••• “The Bellosguardo Foundation appears to be taking its first baby steps toward opening the late Huguette Clark’s palatial estate to the public. […] The foundation would like to start offering small guided tours and holding special events,” but the application submitted to the city was incomplete. —Independent
••• Amazing news: “Members of Foothills Forever, an environmental coalition on a mission to save a pristine parcel near the San Marcos Foothills Preserve, […] is nearing its $18 million fundraising goal. [The group’s Mary Rose] released the following statement: ‘The Foothills Forever Fund has just today received news that a long-time local business woman, who passionately believes in the value of this amazing project, has made a $5 million grant through her foundation to the fundraising campaign to save the San Marcos Foothills Forever. The campaign now only has to raise an additional $1.6 million by June 1 to fund the purchase of the property!'” Come on, folks. Step up. —KEYT
••• “With unexpected additional funding, construction on the Montecito portion of the Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara Project will begin a year earlier than anticipated [i.e.,] in fall of 2022, pending permitting. […] It is not known when they are expected to be complete.” More preliminary designs for the Montecito segment—including the San Ysidro and Olive Mill interchanges—are here. —Noozhawk
••• “Hotel Santa Barbara, built in 1926, has been listed on the market for $49 million.” It’s the one at the corner of State and Cota. —Noozhawk
••• “An earthquake described as a quick jolt was felt by some in the Santa Barbara area Wednesday afternoon. It happened around 2:12 p.m. about 6 miles south off the coast of Santa Barbara.” Its magnitude was 3.4. —KEYT
••• “The county was just shy of meeting the yellow tier case rate criteria [….] If the county qualifies for the yellow tier during next week’s tier assessment, it could potentially advance on June 8 — just one week before the entire tier system is eliminated.” —Noozhawk
••• “In a sweeping decision that puts a seal of approval on the county’s embrace of the fast-growing cannabis industry in rural areas, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge this week tossed out a citizens’ lawsuit that sought to shut down a 22-acre cannabis hoop-house operation on Highway 246.” —Independent, Edhat, Noozhawk, Newsmakers
••• Montecito Journal profiles Kate McHale Jensen, whose KMJ clothing line—which is “repurposing men’s dress shirts into flattering, unique tops for women”—has a new shop on Calle Laureles, around the corner from Trader Joe’s.
••• Also in the Montecito Journal: a letter from a reader peeved at the way one of the paper’s columnists sloppily parks his car on Parra Grande Lane.
••• A profile of the Crafter’s Library, opening Saturday on E. Figueroa Street. —Independent
••• “An investigation is underway after skeletal remains were found at an undisclosed location in the Montecito hills.” —KEYT UPDATE 5/29: The remains were at a house on Riven Rock Road. —Independent
••• The buyer who paid nearly $2 million over ask for a house on Summit Road (below) was Mason Morfit of San Francisco-based ValueAct Capital. According to Dirt, he’s “best-known to the public as the boyfriend of ‘Fast and Furious’ actress Jordana Brewster.” Meanwhile, also from Dirt, Scott and Janell Casto—he’s a cofounder of Pondera Holdings—bought on E. Mountain for $16.25 million.
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