••• “Santa Barbara County Public Health officials announced that waivers to reopen K-6 schools will be available by the end of the week. Generally, the only chance for schools to reopen in person is if the entire county remains off the state’s Covid-19 monitoring list for 14 consecutive days or more—Santa Barbara has remained on it for more than 60 days. However, transmission rates have dropped enough in recent weeks that some county elementary schools may apply for and receive the state’s okay to reopen with additional safety protocols, though ultimately it is the state’s decision.” —Independent
••• “A dangerous spike in Covid-19 cases in Isla Vista area has alerted Santa Barbara County Health officials and Isla Vista community leaders to a problem in the town known for a large population of college students.” —KEYT
••• “The City Council’s Ordinance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a proposed ordinance requiring Santa Barbara city landlords to pay relocation assistance—one and a half months’ worth of rent—to tenants displaced through no fault of their own. […] The matter was continued until October 2.” —Independent
••• “Santa Barbara’s Rent Control Proposal Has Problems.” —Indpendent
••• “Rent Control Discriminates Against Mom ‘n’ Pop Landlords.” —Independent
••• “Santa Barbara County inched closer toward finding the right pot-shop fit for the Summerland area on Tuesday amid dozens of residents bashing the future retailer, regardless of the applicant.” Why are people so upset about these shops? It’s not like this will be the first one on this side of the state line. —Independent
••• The city council allowed a street closure in the Funk Zone (pictured at top): “Brass Bear, DV8 Cellars and Kunin Wines all share the same building. Next to the building, the alley connecting a back parking lot is now closed off. Tables, tents, lights and physically distant seating have filled the alley.” It seems like a stretch to call it a street—it doesn’t even have a name—but whatever. —KEYT UPDATE 8/21: I took a photo of the wrong alley. It’s the one on the other side of the building.
••• Carpinteria, meanwhile, abandoned its plan to close off a couple blocks of Linden Avenue because the shops said it negatively affected business. Now the city is encouraging restaurants to create parklets. —KEYT
••• I already posted the argument against changing the name of San Andrés Street to Dolores Huerta Street. The argument for it has reasonable points, such as this: “After the war, Andrés Pico became a United States citizen and made a fortune on the 60,000 acres of land allotted to him by his brother, Pio Pico. This was land annexed from Mexican owners as spoils of war which were taken over and became part of California. We have to ask: how would people of Mexican heritage feel about honoring a man who became fabulously wealthy from receipt of lands belonging to their ancestors?” But then there’s this: “Frequently, people mispronounce the name San Andrés as San Andreas, raising unpleasant reminders of the San Andreas fault and the frightening prospect of lost lives.” —Edhat
••• People in Goleta were so upset over the removal of the mailboxes on Patterson Avenue—and, presumably, the sneaking suspicion that the current presidential administration will rig the upcoming election—that they’re leaving flowers and notes. The mailboxes were subsequently replaced. —Noozhawk
••• “The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday agreed to a development agreement term sheet for the proposed 82-unit rental apartment project on Santa Barbara’s Eastside. […] The City Council, in an unconvential move, has agreed to create a development agreement with 711 N. Milpas St. property owners Alan Bleecker and Ed St. George.” As a result, the development “would include 16 apartments offered at below-market rates [and] parts of the building will reach 52 feet, instead of the previously approved 45 feet.” Below: a new rendering. —Noozhawk
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