•••• The Wall Street Journal reports that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, were the buyers of Solana, the grand old hilltop estate at 256 Eucalyptus Hill Drive. Their current Montecito property will presumably hit the market in coming months. P.S. An astute reader figured out the Schmidts were the new owners right after word of the $30.8 million deal first surfaced here last month, but I didn’t mention it because I can’t quite convince myself that the public has a right to know who lives where. If someone else publishes the info, however, it becomes fair game. As moral positions go, it’s an awkward one, but it’s where I’ve ended up.
••• “Although a forest-wide closure went into effect Monday evening for Los Padres National Forest, until Tuesday afternoon it was not clear whether the order would apply to the front country trails.” But then city and county officials “agreed to honor the closure, and are working together to get appropriate signage at the trailheads to let the public know the trails are closed and will be until Sept. 14, when the Forest Service will reevaluate the need for the closure.” —Noozhawk
••• The police caught an alleged armed robber after he got stuck in Labor Day traffic. —Edhat
••• “Following hours of vehement opposition from parents and other community members about a sexual education curriculum, the Santa Barbara School Board unanimously adopted the disputed curriculum, Teen Talk.” The parents who railed against it sound like something out of a John Waters movie: “‘I represent CAPE, Citizens Against Porn Education,’ Thomas Cole said. ‘We are against Teen Talk, and we are a group of concerned parents, educators, and residents of Montecito and Santa Barbara, and we want the board to know that if Teen Talk goes through, we are prepared to file suit against each one of you for supplying porn to our teens.’” —Independent
••• “For State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, it was a cliffhanger of a nail-biter. Just three minutes before midnight on the very last day of this year’s legislative session—not to mention the last three minutes left of Jackson’s 14-year career in the state capitol—Jackson managed to wrangle the final vote needed to pass her bitterly fought bill to extend job security protections so California workers can take time off to care for themselves, a newborn, or a sick family member without fear of losing their jobs.” —Independent
••• Another Edhat classic: “A man was found driving a giant guinea pig in Santa Barbara.”
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I respect your decision not to be the first to publish the owner of a particular home until it becomes public knowledge. You’ll maintain your credibility that way. Good decision!