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Smarter Shopping for the Holidays

Those of us not blessed with that creepy “I get all my holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving” gene are likely currently in crisis mode, facing overcrowded malls, credit card meltdown, long lines, bad music, and the kind of time-is-running-out panic that drives us to spend hundreds of dollars on useless crap that nobody wants to find under their tree. But before the most wonderful time of the year turns you into a Scrooge, check out these tips for smarter, saner holiday shopping.

J7 Surfboards Goes Downtown

For a town steeped in homegrown surf culture, something funny has been happening recently in Santa Barbara proper. The classic surf shop-a simple affair offering the basics of custom boards, bikinis, leashes, wetsuits, and the occasional T-shirt-has become an endangered species.

Doll-ing for Dollars

When it comes to dolls, Montecito doesn’t toy around. Village resident Ty Warner, for example, parlayed some beanbag dolls into three South Coast golf courses, two Montecito high-end hotels, and one beach club-along with a few billion bucks in the bank.

Class Differences

The Senior File asks, “What does S.B.’s socioeconomic divide mean for students?”

Charges Filed in Zaca Fire

Two ranch workers are being criminally prosecuted for starting the Zaca Fire while trying to fix a pipe leading to a watering trough. Jose Jesus Cabrera, 38, of Santa Ynez, and Santiago Iniguez Cervantes, 46, of Santa Maria were charged on August 31 with four felony counts of “recklessly causing a fire”-one count each for three of the many workers injured fighting the blaze, plus one for the burned forest.

Fire ‘Burns’ Cold Spring

The Zaca Fire may nearly be contained, but its effects continue to burn one beloved landmark. Though Cold Spring Tavern, located at 5995 Stagecoach Road, was closed for only one week, business continues to take a huge hit. July and August, generally the tavern’s best months, were essentially lost, and it’s in need of our support.

Zaca Fire Burns On

As of Tuesday evening, after tens of thousands of acres in the Santa Barbara backcountry had burned, firefighting forces appeared to have the Zaca Fire under control with more than 60 percent of the inferno contained and August 3 earmarked as the likely full containment date. The mini-city erected in recent weeks at the Live Oak campground to provide home base and command central to the approximately 800 personnel fighting the blaze was being slowly taken down even as plumes of smoke continued to rise above the distant ridgeline.

The Man Who Would Remake the Miramar

Rick Caruso, L.A.’s bling-mall developer, is gambling millions that he can do what Ty Warner and Ian Schrager failed to do: Get the Miramar Hotel up and running. Last January, Caruso reportedly paid Warner $50 million for 14 acres in Montecito, some dusty permits, and broken-down cottages near the water’s edge-even after Warner warned everyone within John Davies’s reach that Montecito’s exacting building policies and process cause exasperation and exhaustion.

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