Your Westmont

Stargazing Features Great Nebula

Although Sadie is a veteran performer, with experience in cartoon voice-over work and having starred in many non-professional stage musicals, the demands of callbacks for a professional production such as The Secret Garden were something of a gauntlet. After performing her prepared material, Sadie was asked to read additional scenes and learn new songs on the spot, which she explains was a way for the casting team to see whether she knew how to take direction. Before callbacks were over, they had one last challenge for Sadie: “We’d like to hear that again. But how about this time, you try a British accent?”

As it turns out, this was no curveball for Sadie Brickman Reynolds.

“Because I’ve been watching The Great British Bake Off since I was little, I have heard the accent and just sort of spoke it,” says Sadie. “Of course, they asked me to sing with a British accent, which I’d never done before.” But this didn’t pose

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This month’s Stargazing at the Westmont Observatory features a diverse celestial menu of planets, Messier objects, open clusters, and double stars on Friday, Feb. 17, beginning about 6 pm and lasting for several hours. The observatory, home of the powerful Keck Telescope, is open to the public every third Friday of the month and held in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU), whose members bring their own telescopes to share with the public.

Free parking is available near the Westmont Observatory, which is between the baseball field and the track and field/ soccer complex. To enter Westmont’s campus, please use the Main Entrance off of La Paz Road. The lower entrance off of Cold Spring Road is closed to visitors after 7 pm. In case of inclement weather, call the Telescope Viewing Hotline at (805) 565-6272 to see if the viewing has been canceled.

The evening will begin with Venus and Jupiter close together in the western sky. Although they may be too low for Westmont’s telescopes, a member of the SBAU may be able to show them in his or her telescope.

Orion, the hunter, will be high in the sky and perfect for viewing. “Westmont’s 8-inch refractor telescope should be able to show all the splendor in M42, the Great Nebula in Orion’s sword,” says Thomas Whittemore, emeritus instructor of physics and SBAU member. “Turning the refractor to Orion’s head and the star Meissa will reveal a beautiful open cluster in the Collinder catalog, named for Swedish astronomer Per Collinder, who cataloged more than 400 of these wonderful open clusters in the 1930s.”

The stunning open cluster M41 is in Canis Major, one of Orion’s hunting dogs, below Sirius, the dog star. “Sometimes called the Little Beehive, M41 hosts a collection of twinklers which lie about 2,300 light-years away from us,” Whittemore says. “Keep in mind, the light from these stars has been on its way before the birth of Christ. In a good, dark sky, this cluster is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.” Another favorite is the star Tau Canis Majoris, which lies in the lower quarters of Canis Major. “Tau Canis Majoris is a double star with a beautiful collection of stars that comprise a stunning background field,” Whittemore says. Whittemore says he also enjoys asterisms, patterns of stars that may or may not belong to one constellation. “One of my favorites for the public is one that has no name,” he says. “It’s a triangle of stars: Procyon (in Canis Minor), Sirius (in Canis Major) and the bright star in Orion, Rigel. The public should ask an SBAU member with a green laser to point to this triplet.”

Looking to the south, Procyon will appear to be yellow. Sirius is scorching white and Rigel is blue-white. “The colors reflect the stars’ surface temperatures, yellow being the coolest of the three, and white and blue-white the hottest.

Orchestra Tour Features French Romantics

The Westmont Orchestra performs at several locations as part of a Presidents’ Day weekend tour, Feb. 16-18. These concerts are open to the public and free. The orchestra will perform “Amazing Grace,” Bizet’s “Carmen Suite” and Franck’s “Symphony in D minor” at 7 pm Thursday in San Marcos High School (4750 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara); 7 pm Friday in Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church (1825 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang); and at 7 pm Saturday in Calvary Baptist Church (3355 Constellation Road, Lompoc). The orchestra concludes its tour Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1:30 pm in Westmont’s Page Multi-Purpose Room. Orchestra conductor Ruth Lin says she is looking forward to seeing her students grow and deepen their understanding of the music and what it sounds

Your northern freeway widening proposal.

When left-lane advocates retained Santa Barbara attorney Marc Chytilo to sue Caltrans, Judge Thomas Anderle ruled that the Caltrans EIR was deficient on some of the charges made by Mayor Schneider. He ordered that portions of the EIR be recirculated, causing an indefinite delay in the Cabrillo entrance reopening. Caltrans, facing lawsuits, rationally decided to switch all widening and intersection funding and construction away from Montecito and to move the 101 construction efforts to Mussel Shoals and Carpinteria.

That’s why I fault Mayor Schneider, and not Caltrans, as the principal culprit in this sorry saga. The southbound 101 on-ramp at Cabrillo still remains closed, 14 years later and counting. There is plenty of blame to go around in this 20-year political gamesmanship, but I still believe Mayor Schneider, and not Caltrans, was the primary contributor to the continued Cabrillo on-ramp closure that has unnecessarily punished Montecito’s CVR since 2009.

Bob Hazard

Santa Barbara: Where Transactional Politics Trumps Science

When it comes to intellectual curiosity or developing problem-specific solutions, our county lags far behind other $1.4B entities. Our money goes many places (take a look at our budget!) but rarely is it, as Montecito painfully knows, solution-driven or scientifically thoughtful. Allow me to explain:

Most every legal Cannabis jurisdiction in this state and others requires residential-close cannabis to be grown in greenhouses that use carbon filtration to neutralize the odor. This minimizes emissions, ground level ozone, and keeps the smell property-line contained. In other words, it does not create the textbook definition of a public nuisance, something – I might add – that is the county’s obligation to abate.

Now, had our supervisors done even a bit of homework before passing the most sweeping countywide ordinance in 50 years or, better yet, invited an open symposium exploring how other states handled the issue, this is something they would have understood. Instead, our 4,600-employee county simply rubber-stamped what the Cannabis lobby drafted, an ordinance that is now universally categorized as the worst in the state — a veritable poster child for influence peddling and intellectual laziness.

Last week, even the state’s Coastal Commission weighed-in, calling our ordinance “the underlying problem” with the coastal chair, Dayna Bochco, taking the unprecedented step of chastising the county, saying that it was “time for Santa Barbara to revisit the ordinance.” I agree, but without supervisor term limits or political competition, our five monarchs (some of whom I actually like) have little political impetus to act, especially when campaign-contributing special interests are involved!

While there are a variety of ordinance changes that should be made, I’ll focus on just one – an easy fix based on some recent science that would merely require greenhouse growers to practice their “good neighbor” mantra.

In 2021, a group of growers contracted with the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, agreeing to move toward and test carbon filtration against less expensive experimental technologies now being used in the area. While some of these same growers have shamefully reneged on their promise, more responsible growers facilitated the study which, in November, produced an in-depth third-party report showing what the entire world already knows: Carbon is superior and could reduce the smell “to a level that would result in no perceivable cannabis odor.” This hugely expensive endeavor was funded (like Resilient Communities) by private (always private!) coalition donors and was sent to the board of supes on Nov. 29, 2022, and as is Santa Barbara-typical, nothing happened!

Instead, certain supervisors (most notably “ours” in the First District) are using this truth to do what our county does best, practice transactional politics. So, on some Cannabis-appeals the more expensive carbon filtration is being required, and on others it’s not, leaving us with a patchwork of regulation and a grower-by-grower “let’s make a deal” approach that doesn’t begin to solve the problem.

We need three supervisors honest enough to admit the ordinance has failed and courageous enough to make science-based changes as it relates to “Best Available Control Technology.” Board unanimity is a followers game, and it’s time that someone on the board begins to lead in the area of ethics (where S.B. is uniquely twisted) and ends the type of transactional politics that continues to plague our county — being “open for business” should mean something other than paying tribute!

Jeff Giordano, SB County Resident

Input on Debris Flow Strategies

I don’t know enough yet to come to more than provisional conclusions about the Montecito debris flow tragedies, but I do know that if I had been on the subdivision advisory committee when proposals came in to build on what appears to have been active alluvial fans, I would have objected to building within any present or potential flood/ debris flow zone. I once served on such a committee in one of California’s large cities for several years.

I would hesitate to jump to some of the popular conclusions that seem to have been reached, apparently largely based on media reports and interviews. When I operated a land restoration consulting business in the last century, I followed the Robin Hood/Peter Drucker/Admiral Hyman Rickover strategy; I made sure to build a team that could knock me off the log in terms of knowledge strength and would make sure to pay close attention to minority reports and publish them as appendices to the main report.

Here’s some of what little I “know” or suspect about the situation:

The biggest watersheds are large (knowing how large would help), so I would find the top hydrologist(s) and geologist(s) in the field.

The climate of the future may be different, so I would find the top climatologist(s) in the field (not necessarily just the noisiest).

Conventional flood-control engineering might be more costly and less effective than unconventional alternatives. I would find the most creative young engineers I could who would objectively, rather than traditionally, engineer any needed facilities on the real-world numbers and adequate knowledge (other team members?) of the entire context. No linear thinking.

Here is just one of the questions I would want as much clarity about as possible and necessary to permit future flows to pass by as harmlessly as possible: Should runoff velocities/volumes be increased or decreased – why, how, and where?

Unless clearly necessary for public health and safety (not development) purposes, I would tend to favor reducing the runoff volume and velocity to the minimum necessary to meet project goals, including provision for capacities well above the “worst case” design scenarios. I probably would not settle for a single debris basin near the “mouth” of the canyon(s). I would probably suggest to the reconnaissance/design-study team the effective methods for reducing the volume(s) and velocities at several strategic points within the stream courses.

This would, in effect, flatten the runoff peak flows and retain a significant fraction of the event discharge to the maximum feasible, allowing the volume to drain more slowly over a longer period of time. While also simultaneously restoring/increasing riparian woodland, increasing the period of active streamflow (year-round?), and eliminating standing-water basins in favor of subsurface water storage and flow metering to prevent mosquito and other disease vectors from finding habitat for reproduction.

From recent aerial photography, the drainages appear to contain sufficient debris for yet another disaster. Because alluvial fans are built by deposition and alteration of runoff routes across their surfaces, the best researcher/team should study the present deposits to confirm this.

I welcome editing, corrections, and additions. These observations are necessarily limited in scope and detail.

Wayne Tyson

For the Love of Uni (and Local Fishermen)

My first-time visiting Santa Barbara, years ago, I vividly remember hearing people rave about the fresh uni — more commonly known as sea urchin — that was caught locally in the area and served onto your plate the same day. My first bite, I remember being blown away by the silky texture and fresh yet delicate taste of the salty animal. Caught locally using sustainable practices, fresh from sea-to-table; this is how seafood is supposed to be consumed.

However, it wasn’t until earlier this year, when I first heard about the federal government’s order allowing industrial finfish farms off of the Santa Barbara Coast, that I realized the importance of supporting our local fishermen. With plans to set up multiple fish farms along the Southern California Coast, the federal government, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, has made it clear that the health of our oceans and support for local fishermen is far less important than the profits associated with industrial fish farming. A series of fish farms along the coast would result in untreated fish waste, excess feed, chemicals, and antibiotics leaking out of the designated pens, into the open ocean, harming the entire Santa Barbara Channel and its ecosystems.

Every Saturday morning from 6 to 11 am, you can find a handful of local fishermen selling their local catches down at the harbor. Come support Santa Barbara’s fishing community next time you’re craving a seafood snack. And while you’re at it, make sure to call your local congressman to let them know that you do not support the federal government’s attempt to industrialize our oceans. Santa Barbara is known for its local fishing community; let’s make sure to keep it that way.

Christopher Hyder

More Letters to ‘Montecito’ by Michael Cox

Hi, Michael.

Just finished your delightful, original, captivating novel Montecito. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing it and to the MJ for serializing it in print. What a brilliant and innovative retro idea!

I read MJ most weeks in hardcopy. However, when I missed a week or two of your book, I was quite upset and emailed MJ, and Zach Rosen responded that I could read the missed weeks online, so I did. I was VERY HAPPY that MJ was savvy and intrepid enough to “print” it online, as well as hardcopy, and to keep the back few weeks and the beginning, for those who missed some, to reread and catch up with your fascinating story. I didn’t want to miss any. And I liked your surprise ending!

Your story is SO quintessentially Montecito. I know women whose husbands pulled similar scams on a smaller scale in Montecito. One husband, like your Genevieve, fled the country for parts unknown. The other was in lengthy litigation. And I heard of many women who were misled to make bad investments with high interest rates and defrauded. I do not live in Montecito but have spent much time over the years lunching, dining, and shopping in Montecito and have been reading the MJ print copy for several decades. Best wishes with finding an agent and publisher!

Sasha Leiterman

After reading the first couple of chapters of your book, I was HOOKED! Every time my daughter would come home with “The Journal,” I would grab it to see what Cyrus was planning to do to Hollis.

I pretty much knew that Cyrus found himself a patsy. I waited to see whether I was correct.

Your ending surprised me. Now that Hollis had the recipe for Key Lime pie, Cricket should open a pie shop and you should have book number two on the way and me as a happy reader.

You have given me at 97 years young much to look forward to with your excellent readings. I spend many hours a day reading and so looked forward to your chapters. Pure entertainment! Thank you so very much!

Best regards,

Pearl Bloom of Buellton

It was nice to see all the letters in last week’s Montecito Journal from readers who enjoyed Michael Cox’s contributions with chapters of his novel. I may be late to the game, but I just wanted to add one more voice in support. For the past few months, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Thursday’s MJ to read Michael’s latest chapters. I hope we can see more from him in the future.

Tal Avitzur

This serial story was outstanding! Perhaps the best new offering for the Journal. Each week promised a captivating read of a very well-written mystery with the added enjoyment of local interest. Best to Michael on his writing career! Will there be a new serialized novel soon? Hope so!

Kristen Salontay

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed Michael’s book. Thanks for giving it a platform. He is quite the storyteller! I awaited with anticipation his new chapters each week.

Betsy Friedl

I am desperately sad that Michael Cox’s novel Montecito, which you serialized, has concluded. I could hardly wait for each new installment and am so grateful to you for making it possible for this wonderful work to be shared with the world!

Cathy Randall

We love your paper and particularly appreciate your running Montecito by our friend Michael Cox. Just thought you should know.

Best, Ryan

Hi Michael,

I wanted to thank you for an enjoyable and, at times, exciting, read in the Montecito Journal, that is, your book Montecito

As each week went by, I found myself looking forward to the next chapter, and I think by accident, I was hooked on reading MJ as well. Hollis was certainly my favorite character, and I commiserate with him through the unfolding horror show he and we endured.

There are a few unanswered questions. Was there anything sinister involved in the horseback riding accident Tripp had? What was Genevieve’s role in all this? I know she was in on it, but there were never any flashback chapters taking us to how this all began and what Cyrus did to bring the thugs on the scene.

You want to be a novelist rather than a Wall Streeter. Good for you. I encourage you to continue your writing. It can only get better.

Thank you and best wishes in your endeavors,

Jeanette Nadeau

Hi Michael,

Thank you so much for sharing your novel with Montecito Journal readers. I looked forward to reading it every week, making it my “reward” for reading the paper cover to cover! Such fun reading about places I’ve discovered during my nine years here in Santa Barbara – and learning about some yet to be experienced. Hope this success will inspire you to continue. (I noticed the door might be open for Hollis to return to find Genevieve?) In the meantime, I am now off to Mony’s to discover the burritos and pistachio salsa for myself!

Best wishes,

Kim Holmquist

Award-winning Materials Scientist and Science Evangelist

Ainissa Ramirez

The Alchemy of Us: Uncovering Hidden Figures in Science Whose Inventions Changed Our Way of Life

Thu, Feb 23 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

FREE (registration recommended)

“Timely, informative and fascinating.”

– Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction

Dr. Ainissa Ramirez promotes a love of exploration, making complex scientific processes both clear and mesmerizing to just about everyone.

President of the American Psychological Association

Dr. Thema Bryant

Homecoming: Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self

Fri, Mar 3 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

FREE (Registration recommended)

“Dr. Thema Bryant is teaching people how to come back to themselves and handle challenges along the way of self-discovery.”

– Nedra Glover Tawwab, New York Times bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace

Co-presented with Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara

Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Song of the Cell : An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

Wed, Mar 8 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre

“Mukherjee has a storyteller’s flair and a gift for translating complex medical concepts into simple language.” The Wall Street Journal

“If you are not already in awe of biology, The Song of the Cell might get you there. It is a masterclass.” The Guardian