NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Just weeks before developer Bill Levy’s drop-dead
date for beginning construction on his Ritz-Carlton
time-share condos at the base of State Street,
Levy’s land use agents were seeking major modifications to the
conditions of his permit. Appearing before the city’s Historic
Landmarks Commission, Levy’s architects sought permission to tear
down the Californian Hotel and reconstruct it entirely, rather than
retrofit and restore it, as the Planning Commission had required.
The commission members overwhelmingly rejected the request. If Levy
doesn’t begin construction by December 12, his project is dead.

Members of the Santa Barbara City Council were asked to take the
first baby steps toward passing a resolution
calling for the impeachment of President George W.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, but it’s not clear whether
there’s enough council support to put the question on a future
council agenda. Freelance documentary filmmaker Mark Manning
recounted a clandestine visit to Fallujah, saying, “The people
there constantly told me, ‘The American people will stop this.’
They didn’t say Al Qaeda would stop this, they didn’t say the
insurgency would stop this – they said the American people would
stop it. But where are the American people now?”