••• The Tiffany & Co. store at La Cumbre Plaza is closing January 31. That company is a case study of how to kill a luxury brand. —Montecito Journal
••• Meanwhile, future tenants at the mall include Phenix Salon Suites (“provides the framework and structure to help people launch their own business at the fraction of the cost of operating a full-scale salon”), Word of Life Church, and more appealingly, Bristol Farms supermarket. —Noozhawk
••• “Savoy Wines will close at the end of the year.” —Independent
••• “A former Australian beauty queen and socialite turned developer and Montecito Realtor was sentenced in her home country to 34 months in prison for evading $1.73 million in taxes. Simone Semmens, who appears to have gone by her married name, Simone Halstead, while working out of the Coldwell Banker offices on Coast Village Road, was found guilty on multiple counts.” —Independent
••• Route 154, which was closed because of the Cave Fire, has reopened. “Drivers should expect traffic control when traveling through a section of the highway. […] Motorists are urged to reduce speed from Painted Cave to San Antonio Creek roads so Caltrans engineers can ‘assess the hillside.'” —Noozhawk
••• “Snow and rain across Los Padres National Forest have provided sufficient moisture to reduce fire restrictions on the forest effective immediately. […] Campfires and charcoal barbeques will be allowed in all areas of the forest. A California campfire permit is required to build a campfire outside of a designated campfire use site.” —Noozhawk (photo courtesy Los Padres Forest Association)
Comment: