A matter of days after a preliminary report from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) suggested that high concentrations of fecal bacteria in and around East Beach and Mission Creek may be partly attributed to leaks in a nearby sewer main, the City of Santa Barbara announced plans to pull up the pipe in question and line it with plastic.
Richard Dye was born in Pasadena, California, in 1935 to second-generation Californians. He was taught to embrace heritage with deep respect. His father, born on Catalina Island in 1902, imbued in his son extreme deference for our beautiful coastal environment, civic pride, and knowledge of unique Santa Barbara early city history, including the essential long-term value of historic preservation.
Despite tearful entreaties by tenants to save their moderately priced homes from demolition at an older 10-unit apartment complex on north La Cumbre Road, members of the Santa Barbara City Council denied their appeal and approved plans-by a vote of 4-1-to replace the apartments with eight new condominiums, which will sell from $700,000 to $850,000, plus one affordable unit priced at $216,000. Throughout the council’s three-hour deliberations, many of the tenants urgently addressed the councilmembers in Spanish, describing through an interpreter how many jobs they already work and the hardships they anticipate in finding new accommodations they can afford.
Four-year veteran of the Santa Barbara School Board Lynn Rodriguez announced this week that she will not seek reelection this November. Citing personal reasonsspecifically, her two childrenthe former president of the board officially removed herself from the race for two seats on the five-member board. The other seat up for grabs belongs to eight-year boardmember Dr. Bob Noel, who also recently declared himself ready to fight for a third term, despite indicating last month that he was inclined not to run.
Imagine a world without Headbangers Ball, Beavis and Butt-head, Yo! MTV Raps, the Tom Green Show, The Osbournes, Jackass, Punk’d, Newlyweds, or Pimp My Ride. Now, brace yourselves: It was 25 years ago, on August 1, 1981, that MTV first went on the air, and the influence the network has had on all aspects of pop culture can hardly be overstated. In MTV’s early days, videos ruled, and made style icons out of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and, god help us, Boy George. Painted-on moles and black lace became ubiquitous among teenage girls, while teenage boys became : confused.
Waste not, want not is a good axiom for all aspects of life. In the natural world, nothing goes to waste. Plants and animals live, grow, and die only to join the cycle of life, returning elements to their ecosystem to be “recycled” into new forms. As humans, we’ve cut into that cycle with almost all of our modern enterprises. We’ve been piling up our waste in artificial mountains, towing it out to sea on barges or incinerating it, just to get it out of the way. The light is slowly dawning that this is just not good for the environment and it’s high time we started cleaning up our act.
Sean Dunn closes the doors of Alpha Thrift’s downtown digs for the last time Sunday evening, bringing to an abrupt conclusion Alpha’s 39-year presence on State Street. According to Dunn, Alpha was chased out of downtown by prohibitive rents, and will soon open a new and bigger space in Goleta on Hollister Avenue near Kellogg.
After nearly two-and-a-half hours of battling with the rod and reel, a woman from Rancho Palos Verdes caught a record-breaking shark off Anacapa Island last week.
Pop music keeps charging forward on its playlisted, parallel tracks, and yet the remarkable and unprecedented Santana saga continues. For close to four decades now, Carlos Santana has led his eponymous Latin-rock band from behind his well-worn and well-warmed electric guitar, hiring and inviting guest vocalists to share the stage, but not so much the spotlight.
At the Lobero Theatre, Thursday, July 20.
Doug Varone’s work is many things: challenging, beautiful, surprising, emotive, gut-wrenching, sublime, compelling, and lyrical. In his fourth visit to Santa Barbara, Varone and his company performed two pieces, “Castles” and “The Ruins of Language,” both of which explored the multiple aspects of relationships through dance.
