlending.com.

Note: The foregoing economic breakdowns do not include potential tax benefit analyses since that will ultimately depend upon a number of additional factors. But home ownership can indeed have tremendous tax-savings potential and should be considered with your realtor and/or tax accountant as part of the ownership decision.

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