Typically regarded a shoo-in, 10-term Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly-whose district includes much of inland Santa Barbara County-announced last Friday he would not seek re-election in June, citing serious but unspecified health problems. Because the legal deadline to file had expired, Gallegly’s decision spurred a desperate though futile scramble among replacement Republicans hoping to jump into the race.
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.
In response to pressure from state housing officials concerned that Santa Barbara County accommodate its fair share of the state’s burgeoning population, the county Planning Commission unanimously approved a new housing policy to rezone 62 acres-yet to be determined-for the construction of 1,235 new housing units. Even though the North County has only half of Santa Barbara’s population, its leaders agreed to take on two-thirds of the new housing. The Planning Commission’s action comes more than two years after the state’s initial deadline.
The Santa Barbara City Council sent a tough message late Tuesday to developers with plans on the drawing board for upper State Street: The rules of the game are changing dramatically, and City Hall intends to craft a new vision of what sort of development will be allowed there. After six hours of intense deliberations, the council voted 6-1 to reject architect Barry Berkus’s controversial State Street Lofts proposal, a three-story mix of commercial space and 55 one-bedroom condominiums slated for a spot now occupied by the deteriorating Plaza Inn and adjoining office building at the congested intersection of State and La Cumbre streets. In so doing, six of the councilmembers-only Roger Horton dissented-rejected the recommendation of their own planning staff, and snubbed a 6-1 vote in favor of the project by the city Planning Commission last December.
REFUND THIS: Like about 2,025 other people, I wedged my soggy self into a seat at the Arlington Theatre last Friday night to see former secretary of state Colin Powell. He was there, ostensibly, to talk about leadership. I harbored some delusions that he might talk about some other things, too. Like how he’d been totally punked by the Bush White House.
Two young Latino men clad in thin T-shirts and jeans marched up State Street, hands buried deep in their pockets in search of respite from Monday’s harsh, chilly winds. As they approached Victoria Street, they were startled by the sight of giant fish-six feet long, three feet in diameter, and ornately painted with a fly-fishing fantasy scene straight from the pages of Field & Stream-beached atop a green metal pole jutting seven feet into the air.
There’s a lot of talk these days about special interests-how they need to be curbed, reigned in, and otherwise muzzled. It’s the same old story: Greedy fat cats shelling out gazillions in political donations to maintain the status quo, despoil the environment, and keep the boot heel of oppression firmly planted on the necks of the working person.
We’ve all heard about six degrees of separation, the notion that everybody on planet Earth is a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend no more than six times removed.
Former childcare provider Sylvia Vasquez, already charged with child abuse involving three of her four adopted children, faced additional abuse charges Monday after the court learned that Vasquez’s digital camera contained “several lascivious, nude, or partially nude photos” of her 12-year-old adopted daughter.
Former deep-sea diver and guerilla-doc filmmaker Mark Manning spent the last 18 months grappling with a lethal wrinkle on the age-old riddle: If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to see it, did it really happen? For Manning, the fallen tree in question is the Iraqi city of Falluja, toppled in November 2004 by American troops who forced the exodus of some 250,000 residents and killed unknown numbers more.
