George Lucas Has Now Spent $47 Million on Padaro Lane

Other recent news: Santa Barbara Airport finally got a Gate 3; photos of the Cave Fire burn area; downtown apartment buildings can now be three feet taller; another lawsuit over the city's vacation-rental ban; revised plans for Montecito Street hotel.

Mate Gallery’s Men’s Shop Debuts This Week

Plus: MarBorg's new textile recycling drop-off program; how to help the Los Padres Forest Association keep roadways clean; Montecito Planning Commission to meet in Montecito for the first time; names as destiny.

Shop-Local Gift Guide, Part 2: Mate Gallery and Santa Barbara Museum of Art

If you want Santa Barbara to have wonderful independent shops, you need to support them. So this holiday season—and year-round, really—make an effort to spend your money here.

The Los Agaves Spinoff on Cabrillo Has Opened

More food news: Checking out the old-school Onus Donuts on State Street; the former Breakfast Culture Club café may have been sold to another coffee shop; Fosters Freeze in Carpinteria is reportedly for rent.

A Tale of Two Upper East Grandes Dames

The centenarian houses of the Upper East don't come on the market all that often, but last week, we got two: 2014 Garden Street, built in 1895, and 16 E. Pedregosa Street, built in 1918. Let's compare and contrast....

Newsletter: December 9

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The Cabrillo Pavilion Has Been Pushed Back at Least Four Months

Plus: Toro Creek bridge to be closed on weekdays for two weeks; two houses—a Montecito estate and a Mesa oceanfront property—profiled on this site have sold; Caltrans seeks public input on U.S. 101 bike lane in Carpinteria; new Eastside bike lanes are in the works.

Santa Barbara’s Homeless Population Hasn’t Gone Up in Two Years

Other recent local news: A recap of the Storm Impact Consideration Map meeting; new map about post–Cave Fire debris-flow risk; Santa Barbara Zoo's lion Chadwick has died; a boat washed up on East Beach; Hayward Lumber bought Buena Tool; pepper trees.

A 1949 Riviera Villa Ready for a Light Touch

Also newly reduced: "Castle in the Sky" with partially finished wraparound moat/pool; "Japanese farmhouse" where the kitchen is the star; Upper East/Lower Riviera gem with a pretty sunroom; Montecito estate now $5.6 million off the initial asking price.

The New Debris-Flow Risk Map Is Live

The shrinkage was mainly in upper and western Montecito.