Tuesday, September 5
Barney takes on Kyra Phillips’ bathroom screw-up on CNN, proposes the first Santa Barbara Ugly Awards, attacks Riviera speeders, gives the whereabouts of Jacko’s big cats, and discusses some of the latest News-Press news.
Barney Brantingham
Recent Stories
On the Beat
Hotel Andaluc-a Changing Hands: Word on the street is that the Hotel Andaluc-a, sporting Santa Barbara’s only hotel roof garden at Chapala and Carrillo streets, has been sold or is in the process. Buyer, according to my information, is Edward Thomas Hospitality Corp.-its current management firm-which owns sister hotels Shutters at the Beach and Casa del Mar in Santa Monica. The Andaluc-a opened in December 2005, but has reportedly been a disappointment.
Standing Ovation for Jerry Roberts
Former News-Press editor Jerry Roberts and eight others (including this columnist) were given awards by the Society of Professional Journalists over the weekend. Said SPJ president David Carlson, “We pay tribute to the courage and principled sacrifice of these nine journalists, who opted to risk their livelihoods rather than remain in a position where they felt their journalistic ethics and professional credibility were being violated.”
Good Sport Leaving the N-P
Sportswriter Mike Traphagen joins the News-Press exodus
On the Beat
They’re coming! If you think Santa Barbara’s a tourist town now, wait a couple of years. Hotel industry people I’ve talked to say that when all the pending resort projects come on line, Santa Barbara will become a major international Mecca for high-end travelers. For starters, they predict that after the prestigious Orient-Express plows millions into El Encanto Hotel and Spa, with its prime location overlooking the city, it will lure the elite that follow and trust the O-E brand. El Encanto will close in September for months of major renovations. The Four Seasons Biltmore, now that Ty Warner has spent far more than $200 million to buy and upgrade the 1920s classic, may be positioning itself to focus on more East Coast old and new money, and Europeans with plenty of pounds and euros. For some reason locals tend to forget that Bacara is holding its own out in Goleta despite fears a few years ago that it would boogie-board into a sea of red ink. Bacara offers seclusion and privacy to an increasing number of those who demand it. Ty Warner is still pumping money into renovating the San Ysidro Ranch, long a hideaway for honeymooners and L.A. entertainment folks. When the work is done and the restaurant reopens after being dark for a couple of years, the ranch will again be a star.
Tuesday’s On the Beat
GETTING GASSED: “Having
just returned from Sacramento, where gasoline is available at $2.97
a gallon, it still puzzles me why Santa Barbara’s prices are so
much higher,” notes Goletan Gary Lapman. “Are there special
requirements by our county regarding the formula for the product
sold here, or is all gas in California the same?
A Civil Union
National Labor Relation Board hears from TeamsterAttorney after Starshine Roshell column dropped from the News-Press
Star Flames Out
Starshine Roshell’s column dropped in another News-Press reassignment.
On the Beat
Gassed in Goleta: Since many people seem to be driving to Oxnard to get cheaper gas at Costco, reader John-Allen asks what’s going on with Costco’s application to the City of Goleta for a service station there? He’s heard that Costco was waiting for the mayor to sign off.
Not so, replies the city’s PIO, Kirsten Zimmer Deshler. True, Costco applied before Goleta was incorporated in 2002, but the lack of an environmental impact report is what’s holding up things, she said. To make one, a traffic analysis is needed because of all the expected demand. If people are willing to drive to Oxnard, “you can imagine what will happen here,” Kirsten told me.
News-Press Cutting Columnists
Promises of more local coverage result in the release of five community columnists.
