••• City Administrator Rebecca Bjork announced that she’ll be retiring at year end. Don’t be fooled by the bland title: it’s the big job in the city’s government.
••• 1-800-Flowers founder Carl Westcott is suing Katy Perry’s business manager because Perry and her husband, Orlando Bloom, wouldn’t let Westcott back out of a deal to buy his house on East Valley Road, even though he was “several intoxicating pain-killing opiates” after having surgery. A trial is scheduled for August 21. —Los Angeles Times
••• I don’t normally cover the weather, but rain this time of year is rare (or at least it used to be): “Hurricane Hilary Headed for the Coast of Baja California and Northward […] Rain Expected Sunday Through Monday in Santa Barbara County.” We could get an inch or two, along with serious wind. —Independent
••• Elle Decor featured “a fire-resistant home that pulses with color for a pair of Montecito art collectors.”
••• The Goodwill store in Carpinteria has reopened; it closed in February after the roof caved in. —Coastal View News
••• “Mission Refill has announced that it will open in the fall at 5733 Calle Real, in the Calle Real Center. ‘We’re Goleta’s first and only community refillery—a place where you can bring in your own containers or purchase reusable containers and fill up with personal and home bulk essential goods,’ according to an email. ‘We also sell dozens of goods in sustainable packaging.'” —Noozhawk
••• “Cottage Hospital Remodel Nearly Doubles Emergency Room Patient Capacity [….] Santa Barbara hospital is also building a specialty pediatric clinic across the street to cover cardiology, neurology, surgery, oncology and more.” —Noozhawk
••• “Westside Santa Barbara residents soon may have more access to open spaces thanks to a pilot program to open outdoor spaces on select school campuses. […] Westside residents asked that Harding Elementary School or La Cumbre Junior High School remain open on the weekends so families and community members can enjoy the open space. Fields are currently fenced with locked gates.” —Noozhawk
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Would be amazing if Santa Barbara high school would open their field and basketball courts. Kids & adults hop the fence every night to play on the courts, just open them up. I drive to SBCC weekly to run the bleachers and track. I live nearby and would rather enjoy our neighborhood aswell.
Mission Refill sounds amazing! Thank you! Make Santa Barbara Plastic Free!!
CITY ADMINISTRATOR, if a good one, can transform a town like nothing else. Where, oh where is CAMILLE BARNETT who transformed the city of Dallas in the 80s and was called upon to iron out the mess of Washington DC when Marion Barry had to resign. Camille is a graduate of UCSB. It’s worth a try to lure her back to town. Her motto: ‘Commitment To Excellence’. Who doesn’t love that?