Posted on May 17 at 11:29 a.m.

Killing snakes with a shotgun seems like overkill and a bit messy.

I've seen park rangers use very long "snake tongs" (for lack of a better name) to pick up coiled rattlers and dump them into an empty garbage can. Rattlers striking distance/range isn't that far - up to half it's length. That'd be about a 3 ft range.

On Guns of Gaviota

Posted on May 17 at 11:21 a.m.

Or ... if missing means "lost" (implying incompetance) then maybe this is all legit. Seems odd to implicate an entire branch staff though.

On Entire Staff of San Roque Union Bank Replaced

Posted on May 17 at 11:18 a.m.

"One customer claimed a new teller told her money was missing."

If Union Bank had evidence specific employees were stealing, I'd assume they'd file criminal charges. Unless they wanted to avoid publicity (that horse has already left the barn).

If the bank didn't have evidence, then I wonder if there's a potential for a lawsuit.

Or maybe this is a cost reduction move. Are the new employees younger than the original staff?

On Entire Staff of San Roque Union Bank Replaced

Posted on May 17 at 1:11 a.m.

Here's an editorial on the freeway project written by the politically-connected consultant hired by Pulice's group, Mary Peters:

http://www.montecitojournal.net/archi...

Interesting lines from her editorial ...

"While I do not pretend to have a full grasp of all of the issues associated with the project ... it would be a shame to forever alter the historic and scenic beauty of this area without fully considering the alternatives proposed by the MontecitoAssociation"

" ... would allow the opportunity to open a dialogue between the Montecito-Santa Barbara communities and perhaps a design review team comprised of county and city members working with Caltrans ..."

I other words, their consultant doesn't know much of the details, and she implies the community hasn't had a chance to provide input into the design. Wrong!

There has already been a lengthy public comment process which resulted in locals adding 2 design options to the orignal 3 proposed by Caltrans. And guess what ... Montecitans loved the design selected by the SB Planning Commision (I believe that's the one Caltrans went with, correct me if I'm wrong). Read about it here:

http://www.montecitojournal.net/archi...

On Sleep with Dogs, Wake with Flea Powder

Posted on May 17 at 12:48 a.m.

I smell a self-serving agenda so decided to look into this more ...

It turns out there have been numerous public comment sessions held on the design of the freeway modifications already, and the lengthy comment period for design selection has ended (although there are many reviews still ahead).

In fact, during the concept reviews held last year, local residents, including Montecitans and Santa Barbarans, were allowed to rework Caltrans' original three design options. The result of this community input was the creation of two more design options which Caltrans allowed to be added to the official slate ... now a total of 5 design options.

Those 5 design options were reviewed and one of them was unanimously approved by the City Planning Commisson after public comment.

Judging from the June 21, 2012 issue of the Montecito Journal, many locals were ecstatic that their design option was selected. You can read all the praise they heaped on the selection process and the resulting freeway design here:

http://www.montecitojournal.net/archi...

For the few who want to reopen the design process, where were you when you had your chance last year?

On Montecitans Pull Rank on Caltrans

Posted on May 16 at 9:49 p.m.

The old photo with the Japanese flags hanging off the buildings is interesting. Pre-war I would guess. Didn't there used to be a Buddhist temple across from Jimmy's on Canon Perdido long ago?

On Entrusted with the Past

Posted on May 16 at 10:17 a.m.

The airport can cause lots of noise over IV ... when I used to live there, I once overslept and was woken by the plane I had missed.

On Siphoning Off Goleta Slough

Posted on May 16 at 10:12 a.m.

For years I thought those were the lyrics to that Kinks song too. But I think it's really "paranoia they will destroy ya".

Sorta like John Lenon's song, "Give peas a chance".

On Guns of Gaviota

Posted on May 16 at 10:07 a.m.

First it was cell phone repeaters, now freeway improvements. These cry baby plutocrats don't deserve the level of deference they always expect that everyone else never gets.

On Sleep with Dogs, Wake with Flea Powder

Posted on May 15 at 8:24 p.m.

As usual, Eckermann has nailed the big picture.

The Light Blue Line maps @Google Earth cover 1m to 7m sea rise scenarios. No impact at 1m, but somewhere beginning between 1m and 3m, SBA runways are underwater.

On Siphoning Off Goleta Slough