••• “The Santa Barbara County Education Office has begun planning a virtual version of this year’s I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. The festival is scheduled to take place on May 29, 30, and 31.” Photo courtesy Santa Barbara County Education Office. —KEYT
••• “In an unexpected reversal, the Covid-19 variant first spotted in the U.K. appears to be outpacing the spread of the West Coast variant in Santa Barbara. This is a trend opposite to the first set of variant results posted last week at the Public Health dashboard. The latest set of coronavirus samples that have undergone genetic sequencing at UC Santa Barbara show twice as many of the more deadly U.K. virus than the West Coast virus.” —Independent
••• “Despite an extensive vetting process for cannabis retail licenses in Santa Barbara, a Florida company ended up with one of the three coveted permits after bypassing that scrutiny. With licenses valued at several million dollars at stake, the City of Santa Barbara is considering reviewing its process to ensure transparency and public trust.” —Noozhawk
••• Another one of the giant Italian stone pine trees on E. Anapamu fell over. —John Palminteri
••• “Earlier this month, Sheriff’s detectives began investigating two independent reports of sexual assaults that occurred at Max Relax at 1108 Casitas Pass Road, in Casitas Plaza. The survivors in each of the incidents described similar crimes of sexual battery [….] As part of the ongoing investigation, a detective posing as a customer visited the business today and was sexually assaulted in a similar manner to the previously reported assaults.” An arrest was made. —from a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office press release on Edhat
••• “Inside a cavernous building not far from Goleta City Hall, three UC Santa Barbara graduates are heading up a company [Aptitude Medical Systems] that is developing a saliva-based test system for COVID-19 that could significantly boost the ability to quickly diagnose the disease—handling thousands of samples daily with same-day turn-around.” —Noozhawk
••• “A company formed by two longtime Santa Barbara friends has won what’s believed to be the Federal Communications Commission’s first license to capture super high-resolution radar images from space. Umbra […] received permission to collect synthetic aperture radar images at 15-centimeters, which means it can see items as small as 6 inches, or the size of a soda can, with its microsatellite.” Privacy be damned? —Noozhawk
••• “A new affordable housing property in downtown Santa Barbara is providing several formerly homeless women a permanent place to live. People’s Self-Help Housing, the longest-serving nonprofit affordable housing organization on the Central Coast, has opened Heath House, a two-story, 2,500 square-foot property at 18 E. Sola St. [below]. The home features seven private bedrooms, five bathrooms, multiple common areas, and a shared kitchen and dining room.” —Noozhawk
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