••• The Santa Barbara Trapeze Co. is moving from the Earl Warren Showgrounds to Plaza de Vera Cruz, the park across E. Cota Street from the Saturday farmers’ market, reports Noozhawk. “The city plans to evaluate the success of the program at the end of December 2021, and possibly expand it to other city park locations.” Making people pay to use over 5,000 square feet of public park seems questionable, and that goes double in a part of town where houses are small and there’s not much open space. Or are parks just land for the city to rent out?
••• From a Santa Barbara Police Department press release on Edhat: “Chief Melekian is releasing the report of an Independent Investigation conducted by the Sintra Group in response to the allegations raised by an article published by LA Magazine on March 12 [….] Investigators Chuck Hookstra and Robert Velasquez concluded that Mr. Wagner did not have a conflict of interest with Golden State Greens nor did Golden State Greens receive any preferential treatment as they initially finished fourth in the application process. Only the top three applicants received a license to operate a dispensary in Santa Barbara. Golden State Greens eventually received a license, but only when one of the top three finishers was disqualified because their location was within 1000 feet from a higher-ranking applicant.”
••• Insane story in the Independent about a couple whose dog went missing, and by the time they contacted County Animal Services, the organization had already let other people adopt it—and the new owners won’t give the dog back. (Who would do such a thing?) Understandably upset, the original owners are suing the county. Always microchip your dogs, folks.
••• I’ve stopped following the Cold Spring School saga, but this paragraph in the Montecito Journal caught my eye: “Less than a week after Cold Spring parent Amanda Rowan filed a lawsuit claiming that the school’s filing of a restraining order against her was a violation of her free speech rights, the school unilaterally rescinded its one-hour suspension of Rowan’s daughter for posing as [superintendent/principal Amy] Alzina during a Zoom class while using a profile photograph off her pet dog, Mr. Peanut Butter.” If this keeps up, Ryan Murphy will turn it into a miniseries for Netflix.
••• The Richard Neutra house at 1322 Dover Hill Road, which caught fire last weekend, was totally destroyed, according to a Santa Barbara City Fire Department press release on Edhat.
••• “Hopes that a 500-foot-long wildlife passage under Highway 101 would be built soon were dashed for the Gaviota conservancy groups.” —Independent (article not online yet)
••• “The City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to approve a rate structure for Community Choice Energy. Three tiers of service will be offered to residential and commercial customers, but all customers will automatically be opted into the program. Those who want out will have to opt out separately. […] The city will join the California Choice Energy Authority to purchase mostly renewable energy and distribute it through Southern California Edison transmission lines. Southern California Edison will continue to maintain the infrastructure.” —Noozhawk
••• “The Ventura County Department of Airports is asking the community for feedback on what would make the [Oxnard and Camarillo] airports better,” including whether commercial flights might be desirable. —KEYT
••• “The California Mid-State Fair will return in 2021. The 75th edition of the fair will be held at the Paso Robles Event Center Wednesday, July 21 through Sunday, August 1. […] Tickets for the fair will go on sale in early June and be sold only online.” —KEYT
••• The Los Angeles Times visits Reseda’s California Nursery Specialties Cactus Ranch, which “feels secret and special because as nurseries go, it’s relatively unknown, and thus uncrowded. That’s because, during the week, the Cactus Ranch is a wholesale nursery business, closed to the public, but on weekends it’s open to anyone from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. in winter).”
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I hear you on the use of parks by businesses but Plaza De Vera Cruz has been a defacto homeless encampment for the last several decades. A few years ago a child using the playground was pricked by a needle. It seems like it’s been very hard for community members to use the space when it’s been dominated by one group. I think bringing the trapeze school in could benefit the park greatly.