Flower Festivals
Tip-toe through the : wildflowers. Although for much of the Northern Hemisphere it’s still winter, spring comes early to our seaside hamlet.
Year: 2006
Quote of the Week
‘I hate to tell anyone how to vote. I don’t even ask people to
vote for me.’
-Supervisor Joe Centeno, on ballot language opposing the county split.
Shutterbugs:
The Ojai Center for the Arts Photography branch is now accepting submissions for Transformation, its annual show. Artwork must portray
SPOTLIGHT ON The Delphine Gallery
Tucked into the corner storefront of the Arlington Plaza lies the Delphine Gallery, an outpost for Santa Barbara artists. Owned
Good Night, and Good Luck
Five years of effort culminated Tuesday night as the Santa Barbara City Council voted to approve a Living Wage Ordinance for city contract workers. The 5-2 vote in favor was greeted by a full house of rhythmic clapping, hugs, and thank-yous among councilmembers, the public, and city staff. Das Williams, who along with Helene Schneider championed and shepherded the ordinance through the process, said the ordinance “reflected Santa Barbara’s values.” Several longtime Living Wage advocates addressing the council prior to the vote intoned the sentiment that a city’s budget should be “a moral document.”
DON’T EAT THE DIRT:
Six empty drums of the banned insecticide chlordane were found during grading for the Comstock Homes project on Ellwood Mesa; the soil beneath one of the drums contained amounts well in excess of Environmental Protection Agency residential standards. Chlordane, which was formerly used to eliminate termites, was outlawed in 1988 after it was shown to damage several organ systems. The drums some lidless and rusted may have been there for the past 30 years, according to city officials. Although the drums were found in December, City Council received a report on them just last week. Tests since the city excavated 75 square feet of soil have found only trace amounts of the pesticide.
On Campus
GOOD TIMING: I had been writing about Maestro Paul Bambach, UCSB professor and director of the University Wind Ensemble, for quite a long time before I finally was introduced to him-out at the Music Academy, I think. As we shook hands, he said, “I feel like I owe you about 10 years worth of thank-you’s.”
No Dog but Dog
OUTER LIMITS: With a cinnamon-colored pit bull charging at me, I found myself contemplating sudden doubts about the wisdom of my unannounced visit. It was approaching 7:30 last Tuesday morning; the light crackled with all the stunning clarity that follows a long, hard rain; and I was checking out the Plaza Inn by State and La Cumbre, a flea-bag flop-house for those who’ve run out of luck to be down on. Although I’ve known many a sweet pit bull, I still regard the breed as the canine equivalent of a drive-by shooting.
CALL TO COMPASSION:
In response to a slew of immigration bills making their way through Congress, Cardinal Roger Mahoney asked priests in the Los Angeles Archdioceseincluding Santa Barbarato encourage compassion for undocumented workers during last Sunday’s services.
SAY YOU’RE SORRY:
After hearing a tearful apology from Sylvia Vasquez for her violation of a court order that specifically barred her from communicating with her adopted children, Judge Joseph Lodge was sufficiently moved to reduce her bail last Thursday from $5 million, a county record, to $1 million, effectively releasing Vasquez, 50, from county jail. The former childcare provider and foster mother was charged earlier this year with child abuse and neglect after Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies found three of her children living in sometimes filthy conditions and periodically under confinement, while a fourth child was allegedly injected with an antigrowth hormone. Vasquez’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24.
