Southwest Announced Which Cities It’ll Serve From Santa Barbara

••• Southwest Airlines announced which cities it’ll service from Santa Barbara starting on April 12: “three daily departures to Las Vegas, one daily flight to Denver and one daily flight to Oakland.” There’s hope the airline will add more as air travel recovers. —KEYT

••• “A report issued by State Auditor Elaine Howle concluded that the methodology used to distribute $1.3 billion in [pandemic-related] funding gave a disproportionate amount to California’s 16 most populous counties, with relief totals amounting to $190 per resident in those areas compared to $102 per person in the 42 smaller counties,” including Santa Barbara. “The report also rebutted the finance department’s explanation for the uneven disbursement―officials claimed bigger communities had higher virus transmission rates and therefore needed more money.” —Independent

••• “The University of California announced that classes for fall 2021 are expected to be mostly in-person across all 10 campuses, including UC Santa Barbara. Although the statement was made public on Monday, January 11, UCSB administration has not released any specific details about their plan of action.” —Independent

••• A random (but not uninteresting) historical tidbit from the Montecito Journal: “Did you ever wonder about the Plaza del Sol or the Rotunda at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort, formerly Fess Parker’s Resort? […] It used to be the site of the old train turntable and roundhouse. The turntable allowed train cars to be turned in a different direction and put back on the main tracks and the roundhouse had stalls to house the steam engines during cleaning.” After the structure was razed by the 1925 earthquake, a new ones was built that pays homage to the Plaza de Toros bullring in Seville.

••• A neat article by historian Neal Graffy about the grand Potter Hotel that once stood where Burton Mound is. —Edhat

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