Free Oscars viewing at Arlington

SANTA BARBARA — A free viewing of the Oscars will take place Sunday on the big screen at the Arlington Theatre.

Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. at the theater, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara, in time for the live ABC broadcast at 5.

A red carpet pre-show party with music by DJ Darla Bea will precede the broadcast at 3 p.m. in the Arlington courtyard. That event will cost $15, which includes priority seating during the broadcast, free popcorn, a free cocktail and a free raffle ticket to win prizes. Tickets for the pre-show party will be available at the Arlington box office.

The Oscars show will be hosted by ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

— Dave Mason

Grace Fisher said.

Fisher

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It is also a place where it is a hub for people to come in and do drop-in art or have a place to hang out. It’s a magical feeling when you come to it.

“I don’t want it to be a place where people talk about problems. I want it to be a place where you forget about that and focus on the art in front of you and the friendships around you,” Ms. Fisher said.

“The word ‘disability’ sometimes evokes a wheelchair, hospital or words that aren’t necessarily positive,” she said.

“I want it to be a place where when anyone comes in they see that although we may be a little different, these differences are still to be celebrated. We are capable of much more than the assumptions that are out there.”

“I want people with disabilities to feel like there is a place dedicated to them,” she said. “I want it to be an avenue for people to build relationships, friendships, and connections.

Fyi

The grand opening of the Grace Fisher Foundation’s Inclusive Arts Clubhouse will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at the new facility, located at La Cumbre Plaza (Space F 118, next to the Museum of Sensory and Movement Experience) in Santa Barbara.

“It can be isolating and there are not many artistic opportunities, especially for kids. I hope with this space friendships will be able to be made and formed. I want it to be a place where kids can grow through the arts as they discover new things they might want to pursue in the future and offer opportunities that aren’t already out there.

The foundation would like to thank Kyle’s Kitchen who is catering tonight’s event; Sara Wilcox, the director of the clubhouse; the board of the Grace Fisher Foundation; the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Barbara Foundation. For more about the Grace Fisher Foundation, go to gracefisherfoundation.org.

“All programs are free, there are no barriers to keep anyone from attending. I want it to

SETO, Alethea

Alethea Seto, dearly adored wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away surrounded by her loving family on February 25, 2023, at the age of 71, in Camarillo.

Born Alethea Maureen Thompson, Thea was raised in the Los Angeles area and graduated from USC with a degree in Occupational Therapy, a profession in which she was engaged throughout her life. After working at Northridge Medical Center, her adventurous spirit moved her to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she traveled in a mobile therapy van throughout Vancouver Island treating many First Nations people and making lifelong friends. Thea returned to southern California to resume a friendship with Raymond Seto. This blossomed into a marriage which blessed them with three beautiful children, Aeryn, Cassandra, and Gregory. After living in Palos Verdes for several years, the family moved to Mission Canyon in Santa Barbara, where Thea devoted her time to raising her children and volunteering at their schools (Roosevelt Elementary, Santa Barbara Middle School, and Santa Barbara High), while continuing her Occupational Therapy career at Cottage Hospital, SELPA, and a variety of home health agencies.

A lifelong mystic, Thea was devoted to living an authentic, purposeful life and seeking the divine through wisdom traditions, earth-based spirituality, and embodied practices including yoga and t’ai chi chuan. She especially enjoyed hosting tai chi retreat groups in Santa Barbara.

After all three of their children left home to attend UC Berkeley, Thea and Ray moved to Ventura County, where she continued to practice Occupational Therapy part-time, and pursued creative writing, volunteering, and healing arts. She created a second family home on the Sonoma Coast and was an active and loving presence for each of her seven grandchildren.

Thea was very proud of her children’s accomplishments. Aeryn became an executive at JP Morgan before pursuing a new path as a Presbyterian pastor. Cassandra graduated from Stanford Law School and became a litigation partner at O’Melveny & Myers.

Gregory graduated from Loyola Law School with a JD and LLM in tax before joining Deloitte as an international tax attorney. However, what provided the greatest joy and fulfillment to Thea was her children’s happy marriages to wonderful partners (Shan, Jonathan, and Julia) and their blessing her with beloved grandchildren.

Thea is survived by husband Ray; children Aeryn, Cassandra, and Gregory; and grandchildren Cody, Liv, Jack, Emerson, Dean, Nathan, and Mia. She is also survived by siblings Karen, Kathleen, and David.

the Vedanta be a hub, not just a place for programs.”

Ms. Fisher added that the clubhouse welcomes everyone, not just those with disabilities. “It is a place where anyone who comes through the doors sees a celebration of and is a part of diversity.”

In addition to its regular programming, the inclusive arts clubhouse will host special events and workshops throughout the year, including performances, exhibitions, educational opportunities, and supportive services for families, local community groups, and caregivers.

The clubhouse’s goal is to create a “make you feel good” environment where all children can feel comfortable.

“It’s a pretty magical feeling,” Ms. Fisher said. “We have done a variety of adaptive programs around town. Having this space is exciting because we can plan whatever we want, because we have the space and there are no limitations with times or places. It has been fun building the schedule and designing the area.

“We are really lucky because the space already had a lot of stuff in place to evoke a magical feeling,” Ms. Fisher said. “Bella Vista Designs Inc,. brought a lot to the space to bring that welcoming feeling.

“When people come through the door, I want them to see how disability is nothing of which to be afraid.

“It’s a place where we are all calibrated for who we are.” email: kzehnder@newspress.com

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Committee “to distill this down for discussion.” As it stands, “there’s too many options to consider,” he said. “It’s like being given ‘Moby Dick’ and being asked to write a one-page synopsis.”

In her presentation, Laura Dubbels, the city’s Housing and Human Services manager, outlined the draft ordinance’s major components, but the main thing speakers who followed her seemed to agree with was her assessment that the need for affordable housing in Santa Barbara is critical.

Council members, while thanking staff for its hard work putting the ordinance together with little guidance from the council, endorsed the Santa Barbara Housing Authority’s emphasis on buying and building more housing units as opposed to increasing housing services.

Skip Szymanski, the Housing Authority’s deputy executive director, pointed directly at the embattled renters who spoke earlier as the very people who need help.

“Those are the people we want to be housing,” he said. “We can provide housing for the workforce and people in need who have been in Santa Barbara.”

He warned about prioritizing housing services at the expense of providing actual units where people can live.

“If you are to be all things to all people, that doesn’t work,” he said. “We already have those programs and have money for those programs. This is an opportunity to actually build and purchase affordable housing today.”

He noted that the Housing Authority has an opportunity right now to purchase 60 units where city workers and unhoused people could live.

“If the city had the money today, I could do the deal and bring the project to you,” he said.

Councilmember Eric Friedman immediately responded, suggesting that if a certain amount of money were available for such a purchase, and the Housing Authority needed a bit more just to clinch the deal, the council should be able to make that extra money available for a one-time purchase.

Speaker after speaker stressed that new affordable housing that is built or purchased should go for people with very low, or low, or moderate income at most, people who fall within 160% of the area median income, which includes the city’s workforce — including teachers and sheriff’s deputies — forced to live elsewhere and commute here to their jobs.

Others argued that any ordinance that’s crafted be kept as simple as possible so that it provides a straightforward approach to increase deedrestricted permanent housing with 90-year covenants, essentially ensuring the units would remain affordable forever.

“This does promise to be a truly landmark program,” said Stanley Tzankov, co-founder of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union, as long as the focus remains on the program being a source of funding to “our low and moderate neighbors in this town.” email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

He also praised the inclusion of up to $250,000 for legal-aid groups or attorneys to defend tenants’ rights “and give them a fighting chance in court” to avoid being evicted.