They’re Headed This Way

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Bloomingdale’s Coming? According to my sources, Bloomingdale’s department store may be coming to La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara. But where? Moving into the Macy’s building, or taking over the Sears store?

So far, no one’s talking.

Since Macy’s owns the prestigious Bloomie’s chain, there is speculation that the La Cumbre Macy’s would become a high-end Bloomingdale’s. This seems logical, since there is a second Macy’s in downtown Santa Barbara. Why have two in the same small city when you can introduce a higher quality store? La Cumbre Macy’s store manager refused to comment when I called Thursday and no one else was returning my calls. If there is no truth to the report, why not a simple denial?

On the other hand, I hear that it’s going to be Sears.

Bloomingdale’s, founded in New York City in 1861, has 36 stores in the U.S., and annual sales of $1.9 billion, according to Wikipedia.

Hell on Wheels: That’s what driving is going to be in the next four years during the $53 million Milpas-to-Hot Springs project, including new ramps, old ramps, and ramps to be closed. Work starts this month and everyone very much needs to get a schedule of what’s to be done when and where, because we’re going to have to do a lot of avoiding what shapes up to be one hell of a traffic jam.

McCain, Obama Coming: For a mere $1,000 you can attend a June 23 reception of Sen. John McCain at the Hope Ranch home of Carol and Bill Foley. For $2,300 you get into the special reception, including a photo op with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Sen. Barack Obama, the other presumptive presidential candidate, on the Demo side, will appear at a star-studded soiree at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion June 24 and possibly at some point at Jon Peters’ 3,000-acre El Capitan Ranch in Santa Barbara County.

New NP Firing: Kathleen Stinson was just a temp but she was a hard-working court reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press. So it was a surprise when she walked into work Monday morning and was handed her pink slip --- and not the kind she could wear. She became the 14th News-Presser fired, laid off, or thrown under a bus since May 1. Stinson, who reportedly was hired last September, “managed to get herself into several arguments with associate editor Scott Steepleton and assistant city editor James Zoltak,” blogger Craig Smith reported. “Reportedly one of the arguments between Stinson and Steepleton was so heated that Steepleton's wife, Charlotte Boechler, the assistant features editor, intervened to break it up.” Stinson’s firing could become the subject of another unfair labor practice complaint by the newsroom union, since the Teamsters claim that all the temps working there are technically part of the bargaining unit and that the union should be consulted when one of them is laid off or fired. “We have no information about the circumstances under which she departed,” Teamsters attorney Ira Gottlieb e-mailed when I inquired. “It has been the union's position that Ms. Stinson belonged in the bargaining unit represented by the union because she was performing bargaining unit work. The union's charges pertaining to that position are still being considered by the National Labor Relations Board.”

Welcome Back, George: George Foulsham, who quit as Santa Barbara News-Press managing editor back in July, 2006, as the Great Meltdown began, is coming back to town. He’s leaving the Daily News in the San Fernando Valley, to become news director at UCSB. What with the Daily News and other papers shedding staff, it’s a great move for George and also for the university, where great things are happening and we need to know more about them.

Not So Angry: Congratulations to the Angry Poodle (Nick Welsh) who won the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ first place award for media reporting/criticism, for his coverage of the aforementioned meltdown.

Bedding the Butler: Happily, the good old tradition of farce has not been lost. In Who’s in Bed with the Butler?, a zany production now at the Circle Bar B Dinner Theater, there are lots of people running on and off the tiny stage, doors slamming, and sexy women trying (and apparently succeeding) to seduce the butler, played by the excellent Sean O’Shea. The extremely versatile Jenna Scanlon plays all three of the tarts in delightful style. It’s all great fun. My mother-in-law’s verdict: “It’s the craziest thing I ever saw.” A tri-tip barbecue precedes the shows. The ranch also offers overnight accommodations and horseback riding.

Food Fight: As the world turns: When Santa Maria High kids threw a two-day food fight, did they save a few scraps for the starving people in Burma?

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