City 1-21
Deano’s Pizzarama, the Mesa’s family-friendly and iconic grub-and-grog emporium on Cliff Drive, was forced to close its doors for good this Sunday after 50 years in business. Efforts by Mesa neighborhood activists to entice landlord representatives from Investec to a community forum failed to bear fruit. Lou Torres, who bought Deano’s nearly six years ago, had gotten at least $5,000 behind on his rent. According to Investec, Torres—a Los Angeles firefighter—was exceptionally difficult to reach and had failed to make good on recent commitments to pay his back rent and to pay his current rent on time.
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The City of Santa Barbara is the only place in the county where medical marijuana dispensaries can exist, thanks to a new moratorium passed by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on 1/19. Every other county jurisdiction has banned dispensaries. Because of the way the law is arranged, county staff will have to prepare a report and return to the board in two months, and at that time the board could elect to extend the ban for a full two years.
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The Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara, using a gift of $433,000 from the Estate of Donald T. Leahy, will be building a teen center on the Eastside. Construction is planned to start in June. The center, to be located at the club’s Canon Perdido Street facility, will help teens with education and career development, health and life skills, and leadership development.
