School Board Developments

After nearly a year of researching and polling local teachers, UniDev finally presented the draft results of a controversial feasibility study to the Santa Barbara School Board about the possibility of building high-density affordable homes for school employees on two district-held properties. The presentation was attended by nearly 75 neighbors of the Hidden Valley and Tatum properties, all of whom-despite living in Santa Barbara and Goleta, respectively-expressed their concern and upset over the possibility of increased density in their neighborhoods.

Aikido Gets Kicked Out

It looks as if Aikido of Santa Barbara (pictured) on East Cota Street is the latest in a rapidly growing list of local businesses that are being forced out of their longtime locations due to rising rents and a big-money real estate market. According to the dojo’s sensai Christine Wong, the nonprofit school of martial arts was served with eviction papers in early June, despite having what she characterized as a “good relationship” with the building’s owners for nearly 15 years and a current three-year lease that isn’t set to expire until July 2008. “The owners want to sell the property and I guess they think they can’t sell it for what it’s worth with us still in it,” Wong explained.

Debating Gaviota

Third District County Supervisor Brooks Firestone (pictured right) and the director of UCSB’s Ocean and Coastal Policy Center, Dr. Mike McGinnis (left), went head-to-head before an audience of nearly 70 in a debate regarding the future of the Gaviota Coast. With the proposed development of Naples and dozens of other plans for luxury homes in the area in various stages of the county approval process, the Saturday night event offered a unique forum for two major players in the drama to clear the air. Hosted and moderated by members of the Reagan Ranch Leadership Academy-a new local young Republican think tank-the debate was sometimes fiery, though it concluded with both parties expressing hopes of working together in the future.

Pole Position

Last Friday’s scorching sun and 90-degree temperatures provided a picturesque yet taxing backdrop for a public walk-through of the proposed Naples development. The daylong affair was an official site visit for the county’s planning and development staff, led by the developers’ consultant Mark Lloyd, and organized by Santa Barbara Ranch owner Matt Osgood and the Schulte family of Dos Pueblos Ranch.

Pedal Power

The results of the second annual Santa Barbara Team Bike Challenge are in, with the Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) Chain Gang (Bryan Kean, Andy Gin, Mindy Stark, Amanda Kirby, and captain Cherie Topper) taking home top honors. The earth-friendly, feel-good event, sponsored by SBCAG’s Traffic Solutions, inspired 1,100 participants to leave their car keys behind and take to their bicycles for the entire month of June; all riders combined logged a total of 129,685 miles.

Buying Time

Devereux Rapist’s Sentencing Delayed

With a packed, emotionally charged courtroom looking on, what was meant to be the final chapter in the Darren Boyer Thomas rape trial took an unexpected turn this week when the sentencing hearing was put on hold midway through the proceedings. Armed with jailhouse research conducted by Thomas-a former Devereux supervisor-defending attorney Steve Baylash made a successful last-minute motion to continue the matter in order to explore the possibility of a retrial. Despite the postponement of the sentencing, Judge Brian Hill allowed a majority of the hearing to proceed, including sentencing arguments from prosecutor Joyce Dudley and half a dozen heartfelt impact statements from the victims’ friends and family.

Tern Massacre

Though the investigation is still being conducted, it appears hundreds of seabirds may have died on a barge that served as the staging area for the Independence Day fireworks extravaganza in Santa Barbara. The mystery began a couple of hundred miles to the south in the days leading up to the Fourth when hundreds of dead baby terns washed up on the shores of Long Beach near Island White. According to sources at the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), approximately 2,000 adult terns and their chicks had been nesting in recent months on two barges moored off Long Beach.