Big Box Thoughts – A community member writes a
JOURNAL
response to Jeff Harding’s piece on “Big Box” retailers, P.10
Go ‘80s Gala – The Storyteller Children’s Center gets ready for its 35th Anniversary with a gala set in 1988, P.20
SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA 3 – 10 AUG 2023 | VOL 29 ISS 31 | www.montecitojournal.net
The Giving List
The many gifts of Unity Shoppe, page 36
WRECK-QUIEM FOR THE
SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS I found it particularly poignant that on the same day the once venerated News-Press declared bankruptcy and ceased operations, The New Yorker published a massive story on the critical importance of local journalism in exposing corruption, citing the example of a small-town paper in southeast Oklahoma where a father-son reporting duo’s series on the county sheriff led to an explosive revelation. Ironically, the shuttering of the Santa Barbara News-Press also happened right by Gwyn Lurie at the time when the California State Auditor launched an investigation into the questionable cannabis dispensing e live in this time of great schaden- practices of six counties, including the freude – consider the case of laxest with licensing – Santa Barbara. the OceanGate submersible. I’ve never seen so many posts online from ran- So, what does it mean when a city dom people gloating over the misfortune of a billionaire. However, I for one take no loses its only daily newspaper? joy or comfort in the death of the Santa Local news reports on events that are of Barbara News-Press, our town’s only daily vital local importance, whereas the newspaper, which up until last week, had 54 been publishing continuously since 1868. Editorial Continued on Page 54
(photo by Priscilla)
All the Presidente’s People
El Presidente David Bolton (seen here with this year’s Honorary Presidentes and Directors) hosts the annual reception with 300 guests joining in, page 8
Editorial
W
Farewell Fischer
Beloved Montecito YMCA Preschool Director Annie Fischer retires after 31 years of working at the Y, and the community throws a party in her honor, page 14
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