••• “With 2,000 ballots yet to be processed and only 100 left to count in the 1st District, an election tally on Wednesday morning showed challenger Roy Lee holding his slim but now insurmountable lead over incumbent Das Williams in the race for 1st District supervisor by 544 votes. […] Provisional ballots, mismatching signatures on ballots, overseas ballots, and other complications make up the 2,000 yet to be counted countywide. Of that number, fewer than 100 are in the 1st District.” —Independent
••• “Santa Barbara Sky FC officially announced via Instagram on Monday that they have delayed its debut until the USL League One 2025 season.” Maybe the team’s pronouns are they/it? —Noozhawk
••• “Santa Barbara Airport presented an update to the master plan, including a preferred development concept, to the City Council on Tuesday. Possible changes include reconfiguration of a dual runway system, curb improvements and a three-level parking garage. […] The airport’s preferred terminal reconfiguration […] would include closing one runway and converting it into a taxiway and constructing a new terminal. […] The plan also includes a vertiport site to accommodate electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft. […] As part of the terminal improvement project, there are plans to add a restaurant above the observation deck, but construction isn’t expected to begin for two years and the restaurants won’t be operational for four years.” I’ve always thought that what makes SBA so great is that it’s small. —Noozhawk
••• “Several arrests have been made in […] a ‘murder-for-hire scheme’ leading to the death of 96-year-old Montecito woman Violet Evelyn Alberts in 2022.” —Independent
••• Santa Barbara Magazine‘s home-and-garden issue includes looks at some neat properties, including fashion mogul Jeff Abrams’s El Mirador estate and the stately Winsor Soule house in the Lower Village redone by actress Jordana Brewster and ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit.
••• Cleopatra Ink, a chain of tattoo parlors, is opening at 619 State Street (Cota/Ortega). —Noozhawk
••• “The city of Carpinteria activated a new stoplight at Palm and Carpinteria avenues last week,” and I’m all for it. That left turn onto Carp Avenue was fraught. —Coastal View News
••• “Refugio State Beach and Gaviota State Park are still closed as of Friday, as crews work on winter storm cleanup, palm tree removal and fixing damaged infrastructure. […] Winter storms have taken out at least 16 iconic palm trees along the Refugio State Beach shoreline.” —Noozhawk
••• “The Santa Barbara News-Press bankruptcy trustee plans to sell the newspaper’s website and social media accounts [and the News-Press trademark] to a Malta-based company for $250,000, or to a higher bidder if one comes forward.” The bankruptcy trustee “says he doesn’t have full access to the business’s books and records because he can’t get into the former News-Press buildings that [Wendy] McCaw owns, according to court records.” Losing gracefully is a lost art. —Noozhawk
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Ah, yes, a tattoo parlor (and not a “cool” local one, either), Just what State Street needs. Goes perfectly with the 7/11. We should add a liquor store and smoke shop, too.
I think the updating of our airport sounds great and not necessarily changing the size dramatically. Hopefully the restaurant will serve and early morning breakfast for all these very early flights we have to fly across country.
What has happened with the Canary Island Date Palms that were removed from Refugio? Were they able to be planted elsewhere?
There’s more in the Noozhawk article about the trees.