SBIFF is Reeling

JOURNAL

FREE

24 FEB - 3 MAR 2022 VOLUME 28 | ISSUE 8

Local News – Our Neighborhood Voices call Mix It Up – Explore the range of cocktail glassware and what to put in them, P.41 Book Support – A read into why the SB Public Library left the Black Gold Library Cooperative, P.44

for interim ordinance on housing bills, P.10 Travel Buzz – Take a SLO trip through the charming San Luis Obispo and its quaint but quality hot spots, P.24

SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA www.montecitojournal.net

the giving list

CommUnify: A new identity to a historic (and helpful!) organization, page 20

SBIFF IS REELING THE SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS BACK! AND LIVE ONCE AGAIN! ITS CELEBRATORY RETURN WITH A NEW PROGRAM DIRECTOR, AN EMPHASIS ON THE INTERNATIONAL, AND THE FAMILIAR SUITE OF ASTOUNDING CINEMA (STORY STARTS ON P. 5)

Village Beat

After a narrow defeat of Measure L2020, the Cold Spring School District has plans for funding and phases, page 8

Go to Gogh

SBMA is renovated and rolling out arguably one of its biggest exhibits yet; take a look Through Vincent’s Eyes, page 18

The Rusack Mission

Gabe Saglie tastes the history and flavors of Mission grapes found along the Channel Islands, page 40

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Montecito JOURNAL

24 February – 3 March 2022

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 5

On Entertainment – SBIFF is back to live and ready for your entertainment; Van Gogh is set to educate and inspire at this showstopping exhibit

26

Brilliant Thoughts – War or hugs? Ashleigh Brilliant contemplates what to do with our arms.

6

Montecito Miscellany – Montecito matchmaking, royal eau de dog, and chamber pot music, plus more in this week’s Miscellany

27

Community Voices – Sara Miller McCune cares about teachers, and so should we all; Jeff Giordano wants the Fair Political Practices Act enacted better

8

Village Beat – Updates on the Cold Spring School Board and its pared down expansion project

31

Stories Matter – March Madness is bringing murder and mystery to this month’s book selections

10

Local News – Sharon Byrne reviews Our Neighborhood Voices and the issues affecting state housing mandates Tide Guide

32

Your Westmont – Theater stages hilarious The Miser beginning February 25; student earns top scholarship; and women’s polo keeps riding

11

The Way It Was – Follow the history of St. Vincent’s and its gracious Sisters of Charity’s work over the years

34

Calendar of Events – A free evening of chamber music, CAMA Masterseries debuts, and more events happening this week

15

Our Town – Healing Justice Santa Barbara discusses Black History Month and the issues affecting the area; Amanda McQuade Crawford talks health in 2022

36

Far Flung Travel – Chuck Graham observes the returning common murre colonies and other winged spectacles along his adventure

20

The Giving List – CommUnify has helped the area for decades and its recent changes help bring it all together

40

Santa Barbara by the Glass – Explore the history of Mission grapes and see what Rusack Vineyards is doing with them

41

Mixing It Up – Take a dip into glassware styles and what to sip with each one, including a spicy spring cocktail

46

Classified Advertising – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

47

ini Meta Crossword Puzzles M Local Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer

by Rinaldo S. Brutoco – Grab the Garlic! Let’s Reserve Resurrec22 Perspectives tion for Religion

The Optimist Daily – Great Lakes to get a billion-dollar cleaning and a look at the life waiting in the water below

24

Travel Buzz – Travel on the SLO side of San Luis Obispo and see memorable art, food, and entertainment along the way

26

Letters to the Editor – City pensions, library support, and questions to the Cold Spring School Board, among other letters from our community members

4

Montecito JOURNAL

“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” – Epictetus

24 February – 3 March 2022

A &E RTS

NTERTAINMENT

On Entertainment SBIFF’s New Programmer Provides Critic-al Thinking

by Steven Libowitz

O

ne year after the Santa Barbara International Film Festival went virtual with a bonus drive-in at the beach option, the city’s signature wintertime event is back as a full 11-day extravaganza. The festival is back to full-strength complete with Oscar-nominated movie stars doing on-stage interviews at the Arlington (with Penélope Cruz joining a line-up that already included Will Smith, Kristen Stewart, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and many others), while the theater is also the site of a plethora of panels boasting directors, writers, producers, and artisans behind the year’s most decorated films.

There will be parties, although smaller and more private due to the pandemic, and (we’re told) even Red Carpet strolls.

And of course, films, back in full force and Claudia Puig is the new programming focus at several cinemas all around downtown, director of SBIFF beginning with an intriguing opening night offering of the U.S. premiere of The Phantom of the Open, about Maurice Flitcroft, who famously gained entry to the qualifying round of the British Open Championship in 1976 despite never having played a round of golf. Directed by Craig Roberts and starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, and Rhys Ifans, Phantom signals SBIFF’s public resurfacing at the Arlington on March 2.

It’s just the first of well more than 200 of them counting features, documentaries, animation, and short films covering a wide span of categories, culled from a record number of submissions that topped 5,000 for this year’s fest, according to Claudia Puig, SBIFF’s new programming director. Last August, the longtime USA Today and NPR film critic and current president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association who has programmed at AFI Fest and the Mendocino and Napa Valley film festivals, replaced Michael Albright, who had held the position for a decade.

A veteran movie buff who has long been a friend, fan, and attendee at SBIFF, Puig pounced at the opportunity.

“Film critics are film fans first and foremost,” Puig said. “We’re always eager to share great films, especially ones that may not get as much attention and might not get seen.

I have an almost missionary zeal when it comes to films. I just want to proselytize: You have to see this movie! So programming a festival is a perfect match.”

Given the March 2-12 SBIFF being her first year at the helm, Puig hasn’t instituted any drastic changes in leading the team responsible for selecting the fest’s slate, with an eye toward little need to fix something that’s worked so well for more than 30 years.

But she did let on about her personal interest in further expanding the “I” in SBIFF and is proud that the festival features films from 54 different countries.

“I really wanted to make sure that things were as international as possible, with movies from more obscure places beyond the obvious French and Italian films. There are movies from Qatar and Tanzania and other countries where we don’t normally see films from. I really want to emphasize storytelling from all around the world.”

On the other hand, Puig said she is fully signed on to continue to serve Santa Barbara movie lovers’ specific interests in surf films, nature docs, and social justice.

Balancing fan favorites with more esoteric fare is a programmer’s duty as well as prerogative.

“Having done this for as long as I have, I can tell what’s going to be an audience favorite and what will uplift or inspire,” she said. “I think it’s good to have films that challenge you, or look at things differently, or push people’s edge. It also delineates your own taste: You shouldn’t love every movie at a festival, especially one with such a diversity of voices, subjects, approaches, and ways of looking at the world. The wider the spectrum, the better a festival is. You just have to take a leap of faith.”

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5

Montecito Miscellany A Match Made in Montecito

by Richard Mineards

Our biannual

PETER COHEN TRUNK SHOW Thursday & Friday March 3rd & 4th

O

ne of America’s leading matchmaking companies, Kelleher International, is now based in Montecito.

The company, run by Amber KelleherAndrews, 52, moved to our rarefied enclave from Marin County after the outbreak of the pandemic.

It charges between $30,000 to $300,000 a year and has been using Rick Caruso’s tony hostelry, the Rosewood Miramar, for many of its activities.

The company’s clientele includes Hollywood celebrities, Silicon Valley tycoons, professional athletes, Wall Street magnates, and politicians, according to the L.A. Times, with names including Bode Miller, Terrell Owens, Cheryl Tiegs, and Hoda Kotb.

While construction has been ongoing at the company’s offices a short distance away from the hotel, a corner cabana by the pool is where she often takes matchmaking calls and hosts virtual meetings.

Kelleher-Andrews and her mother Jill Kelleher, 77, founded the company in 1986. Two years ago, they had their best year ever, with revenue doubling in 2021 to $12.4 million. This year the firm is on track to top $18 million.

The company permanently closed its branch offices during the pandemic and now its 40 employees – matchmakers, entry-level network developers who focus on vetting, relationship coaches, and membership sales people among them – work remotely, including San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto, and London.

They field around 800 inquiries a month from online search traffic, about one third from referrals. Fewer than five percent are accepted, with around 600 clients around the globe under one to three year contracts.

Kelleher-Andrews, who resides in a seven-bedroom Colonial-style home set on two acres in a gated Montecito community, claims 87 percent of the clients “find love.”

Natural Rhythms

A Resplendent 2022 collection!

Celebrating the collaboration of music and nature are American Composer Jeff Beal and Santa Barbara Symphony Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti (photo by Priscilla)

Santa Barbara Symphony was in fine form under maestro Nir Kabaretti when it staged Beethoven in Bloom at the Granada.

The show featured five-time Emmy Award-winner Jeff Beal’s new work The Great Circle, with an impressive backdrop of photos provided by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden of the damage done by the cataclysmic fire and mud-

Miscellany Page 144 144

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Montecito JOURNAL

“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” – Christopher Markus

24 February – 3 March 2022

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24 February – 3 March 2022

Montecito JOURNAL

7

Village Beat

Cold Spring School Latest

HARNESS YOUR ANXIOUS ENERGY TO FEEL, THINK, & PERFORM BETTER LAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL invites you to an

evening with world-renowned neuroscientist and author of Good Anxiety—Dr. Wendy Suzuki.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY PRESENTATION AT 6PM

This is a free event for the Santa Barbara community.

Space is limited, indoor masking required.

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Montecito JOURNAL

Dr. Amy Alzina – seen here speaking to students via Zoom during the pandemic – has taken heat on social media for plans to expand facilities at Cold Spring School

by Kelly Mahan Herrick

N

ext week at a special board meeting, the Cold Spring School Board will consider approving the acquisition of a short-term loan in order to fund the school’s upcoming expansion project. Cold Spring School Superintendent Dr. Amy Alzina hosted members of the community for an informational meeting about the project and funding options two weeks ago at Montecito Inn on Coast Village Road. About 40 district residents attended in order to learn more about the school’s plans.

An expansion project at the school has long been a goal of the School Board, well before Dr. Alzina’s tenure commenced in 2017. The board has long been focused on replacing the portable buildings on campus, which are nearly 30 years old and well past their useful life. Recent growth in the enrollment on campus has highlighted the issue of the dilapidated portables even more, as the two remaining portable classrooms, which, in pre-COVID days, housed the afterschool program and special education, are rusted and deteriorating rapidly.

The portables currently house the second grade as well as art classes.

It was six years ago, under the leadership of then-superintendent Dr. Tricia Price, that the board voted to move forward with a new building to house classrooms and administrative offices; at one point, plans were in place for a 6,000-square-foot building to house three classrooms as well as the front office staff, and offices for school specialists.

The Spanish-style building was to be the new gateway to the school, giving a place for visitors to check in before coming onto campus, which would serve

“There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.” – Seneca

to assuage a long-held security concern regarding the campus layout.

When the school was first built in 1889, the entrance to campus was along Sycamore Canyon Road, before it became a busy state highway. For safety purposes, a wall was erected at some point in the ‘70s or ‘80s, to protect the campus from the traffic; the entrance to the school was then moved east to the parking lot on Cold Spring Road. The office and administration building remained in the center of campus, causing visitors to have to enter the campus before checking in with campus officials, which has concerned many parents and teachers over the years. The proposed plan in 2016 also included improvements to existing infrastructure on the 100-year-old existing buildings include repairing or replacing roofs and restrooms, as well as repairing or replacing aging water/ sewer lines, fire alarms, and schoolwide communication systems, and improving ADA accessibility, among several other maintenance items.

To fund the project, the board voted to seek a bond measure in November 2020: Measure L2020, which was for $7.8M, failed by a small margin. Following the failure, the board formed a Facilities Task Force, which includes 12 district residents including school parents, faculty, staff, and community members.

Last June, the Task Force issued a formal recommendation to construct a pared down, permanent building in two phases, beginning with two classrooms in Phase 1 followed by a third classroom and administration/office area in Phase 2. The new classrooms will be built next to the two portable class-

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24 February – 3 March 2022

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24 February – 3 March 2022

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9

NEWS & VIEWS ‘Our Neighborhood Voices’ Lost For Now, As State Housing Machine Unleashes On Communities

by Sharon Byrne

F

or those following this topic and Senate Bills 9 and 10, they took effect on January 1. These bills upzone communities by allowing four to 10 units on a single-family residential lot. Just pull your permit and go. Pushed by a cabal of pro-development forces, California embraced densification and “build, baby, build.” The intent was to vilify and override cities, counties, and NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) who just wouldn’t permit enough building.

An interim emergency Senate Bill 9 ordinance passed by the City of Santa Barbara excluded high fire zones, required one unit be affordable to “moderate” income individuals, and that lost parking be replaced to the tune of one per unit. They also limited development to certain neighborhoods with large enough lot sizes, greater than 1,200 square feet.

Goleta’s emergency ordinance requires a homeowner pull the permit, not a corporation, to curb speculation.

The County has no interim ordinance, leaving itself, and us, wide open.

Residents in Montecito could see three additional housing units going up next door, with no hearings, and mere fourfoot setbacks. The county’s planning staff asked should they prioritize an ordinance for our 2022 work plan? We enthusiastically say YES! The call, however, is the Board of Supervisors’.

A ballot initiative, Our Neighborhood Voices, would amend the California constitution to reserve local land use decisions for local jurisdictions, overturning Senate Bills 9 and 10, and preventing the state from pre-empting local land use decisions in the future. Signature-

gathering for the initiative was brisk in Montecito, and across the state in communities most opposed to Senate Bills 9 and 10.

Last Friday, organizers for Our Neighborhood Voices announced they “will re-file their measure to qualify for the 2024 ballot.” Signature-gathering was hindered by “the combination of COVID-19, the dramatic spike in the cost of paid signature gathering, and the need for more time to organize volunteer signature gatherers.”

“We are not stopping, we are not slowing down, we are not ever going to give up until we have restored a neighborhood voice in community planning,” said proponent Bill Brand, Mayor of Redondo Beach.

This is a big setback. We’ll have to push the county to adopt whatever protective ordinance we can, and they’re not moving quickly.

How did we get here? California legislators have used “3.2 million units of housing needed” to ram legislation through that removes approvals and permits, eroding local land use authority.

Dick Platkin, a noted planning consultant, discredits California’s number as follows: “The 3.2 million figure comes from a McKinsey Global Institute consultant study that relied on New York and New Jersey housing data to draw conclusions about California.”

The Biden Administration has put that number at 3.9 million units nationwide.

The White House also noted, with alarm, that one in five U.S. homes was bought by investors in 2021. In some markets, it was one in four. Investors paying cash for residential homes will certainly eat into “supply” and make it harder for families

to get a home, while driving up prices.

The California Building Industry Association, California Association of Realtors, and YIMBY groups (Yes in My Backyard – mainly male, millennial advocates) pushed the state loudly for more supply. They want to build more luxury and “market-rate” housing that will “trickle down” so they can afford a place to live. If you’re surprised to see young progressives spouting Reagan-era policies as the new panacea, YIMBY is funded by Big Tech, who wants housing for their workers. That Big Tech doesn’t have to pay for, of course. Campaign contributions to state legislators are far less expensive than building housing for one’s workers.

A quick review of RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Assessment) numbers, which are created by the state’s Housing and Community Development Department, and mandated on local jurisdictions, shows that California is overbuilding for moderate / above moderate-income brackets, while vastly underbuilding for low / very low-income brackets. The state only permitted 1,040 housing units for sale in 2021 to the low-income group of some 5.3 million Californians. In contrast, 600,000 permits for housing were issued in California for the moderate / above-moderate income categories, comprised of some 5.6 million people.

So much for California’s proselytizing of ‘increased opportunities for equity.’

The state didn’t offer much for low-income families to get a leg up when it came to housing.

Vacancies, which should be non-existent in a housing crisis, are finally just starting to get attention. The United States Census Bureau counts vacation rental homes as vacant. Pacaso, Airbnb, and VRBO all remove housing supply, and elected officials are seemingly blind while neighborhoods are transformed into tourist party zones. There are 90,000 vacant units in L.A., and 50,000 homeless people. San Francisco was just embarrassed by a study revealing 40,000 vacant units, a vacancy rate of 10%. The more egregious California housing bills

are coming from San Francisco’s senator Scott Wiener, so this is especially ironic, or perhaps not, considering he is seen as the developer’s “inside man” in Sacramento. Vacancy taxes could be used as a way to curb speculative practices, while generating revenues to build affordable housing.

As we move two people we’ve sheltered through Hands Across Montecito into housing this week, we well understand the need for affordable housing, and how the state isn’t providing it, while unleashing a Wild West on residential neighborhoods.

Sharon Byrne is the Executive Director of the Montecito Association

JOURNAL

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Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Nadel Office Manager | Jessikah Moran Graphic Design/Layout | Esperanza Carmona Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick Copy Editor | Lily Buckley Harbin Proofreading | Helen Buckley Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Kim Crail, Tom Farr, Chuck Graham, Stella Haffner, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Sharon Byrne, Robert Bernstein, Christina Favuzzi, Leslie Zemeckis Gossip | Richard Mineards History | Hattie Beresford Humor | Ernie Witham Our Town | Joanne A. Calitri Society | Lynda Millner Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook Food & Wine | Claudia Schou, Gabe Saglie Published by: Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108.

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24 February – 3 March 2022

The Way it Was

When the Sisters moved back to town they built a two-story brick orphanage and school at 925 De la Vina Street in 1869 (note: the date on the card is incorrect. They arrived in 1858)

The Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent’s Institute An advertisement from July 1870 announced the completion of the new brick building and the cost of schooling (Newspapers.com)

The “asistencia” stood at Cieneguitas, whose name means “little swamps” in Spanish (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

by Hattie Beresford

I

n 1854, Pope Pius IX consecrated Thaddeus Amat y Brusi as bishop of Monterey. The reluctant prelate (he had tried to ditch the papal appointment) moved the headquarters of the diocese to Santa Barbara where he planned to build a cathedral for the relics of the newly beatified Saint Viviana.

Arriving in December 1855, the glass coffin containing her bones (which were encased in an elaborately garbed wax effigy) were ceremoniously delivered to the chapel recently created in the Nicolas Den Adobe on the corner of Figueroa and State streets. Thus established and domiciled at the Mission, the Spanish-born Amat set to work.

In 1858, at Amat’s request, two Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg, Maryland, and one Daughter of Charity from Spain arrived in Santa Barbara to establish a combined orphanage, boarding school, and day school. Sisters Andrea Gibbs and Mary Mullane traveled to Santa Barbara via the Isthmus of Panama using ships, trains, mules, and more ships to complete the treacherous journey.

Landing in Santa Barbara on January 5, they were joined four days later by Sister Angelita Mombrado.

The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph were founded in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1809 by the now-canonized Elizabeth Ann Seton. Her organization was patterned after the Daughters of Charity founded by St. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac in 1833 in France.

There, they were called “daughters” to distinguish their organization from their cloistered sisters.

Both the American and French organizations were apostolic orders devoted to 24 February – 3 March 2022

working with the poor and serving humankind. Both required each sister to renew her vows annually so each might leave the order freely. In 1850, the two orders merged, and the American branch adopted the blue habit, white collar, and white cornette of the French branch. Called “Daughters” today, in the United States the order continued to be called Sisters of Charity well into the 20th century.

Initially, they established a school in the Aguirre Adobe, an elaborate 19-room house that stood on the corner of Carrillo and Santa Barbara streets, the site of today’s Little Town Club.

In 1863, the school was moved to the Cieneguitas area, where a cluster of neophyte Chumash farmers had a village and an asistencia, a small rural mission. The property had once belonged to the Santa Barbara Mission, which ostensibly, had held it in trust for the Chumash people until Mexico achieved its independence from Spain and secularized missions and appropriated the Catholic lands.

On March 16, 1874, disaster struck.

The beautiful new building burned to the ground due to a faulty flue, a strong northwest wind, and the lack of water.

Four days later, the supporters of St. Vincent’s came to the rescue by planning a fundraising concert. José Lobero offered the free use of his new theater and helped organize the program as well. The Morning Press article said, “We hope the Sisters of St Vincent’s institute will receive the assistance they deserve in rebuilding a home for themselves and their little charges, not alone that we desire to see this structure again standing as an ornament to the town, but also because of the respect we have for this noble order of devoted women.”

Help arrived from many sources and

by September 1874, the foundations of a

new building were being completed. This one was to be three stories high and built of stone and brick. It was to be much larger than the previous edifice with greater elegance of architectural design as well. Completed in time for the 1875/76 school year, it would house the school and the orphanage until the 1920s. In 1877, the Sisters also established an infirmary on the part of their property fronting Carrillo Street.

By 1880, the community was showing its support for St. Vincent’s by attending annual Orphan’s Fairs. That year, craft items made by the scholars and boarding pupils of the school and a raffle were featured at a multi-day event.

By 1913, the fair had grown so elaborately that different days were given over

The Way Page 234 234

Moving Back to Town Six years later, now under the direction of Sister M. Polycarp O’Driscoll, the Sisters returned to downtown Santa Barbara where they built a two-story, brick school building complete with dormitories at 925 De la Vina Street.

They advertised a curriculum given in English or Spanish for children of all denominations. Board and tuition for the year cost $150; bedding, $15; books and stationery, $25; and there were extra charges for materials needed for embroidery, crochet, etcetera.

Orphans, it is presumed, were given these services gratis and supported by charitable donations. At the end of each school year, an elaborate and instructive public program was given, in which pupils sang, gave speeches, recited poetry and essays, and played musical instruments.

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Montecito JOURNAL

11

A&E (Continued from 5)

Puig’s Picks at SBIFF:

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12

We’ll have more festival features in the next two issues as SBIFF evolves.

In the meantime, the festival’s new programmer gave us the lowdown on a few of her favorites to aid in setting your schedule: Our Words Collide – I just love this film. It’s about teen poets, kids who’ve grown up in parts of L.A. where they have family issues or have been challenged socioeconomically. They have found solace and a sense of rising above their situations through poetry. It reminded me of an earlier documentary years ago called Spellbound. I’m drawn to movies that really capture a sense of the people and these lives and how they’re finding their way – especially through words, like writing and reading poetry, no surprise. Some of the kids are coming up for the screening and the Q&A, and even reading their poetry.

World Premiere March 5 at 4:20 pm at the Fiesta and March 6 at 11:40 am at the Metro Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest – It’s the story of the first Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest and she became an inspiration to a lot of women climbers around the world.

It’s an inspiring story about all she was up against and anybody who likes movies about the great outdoors and people surmounting odds, things like Into Thin Air, will enjoy it. It’s directed by a woman and produced by women and Pasang’s daughter will be joining us from Nepal.

World Premiere March 3 at 5:40 pm and March 6 at 11:40 am at the Metro.

Only in Theaters – It’s about how independent arthouse cinemas, which are really important to independent filmmakers, have been struggling. They focus on this one chain, Laemmle Theatres in L.A., and the history of the family. Carl Laemmle founded Universal and they’re very much a family that’s been involved in the film industry since it began. The sons still work there, and the film follows a couple of years of progression for the chain and the family when they were going to sell it because they were struggling financially. But they saved it and then the pandemic happened – theaters started closing again so once more they are struggling.

Given its subject matter, this one might reflect me (us) more than anything else, and it hits home with its heart.

World Premiere March 5 at 7:20 pm at the Fiesta, March 7 at 11:40 am at the Metro.

House of Darkness – We have some really good North American independent films this year (which is normally a challenge at SBIFF). This is a drama by Neil LaBute and it stars Justin Long and Kate Bosworth, and like all of his films it has something to say about male-female relations in a wry, comic way. And at the same time, it has sort of a veneer of a horror film. If you liked Get Out, you’ll like House of Darkness.

World Premiere March 8 at 7:20 pm at the Fiesta, March 10 at 9 pm at the Metro, and March 11 at 2 pm at the Arlington.

A&E Page 184 184 Montecito JOURNAL

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius

24 February – 3 March 2022

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13

Miscellany (Continued from 6)

Jamie and Marcia Constance with Sharon and David Bradford (photo by Priscilla)

Adam McKaig, Fredrik Eklund, and Sean Landon, a new and formidable trio of realtors at their Park Lane listing in Montecito (photo by Priscilla)

Musicians extraordinaire Gilles Apap, Chris Judge, and Brandon Stanton with Kathryn Martin and Steve Windhager (photo by Priscilla)

slides in 2017-2018. The five-movement work spanned Earth, Wind, Fire, Water – and the damage Nature can inflict – while the same powers also bring about rebirth, rejuvenation, and revival, coming full circle.

Jennifer Higdon’s harp concerto ably played by symphony harpist Michelle Temple and Beethoven’s “Pastorale Symphony No.6 in F Major” completed the entertaining program.

To mark its collaboration with the botanic garden, the symphony co-hosted a bash at the venue 48 hours earlier where Beal, 59, spoke about his new work that premiered in Thousand Oaks in January, and a talented trio of musicians, including violinist and former symphony concert master Gilles Apap, guitarist Chris Judge, and double bass player Brandon Staton performed.

Among the music aficionados turning out for the sunset soirée were Robert Weinman, David and Sharon Bradford, Jamie and Marcia Constance, Barbara Burger, former mayor Helene Schneider, Georgia Nevarez, symphony CEO Kathryn Martin, Karen Drown, and Howard Jay Smith.

Days of Our Abductions Soap opera actor Bryan Dattilo, 50, has launched a new podcast on the para-

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to crash into the sea, and I remember being horrified thinking these people were going to die a horrible death.

“As the plane began to plunge, I heard this female voice beside me saying, ‘Don’t worry, they will be taken before the hit.’ And then everything went dark.

I slept soundly the rest of the night and actually woke up wondering how I could have been sleeping for eight hours, but only remembered a couple of minutes on the plane.

“When I turned on the television that morning, I was shocked to hear that the plane carrying JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren, to a wedding, was missing. I shouted out to my fiancée that I’d been on that plane when it went down. She thought I was nuts.”

Later that morning when the twosome checked out, they had occasion to visit the office for the first time.

“When I entered the office I noticed all the old black and white photos of JFK Sr. and his wife, Jackie. And when I asked why there were so many of the late

president, they told me the cottage we stayed in was the same cottage where JFK and Jackie spent their honeymoon night!

“All of a sudden it dawned on me that the four people on the plane were me, JFK Jr., his wife, her sister – and Jackie!

So for those who worry about events that took place that night, know that Jackie was there and it was her job to help them cross over. It’s an experience like that that let me know that I can’t just ignore things that happen to me.”

His new podcast, Conspiracies Inc. begins airing this week on Spotify, YouTube, and wherever podcasts are available.

normal, with the first season exploring aliens, UFOs, and abductions.

Bryan, who stars on NBC’s long running soap Days of Our Lives, recalls one particular incident that occurred at the A tony triumvirate of uber salesmen San Ysidro Ranch in our Eden by the from Douglas Elliman, America’s third Beach in 1999. largest real estate company, have banded “My first wife Jessica and I were gifttogether to form a sales colossus. ed with a night at the Ranch prior to our August wedding,” says Bryan, whose Miscellany Page 164 164 Chicago-based entertainment journalist mother Peggy is an old friend and colleague.

“She was pregnant, and we didn’t want to wait until she was too far along to book the stay, so we booked for the night of July 16. Prior to arriving we checked in by phone and they told us we could proceed directly to the honeymoon cottage and the key would be under the mat.

“The cottage was perfect. It had two beautiful bedrooms, a deck that looked over the ocean, a fireplace, and lots of antique furniture. Jessica was tired and we had an early night. No sooner had I climbed into bed I fell into a deep sleep. I hadn’t been sleeping long when I became aware I was on board a small plane, surrounded by darkness.

“I was tightly sandwiched into the backseat between two people, with two more people in front. Suddenly the plane began to pitch and shake, and everyone McKaig’s team Kip Glover, Melissa Borders, Fredrik Eklund, Sean Landon, and Adam McKaig in front of panicked. I felt certain we were about a separate four-car garage and entertainment center on the second story (photo by Priscilla) “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” – Viktor Frankl

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24 February – 3 March 2022

Our Town

Black History Month: Talking About the Issues with Healing Justice Santa Barbara

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Co-founders of Healing Justice Santa Barbara Krystle Farmer Sieghart, Leticia Forney Resch, and Simone Akila at the Melanin Gallery

by Joanne A. Calitri

“B

lack History is World History” We read and hear this, but are we listening? Are we showing up to support the Black/ African community we share this town with, to learn and heal, to ensure they feel safe and free to be who they are to live and thrive here?

To begin our important work in these areas, I interviewed the founders of Healing Justice Santa Barbara (HJSB) Krystle Farmer Sieghart, Simone Akila, and Leticia Forney Resch, along with Santa Barbara Black Historian and Poet Laureate Sojourner Kincaid-Rolle at the Melanin Gallery downtown and via Zoom: Q. What are the Black/African issues everyone in Santa Barbara needs to look at right now?

A. It is important for people to take a look at their everyday lives and see how they are showing up for Black lives in this community, because in a lot of ways we are not supported. For example, what does the representation look like at the school your children go to, are there Black teachers, Black students, resources for Black students, are the schools celebrating Black History Month?

Black representation is decreasing in Santa Barbara, and no one is talking about it. There are less and less Black families, Black students, and Black people working in Santa Barbara, and that is intentional. Why decreasing? Because they don’t feel safe here; they are pushed out and feel problematized. We grapple 24 February – 3 March 2022

with every day: Am I allowed to be my authentic self, or do I have to suppress who I am to survive in Santa Barbara?

We want to be who we are, to feel safe in my community, bring my culture with me, and carry my identity. We should be able to do that. Black people deserve to live full, beautiful, lasting lives in Santa Barbara.

It is important to preserve Black History and Black legacy so people can know we have been here. A lot of organizations and businesses that people are benefiting from – Black people started them – and no one wants to talk about it, such as, The Food Bank; the Franklin Center, where they changed the name and stole it from Black folks; the trash system in Santa Barbara was started by a Black man and Marborg bought it from him. A lot of Black elders here have been doing a lot of community work for free for centuries, Black churches raise their own money to build schools for their education programs and it is not city funded. People don’t talk about our collective struggle to do things on our own. These systems do not support Black people the way they are supposed to, by the way they were designed. We always get the shortest end of the stick. That is why we have to say, “Black lives matter,” and have our own organizations. We deserve spaces and funding too. We are here because we uplift, affirm, and value Black lives.

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15

Miscellany (Continued from 14 14))

The impressive view from the estate (photo by Priscilla)

Local realtor Adam McKaig, who has been selling property for 23 years and founded Adam’s Angels in 2020 to help the homeless, has teamed with Malibubased Sean Landon, son of the late Little House on the Prairie actor Michael Landon, and Swedish Beverly Hills dynamo Fredrik Eklund, who just left Bravo’s popular show Million Dollar Listing, which he appeared on for 11 years.

As well as having his own successful realty company in Stockholm, Fredrik, 44, has closed more than $10 billion in residential real estate deals during his stellar career in Manhattan and on the Left Coast.

The talented trio met at the 7,672 square-foot, six-bedroom, eight-bath Park

Lane aerie on 20 acres they are marketing for $12.5 million for an open house.

The property, with Mt. Olympus views, is just a tiara’s toss from the nineacre $14.2 million estate of Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry and her British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom, formerly owned

by Chrysler CEO Robert Kidder and his wife, Mary, for two decades.

Mineard’s Montecito Menagerie Maison Mineards Montecito has been particularly busy of late with a German TV crew interviewing me in the garden, phone calls from the

London Evening Standard and Daily Mail, and last week hosting a TV crew from France’s TF1 for its 16-year-old show, 50 Minutes Inside.

After being interviewed outside Pierre Lafond by producer Sarah Pizon, who had flown in from Paris for the occasion, I took her and trusty cameraman Adrian Rappaport, who had winged in from his Miami home, on an hour-long tour of our rarefied enclave, including the Santa Barbara Polo Cub, Riven Rock, home of the Sussexi, and Coast Village Road.

Later on, the dynamic duo also met with Ian Williams, manager of Ty Warner’s San Ysidro Ranch, and Rick Fidel, manager of Rick Caruso’s

Rosewood Miramar, getting an eye-full.

My loyal lenswoman, Priscilla, also accompanied us, adding her own views on our unique community.

Super Bash Montecito sports fan were out in force when retired technology executive Howard Cannon, who splits his time between our Eden by the Beach and his home in Memphis, Tennessee, threw his fifth annual Super Bowl bash at his George Washington Smith estate.

“It is nice to be back to near normal,”

Miscellany Page 214 214

Super Bowl party host Howard Cannon with Joan Kent and John Bridgewater who won the 1st quarter board score Rams 7 and Bengals 3 (photo by Priscilla)

Producer Sarah Pizon propping up cameraman Adrian Rappaport to get a good angle to film Richard Mineards (photo by Priscilla)

Cameraman Adrian Rappaport and French producer Sarah Pizon on a filming assignment (photo by Priscilla)

16

Montecito JOURNAL

Super Bowl guests surround Howard Cannon and Susanne Jonsson (photo by Priscilla)

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17

A&E (Continued from 12 12)) Portrait of Dr. Gachet (Auvers-sur-Oise) by Vincent van Gogh, May 15, 1890

Nitram – It’s a fictionalized version about the worst mass shooter in Australia tracing his life and meeting a woman who was an heiress and how it led to what he did. But it’s more of a psychological thriller, not graphically violent.

U.S. Premiere March 11 at 8:40 pm and March 12 at 2:40 pm at the Metro.

Go to Gogh

Bridge across the Seine at Asnières by Vincent van Gogh, Summer 1887

It’s been a very long time, or perhaps ever, since Santa Barbara has eagerly anticipated an exhibition as exciting as “Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources,” a landmark show that launches February 27 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The exhibition boasts 20 works of art by the Dutch master from his brief 10-year career – including some famous pieces from his last period of painting – alongside 75 or so works by those that Van Gogh admired; serving as the first major show since (and made possible by) SBMA’s just-completed $50 million renovation.

The arts community’s list of related programs slated for the run of the show is seemingly endless, with partners including the Santa Barbara Symphony, Opera Santa

The exhibit includes artworks, such as The Absinthe Drinkers by Jean-François Raffaëlli, 1881, that inspired or were precursors to Van Gogh’s distinct style

The Wheatfield by Vincent van Gogh, 1888

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Barbara, Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, MOXI, Lotusland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belmond El Encanto, La Cumbre Center for Creative Arts, Sullivan Goss, and 10 West Gallery.

Still, the larger context of immersing Vincent’s works among others of the era is what sets this Van Gogh show apart, said Eik Kahng, Santa Barbara Museum of Art Deputy Director and Chief Curator, who has spent four years putting it together.

Setting the record straight is one of the purposes.

“Most people tend to think of Van Gogh as a breakout self-invented genius, as if he came out of nowhere,” she said. “Our presentation is corrective and revelatory because we present work by so many other artists who had such a strong role in his formation – you can see bits and pieces of their artistic projects coming together in his. Although Vincent is very unique and that’s part of the reason that he’s so beloved and admired, you can see very clearly his indebtedness to these earlier artists.”

“Through Vincent’s Eyes” also aims to dispel the myths evoked by popular movies (Lust for Life) and song (“Starry Starry Night”) that focus on clichés, Kahng said.

“Those are very romantic but not particularly accurate descriptions of an artist who was really quite sophisticated and complicated. He was intelligent, very well educated and well read. He’s not some just ignorant intuitive genius. That’s one thing that we really are trying to get across (with the books and other works).”

“To understand is to be free.” – Baruch Spinoza

24 February – 3 March 2022

Hospital at SaintRémy by Vincent van Gogh, October 1889

Presenting the world’s finest classical artists since 1919

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JORDI SAVALL AND LE CONCERT DES NATIONS Jordi Savall, Director & bass viol

Music from the award-winning film

TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE “The big takeaway is that his work was very much in line with authors like Charles Dickens in that he was a social realist who had very strong sympathy with the underprivileged and he wanted to induce an empathetic identification with these figures on the fringes of society.”

Education, context, and appreciation of environment is only one aspect of “Through Vincent’s Eyes,” of course. The paintings are what pull the people in, and understandably so.

“When you see the real thing, not some digital projection, that’s something you feel immediately,” Kahng said. “You could feel it even among our staff – the first crate that we opened that had a van Gogh painting in it, there was a palpable hush. These works of art are so rare. To have one in your midst, inches away, it’s really inspiring and transporting.”

Works by Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, François Couperin, and Jean-Baptiste Lully Early music master Jordi Savall returns to CAMA Masterseries to perform the music he created for the soundtrack of one of the most celebrated films ever to explore the art of music.

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022, 7:30PM

BENJAMIN GROSVENOR

, piano

Colvin’s Steady Career Singer-songwriter Americana roots-rocker Jason Isbell has won four Grammy Awards since separating from the Drive-By Truckers, and with his band 400 Unit represents some of the best of Southern rock music today. But the opening act for the concert at the Arlington Theatre on February 26 isn’t far behind.

Thirty-three years into her career, it might be hard to recall what a sensation Shawn Colvin was in her first decade. Her debut, Steady On, took home the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1991, and seven years later she captured the two most coveted categories as “Sunny Came Home” claimed both Record and Song of the Year.

Steady On has remained a staple in rotation on many record lovers’ playlist, and remains Colvin’s favorite album, too. So much so that she celebrated the album’s 30th anniversary by recording a new solo acoustic version collecting the personal-yet-universal songs revealing relationships from the inside out not only as she usually plays them live sans a band, but also in their original context.

“That record was the manifestation of a dream come true for me because it took me a long time to find my voice as a songwriter,” Colvin said. “After years as a cover singer, I was still figuring out how to write, not really knowing what I was doing.

‘Diamond in the Rough’ was a watershed moment, things started flowing and I got my songwriting legs under me. I’m immensely proud of it. I’ve always felt like if I never made another record, Steady On would have been enough.”

Fortunately, Colvin has continued to record, and has several other original albums in her catalog along with a pair of records covering others’ songs from folk to pop to rock. “I just love great songs, whether or not I wrote them,” she said. “In my own songs, I know that the more I tell my truth and don’t hold back, others are going to relate to them the same way.”

While Colvin will be continuing her pandemic-postponed anniversary tour singing Steady On in sequence for a month-plus of headlining gigs in March, at the Arlington she’ll play selections from the 30-year span, including, she said, one or two as-yet unreleased ones.

“All of my records are touchstones for me, and I still relate to all of the songs,” she said. “There’s only one I never play because it’s still a little too vulnerable and raw.”

24 February – 3 March 2022

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19

The Giving List CommUnify

CommUnify is now one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Santa Barbara County, employing nearly 400 staff and operating over 17 programs and services in the community

CommUnify’s Early Head Start program provides services for low-income families with infants and toddlers, along with programs for pregnant women

by Steven Libowitz

I

f the name CommUnify doesn’t ring a bell, Patricia Keelean, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, thinks she knows why.

“We are our own best-kept secret,” Keelean said. There’s a good reason for that – CommUnify is actually the new DBA for what used to be called the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County – indeed quite a mouthful – that was formed way back in 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was just three years later that the 15-member Community Action Committee appointed by the County Board of Supervisors to address the causes and conditions of pov-

CommUnify works in partnership with the community to find innovative and sustainable solutions for local residents of all ages

20 Montecito JOURNAL

erty incorporated as a private nonprofit organization. CACSBC (also a mouthful) began by providing Head Start early education services, followed that same year by a senior support program; an adult job-training program was added in 1969.

Now, half a century later, the nonprofit’s menu of services has expanded to include a wide array of programs focused on addressing poverty in all its guises.

Its 17 programs and services in the community include the well-known Head Start/Early Start programs, energy assistance, home weatherization services, financial literacy and family self-sufficiency supportive services, a variety of prevention and intervention services for youth, and the 2-1-1 information and referral helpline.

But not only has the organization grown exponentially to the tune of 400 staffers serving about 10,000 individuals each year – they also don’t do it alone – as they work with other nonprofit partners throughout the area.

Hence CommUnify.

“One of the reasons why we rebranded is because people typically know an individual program that we’re providing, but they don’t realize it falls under this larger umbrella,” Keelean said. “We haven’t necessarily had the resources as an organization to promote the organization and let the general community know who we are and all of the great work that we’re doing.

Now we have a great new name that better reflects the work and our mission, and a beautiful new logo that represents the color and the spirit of our new brand.”

Whatever the name, CommUnify’s lofty goal remains the same in addressing the causes and conditions of poverty. But the vision has crystallized, too.

“We serve from age zero to end of life, trying to help those who are disadvantaged to stabilize and become inde-

pendent and thrive in our community,” Keelean said. “And we have a board that includes a low-income sector, the private sector, and public official sector. That’s unique to community action and ensures that every facet of the community is working together to address the issues of poverty at a local level.”

What also sets CommUnify apart is its approach, she said.

“Because we provide so many comprehensive services, what we are really focused on is a person-centered approach on an individualized basis so that we can assess the unique needs of every individual or family that we serve and connect them with all of the resources that we provide as an organization. Bundling services together, rather than providing what’s sometimes called a ‘one and done,’ we can address their broader needs. It’s not just putting a Band-Aid on in an emergency but providing case management. Whether it’s rental assistance, help with an energy bill, weatherize their home, connecting them with Head Start so their preschooler starts life as prepared as possible – whatever the need might be within that individual or family, we want to be able to address it.”

CommUnify is also one of the few organizations in Santa Barbara County with a “true north and south county footprint and a true north and south county commitment,” Keelean said.

And if CommUnify doesn’t offer a service to solve a specific need, they refer them out to other agency partners in the community to provide the necessary assistance.

“We’re a large organization, but we can’t do this work alone,” Keelean said.

“If we don’t have the service that will meet the need, we refer them to another nonprofit that does. That way there’s no duplication of effort.”

With that network, CommUnify really is about helping a person or family stabilize, improve their economic security, and move towards becoming independent and self-sufficient so that they can retain their dignity, she said.

“We want to identify the barriers that are keeping them in crisis and preventing

“Be like water making its way through cracks.” – Bruce Lee

them from moving towards becoming more economically stable,” Keelean said.

As to getting more recognition for the CommUnify name?

Keelean has an answer – “This year, we’re celebrating 55 years of service to the residents of Santa Barbara County, so we’re definitely going to make a splash and let people know we’re here,” she said.

Accordingly, the 55th Anniversary Champions Dinner takes place June 9 at the River Grill at Alisal Ranch in Solvang, where CommUnify will honor the Santa Barbara Foundation; Eric and Kelly Onnen, founders of Santa Barbara Airbus; and Robert Freeman, former CEO of CenCal Health, for their dedicated work on behalf of Santa Barbara County. Past recipients of the Champions award will also be recognized, including 2020 honorees The Towbes Group; Jim Glines, President / CEO at Community Bank of Santa Maria; and Rona Barrett, the former gossip columnist who runs her selfnamed nonprofit foundation.

Some of those private donations raised go toward expanding CommUnify’s new Seniors Safe at Home program that helps combat both isolation and the resultant neglect to simple home repairs that can lead to injuries because of a shrinking network. Meaning from Head Start to home repair for the elderly,

CommUnify is there.

CommUnify, 5638 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, (805) 964-8857, www.communifysb.org, Patricia Keelean, CEO; Julie Weiner, CDO

Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage

24 February – 3 March 2022

Miscellany (Continued from 16 16)) enthused Howard. “It was so quiet last year given the pandemic and nice that a Los Angeles-based team won against the Cincinnati Bengals.”

Among the tony throng watching the big game play at the $5.5 billion 70,000 capacity SoFi stadium were Terry Pillow, Robert Eringer, Mark Stehrenberger, Peter Hilf, Rick Fidel, Nigel Gallimore, Laurie Kirby, Alan Porter, and Mick Mankowski.

Chefs in the Chamber Adrian Spence’s 32-year-old chamber music troupe Camerata Pacifica pushed all the buttons with its latest performance at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall.

Five of the six composers featured are still alive, with the late Lou Harrison’s work, which opened the entertaining show, featuring kitchen saucepans and rice bowls accompanying Molly Markoski on piano, violinist Kristin Lee, and talented percussionist Ji Hye Jung.

Andy Akiho’s work “Stop Speaking” was an extraordinary piece by any measure accompanying electronic sounds from a computer, as well as Thierry De Mey’s “Silence Must Be,” a composition made up of gestures and sign language.

Mark Applebaum’s “Aphasia,” Christopher Cerrone’s “Double Happiness,” and Kevin Puts’ “And Legions Will Rise” completed the innovative concert.

It wasn’t a performance for everybody, but founder Adrian is to be commended for breaking new ground...

A Royal Record Prince Harry’s forthcoming revelatory tome, for which HRH is being paid $20 million by Penguin-Random

House in New York, is “likely to shake the monarchy to its core,” according to reports.

The Duke of Sussex, 37, is secretly collaborating with Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter JR Moehringer, with the book being described as “a definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him.”

One can only hope that it is not the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with the Royal Family, particularly his father Prince Charles and older brother, Prince William.

Her Majesty has just launched her own brand of canine perfume, which is on sale at her 20,000acre estate Sandringham in Norfolk, U.K. The 95-year-old monarch, an ardent dog lover, has created a royal cologne for pampered pooches, which comes with a price tag of $13 a bottle.

Bain de la Paltrow

sauna, hot tub, and plunge pool.

It is modeled on Bain de la Marais, a spa in Paris, with custom-made faucets costing $30,796 and gold-plated showers.

The Goop mogul says the new house was inspired by her living in London when she was married to Coldplay rocker Chris Martin with whom she had two children, Apple,17, and Moses, 15.

Paltrow’s friend interior designer Brigette Romanek helped bring it all together.

Queen Elizabeth is Going to the Dogs!

Her Majesty has just launched her own brand of canine perfume, which is on sale at her 20,000-acre estate Sandringham in Norfolk, U.K. The 95-year-old monarch, an ardent dog lover, has created a royal cologne for pampered pooches, which comes with a price tag of $13 a bottle.

The sovereign, who marks her Platinum Jubilee in June, has consulted with a nearby company, Norfolk Natural Living, to make the Happy Hounds cologne, which boasts “the essence of coastal walks.”

It is made with witch hazel and a blend of essential oils.

The Queen has had more than 30 corgis throughout her 70-year reign and currently owns two corgis and one dorgi, a hybrid corgi and dachshund.

Unload at the Curb Comedian Larry David is the latest celebrity resident in Montecito. The 74-year-old Brooklyn native has splashed out $5.7 million on a four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath, 2,858-square-foot Normandy-style George Washington Smith designed home in the hedgerows, just a tiara’s toss from the ocean. David is best known for creating the mega successful 1990s series Seinfeld, a show about “nothing” with his friend, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, 67. He currently stars in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm since 2000.

Sightings Actress Lindsay Lohan at Caffe Luxxe at the Montecito Country Mart... Beach Boy Bruce Johnston noshing at Coast & Olive... Writer T.C. Boyle checking out The Honor Bar...

Pip! Pip! Be safe, wear a mask when

required, and get vaccinated.

From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than a decade

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow has shared a peek at her new 2.4-acre European-Inspired home in our rarefied enclave with the latest issue of Architectural Digest.

The impressive home, which the Oscar winner and her husband, TV producer Brad Falchuk bought in 2016 for $5 million, features a lavish kitchen, a “show stopping” living room, and its very own spa, with a $30,000 shower system,

726 State Street, Santa Barbara, California $3,200,000

Design A Model Development Including Housing State Street Entry To De La Guerra Plaza

Gina M. Meyers

805.898.4250 gmeyers@cbcworldwide.com #00882147

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE - GLOBAL NETWORK 24 February – 3 March 2022

Montecito JOURNAL

21

IDEAS CORNER:

On Money, Politics and other Trivial Matters

Perspectives

Grab the Garlic!

Let’s Reserve Resurrection for Religion

by Rinaldo S. Brutoco

H

ere they go again! It never ceases to amaze how far Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a “public utility,” will go in harming the public interest. Their latest ploy is an attempt to surreptitiously resurrect the nearly 40-year-old Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which is scheduled to close by 2025. They want to bring it back from the dead even though none of the outrageous safety and financial reasons for the original decision to let it die have changed. You would think that, as the largest utility in the nation, PG&E would have learned from its past mistakes which have caused needless deaths, extensive property destruction, and massive forest fires, including: - Being guilty of 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for illegally causing, due to faulty equipment, the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed scores of people and destroyed the town of Paradise (NPR).

- Together with Southern California Edison being responsible for many of the massive forest fires in California.

- Being found guilty of numerous additional felonies for obstructing investigators looking into the deadly 2010 explosion, and for violations of gas pipeline safety regulations, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno (Los Angeles Times).

Imagine, the only utility in the United States repeatedly guilty of felonies, continues with unfettered greed that PG&E has orchestrated by stealth in trying to keep Diablo Canyon running for another 10 to 20 years at a cost of over $1million/year just for operation and still refuses to test the embrittlement condition of the main reactor! That’s greed at a whole new level. PG&E signed a 2018 agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), labor unions, and key public interest groups to shutter Diablo’s two nuclear units in 2024/2025, so it is relying on the concerted pro-nuclear industry campaign to vitiate the agreement.

The central plank of this strategy is a 2021 Report by Stanford and MIT, which argues that California should reverse course and delay closing Diablo Canyon for another decade or two, even though significant evidence shows that tens of millions of California are living in harm’s way. The Report argues that keeping Diablo Canyon open is a matter of “climate incoherence.” In addition to continuing to produce “carbon-free” electricity, the nuclear facility would be expanded to create new revenue streams by adding a large desalination plant to produce clean water and a solar-power electrolysis facility to generate “green” hydrogen – the cost of which will be 100 percent non-competitive in the emerging global green hydrogen market.

The Report projects that maintaining Diablo Canyon for just one decade would cut California’s utility emissions by more than 10 percent through burning less natural gas and save the state $2.6 billion in power system costs. Hogwash! It is a terrible idea on every level.

Keeping Diablo Canyon running beyond its planned closure in 2025 is misguided and fails to address California’s legislative goals of transitioning to a carbon-free, nuclear-free, energy economy by 2050. The rationales for opposing this pro-nuclear campaign were summarized on December 14, 2021 in the Los Angeles Times editorial, “No, California should not extend the life of its last nuclear plant. There are better ways to fight climate change.” The main takeaways from this article are: - PG&E decided not to pursue a renewed operator’s license in 2016 largely because closing the plant and replacing the power it generates with renewables and storage would be far cheaper than keeping it running.

- Those arguing to keep the plant open seem to ignore or discount how impractical and even risky this would be. Seismic risks, ecological damage due to seawater used for cooling, and what to do with the ever-mounting nuclear waste are all big problems that remain unresolved.

- Seismic retrofitting and other upgrades needed to continue operations would cost an excess of $1 billion – money that would be better spent on rapid additions of renewable resources and storage, and on upgrading aging transmission lines to curb fire dangers.

The answer is not to reinvest in Diablo Canyon. Rather, it’s to rapidly build and deploy far cheaper, safer, and more flexible carbon-free technologies, such as solar farms and wind turbines, and electrolyze it into green hydrogen for later use in fuel cells. Fortunately, it looks like wiser heads will prevail in this “resurrection” debate, making it highly unlikely that Diablo Canyon’s life will be extended, but we should not get complacent.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has publicly affirmed his opposition. This is no surprise, especially since, as a member of the State Lands Commission, Newsom worked for years with the CPUC, union members, host communities, and environmental groups to develop a long-term plan to retire and replace Diablo Canyon with zero-emission resources.

22 Montecito JOURNAL

Water Cleanups and Discoveries

$1 billion to be invested in cleaning up Great Lakes

T

he U.S. Great Lakes are treasured and iconic wonders of North America’s natural splendor. Countless families and individuals flock there for fun and thousands of species of animals, fish, insects, and birds call those waters home. They also hold major economic importance for more than 1.3 million Americans and provide fresh drinking water to 40 million Americans. On the 17th, it was announced that $1 billion of federal funding will be dedicated to cleaning up polluted areas of the Great Lakes Basin, per the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will clean up, strengthen nearby infrastructure, and improve nearby supporting communities in 22 identified areas of concern.

The action plan aims to make all fish safe to eat, ensure that water at all sites is safe to drink, remove toxic substances, reduce harmful agricultural runoff, protect and restore native land and water animal species, and to ensure the resiliency of those species. The plan also entails educating children in nearby communities in science and the ecological importance of the Great Lakes region. As part of the Justice40 Initiative, at least 40 percent of the federal funds allocated to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will go toward those designated “disadvantaged communities.”

Two-thirds of seafloor life is waiting to be discovered

Amazingly, two-thirds of life occupying the seafloor is still waiting to be discovered, finds a recent study published in Science Advances. DNA sequencing techniques also revealed that there is at least three times more life on the seafloor than higher up in the ocean.

The fact there are so many more incredible discoveries to be made is exciting. Some of these include impressive upside-down underwater lakes that divers stumbled across last year, uncovering multiple novel species including “Elvis worms” and “glitter worms.”

This deep-sea expedition back in 2020 discovered 30 new types of species.

The complex environment that the seafloor creates allows for a collection of microhabitats to survive, including underwater volcanoes and deep coral reefs.

The group also found that these life forms help regulate the Earth’s climate.

Organisms, such as phytoplankton, absorb atmospheric carbon and sink it down into the deep ocean where it is captured in sediments. The team confirmed a highly important role that these communities play in regulating the climate that was previously not

understood to this extent.

There is no indication that the CPUC is actively considering keeping Diablo Canyon open, especially since the business case presented in the 2021 Report is a non-starter based on overly optimistic financial assumptions. Three-quarters of the projected revenues come from super-sized desalination and hydrogen plants that are remote from customers, but the costs to desalinate the water and the transportation costs for water and hydrogen resources are totally absent from the Report’s projections.

Even PG&E has put on the façade of showing no interest in extending the nuclear power plant’s life. As reported by Mothers for Peace, the San Luis Obispo-based group that has opposed Diablo Canyon since day one together with the Academy, reports that the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Panel continues to meet regularly to close it, and deal with the issue of long-term storage of existing high-level nuclear waste.

The flawed 2021 Report is part of a broader international campaign by the nuclear industry and its academic cheerleaders to repackage highly expensive and extremely dangerous nuclear power (remember Chernobyl and Fukushima, which recent estimates say will take 45 more years to clean up!) as the “solution for climate change.” In addition to lobbying for extending the life of the aging U.S. nuclear fleet, the campaign seeks to build more new nuclear power plants.

The Academy’s fundamental opposition to this line of thinking is outlined in our 2014 white paper, Nuclear Power: Totally Unqualified to Combat Climate Change.Unfortunately, this is not the last we’ll see of industry efforts to save nuclear power from the dustbin of technological history. Bankrolled by massive government subsidies, and PG&E’s ability to keep charging consumers unlimited dollars, like Dracula rising from his coffin, we need to bring

out the garlic and drive a stake in the heart of this vampire plant.

Rinaldo S. Brutoco, an entrepreneur, is the founding president and CEO of the Santa Barbara-based World Business Academy and a co-founder of JUST Capital

“Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee

24 February – 3 March 2022

The Way (Continued from 11 11))

A view from the Clock Building on State Street shows the resurrected St. Vincent’s and with an infirmary facing Carrillo Street (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

School days at St. Vincent’s circa 1914 (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

The class photo circa 1914 shows an assortment of students, orphans, community members, and Sisters. Notice the spectacular cornettes of the nun. (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

to different themes. Maria de la Guerra Taylor had charge of the Spanish evening and Miss Annie McCaughey had charge of a wildly popular Irish evening.

Complete with tableaux and songs such as “Come Back to Erin” and “Exile,” the evening ended with a costumed presentation of “Home Rule” with representations of the English King, Ireland, and Columbia welcoming Ireland with “a pleasant smile.” (If only that had been historically true!)

In addition to all the performances and a doll contest, the number of booths had grown to include those devoted to hats, candy, children, ice cream, cascarones, flowers, games, and crafts. Over the years different groups in town treated the orphans to excursions and theatrical and musical performances.

For some reason, it was common for the newspapers to list the names of those who were orphans at St. Vincent’s Institution. In January 1902, for instance, the names of newly enrolled orphans and half orphans (children who had lost one parent) were as follows: half orphans – Elena Espinosa (age 13); Ernestine (13), Margaret (12), and Irene (2) Carrillo; and Ethel (11) and Camilla (3) Burnette.

Louise Martinez (8) had been abandoned, and Clara Bejar (2) was a full 24 February – 3 March 2022

orphan. For working widowers, it was often impossible to care for their young daughters and there was no option but to send them to the sisters. (I can only wonder, however, at the motivation behind a public announcement of names, but perhaps it reminded donners that the need was great and continually existed.)

A New Home By 1922, the beautiful St. Vincent’s building was showing its age and limitations. Due to the lack of a heating system in the building, extreme cold forced the Sisters to put the children to bed to keep them warm. Water had to be heated in pails and other containers to provide daily baths. Plans arose to build a new, modern facility on their 60-acre ranch tract in Goleta. They planned to sell the block of the current site and build anew with the proceeds. The orphanage, which was open to all girls, was the only orphanage in the tri-counties. That year, the orphan population numbered 130 of which 40 ranged in age from infant to eight years of age.

In 1924, St. Vincent’s made the move back to Cieneguitas where a new modern facility had been constructed. In 1936, St. Vincent opened a residential

In 1924, the Sisters moved back to Cieneguitas and a brand new facility now approaching its 100th year.

The 1874 building was damaged in the 1925 Earthquake. Though it lost its third story, it still stands on De la Vina Street today.

program and school for children with developmental disabilities. When these students were mainstreamed into the public schools in 1985, St. Vincent’s program changed to provide a communal housing program for special needs children. In 1996, St. Vincent’s opened a transitional housing program for single mothers and infants.

Today, St. Vincent’s continues to support the community with programs to strengthen low-income families and seniors. They provide affordable housing, early childhood education and family enrichment opportunities for people of all faiths. Five Sisters are an integral part of their 15-person management team. The current site is fast Hattie Beresford has been writing a local history column for the Montecito Journal for more than a decade and is the author of several books on Santa Barbara’s historic past

approaching its 100th year and the institution has reached its 164th year. St. Vincent’s is the oldest continuously operating charity

in Santa Barbara.

Sources: www.stvincents-sb.org; contemporary newspaper articles; daugthtersofcharity.com – the journey west; Michael Redmon’s “History 101,” and Beresford’s “The Bishop and the Saint.”

Real Estate Appraiser Greg Brashears California Certified General Appraiser Serving Santa Barbara County and beyond for 30 years V 805-650-9340 EM gb@gregbrashears.com Montecito JOURNAL

23

Travel Buzz

Going SLO in Spring A rooftop sipper at Hotel Cerro

A taste of baked decadence at Mistura

by Leslie A. Westbrook

R

ome, Italy. Postponed.

Las Vegas, Nevada. Posponed.

Loreto, Baja, Mexico. Posponed.

Spring 2020 — this was my dilemma (as a longtime travel writer with several assignments in place), when a nasty little virus called COVD-19 began wreaking havoc with the world. It was a year the world remembers well – and not particularly affectionately.

Italy, being a COVID hot spot, was the first to be crossed of my itinerary. Ciao!

Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese, the Borghese gardens, the Raphael exhibition, Princess Rita Jenrette’s villa and her sexy Caravaggio!

My doctor told me not to go anywhere near large crowds – due to my lungs being compromised (asthma) and my (aha) “advanced age.” That put LAX off limits for the (then) new direct flights on Alaska Airlines from LAX-Loreto, Mexico. Even a car trip to Vegas that, by my estimation with all the cancelled conventions, probably wouldn’t be too crowded anyway, was also deemed unsafe to visit. Additionally, my germophobe best friend bailed.

New Listing | 320 E. Mountain Drive | $4,725,000 Joe McCorkell

805.455.7019 Joe@JoeMcCorkell.com JoeMcCorkell.com

© 2022 Sotheby’s International Realty. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark and used with permission. Each Sotheby’s International Realty office is independently owned and operated, except those operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. All offerings are subject to errors, omissions, changes including price or withdrawal without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. | Joe McCorkell DRE: 02051326

24 Montecito JOURNAL

C’est la vie.

Roma’s loss, and no “aquarium of the world” Baja (per Jacques Cousteau) or the new Mexican restaurant in the Wynn Hotel that I was dying to try.

Those destination’s losses would be San Luis Obispo’s gain.

My old friend, Barrie Lynn Krich (aka The Cheese Impresario, R.I.P.) even went so far as to laugh hysterically when I told her that the sleepy town of SLO was my replacement for Rome.

Laughter be damned, I thought of “My California” which I love so dearly, as I wandered up the coast a couple of hours to check out two cool new hotels, tried, true, and new watering holes and places to eat, over a few lovely, rainy days in mid-March, just at the cusp of the pandemic lockdown.

My Roman holiday, Baja dive, and Vegas roulette spin would have to wait for another day.

I was on a San Luis Obispo exploration.

Besides, who wants to hassle with LAX, when heaven is just up the road a piece?

Small town SLO has a vibrant downtown, a college crowd (as well as professors), and other professionals, as well as retirees and working folks who make up its population of less than 50,000 residents. It’s Central Coast cool at its best. There are nearby towns on the sea and hot springs in Avila. There’s Edna Valley Paso Robles vineyards. She boasts (doesn’t SLO feel like a she?) a plethora of hiking trails, exciting restaurants (dining creekside at Novo is always a pleasant respite or Italian at Giuseppe’s is another favorite stop) and watering holes, both tried and new. There is also the lovely San Luis Mission, nearby art museum, cute shops, great dining, and more.

Snazzy New Hotels at a SLO Pace My first stop was the new (at the time), four-story Hotel Cerro (first reported by Jim Buckley in these pages, July 15, 2021). Set in the heart of SLO, with a gorgeous rooftop pool and bar with mountain views, this stop exemplified a delight of modern taste. Contemporary art, lots of white and light colors, and a welcoming staff greeted me upon arrival. My modern, tastefully furnished room for two nights at the hotel located in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo was a welcome and calming retreat. Despite the state of global affairs, a glowing fire in the fireplace, pleasing contemporary art, and a sweet view of rain softly falling on the edible garden (where I nibbled on some arugula) through my patio shutter doors made everything right, in my last hotel cocoon for some time.

I posted a video on Instagram of the crazy shower ceiling waterfall and then enjoyed a terrific lunch on site followed by a quick nap and downtown stroll.

Even better? An amazing deep tissue massage, lovely eucalyptus steam and down time in the on-site Spa Cerro, where I flipped through a magazine in the relaxation room surrounded by a wall of soothing water bubbles that seemed to wash all the woes of the world away.

SLO may not have the Vatican, but it does boast a lovely historic mission at its core – and it’s a heck of a lot less crowded. In fact, San Luis Obispo might not have existed if the Mission Friars who founded California’s Missions had not gotten lost en route to Santa Cruz. The 18th century Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was the fifth mission in the chain and thanks to water, ye olde Friars plunked down here, perhaps to the dismay of the Chumash. Much to my delight,

Travel Page 304 304

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” – Albert Einstein

24 February – 3 March 2022

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SANTA BARBARA REGION BROKERAGES | SANTA BARBARA | MONTECITO | SANTA YNEZ VALLEY

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24 February – 3 March 2022

Montecito JOURNAL

25

LETTERS & VIEWS Letters to the Editor

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

I

n a perfect universe there would be unlimited funds and proactive civil, charitable and political involvement on the Hot Springs Trail issue that seems to engender such considerable interest on the part of Bryan Rosen.

No one can reasonably dispute that his desire to clean up the trail from potentially dangerous and unsightly impediments makes sense. One need only look at the outstanding work of the Bucket Brigade to see civic volunteerism at its best, and, perhaps it can serve as a template for the Hot Springs Trail.

Unfortunately, as one can readily discern from both the tone and content of his missives to the Journal, Bryan feels the responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of others.

He suggests, for example, that the recipients of the Montecito Creek water don’t need it and can simply hook up to the District’s water.

Unfortunately it’s not that simple, and would collectively cost the current users of a mutual water company distribution network, hundreds of thousands, it not, millions of dollars.

He also neglects to mention that under a settlement reached in July of 2019, the water company is obliged to work with Fish and Wildlife for remediation and restoration of the stream bed, which costs are pro rata passed on to its shareholders.

What we are not hearing from Bryan are plausible solutions to the parking problems currently occasioned by the popularity of the trail.

Riven Rock Road, to all intents and purposes, is blocked on weekends to emergency vehicles.

Some sort of shuttle van service might make sense, but where is the pickup parking lot to be? Bryan has suggested Mt. Carmel, but they are sometimes busy on weekends. Perhaps a better choice would be near the Cold Spring School.

It would be a very short run up Ashley to the trailhead.

In short, my suggestion to Bryan is to first map out a doable solution to the parking problem. Try to get both public and private funds to implement it. And, finally get those, who share his passion on this issue, to volunteer their time, talents, and perhaps vehicles to support his vision.

Absent that, I’m encouraging my neighbors on Riven Rock Road to keep on calling the police to get the illegally parked vehicles ticketed and, when warranted, towed.

Jon Emanuel

26 Montecito JOURNAL

City Pensioners and their Cost

Reading through the recent Grand Jury report on Santa Barbara City pensions.

It shows the city has unfunded pensions of $392,000,000. Considering the city’s current total 2022 budget is $391,968,325 which includes salaries $116,321,484 and benefits of $62,527,103 paid every year. It seems Santa Barbara needs to go on a spending diet. Jenny Craig times $392 million.

Like the old joke about President Bush who when told “We’ve lost five Brazilians” asked, “How much is a Brazilian?” We might ask how much is $392M. To illustrate we did a survey of commercial buildings on State Street from Gutierrez Street to Canon Perdido. That turns out to be 718,000 square feet of buildings, restaurants, etc.

The average price to buy or sell these properties is $550 per square foot. Thus: 718,000 square feet x $550 per square foot is… Drumroll. $394 million. The same amount as the city’s unfunded pension liability. The city would literally have to sell the first four blocks of State Street from Gutierrez to Canon Perdido – to pay the unfunded part of retired city employee pensions. They will of course tax us to pay this off. And the $750 million already funded pensions would take another 10 blocks up to Victoria. Knowing this, if the City wants to keep spending more of our tax money on: New City police station proposed cost: $100M – City desal plant build cost: $250M – New City Sustainability & Resilience Program: unfunded $36M per year – 28 affordable housing units: $30M – Global warming lines across town, Hotels for homeless – Empty bus lines, Giant town malls – Tax giveaways for Saks Fifth Ave – Police Equity Training Programs, ask yourself – How many more blocks of State Street shall we give away to our spendthrift city government?

Dr. Thomas Cole

Close Call We want to thank our neighbors on East Valley that called to report a fire around 8:30 pm on Friday evening, January 28.

My husband went to our mailbox early Saturday morning to find three firemen at our garden trying to figure out how the fire started. Fire?? What??

They explained to him that a few people on East Valley had called into the Fire Department to report smoke and possible fire. The firemen drove around trying to find the source. They found a low burn-

Letters Page 444 444

Brilliant Thoughts Have Arms, Will Hug

by Ashleigh Brilliant

as a step towards sexual intimacy. Of course, it all goes back to our earliest experiences, of being held by our mother. Even when alone in bed, children like having something to hug, whether a teddy bear or some other doll, or simply just an extra pillow.

This whole concept of physical closeness is a mainstay of songwriters. In general, however, they don’t like the word “hug” – and even “embrace” has been reserved for more sophisticated melodies like “Embraceable You” (a collaborative creation of the brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who charmingly chose to rhyme “embraceable” with “irreplaceable”). But, far more commonly used is the word “hold,” which I myself could not resist, when I wrote, “Whatever else the Future holds, I hope it holds me holding you.”

Since our arms do most of the holding, and originally – most of the fighting too – the same word has been extended to apply to all weapons of war. Although it does seem quite a stretch from spears and shields to nuclear bombs. But it is that very word, “arms,” which begins one of the world’s most famous books, The Aeneid

by Virgil. In that epic, Aeneus, a hero of the Trojan War, comes to what was then called Latium, where his arrival leads to the founding of Rome.

“Arms and the man, I sing, who first, from the coasts of Troy, exiled by fate, came to Italy.”

From this, George Bernard Shaw borrowed the title of his 1894 play, Arms and the Man – which ridicules war. (The hero is a soldier who carries chocolate, instead of ammunition.

The play inspired a very successful operetta called The Chocolate Soldier, leading to various other adaptations.)

None of this, however, failed to prevent the outbreak of World War I, in 1914, largely the result of an “Arms Race” between the major European powers. Nowadays, the quest for “Arms Control” is still a leading international preoccupation.

After which, I can conclude only with my own armed offering: “MY ARMS ARE ACHING TO HOLD YOU – Or is it arthritis?”

T

he activity called boxing may not have contributed much to the field of athletics, but it has certainly enriched our language. The fighting once took place outdoors, in a “ring” made by the encircling spectators. Indoors, that area became a roped square, which – however – is still called a “ring.” In many nations, it was once quite common for the participants to mutilate each other ferociously – but British nineteenth century concepts of “fair play” led to ordaining a set of rules, which were obligingly drawn up by a noble devotee of the game, the Marquis of Queensbury.

One rule banned “hitting below the belt,” a term which now relates to anything unfair or unsportsmanlike. We also owe to boxing the ideas of entering the fray by tossing your hat into the ring, and of conceding defeat by throwing in your towel. But the towel tossing may be unnecessary, if you’ve already received a “knockout blow,” and been declared “out for the count” – traditionally ten seconds. On the other hand, the round may end before that count reaches ten, in which case you are “saved by the bell.” (Curiously, when I was at school, I always thought that expression referred only to the bell which ended a class period, and might indeed abruptly terminate some awkward classroom situation.)

And the fact that the fight now takes place in a roped square has given graphic meaning to the ideas of being “on the ropes” – but also of having a friend “in your corner.” And, since bare-knuckle combat went out when the Queensbury Rules came in, nobody these days needs to be told, when a combat reaches a certain vicious stage, what is meant by “taking the gloves off.”

Then we have the rather strange concept of a “clinch,” in which the opponents get so close to each other that they appear to be hugging, and each is incapable of striking a blow. At that point, the referee has to step in, and separate them.

But, outside of boxing, hugging itself can be a weapon – just ask any wrestler or grizzly bear. For some reason, in popular lore, the bear-hug became particularly associated with Russians, whose apparently friendly approach may disguise a hidden menace.

But, apart from these exceptions, the act of hugging, or, embracing, has a universally popular image – both in terms of warmth and friendship, and

“Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward.” – Søren Kierkegaard

Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west.net. web: www.ashleighbrilliant. com.

24 February – 3 March 2022

Community Voices We Should All Care

Sunshine: The Best Disinfectant

by Sara Miller McCune

by Jeff Giordano

T

wo years ago, COVID-19 was simply an outlier, something that seemed to be impacting “others” and not destined to alter life as we all know it. Some 23 months ago, life did change. For business owners. For politicians. For children.

And it put our teachers to the test.

But this wasn’t one they could study for; this was a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants situation. And time and time again, through one variant after another, they’ve aced this endless quiz. Even though they are exhausted, they keep showing up – refusing to give up on our youth. And I’m here to say something quite simple: We care.

It’s such a simple phrase, but it’s one that we hope becomes a communal rallying cry to shower our educators with a little bit of love.

We care. It’s such a simple phrase, but it’s one that we hope becomes a communal rallying cry to shower our educators with a little bit of love.

There are some 1,500 staff members with the Santa Barbara Unified School District that continue to show resolve that has never been required of a school district. Which is why it warms my heart to see SBUSD partner with the Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) to start the “We Care” campaign, one that will kick off a series of support actions under the same campaign name.

But today I want to focus our collective hearts on supporting our teachers. SBEF and SBUSD are already putting bold actions into play — every staff member has received a “We Care” card, where they can ask for literally anything they want up to $25.

Want a gift card to Renaud’s? Done. Want movie tickets? Done. Want an Amazon gift card? Done. I’ve never seen something like this — personalized gifts on a mass scale. It’s unheard of, and I’m grateful for the effort. And no, these are not gifts for their classrooms, they are for personal use. Going beyond the gift, SBEF also worked with Jersey Mike’s to cater a teacher appreciation luncheon at every school — free of charge.

That’s what this community is all about: banding together in tough times and in good times, but always having each other’s proverbial backs. Jersey Mike’s didn’t have to do this, they chose to do it. And I know the SBEF could use more donors, whether it is worldwide companies or the mom-and-pop shops that are the spine of Santa Barbara.

The SBUSD staff has not wavered in the face of one of the worst health crises of any generation, willing to adjust with little notice to continue to put our children first.

For the next few months, let’s make sure we do the same for them.

Thank you for all that you do, teachers, support staff, and administrators; we are in your debt.

If You Want to Help Website: sbefoundation.org/we-care Contact: Rebecca Benozer, rebecca.benozer@sagepub.com Sara Miller McCune is a local philanthropist and education advocate, plus founder of SAGE Publishing and President of the McCune foundation

SANTA BARBARA

HOPE RANCH

MONTECITO

M

arch is swiftly approaching and for most California counties that means a bit of spring cleaning. As Santa Barbara County insiders know, however, we are not “most” counties – especially as it relates to transparency and possible corruption. Allow me to explain: Once upon a time, our nation had a rich fourth estate and deep investigative journalism. Remember those two guys – Woodward and Bernstein – well, they broke a little story you may have heard about: Watergate. A story that toppled a president and led first-time Governor Jerry Brown and Common Cause to pass our Fair Political Practices Act (FPPA). The intent of the FPPA was to put an end to corruption in California politics which, here in Santa Barbara County, it definitely has not done.

One aspect of the FPPA is Form 700, which requires any public employee who makes OR influences policy to file a Statement of Economic Interest. Let’s say, for example, you’re a senior County Official – perhaps a Supervisor’s Chief of Staff – and let’s also assume the County was crafting a major piece of legislation relating to oil, or pharma, or even large-scale commercial cannabis. Well, what Form 700 would require is that you disclose any consulting income you might be receiving from these industries – because by any definition it is a “conflict of interest.” After all, Santa Barbara County employees are supposed to be serving the people while their salary and vesting pension is being paid by the people (obviously!).

With a Form 700 your outside money-making, conflicting and, yes, corrupting activities are exposed. This is especially imperative in a county where investigative reporting (other than the MJ) is extinct!

Why is our County uniquely different than most others? Because the fatal flaw in the FPPA is that it asks each county to set their own rules for implementation. And, you guessed it: Our County has its own unique ideas about who should be filing a Statement of Economic Interest and those ideas don’t extend to nearly the same number of employees as other counties (no, Chiefs of Staff do not file). Unfortunately, this is not hypothetical because we have had, and, for all anyone knows – still have – senior policy-creating staffers making thousands of dollars from Special Interests while they are being paid a taxpayer salary – wrong!

With bad governance comes lopsided special-interest-influenced policy. In Santa Barbara County we have no rational Form 700 filing requirements, no prevote moratoriums on Supervisor contributions, no Ethics Commission and no Revolving Door statutes which would preclude County employees from immediately lobbying once they leave the County’s employ. These rules exist almost everywhere except in our very bent, legally corruptible and always unaccountable, local swamp. This is why the people’s business continues to run a very distant second behind special interests.

So, on April 1, maybe someone will take a look at the few people in our $1.2 billion County who are required to file and sign “oh, good, things are rosy” but they are not. Many employees can and probably do make big special interest dough on the side and the sad fact is that in most instances we will never know. Things need to change and a Good Government platform is a great start – keep an eye on the upcoming elections in June and support the candidate(s) that support Good Government. Help provide Santa Barbara with meaningful sunshine because it truly

is the best disinfectant!

Jeff Giordano, Santa Barbara County Resident

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Our Town (Continued from 15 15)) The founders of Healing Justice Santa Barbara

Krystle Farmer Sieghart with Sojourner Kincaid Rolle at the Melanin Gallery

Santa Barbara after February this year.

Even though this current space is not sustainable enough for all the programs that HJSB offers, it does make sense for a Black/African Museum and a Black/ African Cultural Resource Center to be in the heart of Santa Barbara, to be there for the community and tourism, so everyone can see the rich history of Black/African American people here. We are currently looking for another location, and the City and County should invest in this to keep it going.

Please talk about the low representation of Black/African people in Santa Barbara.

The 2020 census showed the reduction of Black/African people in the city of Santa Barbara because they are and have been pushed out of the city. Historically Black people came in large numbers to Santa Barbara, but non-whites were relegated to certain areas of the city, and not allowed on the Mesa and Riviera. The Black community area used to be around Cota, Garden, and upper Haley streets, but these areas are now desirable and we were pushed out. The Lincoln School, where a lot of Black children went, was closed to be the location for the new police department. There are gentrification, skyrocketing development, and real estate issues. The Black and Chumash community is known as the invisible community.

How did you come together to create HJSB? In Santa Barbara it’s hard because we don’t have a lot of representation, and when you find people who want to do this work, to preserve Black legacies and continue the work of our ancestors, it’s very spiritual. We have a sisterhood bond, and it was meant to be.

Krystle and Simone have known each other for years as moms doing community work and showing up for social justice issues. We noticed that there were no spaces for Black women, mothers, and friends to come together, and

28 Montecito JOURNAL

we wanted to create spaces for that. In 2020 when the murder of George Floyd happened, we decided it’s time, enough is enough, we need our own organizations and support systems. So often we can’t rely on social services and other groups to show up for Black people in real ways, so we started Healing Justice Santa Barbara, along with other community allies that had been supporting us throughout the years.

Leticia and Simone met while Leticia was working at the Santa Barbara Public Library (SBPL) and Simone was planning for Juneteenth Santa Barbara, which she co-founded. Leticia assisted Simone in the event, and she was one of the very few Black identifying employees at the time. The library had story time, where caregivers could bring their children to listen to age-appropriate books, song, and dance put on by the SBPL. Leticia decided to start story time at the East Side Library, that was inclusive of the BIPOC community. Once HJSB held their public demonstration at the Santa Barbara Courthouse and officially became HJSB, Leticia joined the HJSB Black community meetings held twice a month to update the Black community on what the organization was up to, create community, and to hear the concerns of what folks were experiencing.

It helped create a safe space for Black/ African Americans to feel seen, valued, and heard, while finding ways to experience joy. Leticia was then brought onto HJSB as a core leader and operates as the Creative Director.

How did you name your organization HJSB? We had originally gone with Black Lives Matter (BLM). Once we started getting funds and moving forward, we realized that because not all of us were official BLM members, it was not ethical to call ourselves BLM. I always liked Healing Justice, as the term was coined

by Cara Page, a Black feminist queer activist. We added “Santa Barbara” so

people would know it’s Healing Justice for Santa Barbara.

For us the name resonates with the work we are trying to do in the community. BIPOC folks need justice but often healing is what is needed to go along with it. We deserve peace, healing, and joy. We need to heal from the wounds of racism, sexism, and misogyny. We uplift, support, and affirm all people of the African diaspora. We also believe in supporting and showing up for BIPOC communities and allies, which shows in our activism. We donated and supported the indigenous folks to save the San Marcos foothills, supported the Chumash siblings in changing street names, and we have a tribal land acknowledgement for our organization.

What is the 2022 focus for HJSB? First, to continue the historic archiving project. Every day we are learning something new, and new artifacts are coming into it. We want to bring in more Black elders and community members who can contribute to that work.

Second, to continue to build a community in Santa Barbara. We are very, very low numbers, and don’t have as much representation in spaces that we need to have representation.

Third, to continue to do outreach, to show up for each other in this community, and see what this community needs.

We want Black folk to come out and feel that they belong in this community because we have contributed so much, as one can see at the Melanin Gallery. We’ve always been here, so how do we continue to sustain ourselves here, it’s by building community.

Fourth, to bring Black culture to the forefront, as we did with the Voices of Liberation show and Chocolate Baby Storytime. To have innovative programming that shows the richness of Black culture and brings Black creatives to the forefront where they can get paid to do their passion work and things they love.

Fifth, to continue to have relationships with the local universities’ Black students. We apply for grants to hire interns and we have three UCSB stu-

“The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” – Lao Tzu

dent interns and two alumni interns.

We want to reach out to the local schools because, as former Black students ourselves who went to college here, we know how hard it is to feel safe in this community as a Black/African American. We want Black students to feel they can see themselves here, surviving, living, working, networking, and building connections, and feel you can work here once you graduate.

We want to continue to keep offering Black students opportunities to engage in the community because then you have ties to it and feel welcomed here, all of which will help to grow the Black community in Santa Barbara.

Sixth, to have a Black/African American Cultural Resource Center.

We went to the City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, and we asked for an investment in Black history, legacies, and Black futures. What does it look like for the city to say “Black lives matter here,” to own that Black history happened here and that Black people were here?

To encourage the city to invest in a hub for Black people, a community center where we can host a healing space, provide therapeutic services, a food bank, workshops, talks, and webinar hosting.

It can be a partnership with UCSB, Westmont College, SBCC, and local Black organizations. A place for Black people to come to see people who look like them, to meet professionals, net work, and engage in community.

“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 411: www.hjsb.org

Joanne A. Calitri is a professional international photographer and journalist.

Contact her at: artraks@yahoo.com

24 February – 3 March 2022

Our Town’s Health

Immunity and Health for 2022 with Amanda McQuade Crawford

by Joanne A. Calitri

T

he rampant increase in social media influencers on health and fitness since the pandemic added to the plethora of data on exercise, diets, supplements, herbs, CBD, teas, juicing, protein drinks, meditation, breathwork, and mental health. Suddenly everyone is an expert on getting outside, adding Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and zinc to our diets, and how to support our emotional and mental health.

The real question as the pandemic is getting under control is, where do we go from here? Is there an optimum mix for attaining and maintaining well-being on all fronts?

I reached out to Amanda McQuade Crawford MFT and Registered Herbalist for her latest immunity and health advice for our readers. Crawford is an herbalist and psychotherapist practicing integrative health care from Ojai to Santa Barbara. She graduated from Britain’s College of Phytotherapy, is a Member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild, and a consultant in the natural products industry. She continues to serve the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a Review Panelist and the American Botanical Council as an Advisory Board Member. She is the author of two books on women’s health: Herbal Remedies for Women and The Natural Menopause Handbook.

Due to her packed schedule, we Zoomed over the weekend: Q. How can we improve our immunity?

A. Starting at the base of our health pyramid and fundamental to our immunity, is how and what we eat, how we move our muscles in time and space, breathwork, relaxation, our social and emotional well-being, on a daily basis.

When those are in place, our immunity is already thanking us; it’s boosted and performing better. We add herbs in small amounts on the top of that

pyramid for fine tuning, to make what we do daily work better for us. Herbs are meant to help us, not as a blanket treatment for problems that would be improved remarkably with better circulation, metabolism, elimination. We can’t pin all of our health on one supplement in a bottle for $9.99.

What are your top five herbs for immunity right now?

I’ll give you six: Echinacea root, garlic, elderberry, thyme, oregano, and for more challenging infections, the Ayurvedic herb, Andrographis.

What is a key stress you are treating right now?

Many people have spiritual distress these days because they are worried about what is happening in other parts of the world, they are tuned into a greater concern, like the Ukraine, or the environment. They need grounding herbs to help them find an appropriate level of calm, so they can access their inner resources and take effective action on the issues in our world that mean so much to them.

What about CBD to prevent and treat COVID? I have been following the research about CBD for a long time. The recent research for COVID is using isolated compounds of it in vitro in tissue samples, and is really promising and very exciting, but because of the research methodology, we have a lot more to test and learn before we can extrapolate the data and prescribe it.

I consult with and refer to CBD expert Kevin Spelman, PhD University of Exeter in Molecular Biology. He teaches at U.S. colleges and is on the forefront of the science in CBD and Nutraceuticals, Botanicals, Phytonutrients, and Cannabinoids.

Science is in the process of learning how powerful medicinal plants, including CBD, are. They have complex compounds, and when we isolate one to demonstrate efficacy in a scenario like

Amanda McQuade Crawford MFT and Registered Herbalist talks immunity and health for 2022 (photo by Joanne A. Calitri)

COVID in lung tissues, that tells us something, but it does not tell us everything. It does not tell us what the whole plant or a synergy of compounds in that plant might do.

There is a real need for better research design, to move away from merely looking at isolating the active principle, i.e., what can we make a drug of, to looking at the whole plant or whole plant extracts.

What research design do you suggest?

Corporations that have funding do large clinical trials, do all safety research first, and employ scientific herbalists who are grounded in the use of plants, so the research design is more rounded and takes into account the complexity of plants. And to use whole plants in the drug compounds, which provide safer and stable long-term effective results.

Your advice for pharma and natural medicine corporations?

Social justice is a really important part of this today. We can’t ignore the impact of harvesting medicinal plants, whether

it’s in our backyard or across the globe, on the local communities whose land and resources we are using. We need to use traditional wisdom for plant rotation, soil health, water health, and to harvest the plant when it has produced the most beneficial compounds for us. Modern pharmaceutical approaches to natural medicine need to have more respect than to take a bulldozer to a foreign country and dig up all the medicinal roots to get back to the lab.

That is why I am dedicating a percentage of my practice income to various animal rescue and environmental initiatives to protect social justice and environmental issues we may have. I’m inspired by other companies that reinvest part of their profit into future generations having a future.

Your thoughts?

I have patients from those eating organically to others who have never seen a lentil! They usually come to me because of pain, or they are in various states of disstress or dis-ease. It is difficult for them to figure out the best choices to make with all the modalities available today, and the tomes of misinformation on the internet.

My job is to help them meet their health goals by starting with a few modalities incrementally, which provide evidence of increased wellness to motivate them to continue take all the steps they need to be healthy. If the person is so stressed mentally and emotionally, the best herbs will not work.

As a psychologist, I have found our bodies only have one kind of language through signs and symptoms, which we can ignore or address. We need to ask our complex organism what it is seeking and to rediscover our powers of healing.

411: www.amandamcquadecrawford.com www.thespelmanreport.com/about

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Travel (Continued from 24 24)) Plenty to see and do at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (photo by Stephen Heraldo)

Mark di Suvero sculpture entitled “Mamma Mobius” at SLOMA (photo by Stephen Heraldo)

this is one of the few missions/churches that still has real candles to light in remembrance.

I also checked out another new hotel with a more rock and roll vibe: Hotel SLO. There’s the sweet Sol Spa on site; I didn’t get to try the hotel’s meat-centric restaurant Ox + Anchor, as I was beginning to feel a bit nervous about COVID and decided to retreat to my hive for what turned out to be a long, long winter in the spring and summer of solitude. The Garden Street Inn has recently been refurbished – I hope to check them out on a future stop in SLO. Besides Mission San Luis, and the town’s infamous bubblegum alley (leave your tired, your poor, your huddles of spent bubblegum here!), the town is surrounded by picturesque wine country. Just outside of downtown is bucolic Edna Valley with wineries to visit that range from the super slick and fancy like Edna Valley Winery and Tolosa, both known for award-winning chardonnays and pinot noirs; to the more down home Wolff Vineyards. I am a fan of their excellent 2018 petite sirah and have saved a bottle I bought on that visit two years ago for a special occasion – like freedom from masks soon?

SLO may not have Rome’s Trevi Fountain or Tiber River, but the San Luis Creek that runs through town is flanked by public art and hosts the occasional heron and other bird life. The tiny, but mighty San Luis Obispo Museum of Art has a new mural, a stunning Richard Serra outdoor sculpture and terrific new SLOMA Executive Director Leann Standish is mounting exciting, cutting edge, and even interactive exhibitions.

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Instead, I gamboled down SLO’s main drag, Higuera Street, where, on Thursday nights, locals enjoy the bountiful Farmers Market. The food at Mistura was as good as I have had in Spain or Peru; the cocktails were as good as any served in Vegas at Sidecar Cocktail Co. Laugh all you want, SLO is a terrific, nearby town and region that makes for a great little getaway to take it slow and easy, all without the jetlag.

Going SLO’r in Spring I was so excited to revisit the area after the long COVID hibernation, and in such a hurry to get to Sycamore Mineral Springs in Avila Beach, that I forgot to pack my nightgown and bra. (Oh hell, we burned those years ago, didn’t we?) Who needs PJs anyway, unless there’s an earthquake or fire in the middle of the night? I hadn’t been to Sycamore in many years and was eager for a repast.

I come for the peace and quiet, soaking in the waters and the rustling of the sycamore leaves in the wind.

The resort was bustling on a Thursday afternoon when I checked in and I hightailed it across the lovely walking bridge to my cottage that I enjoyed for some quiet privacy – including a deck with its very own mineral spring water soaking Jacuzzi and a “flick-on” fireplace in the living room. What else did I love? The spaciousness of the two rooms in each cottage, the high ceilings, big closets and lots of drawers, double sinks in the bathroom, and double shower heads. There’s a mini bar and fridge to store and chill your wine purchases – since you are in Edna Valley wine country.

On the other hand, should the resort undergo a redesign or remodel, I’d like a fireplace in the bedroom, a full-length mirror somewhere, better art (instead of photos of the resort, I AM here, after all!), and a less Bakersfield-y/cowboy furnishings style.

(Think brown, brown, brown color scheme – on the floors, the walls, the leather tufted couch, and furniture.) These cottages would be super fantastic if they were lighter and brighter, IMHO. (The prices, which vary depending on day of the week/season/

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24 February – 3 March 2022

Stories Matter

Mysterious March Madness

by Leslie Zemeckis

M

arch Madness begins with Lisa Barr’s Woman on Fire.

Jules Roth is a journalist given the assignment to find a painting stolen by the Nazis 75 years earlier. The piece? Ernst Engel’s Woman on Fire.

Meanwhile, a ruthless heiress is determined to find the painting first. What follows are secrets, love, the aftermath of war and a woman who burns bright throughout history.

The Next Ship Home An eye-opening read about immigrants and how they were treated, or mistreated, as they came through Ellis Island is the premise of The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb. This is a beautiful novel about two sisters fleeing abuse in Italy and their hope for a better life in America when they arrive at Ellis Island in 1902. Tragedy strikes quickly and one sister, Francesca, sets out on her own to navigate New York’s closed society, prejudice against Italians, and how hard it is for immigrants to assimilate.

The book brings to light the struggles of the female immigrant experience through Francesca who is willing to do anything to survive and thrive.

The Boy from the Woods, it stands perfectly on its own. Coben makes easy reading of complicated plots. This one involves Wilde (the former boy in the woods) and a DNA match that leads to his father, who then disappears – there is a serial killer, reality stars, and a murder trial. Coben’s characters are so likeable and complex, you root for them all the way to the twisty end.

Night Shift Two horrific nights of murder 15 years apart draws a small town in Night Shift

by Alex Finlay (a pseudonym). The first killings are in 1999 at a Blockbuster in New Jersey. A group of teens are slaughtered, but one survives. Flash forward and the survivor is now a therapist, with plenty of her own problems, including pills and trolling for one-night stands.

She is called in to help the latest survivor – another teen girl – in a recent slaying at the local ice cream store. There is a very pregnant FBI agent, a group of angry fathers, and small-town secrets bubbling under the surface. All whizz towards a harrowing climax.

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead is another fun book, second in the series by Elle Cosimano. Finlay is a novelist who specializes in murder. When she discovers someone has offered money to off her ex – she isn’t entirely opposed to it – she goes undercover to find out who placed the ad online with a moms’ group. With the help of her nanny Vero (my favorite quirky character), the two find themselves in scrapes involving the Russian mob, a hot cop, and the remains of a bad guy.

Hilarious, smart, and madcap.

Leslie Zemeckis is an awardwinning documentarian, best-selling author, and actor. The creator of “Stories Matter,” professional female authors mentoring the next generation of female storytellers, co-sponsored

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Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead

The Match

One can never go wrong with a new Harlan Coben read. The Match is a page-turning thriller. Though it is the second book in a series, the first being

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24 February – 3 March 2022

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31

Your Westmont

Westmont Women’s Polo: Jolie Moran, Natalie Williams, Maggie Hine, and Katherine Hill

More Money, Love: Theater Stages ‘The Miser’

by Scott Craig (photography by Brad Elliott)

T

he Westmont College Festival Theatre and John Blondell, Westmont’s award-winning director and professor of theater arts, stage The Miser, or the School for Lies, Moliere’s funny, highly theatrical on-the-verge-of-the-absurd comedy February 25-26, March 3-5 at 7:30 pm, and March 5 at 2 pm, all in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors, $15 for adults, and may be purchased online at westmont.edu/ boxoffice. For more information, please contact (805) 565-7040.

“Moliere’s plays are confections of marvelous artifice,” Blondell says. “This play, like all of Moliere’s, exposes characters pushed to play elaborate double-games, in order to survive in a materialistic society. Love and money! How can we get it and how can we get more? Everyone lies, everyone tricks, everyone deceives, and all for their own particular ends.”

Blondell, back at Westmont following his first semester serving as Westmont’s global ambassador in the performing arts, says Moliere’s wildly funny comic romp is as timely in Santa Barbara 2022 as it was when Moliere wrote it for Parisian audiences in 1668.

“I felt that the situations, atmospheres, acting opportunities, and themes would be good ones to tackle for our department, and the theme of the obsessive quest for money, and the consequences that result, is a good theme for any day and time,” he says. “Lovers want to get married, a parent wants to hoard wealth and obstruct those marriage plans, and everyone around those characters scheme and plot and contrive to get what they think is best for them. In addition, this play is just plain great fun.”

The Miser poster artwork by Scott Anderson

The cast includes Rory Nguyen (Harpagon), Alaina Dean (Cleanthe), Joel Michelson (Elise), Emiliana Brewer (Valerie), Noah Nims (Marianne), Emily Derr (Anselme), Ford Sachsenmaier (Frosine), Emmie Matthews (Simon), Maegan Randolph (Jacques), Ash Vanyo (La Fleche), Juliana Moore (Dame Claude), Ciena Fitzgerald (Brindavoine), and Claire Bassett (La Merluche).

Senior Wins Top Oxford Scholarship Westmont senior Lexy Gillette, a double major in physics and chemistry, will attend the University of Oxford in the fall after earning the prestigious John and Daria Barry Foundation Scholarship. The award, given to about 10 students a year from select institutions, covers tuition, fees, and living expenses, and also provides a stipend and research and travel allowances for at least two years. Lexy, who will pursue a doctorate in inorganic

chemistry, is one of the first few recipients in the natural sciences.

At Westmont she has conducted research with Michael Everest, professor of chemistry, and Allan Nishimura, emeritus distinguished professor of chemistry.

“Lexy is an exceptionally bright and gifted student in the classroom and research laboratory,” Everest says. “She is unusually interested in using science to pursue knowledge rather than as a means to power. She is a humble and cooperative scholar.”

Lexy has held several internships through Westmont at Serán Bioscience in Oregon, Northrop Grumman in Goleta, and UC Davis.

While searching for doctorate programs, she came across Oxford, where she had studied in spring 2021 through a program with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. During the program, which was augmented due to the COVID-19 outbreak, she studied optics, classical mechanics, and author Jane Austen.

When she returns to Oxford this fall, she looks forward to the intellectual community she experienced last year.

Whatever career path she chooses, she knows it will involve research. “It’s fascinating that I can have a terrible day and then go to the lab, and four hours later I’m on top of the world,” she says. “I know that’s what I want to do with the rest of my life. What that looks like — whether in industry or academia or as a professor — is still to be determined.”

Women’s Polo Rides into Regionals

Lexy Gillette earns a full-ride scholarship to Oxford

32 Montecito JOURNAL

Natalie Williams, and Katherine Hill as well as junior and freshman Jolie Moran.

Jeff Scheraga coaches the team at the Polo Academy at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club (SBPRC).

“Jeff ’s willingness to patiently coach beginning players has led to a cultivation of talent that’s paying off for our program,” Hine says. “The Polo Academy is the best place to learn how to play polo: amazing horses, coaches, and support from everyone.”

Unlike players at larger institutions, Westmont team members don’t receive athletic scholarships for polo. The nonprofit Polo Training Center Santa Barbara works with donors who provide financial assistance. This support from the SBPRC and access to its facilities, 15 minutes away from campus, help the team continue to grow and play. “Not all schools are so blessed,” Hine says.

“Looking at the big picture, our dream is to recruit new players for next season and for the team to continue playing at the same level even though four of our starters are graduating. The potential is there because we have two new awesome members and just need one more solid player.”

Polo became a club sport on campus more than two decades ago. The Westmont men’s polo team won its first national title in 2013, the first West Coast team to win a national polo title since 1986.

This season will conclude with the 100th anniversary of the National Intercollegiate Championship hosted at the Virginia Polo Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, April

4-9, 2022.

The Westmont women’s polo team, fresh off a 15-1 victory over cross-town rival UC Santa Barbara, rides into United States Polo Association Regionals on Friday, February 25, in Los Osos. The Warriors will face Stanford, who they beat earlier this season, Cal Poly, UC Davis, USC, UCSB, Oregon State, Montana State, and Idaho State.

The team includes seniors Keilah Smith, club president Maggie Hine, “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” – Plato

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

24 February – 3 March 2022

Roxane Gay Roxane with One N Fri, Feb 25 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre Tickets start at $20 / FREE for UCSB students Includes an at-home viewing option

A Granada facility fee will be added to each ticket price

The author of celebrated books including Bad Feminist, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body and Difficult Women, Roxane Gay critiques the ebb and flow of modern culture with wit and ferocity.

Justice for All Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Zegar Family Foundation, and Anonymous

Erik Larson

in Conversation with Pico Iyer Wed, Mar 2 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall Tickets start at $25 / $10 UCSB students Includes an at-home viewing option A master of narrative non-fiction, Erik Larson’s many bestsellers include Thunderstruck, Dead Wake, Isaac’s Storm and National Book Award finalist The Devil in the White City.

Speaking with Pico Series Sponsors: Dori Pierson Carter & Chris Carter, Siri & Bob Marshall, and Laura & Kevin O’Connor Supporting Sponsor: Beth Chamberlin Endowment

Andrea Elliott Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City Wed, Mar 9 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall $20 / FREE for UCSB students Includes an at-home viewing option Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Andrea Elliott examines homelessness and the dire state of poverty in America in Invisible Child, her five-part NYT series and bestselling book.

Justice for All Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Zegar Family Foundation, and Anonymous

(805) 893-3535 | www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

Granada event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 899-2222 | www.GranadaSB.org

24 February – 3 March 2022

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

by Steven Libowitz FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Blondell is Back – John Blondell, Westmont’s award-winning director and longtime professor and former chair of theater arts at the Montecito college, returns to campus following his first semester serving as Westmont’s global ambassador in the performing arts. His first turn back at the helm of a play is one of the classics – The Miser, or the School for Lies, Moliere’s funny and highly theatrical comic romp. In Blondell’s own maverick tradition, the director has inverted the genders in the tale of the obsessive quest for money, love, and power, and the consequences that result, creating an alternate matriarchal universe where the conventions, stereotypes, and relationships exist as a mirror image of our culture. The meaty Miser provides a wealth of acting opportunities for the student cast, and likely a treat for audiences.

WHEN: 7:30 pm February 25-26 and March 3-4, 2:30 & 7:30 pm March 5 WHERE: Porter Theatre, 955 La Paz Road, Montecito COST: $15 general, $10 students and seniors INFO: (805) 565-7040 or www.westmont.edu/boxoffice SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26 Music Club Melodies – Clarinetist David Singer and pianist Betty Oberacker perform Johannes Brahms’ “Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2, for Clarinet and Piano,” and Oberacker and violinist Nicole McKenzie pair for Prokofiev’s captivating “Sonata in D major, Op. 94 for Violin and Piano” before all three team up to take on Milhaud’s rollicking “Suite for Violin, Clarinet, & Piano, Op. 157b” in another all-star offering of choice chamber music in the Santa Barbara Music Club’s spectacular season of return to free live concerts. WHEN: 3 pm WHERE: First United Methodist Church, 305 East Anapamu (at Garden) COST: free INFO: www.sbmusicclub.org TUESDAY, MARCH 1 See the Bright Light Tonight – It’s been a full half century since Richard Thompson marked the end of his five-year stint as the co-founder of Fairport Convention, the group that kickstarted British folk-rock back in 1967, with the release of his first solo album, Henry the Human Fly. It’s also been 40 years since the release of Shoot Out the Lights, the still stunning and searing album documenting the dissolution of his marriage to Linda, perhaps the best break-up album in history and which spawned a tour in which the ex-lovers spat out the songs with palpable heartbreak and fury. It’s only been about a decade and a half since the L.A. Times called Thompson “the finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix,” which might sound hyperbolic if it weren’t considered inarguably true by anyone who’s ever witnessed the somewhat stoic Thompson ripping blistering Fender solos in the midst of harrowing or tear-inducing musical poetry. What’s most remarkable is that even now, a couple of years into his eighth decade on the planet, RT is still coming up with albums that

The Bones of Contention – Two years in, pandemic-centric pieces are starting to get produced, as is the case with The Bones of Contention, written and directed by Leo Cabranes-Grant, a UCSB professor in both Theater and Spanish and Portuguese. The play describes an imaginary Californian community called Yitipaka where the residents are trying to stick together while facing the challenging demands of emotional loss, the economy, and an environmental crisis in the aftermath of the COVID crisis.

The play endeavors to explore crucial questions many might be pondering: What will happen in our town after the pandemic recedes, and how can we go back to normal after such a traumatic experience and so much shared pain and uncertainty? Taking stock of a state that endures earthquakes, wildfires, drought, and floods, yet stills feel like we’re living in paradise, the play invites its audiences to inhabit this quirky California state-of-mind, “a location where things are apparently real, but not quite,” Cabranes-Grant says.

The premiere is a six-show student showcase. WHEN: 7 pm March 2-5, 2 pm March 5 & 6 WHERE: UCSB Hatlen Theater COST: $17 general, $13 seniors, children & students in advance; $19/$15 at the door INFO: (805) 893-2064 or www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu burrow deep with nary a clanker among the tracks (e.g. 2018’s 13 Rivers), and playing such personal classics as “Wall of Death,” “Tear-Stained Letter,” and “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” with as much passion as if he’d just finished writing them. A Thompson date at the Lobero used to be an annual affair when he lived down the 101 in Ventura. Now with the pandemic and his relocation to New Jersey, our taking things for granted gets supplanted with gratitude.

WHEN: 8 pm WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. COST: $40-$50 general, $106 VIP INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 Viva Viola Savant Savall – CAMA 2021-22 Masterseries debut invites everyone back to the Lobero to hear Jordi Savall, master of the viola da gamba and one of the principal architects of the ongoing revaluation of early music, direct Le Concert des Nations in a program of music from Tous les matins du monde, just days after a screening of the film. Savall’s soundtrack to the 1991 French film enjoyed international blockbuster success, as the provocative work of historical fiction set in 17th-century France during the reign of Louis XIV struck a chord with crowds, much like Amadeus did for Mozart. Tonight, Savall and the ensemble featuring Manfredo Kraemer (violin), Charles Zebley (transverse flute), Philippe Pierlot (bass viol), Lucas Harris (theorbo) and Marco Vitale (harpsichord) revisit the soundtrack including works by Marin Marais, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, François Couperin, and Jean-Baptiste Lully. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. COST: $38 & 48 INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.com

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25

HEADS UP

Gay’s Ambitious Agenda – Exactly one month ago, The Roxane Gay Agenda premiered on Luminary in partnership with iHeartMedia, as the author and social commentator debuted her latest venture, described as “the bad feminist podcast of your dreams” featuring conversations curated by Gay plus her incisive take on the politics and popular culture. Praised for her combination of wit and ferocity, Gay has grabbed attention for her brilliant critiques that have appeared in essays all over the publishing world as well as numerous books, including An Untamed State, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Graceful Burdens, and Difficult Women. Now the first black woman to write for Marvel Comics is coming to town to deliver it all in person with a presentation called “Roxane with One N.” WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street COST: $26-$41 INFO: (805) 899-2222 / www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535 / www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

Tales Back at Tavern – The roots of folk-soul-bluegrass singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks’ music can be found in the places he’s lived: small towns in southeast Pennsylvania, the Piedmont and Blue Ridge mountains, New York’s Greenwich Village, and downtown Chicago. Hence, folk, country, soul, and blues – not to mention his Columbia University education – permeate Fulk’s sound and songs, and explain why his latest CD, 2017’s Upland Stories, earned Grammy nominations for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song for “Alabama At Night.” Fulks flies up to Santa Ynez for the re-relaunching of Tales from the Tavern’s concert series, the upstart set of concerts at the Maverick Saloon that has outlasted even the Lobero’s legendary Sings Like Hell, TFTT’s big brother. Also moseying to the Maverick over spring and summer: Forest Sun and Tony Furtado on April 6, Eliza Gilkyson with Nina Gerber (who just played the Lobero with Karla Bonoff) on April 13, Montecito’s own Glen Phillips on May 4, Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld on May 18, and Jonathan McEuen & guests presenting “Music Forms a Circle,” a celebration on the 50-year anniversary of Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

WHEN: 7 pm WHERE: The Maverick Saloon, 3687 Sagunto Street, Santa Ynez COST: $34.16 ($172 for the series)

INFO: (805) 688-0383 or www.talesfromthetavern.com

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“It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth.” – John Locke

24 February – 3 March 2022

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit with special guest Shawn Colvin

Sat, Feb 26 / 8 PM / Arlington Theatre Tickets start at $45 / $25 UCSB students An Arlington facility fee will be added to each ticket price

Street Dance Phenomenon

Memphis Jookin’: The Show Featuring Lil Buck

Tue, Mar 8 / 8 PM / Granada Theatre Tickets start at $40 / $15 UCSB students Includes an at-home viewing option A Granada facility fee will be added to each ticket price

Major Sponsors: Jody & John Arnhold, Marcia & John Mike Cohen, and Sara Miller McCune Dance Series Sponsors: Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Bob Feinberg, Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald

(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu Arlington event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 963-4408 24 February – 3 March 2022

Granada event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 899-2222 | www.GranadaSB.org Montecito JOURNAL

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Far Flung Travel Taking the Plunge

American white pelicans work together to corral fish in the shallows of Oso Flaco Lake American white pelicans don’t divebomb fish from above like the California brown pelican; instead, they plunge with their yellowish beaks while sitting on the water

by Chuck Graham

W

hile kayaking and circumnavigating the Salton Sea’s 110 miles of coastline in California’s southeastern corner, the winter climes were a mild 75 degrees, and the salty waters were beyond silky smooth.

It was so clear I could see a massive flock of American white pelicans two miles off in the distance resting peacefully on the surface, bathing their fluffy white feathers, and plunging the shallows for briny shrimp. Eighty percent of the entire population winters in the Salton Sea enjoying those crisp cool nights and short arid days across the desert biome.

North America’s largest pelican, with a wingspan approaching nine feet, doesn’t fly out over the ocean. And they don’t divebomb fish from above like their cousin, the California brown pelican. Instead, while sitting on the water they simply plunge with their yellowish beaks.

They breed and nest in northern Montana and into parts of Canada, but once winter approaches, that Arctic air sends them migrating southward. Not all of them make it as far south as the Salton Sea. In California, they find plenty of winter havens along the way seeking refuge in lakes, bays, and estuaries in places like Morro Bay, Cachuma and Oso Flaco lakes, and Elkhorn Slough.

Rafting Up The American white pelicans looked so relaxed, as they roosted and preened on a floating raft of pickleweed inside Morro Bay. The ebb and flow of tidal surge had done its job, powerful enough to rip apart a thick raft of estuarian flora.

It was so thick that it could house at least 20 very plump white pelicans. It didn’t matter in what direction the raft was going, they were simply content peacefully drifting with the tides. When I came upon them, the raft was gradually drifting in the direction of Morro Rock.

I readied my kayak and made an easy launch on the eastside of the bay. Gently paddling in their direction, I pulled out my 300mm lens from my drybag as the bow of my kayak eased up on the edge of the raft of pickleweed. Now I was connected to the raft, slowly drifting north, the pelicans not caring at all that they had a hitchhiker attached to their aquatic platform.

I fired off several frames as they furiously preened their lily-white feathers. As we drifted along, several more American white pelicans joined the fray. It became roosting room only, so I pushed the raft with my paddle, and watched these migrants float northward.

for spotting some of the 200-plus bird species, resident and migratory birds sharing the simmering, protected waters surrounded in thick riparian habitat.

As I rounded a bend in the boardwalk, I could see a blur of creamy white through the swaying bull thrushes. American white pelicans were swimming in sync, side by side, in a half-moon-shaped formation, and then plunged their yellow beaks like swords into the shallows. Everything appeared synchronized. Their beaks sliced through the water simultaneously, then their tail feathers pointed upward, water filtering through as they lifted their heads and beaks out of the water full of baitfish.

There was an instance where on one synchronized plunge, one of the pelicans secured a larger fish the size of a carp. The pelican made several attempts to swallow its catch, but it got stuck in its throat pouch. The pelican became despondent and separated itself from the other four pelicans, the fish protruding through its yellow throat pouch. As time went on the pelican merely sat on the surface of the water showing very little activity. Meanwhile, another white pelican flew in, landing on its wide webbed feet, skiing to a halt right next to its counterparts. Immediately, a brand-new quintet formed, and they commenced with more synchronized fishing.

As the afternoon wore on, the white pelicans made several sweeps on the northside of the boardwalk, continuing to leave the despondent pelican alone, the fish still bulging through its pouch.

Around the lake they scoured for fish, and then one of the pelicans scooped up another larger fish, possibly a Pacific staghorn sculpin. This time, two other pelicans tried to take it away, and as they jumped on its back, the pelican that secured the fish threw its head back, pointing its beak skyward, straining its throat pouch to gulp the fish. It appeared as if the catch filled the entire pouch. After several attempts, the fish was thoroughly swallowed, and synchronized fishing continued uninterrupted on Oso Flaco Lake.

In Sync It appeared like synchronized swimming. Five American white pelicans were working together, corralling fish in the shallows of Oso Flaco Lake, a freshwater lake tucked away in the Oceano Dunes, just south of Pismo Beach.

A sturdy boardwalk crosses over the lake with bull thrushes swaying on either side of it, the ocean breeze filtering through across the freshwater lake. It’s a fine vantage point

36 Montecito JOURNAL

A fish fills the throat pouch of an American white pelican

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” – Socrates

24 February – 3 March 2022

The common murre has returned to Prince Island after a 100-year absence

The Other Islands

T

he northwest swell was heaving into the northern fringe of Prince Island, a half mile off San Miguel Island in the Northern Channel Islands chain.

Eleven species of seabirds use Prince Island for breeding and nesting habitat.

One of those species, the common murre, had returned to Prince Island after a 100year absence, egg collecting back in the early part of the 19th century forced these seabirds to leave.

I was curious to see what their numbers looked like, so while paddling solo around Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands, I took a slight detour and kayaked out and around the sparsely vegetated, rocky islet. I didn’t expect to see their colony on the more exposed northwest end of the island, wind and swell aiming at the sheer, wave-battered cliffs where the birds were roosting above.

There were two towering spires and the common murres were huddled on top. The surf running out of deep water was slamming into the cliffs. When there was a lull, I’d sprint in on my kayak, fire a few frames and get out of there before the next set of waves hammered Prince Island.

The Channel Islands National Park Five islands comprise the Channel Islands National Park: Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. However, there are a few other, nondescript islets hidden around the chain, which are also known as “the Galapagos Islands of the North.”

Prince Island is one of those isles. It’s located a half mile east off the beach of Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel Island. It’s also a vital seabird colony harboring throngs of pelagic birds that rely on California’s Channel Islands for survival. Scripps’ murrelets, pigeon guillemots, ashy and Leach’s storm petrels, western gulls, black oystercatchers, Cassin’s auklets, Brandt’s double-crested and pelagic cormorants, California brown pelicans, and those common murres that returned to Prince Island in 2011. Tufted puffins haven’t nested there in over 100 years, but like the murres biologists are hopeful they will return one day soon.

Gull Island in the distance

Park at one square mile. From the Island Packers ferry observers counted roughly 80 brown boobies perched on the daunting north face. They were a new seabird species now breeding and nesting in the park. Mostly staying south of Mexico, brown boobies now call the National Park home.

Getting to Santa Barbara Island is always weather dependent, but since the winter of 2017 there’s been no Island Packers ferry bringing visitors to the islet. A winter storm washed out the landing cove, and it has remained that way ever since.

In the fall of 2016, I paddled to Santa Barbara Island with another guide from Santa Cruz Island, a 50-mile slog that took 17 hours. Somehow, we pulled it off, and early the next morning we paddled around the island, with a detour around Sutil Island. At the time, there had been a sighting or two of brown boobies in the area, but we didn’t see any that day paddling around the wave-battered cliffs Chuck Graham is a freeof Santa Barbara or Sutil islands. lance writer and photograEven though these two islands are pher based in Carpinteria, small, they are highly concentrated with where he also leads kayak wildlife. Like the other small isles off tours and backpacking the main chain, they offer opportunities trips in Channel Islands to explore and experience their natural National Park wonders, kayaking always offering the

best chances to soak it all in.

Brown boobies perched on the north face of Sutil Island

Gull Island While kayaking up the southside of Santa Cruz Island, I left Punta Arena and veered west to Gull Island, a state marine reserve where no commercial or recreational fishing is allowed.

From a distance Gull Island always appears barren, lifeless, and lonely. Easily exposed to perpetual northwest winds, most days it’s swept in cresting whitecaps. However, up close it looks quite busy. Caked in thick, white seabird guano, it’s a favorite roosting spot for cormorants, gulls, and pelicans.

Marine life is prevalent around Gull Island. Kelp forests are thick and teeming with fish and invertebrates, but also lots of California sea lions frolicking in the kelp forests and basking in the sun on a couple of small, cobbled beaches tucked in the middle of the tiny islet.

There’s also a weather apparatus on top of Gull Island located at its west end. It gauges the winds and moisture, fog drip not rain is the largest water input across the Northern Chain. After circling Gull Island, I rounded Morse Point. Santa Rosa Island was beckoning on the western horizon. Conditions looked decent before dark, so I paddled on.

Sutil Island We could see them clinging to the sheer north face of Sutil Island about a quarter mile off the south end of tiny Santa Barbara Island, the smallest isle in the National 24 February – 3 March 2022

Montecito JOURNAL

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: UV MY AIR, 27 W Anapamu St Suite 226, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Outdoor Adventures INC., 27 W Anapamu St Suite 226, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 2, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000313. Published February 23, March 2, 9, 16, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: La Lieff Wines; La Lieff, 935 Arcady Road, Montecito, CA 93108. Lieff Wines LLC, 935 Arcady Road, Montecito, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 16, 2022.

This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000446. Published February 23, March 2, 9, 16, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Hlavaty Dental Arts, 737 Garden Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

Hlavaty DDS, Inc., 737 Garden Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 3, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000337. Published February 16, 23, March 2, 9, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Infinite Potential Institute LLC; Infinite Potential Institute; Wuttke Institute; Wuttke’s Infinite Potential Institute; Wuttke Infinite Potential Institute, 212 Cottage Grove Ave Ste A, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Infinite Potential Institute LLC, 212 Cottage Grove Ave Ste A, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 3, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000330. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT: The following person(s) has (have) abandoned the use of the Fictitious Business Name(s): Islay Events, 318 Rosario Drive #B, Santa

38 Montecito JOURNAL

Barbara, CA 93110. Jeremy Cable, 318 Rosario Drive #B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. This statement was originally filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 22, 2019. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL), filed January 21, 2022. Original FBN No. 2019-0002910.

FBN 2022-0000180. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Islay Events, 318 Rosario Drive #B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. JC Event Design INC, 318 Rosario Drive #B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 24, 2022.

This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000195. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RM Targoni Finish Carpentry, 55 Encinal Way, Ventura, CA 93001. Richard M Targoni, 55 Encinal Way, Ventura, CA 93001. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 27, 2022.

This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000228. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Marmar Group LLC 1187 Coast Village Road Ste L, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Marmar Group LLC, 1187 Coast Village Road Ste L, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 27, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000242. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Toma Restaurant and Bar, 1187 Coast Village Road Ste L, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Marmar Group LLC, 1187 Coast Village Road Ste L, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 28, 2022.

This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000256. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022

//NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PENDING ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO: WAIVE THE PUBLIC HEARING ON A COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT THAT MAY BE APPEALED TO THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION AND APPROVE, CONDITIONALLY APPROVE, OR DENY THE COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT This may affect your property. Please read Notice is hereby given that an application for the project described below has been submitted to the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department. This project requires the approval and issuance of a Coastal Development Permit by the Planning and Development Department.

The development requested by this application is subject to appeal to the California Coastal Commission following final action by Santa Barbara County and therefore a public hearing on the application is normally required prior to any action to approve, conditionally approve or deny the application. However, in compliance with California Coastal Act Section 30624.9, the Director has determined that this project qualifies as minor development and therefore intends to waive the public hearing requirement unless a written request for such hearing is submitted by an interested party to the Planning and Development Department within the 15 working days following the Date of Notice listed below. All requests for a hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, to Veronica King at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, by email at kingv@countyofsb.org, or by fax at (805) 568-2030. If a public hearing is requested, notice of such a hearing will be provided.

WARNING: Failure by a person to request a public hearing may result in the loss of the person’s ability to appeal any action taken by Santa Barbara County on this Coastal Development Permit to the Montecito Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors and ultimately the California Coastal Commission.

If a request for public hearing is not received by 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, then the Planning and Development Department will act to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the request for a Coastal Development Permit. At this time it is not known when this action may occur; however, this may be the only notice you receive for this project. To receive additional information regarding this project, including the date the Coastal Development Permit is approved, and/or to view the application and plans, or to provide comments on the project, please contact Veronica King at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, or by email at kingv@countyofsb.org, or by phone at (805) 568-2513.

PROPOSAL: HORN FAMILY TRUST - POOL PROJECT ADDRESS: 128 SANTA ELENA LN, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108 1st SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT THIS PROJECT IS LOCATED IN THE COASTAL ZONE DATE OF NOTICE: 2/23/2022 REQUEST FOR HEARING EXPIRATION DATE: 3/16/2022 PERMIT NUMBER: 21CDH-00000-00023 APPLICATION FILED: 6/3/2021 009-244-004 ZONING: 20-R-1 PROJECT AREA: 0.47 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Applicant: Jeff & Gretchen Horn Proposed Project: Installation of a swimming pool approximately 19 feet by 38 feet in size with an inset spa approximately seven feet by seven feet in size.

The pool will be located east (behind) the existing single family dwelling. The project does not require any grading or the removal of any native vegetation or specimen trees.

APPEALS: The decision of the Director of the Planning and Development Department to approve, conditionally approve, or deny this Coastal Development Permit 21CDH-00000-00023 may be appealed to the Montecito Planning Commission by the applicant or an aggrieved person. The written appeal must be filed within the 10 calendar days following the date that the Director takes action on this Coastal Development Permit. To qualify as an "aggrieved person" the appellant must have, in person or through a representative, informed the Planning and Development Department by appropriate means prior to the decision on the Coastal Development Permit of the nature of their concerns, or, for good cause, was unable to do so.

Written appeals must be filed with the Planning and Development Department at either 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, 93101, or 624 West Foster Road, Suite C, Santa Maria, 93455, by 5:00 p.m. within the timeframe identified above. In the event that the last day for filing an appeal falls on a non-business day of the County, the appeal may be timely filed on the next business day.

This Coastal Development Permit may be appealed to the California Coastal Commission after an appellant has exhausted all local appeals, therefore a fee is not required to file an appeal.

For additional information regarding the appeal process, contact Veronica King. The application required to file an appeal may be viewed at or downloaded from: http://www.countyofsb.org/uploadedFiles/plndev/Content/Permitting/AppealSubReqAPP.pdf ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Information about this project review process may also be viewed at: http://www.countyofsb.org/plndev/permitting/planningprocess.sbc Board of Architectural Review agendas may be viewed online at: http://www.countyofsb.org/plndev/home.sbc Published February 23, 2022 Montecito Journal

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Back Porch Fresh Flowers & Gifts, 4850 S Bradley Rd, Suite D1, Orcutt, CA 93455. Huong Hopp, 1127 Gorge Dr., Orcutt, CA 93455. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 11, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in

the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2022-0000072. Published February 9, 16, 23, March 2, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 27Labs; Solid Oak Software,

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.” – Isaac Asimov

1727 State St., Suite #445, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Brian Milburn, 1727 State St., Suite #445, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 5, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph

E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000026. Published February 2, 9, 16, 23, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Westlake Cabins, 815 Alston Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108.

Judith Bell, 815 Alston Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County

24 February – 3 March 2022

ORDINANCE NO. 6057

SANTA BARBARA GOLF CLUB INVITATION FOR BIDS

AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA APPROVING A SECOND AMENDMENT TO AN AFFORDABILITY CONTROL COVENANT IMPOSED ON

REAL

HOUSING

PROPERTY

WITH

CORPORATION

PEOPLE’S

LOCATED

AT

SELF-HELP 22

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed bids will be received at the Santa Barbara Golf Club on the date indicated at which time they will be publicly opened and posted for:

EAST

DUE DATE & TIME: March 9, 2022 UNTIL 5:00 P.M.

VICTORIA STREET AND A FIRST AMENDMENT TO REPLACEMENT AFFORDABILITY CONTROL COVENANT

Maintenance Roof and Cart Barn Project

IMPOSED ON REAL PROPERTY WITH BUILDING HOPE, LLC

LOCATED

AUTHORIZING

AT

617

THE

GARDEN

COMMUNITY

STREET

AND

DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE SUCH AGREEMENTS The above captioned ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on February 15, 2022.

The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be obtained at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California.

(Seal) /s/ Sarah Gorman, MMC City Clerk Services Manager ORDINANCE NO. 6057 STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA CITY OF SANTA BARBARA

) ) ) ss. ) )

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced on February 8, 2022 and adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on February 15, 2022, by the following roll call vote: AYES:

Councilmembers Eric Friedman, Alejandra Gutierrez, Oscar Gutierrez, Meagan Harmon, Mike Jordan, Kristen W. Sneddon, Mayor Randy Rowse

NOES:

None

ABSENT:

None

ABSTENTIONS:

None

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my on February 16, 2022.

/s/ Sarah P. Gorman, MMC City Clerk Services Manager I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on February 16, 2022.

/s/ Randy Rowse Mayor Published February 23, 2022 Montecito Journal

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 21CV04154. To all interested parties: Petitioner Roberta Lynn van Gelder filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Robbie Roberta Lynn van Gelder.

The Court orders that all persons

24 February – 3 March 2022

Bids must be submitted on forms supplied by the Santa Barbara Golf Club and in accordance with the specifications, terms and conditions contained therein. Bid packages containing all forms, specifications, terms and conditions may be obtained through email by contacting Santa Barbara Golf Club at 408-482-4156 or mpennington@lagunasecagolf.com The Santa Barbara Golf Club has been contracted to run the City of Santa Barbara’s municipal golf course and is required to use all City of Santa Barbara purchasing guidelines. Those guidelines are available at the following City website: www.santabarbaraca.gov/business/bids/purchasing.asp or by contacting the Purchasing Office at (805) 564-5349.

FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT Contractor agrees in accordance with Section 1735 and 1777.6 of California Labor Code, and the California Fair Employment Practice Act (Sections 1410-1433) that in the hiring of common or skilled labor for the performance of any work under this contract or any subcontract hereunder, no contractor, material supplier or vendor shall, by reason of age (over 40), ancestry, color, mental or physical disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), national origin, race, religious belief, or sexual orientation, discriminate against any person who is qualified and available to perform the work to which such employment relates. The Contractor further agrees to be in compliance with the City of Santa Barbara’s Nondiscriminatory Employment Provisions as set forth in Chapter 9 of the Santa Barbara Municipal Code.

BONDING In accordance with Civil Code § 9550, if the bid exceeds $25,000.00, the Successful Bidder shall furnish within ten (10) consecutive calendar days after written Notice of Award, a Payment Bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the total amount of the bid.

LIVING WAGE Any service purchase order contract issued as a result of this request for bids or quotes may be subject to the City’s Living Wage Ordinance No 5384, SBMC 9.128 and its implementing regulations. If there is a difference between the City’s Living Wage rate and Prevailing Wage rates for similar classifications of labor, the contractor and his subcontractors shall pay no less than the highest wage rate.

PREVAILING WAGE, APPRENTICES, PENALTIES, & CERTIFIED PAYROLL In accordance with the provisions of Labor Code § 1773.2, the Contractor is responsible for determining the correct prevailing wage rates. However, the City will provide wage information for projects subject to Federal Davis Bacon requirements. The Director of Industrial Relations has determined the general prevailing rates of wages and employer payments for health, welfare, vacation, pensions and similar purposes applicable, which is on file in the State of California Office of Industrial Relations. The contractor shall post a copy of these prevailing wage rates at the site of the project. It shall be mandatory upon the contractor to whom the contract is awarded and its subcontractors hired to pay not less than the said prevailing rates of wages to all workers employed by him in the execution of the contract (Labor Code § 1770 et seq.).

Prevailing wage rates are available at http://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/PWD/index.htm It is the duty of the contractor and subcontractors to employ registered apprentices and to comply with all aspects of Labor Code § 1777.5.

hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara

Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 25, 2022. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2022-0000212. Published February 2, 9, 16, 23, 2022

Scope of Work: Maintenance Roof and Cart Barn Beam Project

interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed January 27, 2022 by Narzralli Baksh. Hearing date: March 8, 2022 at 10 am in Dept. 3, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/2

There are penalties required for contractor’s/subcontractor’s failure to pay prevailing wages and for failure to employ apprentices, including forfeitures and debarment under Labor Code §§ 1775, 1776, 1777.1, 1777.7 and 1813.

Under Labor Code § 1776, contractors and subcontractors are required to keep accurate payroll records. The prime contractor is responsible for submittal of their payrolls and those of their subcontractors as one package. Payroll records shall be certified and made available for inspection at all reasonable hours at the principal office of the contractor/subcontractor pursuant to Labor Code § 1776.

The contractor and all subcontractors under the direct contractor shall furnish certified payroll records directly to the Labor Compliance Unit and to the department named in the Purchase Order/Contract at least monthly, and within ten (10) days of any request from any request from the City or the Labor Commissioner in accordance with Section 16461 of the California Code of Regulations. Payroll records shall be furnished in a format prescribed by section 16401 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, with use of the current version of DIR's “Public Works Payroll Reporting Form” (A-1-131) and “Statement of Employer Payments” (DLSE Form PW26) constituting presumptive compliance with this requirement, provided the forms are filled out accurately and completely. In lieu of paper forms, the Compliance Monitoring Unit may provide for and require the electronic submission of certified payroll reports. The provisions of Article 2 and 3, Division 2, Chapter 1 of the Labor Code, State of California, are made by this reference a part of this quotation or bid.

A contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, subject to the requirements of Section 4104 of the Public Contract Code, or engage in the performance of any contract for public work, as defined in this chapter, unless currently licensed to perform the work and registered pursuant to Labor Code § 1725.5 without limitation or exception. It is not a violation of this section for an unlicensed contractor to submit a bid that is authorized by Section 7029.1 of the Business and Professions Code or by 20103.5 of the Public Contract Code, provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to Section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded.

This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations.

CERTIFICATIONS In accordance with California Public Contracting Code § 3300, the City requires the Contractor to possess a valid California C-39 Roofing license at time the bids are opened and to continue to hold during the term of the contract all licenses and certifications required to perform the work specified herein.

CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE Contractor must submit to the contracted department within ten (10) calendar days of an order, AND PRIOR TO START OF WORK, certificates of Insurance naming the Santa Barbara Golf Club as Additional Insured in accordance with the attached Insurance Requirements.

Published: February 16 and 23, 2022 Montecito Journal

Montecito JOURNAL

39

FOOD & WINE Santa Barbara by the Glass

Mission Accomplished: New Rusack Visitor Center Redefines the Wine Tasting Experience

The MJ’s wine columnist, Gabe Saglie, left, with Rusack winemaker Steve Gerbac. The vines on the Rusack vineyard estate are still dormant.

by Gabe Saglie

I

’ve discovered the perfect afternoon sipper – Rusack Vineyards just released its 2021 Boundless Mission ($28), a wine that is, quite literally, history in a bottle. The mission grape was brought over to the Americas in the 1700s by Spanish Catholic missionaries who didn’t want to go without table and sacramental wine along the way. Mission grapes that had been planted on Santa Cruz Island, and that thrived a century ago, were yanked during Prohibition. But a few resilient vines survived and when recently discovered, were gathered by the Rusack team and planted on about a half-acre of their sprawling Ballard Canyon estate.

With the 2021 vintage, Rusack’s second, winemaker Steve Gerbac is not only helping to write the next episode

Tasting at Rusack is by appointment only now, and it features customizable flights for almost all the wines in the Rusack portfolio

40 Montecito JOURNAL

in the history of this under-the-radar grape, but also a whole new chapter in the way it’s appreciated. Long considered unimpressive, it turns out that, when handled well, mission wine has merit.

Gerbac thins the vines aggressively during the growing season and picks the grapes early. The resulting wine is fresh – with alcohol at 12% or less – donning a light ruby color accented by flavors of plum and red berries. “Refreshing and fun,” says the winemaker, especially when served up chilled. An easy match for finger foods and sandwiches, and perfect on a picnic or by the pool. Only 36 cases of this wine – one of the very few California Mission wines – were made.

The Mission is part of a new Rusack project – Boundless – which aims at giving Gerbac creative freedom from vintage to vintage. “It’s about experimentation,” he says, “so the wines can always be different.” For 2021, the label also includes a splashy Rosé ($22), made with estate syrah and zinfandel grapes.

The latest Boundless wines coincide with something else that’s new and exciting at Rusack: a revamped hospitality experience that helps set a new benchmark for the consumer wine tasting experience. Their visitor center has always been stunning – set on 20 acres along Ballard Canyon Road in Solvang amidst undulating oak-dotted hills as far as the eye can see. The pandemic forced a two-year shutdown, but also a chance to rethink and revise. It reopened to the public this past weekend.

There’s an escapist vibe to the new Canyon Terrace, thanks to lush landscaping and an open, plein-air design. A new entryway leads to a stepped tasting deck featuring upscale furniture and new rail-

The new Rusack tasting deck takes advantage of the sweeping views of the Ballard Canyon AVA

ing that maximizes those endless vistas.

Visitors are greeted by a glass of seasonal wine – I was handed a glass of rosé when I visited Sunday – before they’re escorted to their tables.

Visits here are by appointment only now, a move that does require a bit more pre-planning but one that also guarantees a far more personalized experience. Scrambling for a spot at the bar?

Gone. Being forced to taste through a pre-determined wine list? Gone. Guests are treated to tableside service and handed a customizable menu that features almost all of Rusack’s current releases – including experimental projects, like Boundless, that were created during the pandemic – by the glass or by the bottle, or as part of tasting flights you can create yourself. That means a chardonnay lover, for example, can order a flight of all four currently released Rusack chards, and fans of syrah or pinot noir or zinfandel can craft a flight of myriad red selections. It’s the ultimately personal sipping moment. Cheese and charcuterie platters are available for purchase with advance notice.

The Island Flavor I let Gerbac put together our shared flight this past weekend. It included wines from the Rusack’s Santa Catalina Island wines, which would have been tough to access at the tasting room pre-COVID. This is another fascinating Rusack connection to Channel Islands winegrowing, and one that’s far more personal. Geoff Rusack married Alison Wrigley in 1985, establishing their wine brand 10 years later, and the viticulture they’ve spearheaded on Catalina in the last dozen years has, in many ways, been an homage to the Wrigley family – chewing gum magnates, baseball team owners, and stewards of all the developable land on Santa Catalina Island since 1919.

Rusack manages five acres of grapes there – chardonnay, pinot, and zin – which are harvested each fall and flown by private plane to the mainland for processing at the Rusack winery.

Gerbac and I compared the 2018 and

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

2015 Santa Catalina Island chardonnay ($60), the younger wine showcasing heightened freshness but both exuding complexity and minerality, but also depth. “The island can get really foggy,” he tells me. “Sunshine breaks down malic acid in grapes,” and with less of it on a fog-doused Catalina, the chardonnay grapes maintain a wonderfully layered and buxom mouth feel.

We tasted the 2017 Mt. Carmel Pinot Noir ($65), sourced from a celebrated Sta. Rita Hills vineyard, with a classic cherry character but enhanced by an earthier, dustier flavor profile and grippier tannins.

And we finished with side-by-side sipping of the 2018 Santa Catalina Island Zinfandel ($72) – cherry notes upfront buoyed by an umami-like flavor profile – and the 2017 Ballard Canyon Estate Zinfandel ($48) – comparatively, more generous with red fruit flavors, nuances of oak, and a velvety finish.

My favorite part of my visit this past weekend, though, was the palpable enthusiasm of folks like Gerbac, tasting room manager Stephanie Varner, and members of the Rusack hospitality team.

Seeing people buzzing at the tables across the al fresco tasting deck, engaging with visitors, telling the story behind their wines – it’s all such a stark change from the many months of distance and closures. It felt good to be part of wine-inspired conversation and conviviality. The roads that lead through Santa Barbara wine country are back open, and Rusack

should be one of your first stops.

For more information and reservations, go to rusack. com/visit.

Gabe Saglie has been covering the Santa Barbara wine scene for more than 15 years through columns, TV, and radio. He’s a senior editor with Travelzoo and is a leading expert on travel deals, tips, and trends.

24 February – 3 March 2022

FOOD & WINE Mixing It Up

A Glass by Any Other Name The vitalizing and a slightly snappy Jalapeño Elderflower Collins

by Ian Wickman

C

oupe, Collins, Nick and Nora, highball, rocks, double old fashioned, julep, and the list goes on.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many glasses for cocktails? What is each style used for? What’s the difference between an old fashioned, rocks, and lowball? Sometimes glasses are generic and used for many different drinks (e.g. a double old fashioned glass) and sometimes they are very specific for very specific cocktails (e.g. the Moscow Mule mug).

The Concept Whether you like your glassware minimalist, vintage, colorful, unique, classic, or modern, there is an art and science to choosing the correct glass for a cocktail.

Each style has its own history and has been designed to improve the drinking experience of different cocktails. My list is by no means exhaustive; there are endless variations on glassware. My hope is that it will serve as a well-rounded primer on the main types of glasses, highlight a few interesting and unique examples, and serve as a springboard for your own explorations if you’re so inclined.

The Details There are three main types you should own for serving These are the coupe, the old glass, and the highball. Once 24 February – 3 March 2022

of glasses cocktails. fashioned you have

your bases covered you can add endless variation for your pleasure, historical interests, and aesthetic desires. My collection of new and vintage glassware continues to grow each time I find a glass that I think will add beauty to my collection.

The captivating coupe (pronounced “koop”) is probably the most widely used cocktail glass for drinks served “up” or without ice. A coupe has a wide shallow bowl with a tall stem to allow you to hold your cocktail without warming it up with your hand. This glass can typically contain around six ounces and is best chilled beforehand to keep the cocktail as cool as possible. Alongside the coupe, similar glasses serve a similar purpose. The martini glass has its distinct V-shaped silhouette. The Nick and Nora glass has a more upright bell shape and often holds less, around four ounces, and is named after characters from the Dashiell Hammett book The Thin Man. Cocktails served in a coupe include the Manhattan, Martini, Gimlet, and, one of my favorites, the Sidecar, among others.

The old fashioned glass is also often referred to as a rocks glass or, somewhat less commonly, a lowball. It comes in two sizes: the regular/single or double.

The regular size holds around six to eight ounces, whereas the double holds more like 10 to 14 ounces. It is a low, often straight-walled glass with enough space to hold one or two large cubes of ice.

An old fashioned glass is often used for drinking spirits straight and simple cocktails built in the glass, like its namesake.

A double is for drinks with slightly larger volume, but both can come in a wide

Each glass has its own form and function

range of volumes and either can be used assuming it has enough space for your drink and ice. Drinks commonly served in an old fashioned glass include the Old Fashioned, Negroni, Whiskey Sour, and many others.

Whether you like your glassware minimalist, vintage, colorful, unique, classic, or modern, there is an art and science to choosing the correct glass for a cocktail.

The highball is a taller and narrower, chimney-style glass. They are used for larger drinks, particularly those lengthened with carbonated mixers like soda water. It can hold around 10 to 16 ounces. These drinks are often lighter, refreshing cocktails, served as brunch or afternoon sips. Historically, a Collins glass was a little taller and narrower and often held a little more than a highball. Now, the terms are used more or less interchangeably. These glasses are designed for drinks like a Fizz, Americano, Paloma, or Tom Collins, and have room for ice, the cocktail ingredients, and a carbonated mixer. The narrower glass and tall shape allow the carbonation to be retained and savored for longer, similar to the way a champagne flute works.

In addition to these glasses, there are endless varieties of shapes and sizes within each category. There are also many more specifically designed vessels for other cocktails. For example, you may have seen drinks served in copper mugs.

These are called Moscow Mule mugs and were designed for the namesake cocktail with a handle so you don’t need to grasp the cold metal directly. A julep cup, used for a Mint Julep – the cocktail of the Kentucky Derby – and variations, is a silver (or stainless steel) cup with angled sides that is held at the embellished rim or base. It’s designed to get super chilled, frosting the outside of the cup to maintain its cool, despite the warm ambiance.

I would encourage anyone who wants to serve cocktails at home to have at least some variety of coupe, old fashioned, and highball glasses on hand. These styles can handle almost any cocktail. Beyond that, do what brings you joy.

The Cocktail Inspiration Let’s use another classic drink, the Tom Collins, as the base for our cocktail today. Can you guess what type of glass we’re going to use? That’s right, a highball or Collins glass. As I mentioned above, historically, these were not the same glass but now are commonly used interchangeably. It is a delightfully refreshing and effervescent cocktail made with gin, lemon juice, and sugar, then topped with soda water. For our version, I wanted to expand on the flavor profile with the floral delight of St. Germain, add a lightly spicy and exquisite layer of fresh jalapeño, and a lovely touch of local jalapeño jelly. The combination is perfect for those bright and sunny yet cooler days we’ve been having lately!

Jalapeño Elderflower Collins 2 oz gin (Gray Whale) 1 oz Elderflower Liqueur (St. Germain) 1 oz fresh lemon juice 4 slices jalapeno 1 bar spoon jalapeño jelly (Ojai Jelly) Top with 2 oz sparkling water Garnish: Lemon wheel and jalapeño

slices

Directions Add all the ingredients except the sparkling water and the garnish to a shaking tin. Muddle thoroughly. Add ice to the shaker and shake until chilled and diluted, about 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a highball/Collins glass filled with ice, top with sparkling water, and garnish with the lemon wheel and jalapeño slices.

Ian Wickman creates exceptional craft cocktails honed to the seasons. Recipes, photography, and writing for brands, media, restaurants, events, and individuals. idealistfoods.com; Email: ian@idealist foods.com; Instagram: @idealistfoods

Montecito JOURNAL

41

Village (Continued from 8)

Conceptual photos of the new classroom building show a more industrial, workshop style of classroom, which is less expensive to build

A fire was reported on Saturday evening on northbound Highway 101 in Carpinteria. A suspect was arrested for arson on Monday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Montecito Fire)

rooms near the entrance to the school; the new building will not replace the portables, yet. The first phase will cost about $1.6M, $1M of which will be pulled from facility reserves. According to Dr. Alzina, the Phase 1 classrooms will be utilized by STEAM and art classes, so the traditional, expensive build-out for a full-time classroom will not be necessary. The rooms will feel industrial, similar to a garage or workshop. Phase 2 of the project will cost an additional $2M, and will include one additional classroom, plus administrative offices, becoming the entrance to campus as desired in the school’s master plan. This will allow the library to expand into the current office space.

The second phase of the project will be built where the portable classrooms are currently; it’s likely the second phase will require a bond.

Cold Spring School District residents have voted down two other ballot measures in recent years: In addition to Measure L2020 ($7.8M), Measure K in November 2006 ($14M) and Measure R in February 2008 ($8.75M) both failed. The last bond measure to pass was Measure C ($2.4M) in 2008, the funds of which went to renovate the seven older classrooms and two student restrooms in the main school building, as well as improvements to the play areas with a new play structure, blacktop, and new landscaping on the corner of Cold Spring Road and Sycamore Canyon Road. The remaining funds are earmarked to improve the utility infrastructure throughout the campus.

Dr. Alzina reports that enrollment has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, with nearly 200 students currently enrolled. Because of the increase, special programs, including music, are housed in the school auditorium, and some special education programs are housed in the school library. “Space is as tight as ever. We need more classrooms. This problem is

The Santa Barbara County Education Office has reviewed the District’s debt package, and has given the green light that the District has the ability to repay the Certificate of Participation loan, a debt instrument frequently utilized in the education sector. The loan of $600K will be repaid by the District’s General Fund over a 10-year period, potentially sooner. With an interest rate of 1.9%, Dr. Alzina says it’s the most cost-effective way to “put shovel to ground” now, rather than waiting. “Construction costs are going up. If we wait, the cost for this project could easily increase to $1.8M,” she said, adding that the loan product is similar to the one being used by Montecito Union School as they undertake capital improvements.

A recent fundraising campaign has garnered about $150K in donations.

“Any additional monies raised will go towards paying off the loan,” Dr. Alzina said. If the loan is not approved by the Board, alternative funding solutions include drastically depleting the school’s reserves, or waiting while funds are raised through donation.

Despite Dr. Alzina’s leadership and transparency being the topic of many posts on social media, Cold Spring School District is the highest performing district in the state, with 97% of students meeting or exceeding standards in English Language Arts and 95% meeting or exceeding standards in Math, even during the pandemic.

The District’s financial rating from S&P Global is AAA, due to its financial management policies, including the board’s reserve policy adopted three years ago, budgeting and fiscal management, and conservative three-year budgeting practices.

Construction on Phase 1 of the new building is expected to take place later this year; plans are currently being reviewed by the Department of School Architects. For more information on

42 Montecito JOURNAL

not going to go away,” she told us earlier this week, adding that the enrollment at the school is growing from the ground up, with many families moving to Montecito with kindergarteners who will be at the school through 6th grade.

According to Dr. Alzina, the Phase 1 classrooms will be utilized by STEAM and art classes, so the traditional, expensive build-out for a full time classroom will not be necessary. The rooms will feel industrial, similar to a garage or workshop.

A state mandate that has required expansion of the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program, which will eventually include all four-yearolds, regardless of when their birthdays are, has put added pressure on space limitations. As of press time, there are 31 students enrolled in the TK and Kindergarten programs, with just two classrooms in which to accommodate them. “And it’s only February!” Dr. Alzina said. The State requires that TK has a one to 12 student/teacher ratio.

Current class sizes for the rest of the school range from one to 14 to one to 24. Some members of the nearby community have questioned the need for such small class sizes. “Studies show that reduced class sizes increase student achievement. We aren’t going backward and increasing class sizes,” she firmly said.

“Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one’s desires, but by the removal of desire.” – Epictetus

the project and the capital campaign, visit www.coldspringfoundation.com/ buildingbrightfutures.

Deputies Arrest Arsonist in Carpinteria Traffic was at a standstill this past weekend, with an underground fire causing the closure of the northbound freeway lanes near Via Real on Saturday evening. After an ongoing investigation of the fire, which was believed to be coming from a storm drain under the freeway, Sheriff ’s deputies arrested a suspect they believe intentionally set fire to the culvert near the 5700-block of Via Real in Carpinteria.

On Monday, February 21, deputies were dispatched to investigate a subject digging into the hillside near a drainage culvert in Carpinteria Creek. Deputies contacted the suspect, 24-year-old Santiago Garcia-Soriano of Carpinteria. Garcia-Soriano spoke with deputies and a fire investigator from the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire District, and admitted he started a fire in the culvert on Saturday, February 19, 2022, about one hour before the fire was reported. Garcia-Soriano was arrested for arson to property (felony) and possession of cocaine (misdemeanor). Garcia-Soriano was booked at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail and is being held on an increased bail of

$250,000.

Kelly Mahan Herrick, also a licensed realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, has been editor at large for the Journal since 2007, reporting on news in Montecito and beyond.

24 February – 3 March 2022

Travel (Continued from 30 30))

Go at your own SLO pace along the streets and adorning creek of San Luis Obispo

is as tasty as it is beautiful.

Glenna and I also popped into the tiny, but mighty San Luis Obispo Museum of Art before I said adieu and headed north to Paso Robles for a couple of nights and to check out Sensorio – which remains all the rage – is open and worth the trek, especially if you take the kids.

I’m heading South of the Border to Baja and making up for lost time and opportunities. Will see you when I’m back from Mexico: goddesses, airlines, and good health willing!

The Road Less Taken Highway 1 Discovery Route is a road less taken and well worth turn offs and detours for a more leisurely route. I’ve driven different sections on separate forays up the coast, always wanting to linger longer in some of the small towns I’ve passed through while savoring a few new exciting stops and discoveries along the way.

Heading back south home to Carpinteria from Paso Robles (after a fantastic night at the uber-cool Geneseo Inn at Cass Winery and a dusk-to-night visit to Sensorio, the outdoor light installation that folks have been raving about since it opened, also in Paso), I took the super scenic Route 46, towards the coast to seek out Wayward Baking (www.waywardbaking.com) in Los Osos owned by Tim Veatch and Jeriel Sydney. The married pair traveled to Italy and came back with the idea to start their businesses, the sourdough bread bakery and Fable Soap Company. There’s much more to report on SLO County and Paso Robles, but I will have to save that for a future visit. www.Highway1DiscoveryRoute.com VISIT SLO – Restaurants, hotels, and sites are all easily accessed at visitslo.com

etc. have gone up by about $150 a night since my last visit six years ago.)

The resort recently added the Secret Garden, accessed via the Green Sycamore Bridge or off the Bob Jones Trail. This outdoor hang out spot is open to hotel guests and the public. A concession stand sells beer, wine, and munchies; the harvest stand sells fresh produce from the one-acre garden. Four-legged friends are even welcome with their humans.

A fantastic massage at Sycamore’s spa – I meant to relax, but had so much fun chatting with Carol, who shared wild tales about her son’s tattoo experiences, one so scary that it was taped for an HBO show I’ve never seen about tattoos run amok, I felt like I made a new friend.

Sip and Shuck!

I could have just crashed and read a good book (took Ann Patchett’s new book of essays These Precious Days that I picked up from our beloved Tecolote Book Chop in the Upper Village with me), I drove down to the Avila Pier for wine at Sinor-LaVallee, a local winery with a tasting room one block from the San Luis Obispo Bay. Savor a wine tasting ($20) with Morro Bay oysters by the dozen for a nice afternoon or pre-dinner appetizer. I shucked and shot the breeze with amiable winemaker Mike Sinor and the terrific team there. Tasting room manager Brette Schneiderman (her folks live in Montecito) is adorable and Sinor is a passionate winemaker whose handcrafted wines are made with love. I enjoyed everything I sipped and swirled, but the Pet Nat (pétillant naturel shortened is a French term and method to make sparkling wine that dates back to the 16th century) was especially fun and tasty for sparkly occasions.

Give Me Seafood, Mama!

Dinner time was seafood time at Mersea’s, a lively, casual place on the Avila Pier in Port San Luis. I enjoyed the audio ruckus from the resident barking sea lions before coming upon the restaurant’s outdoor patio. I missed sunset and it was too cold to eat outside but discovered a few indoor tables and small bar with a spot next to what turned out to be a rather soused sous-chef and other friends visiting with great bartender/Cuesta College nursing student Summer (who’s going to be a fantastic nurse). She fixed me up with steamed clams, garlic bread, and fries and the conversation was lively. It was just what the doctor ordered at the “Cheers” of Avila Beach.

The next day, after checking out of the hotel, I moseyed up to SLO, collected my dear friend poet/author/former Cal Poly English professor Glenna Berry Horton, who recently moved from her avocado ranch in Carp to SLO, for a delightful lunch of paella (one big enough for two and leftovers) at one of my fav SLO restaurants, Mistura. We were also happy to discover amazing desserts and pastries within the restaurant space made by creative master baker Chloe Fertel. Run, do not walk, to the Creamery Marketplace and discover Joliene Bakery if you love fine baking that 24 February – 3 March 2022

SLO may not have Rome’s Trevi Fountain or Tiber River, but the San Luis Creek that runs through town is flanked by public art and hosts the occasional heron and other bird life.

Avila Beach Sycamore Mineral Springs – The new cottage garden at Sycamore Mineral Springs is open daily, weather permitting. Open 11 am to 4:30 pm to April; spring and summer will see longer opening hours, Avila Beach. www.sycamoresprings.com Sinor-Lavallee – Wine tasting in Avila A third-generation Beach. www.sinorlavallee.com Mersea’s Seafood – Avila Pier, Port San Californian, Leslie A. Westbrook currently is Luis. www.merseas.com

SLO Stop Mistura and Joliene Bakery at The Creamery, San Luis Obispo. www.mistu rarestaurants.com / www.jolienebakery.

com

in Carpinteria but called Summerland home for 30 years. The award-winning writer assists clients sell fine art, antiques, and collectibles at auction houses

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LETTERS & VIEWS Letters (Continued from 26 26)) ing fire coming from our property.

They were there for a little over an hour putting out the fire and hot spots.

They didn’t want to bother us as they had it under control. Can you believe it?!

THANK YOU FIREFIGHTERS!!!

What an amazing community we live in!

Valerie Alger

Support Our Librarians Like many members of the community, when I heard that SBPL was leaving the Black Gold Library Cooperative, I had questions. What did this mean? And was it really the right direction for our community?

As the executive director of the nonprofit organization What is Love, working to end violence against women and girls through relationship education — specifically helping young people learn about healthy relationships — I’ve worked with Santa Barbara Public Library staff on many programs over the years, so I went straight to the source to ask what was going on. And staff were happy to explain the situation in detail.

Why did SBPL decide to leave Black Gold? SBPL staff had brought lots of ideas for improving the efficiency of services, particularly the sharing of physical library materials, over the years. The existing catalog system and mechanism for sharing materials had weaknesses. It worked well to provide access to specialty items that would only be used by a limited number of people, and older, out of print items that a library may have had at one point, but were lost or damaged and no longer available at a local branch. But for the majority of new, in-demand items, the system of delivery and shipment were a labor-intensive process that just shipped items around unnecessarily. Splintering of new jurisdictions in Santa Barbara County, first with Goleta and now with Carpinteria, meant that books to these jurisdictions were passed between more hands, increasing workload and wait times.

Also, the library catalog has multiple entries for the same titles based on different editions, making it hard to find the record for items at a local branch. It was sometimes difficult to see what formats (print, e-book, digital audiobook, audiobook on CD, etc.) items were available in — the new system helps that! Giving individual libraries more control over their catalog makes finding items in the library easier (shelf locations can tell you where exactly items are located). Library staff also shared how this new system would allow for better statistics to help inform decisions about the collection. Better yet? This system would cost significantly less, leaving more room in the budget for books and programs.

My next question: why didn’t all the Black Gold libraries jump on this chance?

And I didn’t get a good answer to that.

44 Montecito JOURNAL

Only after Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo decided to go to this system did the other Black Gold libraries vote to move to the same system. But they expected SBPL and SLO to pay their portion of the shared catalog, as well as their own newly signed individual contracts (after more than a year of indicating that was their plan and giving the other libraries the chance to make the switch together).

SBPL staff explained that even though SBPL and SLO will be independent, it’s still possible to share materials — if the remaining libraries want to. SBPL and SLO have proposed to continue to do so.

The decisions made by the other Black Gold jurisdictions made even less sense when you looked at what they’d be losing when they effectively pushed out SBPL and SLO from the cooperative — the five remaining Black Gold jurisdictions print collection budgets combined just barely equal Santa Barbara’s investment, and are only half as much as San Luis Obispo’s print collection budget. So it’s not surprising that historically, SBPL lends more than it borrows. SBPL staff shared their plan to ensure they’re able to continue to provide books — whether print or digital — to readers.

But as a community educator, I know that the value of SBPL is so much more than just books, and have experienced firsthand the hard work and dedication of its staff in supporting its mission of literacy and community education. If you look at the expansion of services and the amazing variety of programming that the library has offered over the last several years, its impact is undeniable. The new Library on the Go van takes services to schools, senior centers, parks, and even the hubs that serve our homeless neighbors.

The library’s Stay and Play program has brought early literacy services to hundreds of families. SBPL is the only library in the county to offer one-on-one adult literacy tutoring or workforce development programs helping job seekers find employment. Throughout the pandemic, SBPL has innovated to continue to provide access and services to the community. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

This is a complicated situation. At the end of the day, I’ve witnessed the thoughtful, intentional way the staff at SBPL approach their work. Change is hard. But I trust that SBPL is moving in the right direction.

In community, Christy Stillwell MA Psy. Executive Director, What is LOVE

Cold Spring School District Governing Board Members,

I am writing to you today to express my dismay and alarm that you are considering taking on more debt (in addition to two bond measures that won’t be paid

off until 2039) to help pay for a proposed building project. Respectfully, I urge you all to say “No” when this matter comes up for a vote at your February 28, 2022 Special Board meeting.

With the failure of Measure L2020, the constituents that you purport to represent sent a very clear message: no new construction, no new debt. Yet you have forged ahead anyway with your proposed Phase 1 project, committing the taxpayers of the district to at least $1.7 million dollars of taxpayer – funded debt that they do not want and have, in fact, already said “No” to.

I have read (twice!) the District’s 149page submittal to the County Office of Education and the County AuditorController, reporting the District’s intent to approve a Lease-Leaseback debt instrument to pay a portion of the costs for the proposed Phase 1 project.

Following are comments and questions I have regarding that document. I would appreciate prompt, written responses.

– If the District already has $150K in “hard commitments,” why is it proposing to borrow the full $600K? Why not borrow only $450K and reduce interest costs?

– I understand that the true “Cost of Issuance” would not be known until the Lease-Leaseback debt instrument has been legally entered into, interest rates have been locked in, and fees have been paid. I understand that the estimated COI range is between $25K and $35K and that the District intends to borrow the money to pay those costs.

Then why does the District’s cover letter, its “Disclosure of Non-VoterApproved Debt District Certification Form,” and its “Disclosure of NonVoter-Approved Debt” FCMAT form all state that the District intends to borrow $600K? Please explain the discrepancies that occur throughout the submittal documents ($600K? $625K? $635K?) in stating the total debt amount.

– The submittal implies/states that the Cold Spring Foundation has agreed to take on the responsibility of paying off this proposed debt through fundraising efforts.

I wonder if this commitment (about $70K per year for about 10 years) is instead of or in addition to the Foundation’s regular yearly contribution to support the Specialist programs. Please clarify.

– In the event that the Cold Spring Foundation is unable to meet its debt service commitment (wholly or in part), the District has stated that “the debt service payments will be included in the District’s general fund operations” and that it “will make necessary adjustments to the operations to fully fund the debt.”

What operations, specifically, would be subject to “adjustment”? Please clarify how these “necessary adjustments” over the 10-year life of the loan would affect the availability of classroom books, supplies, and materials for our students and

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.” – Marcus Aurelius

teachers; the funding for classroom aides; and salary increases for teachers and staff.

– The District included a contract with Nixon Peabody LLP in its submittal to the County. Included in the firm’s “Scope of Engagement” is the statement that “we understand that MillerCalderon, Inc. will assist the School District with preparation for its election (the ‘Program Manager’).” Throughout the contract, Nixon Peabody makes many references as to how they would work together with MillerCalderon (the “Program Manager”) as they provide “Bond Counsel Services for 2020 Election.” Taking into consideration Nixon Peabody’s stellar reputation, I doubt they were mistaken in their “understanding” of MillerCalderon’s role.

Given that this contract was entered into and approved by the Governing Board on February 18, 2020 (prior to the November 2020 election) and given that this contract was included – unrevised – in the District’s recent submittal to the County, it is clear that MillerCalderon has been and continues to be intimately involved in the District’s election, financial, and proposed building projects affairs.

Please provide a detailed description of MillerCalderon’s “Scope of Engagement” with the District. Please also provide a copy of the District’s contract with MillerCalderon to provide “Program Manager” services to the District.

– The District has stated, on more than one occasion, that it intends to use remaining Measure C funds (about $147K) to help pay for the proposed Phase 1 project.

While I strongly disagree that Measure C funds can be used to pay for new construction, my concern at this point is the fact that the District does not have a fully constituted Measure C Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. I understand that the District’s recent outreach yielded three members – one of which doesn’t even live within the district boundaries. Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committees are legally required to have at least seven members – our committee doesn’t even have a quorum of that. And yet, a meeting was held on September 20, 2021 (attended by two lawyers) and actions were proposed and approved by only three people.

I question the legality of the Committee’s actions on that day, given that it is not fully constituted and therefore a quorum was not present. It is also important to note that Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committees are governed by the Brown Act. What does the District intend to do to attract more members to the Measure C Citizen’s Oversight Committee such that it can be fully constituted?

Thank you, Governing Board Members, for taking the time to read my comments and questions. I look forward to reading your prompt, written responses.

Respectfully,

Katherine Davidson

24 February – 3 March 2022

JOURNAL

ontecito | quarterly | www.montecitojournal.net|

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2022

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24 February – 3 March 2022

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24 February – 3 March 2022

Mini Meta

Last Week’s Solution:

By Pete Muller & Andrew White For each of the first five mini crosswords, one of the entries also serves as part of a five-word meta clue. The answer to the meta is a word or phrase (five letters or longer) hidden within the sixth mini crossword. The hidden meta answer starts in one of the squares and snakes through the grid vertically and horizontally from there (no diagonals!) without revisiting any squares.

PUZZLE #1 1

2

3

S H O O

Q U I P

T U R N S

H A R K

E D Y S

T A B S

SQUAD

H I J A B

A R O M A

T E R M S

S K Y E

THAT

R A S T A

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C R E S T

H O W L S

OFTEN

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WH I P R O M T O R S A N S E G E T

1

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1

6

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Down 1 Birthplace of tennis star Naomi Osaka 2 Two cents, so to speak 3 Liquidates 4 "Gotcha" 5 Central setting in Disney's "Encanto"

Across 1 "That's ___ to my ears!"

6 2021 World Series runner-up 7 Remarks after close calls 8 Son of Jacob and Leah 9 Idyllic garden

2

3

Down 1 Popular syrup source 2 Seated patrons, slangily 3 With 4-Down, "Crocodile Hunter" of TV 4 See 3-Down 5 Sin's partner?

4

1

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4

6 7

6

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8

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2

3

D A D A

A R M O WA Y N E S T E P H A S M

R E S T S

AWAYTEAM

4 6

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Down 1 Remote spots, perhaps 2 Tony-winning choreographer Twyla 3 Minuscule, informally 4 "___ You Feel My Love" (Adele number) 5 "Um, duh ..."

A I D E D

Down 1 Holy book recited in Arabic 2 Maine-to-Florida rte.

3 Mythical shield 4 Oil containers 6 Word before bass and level

META PUZZLE 5

5

Across 1 One counted in an express checkout 5 Jackson Jr. who portrayed his father in "Straight Outta Compton" 6 With 7-Across, unrhyming poetry 7 See 6-Across 8 Road trip game

C R O O N

BOOED

Across 1 Central field at a university?

5 Exploitative sorts 7 Deceptive D&D class 8 Persona's counterpart, to Jung 9 Loch that's home to a famous cryptid

PUZZLE #5

PUZZLE #4 1

O C H O A

PUZZLE #3 5

5

Across 1 Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Hendrix 5 Raising ___ (fast-food chain) 6 The Big ___ (New York City) 7 Pan-fry 8 Hill dwellers

B A R B Q

GETS

PUZZLE #2 4

P O O L S

2

3

4

5

Across 1 Red-carpet quality 6 Wood-shaping machine 7 Opposite of a liability 8 Tiny leaf aperture 9 Nine-digit fig. with about 750 million currently available combinations

Down 1 It might hold water 2 Has legs, so to speak 3 "The show's starting!"

4 Certain others 5 Z as in Zeus

Across 1 European capital with an ursine folk etymology 5 Natural soothing agent 6 Power tower 7 Stop-motion animation studio named after a Soviet space dog 8 Some lines on a GPS

Down 1 Serenade, as the moon 2 New York island 3 Piece that only moves in straight lines 4 "99 Luftballons" singer 6 Texting counterpart of "ty"

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STEVEN BROOKS JEWELERS Appraisals for Estates and Insurance Graduate Gemologist ~ Established 1974 Sales of Custom Designed and Estate Jewelry Purchasing Estates sbjewelers@gmail.com or 805-455-1070

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© 2022 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHHS and the BHHS symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.

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2692 SYCAMORE CANYON RD, MONTECITO 7BD/8½BA • $16,850,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

1086 CHANNEL DR, MONTECITO LOWER 3BD/2½BA • $19,500,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

2285 BELLA VISTA DR, MONTECITO UPPER 4BD/6BA • $12,950,000 Team Scarborough, 805.331.1465 LIC# 01182792

2150 ORTEGA HILL RD, MONTECITO 4BD/4½BA • $10,950,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

350 GREENWELL AVE, SUMMERLAND 2BD/2½BA; ±11.75 acres • $10,500,000 Bartron Real Estate Group, 805.563.4054 LIC# 01005021

796 HOT SPRINGS RD, MONTECITO 4BD/3½BA • $9,995,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

500 MEADOW WOOD LN, MONTECITO 4BD/3BA + 2 offices • $6,650,000 Daniel Encell, 805.565.4896 LIC# 00976141

400 HOT SPRINGS RD, MONTECITO 4BD/6BA • $5,795,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

920 CAMINO VIEJO RD, EUCALYPTUS HILL 4BD/4½BA • $5,695,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

840 TORO CANYON RD, MONTECITO 4BD/3½BA; ±10.01 acres • $5,395,000 Cristal Clarke / J.J. Gobbell, 805.403.5785 LIC# 00968247 / 02063124

1950 LEMON RANCH RD, MONTECITO Last Lot at Birnam Wood; ±1 acre • $5,300,000 Chase Enright, 805.708.4057 LIC# 01800599

1705 GLEN OAKS DR, MONTECITO ±0.87 acres • $1,825,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

1790 GLEN OAKS DR, MONTECITO ±1.15 acres • $1,695,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

1900+ LAS CANOAS RIDGE WY, MISSION CYN ±.87 acre • $699,000 Bill Urbany & Alisa Pepper, 805.570.5680 LIC# 00717028 / 01347807

@BHHSCALIFORNIA