••• I noticed a sign for Assemblage in the Funk Zone a month or so ago, and I kept meaning to check it out. After Noozhawk ran a profile, I had no excuse to wait any longer—and in the meantime, the shop has expanded quite a bit. Founder Henry Castelo now has around 5,000 square feet to play with, subleasing to various vendors selling vintage, art, architectural surplus, and so much more. (There’s even a clown baby in a Lucite chest, if that happens to be on your list.) It’s a hoot to explore—as you can see from the photos above and below—and keep an eye on the company’s Instagram for info about markets on the former Cabana Home terrace. P.S. Assemblage is pronounced in the French style.
••• A former graduate student of Pacifica Graduate Institute wrote a scathing denunciation of the school’s leadership. Among the complaints: “Stakeholders claim they are suffering from manipulative rhetorical pressure to convert and pray to Jesus, often in situations they cannot escape, from meetings to graduation to formal speeches [CEO Dr. Leonie] Mattison gives to podcasts they participate in. Now that alumni, students, faculty, and staff are becoming aware her “The Thread” system is not merely a Mentoring program, as first presented, but actually her evangelical ministry materials.” —Edhat
••• Last week’s Montecito Journal had renderings of the swimming pools proposed for the Biltmore resort, including the the “sand-beach entry.”
••• “Without a peep of discussion, the county supervisors approved an additional $155,000 to build a concrete contraption on the banks of Toro Canyon Creek in order to contain a slow-moving oil seep that’s been festering since oil was first drilled there in the 1880s. […] That brings the cost to the county’s general fund for this mess to date to $5.4 million.” —Independent
••• “What Is Future of New Fire Station 10 in Goleta? […] For years, a sign in a weedy lot along Hollister Avenue has been the only evidence of the project.” —Noozhawk
••• The Santa Barbara Studio Artists Tour is this weekend. —Noozhawk
••• The tree of the month: “There are surprisingly large numbers of trees growing successfully in the Santa Barbara community that have origins in much wetter tropical and subtropical climates than ours, with the Soapberry being a good example. […] In its native areas, it has been used for many purposes. Most notably—and the reason it is named Soapberry—is for its use by indigenous people as a soap. The fruits are mashed in water to produce a soapy lather, which is then is used for washing laundry, for personal hygiene, and for household cleaning. While the seeds are basically inedible, they are used as beads in crafts, rosaries, and buttons. They can be crushed and used as insecticides. Hunting tribes have used them in large quantities to paralyze fish.” —Edhat
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