Here is the announcement for tonight’s You Plan Santa Barbara workshop from Councilman Das Williams… “Plan Santa Barbara Enters Most Important Phase, Part II. You are needed tonight to help plan what kind of city we will have!”

“Plan Santa Barbara has just released its Policy Options Report, the most recent step in the process to guide future growth and development in Santa Barbara in a sustainable manner by updating the city’s General Plan. The main products of this report are a proposed definition for sustainability, as well as goals and policies aimed at achieving sustainability. The report focuses on key sustainable policies already in the General Plan, proposed policies to advance sustainability, and other policies suggested by community members during the public process. These policy options will serve as the basis for the next round of community workshops, to be held July 23rd from 6-9 p.m. at the Faulkner Library. Please attend, because its from your input into the plan that comes policy preferences for the City.”

“The Fiesta theme this year is ¡Viva La Comunidad!, which translates to Long live the community!”, El Presidente Tim Taylor told the Blog. “I wanted to celebrate all the Santa Barbarans who donate time and resources to our non-profits, those who work to create a sustainable environment and the many who provide guidance and leadership to our local youth by coaching youth sports… to the admirable men and women we rely on to keep us safe and to the three thousand volunteers who help put on Old Spanish Days Fiesta.”

Picture this… the Sports section of the Santa Barbara News-Press, one of the last remaining calling cards for the 153-year-old paper, has dwindled down to the sports page.

According to to SanLuisObispo.com, Los Olivos residents want to put the brakes on wine tasting rooms. Ever since Sideways glamorized the region in 2004, the Chumash Valley has become party central. And now…

A group of concerned residents in Los Olivos is calling for limits on what they contend is an “unrestricted proliferation” of wine-tasting rooms in the town’s quaint downtown business district, a situation they claim is affecting their quality of life.

The citizens assert they have no objection to a reasonable number of tasting rooms because many of them are supporters of local wineries. However, they contend an “overwhelming imbalance” has resulted in recent years in the town’s commercial center and blame some wine-tasting room customers for boisterous, inebriated behavior. In addition, they say livability has been affected with large buses and limos that bring sippers and spenders to the Santa Ynez Valley’s wineries and tasting rooms, a big tourist draw for the region.

Today, the Santa Barbara City Council will discuss and consider paying $90,000 to a Florida company, LightMaker, for six month of web development services.

According to the Agenda… “The Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has had its own website, www.flysba.com, since 1997 with an update completed in 2003. SBA’s website is a resource for local travelers and web browsers to obtain specialized information and is used as a link to airline and terminal business websites. Currently, the website has approximately 1,200 visitors per day (less visitors than the Blog) and more than 500,000 hits per month. These numbers indicate a 25% increase over the same period last year. In order to keep the website relevant to user demands and to keep pace with rapid Internet changes, the Airport and Information Service’s staff recommend a complete redesign of the website.”

Instead of outsourcing at $15K per month, the City needs a permanent web specialist/ department, who can bring all of their websites into the 21st Century.

The Gap Fire, which broke out on July 1st and officially burned 9,443 acres, is expected to be fully contained later tonight.

Did you know… Tim Taylor, El Presidente 2008, is a sixth-generation Santa Barbareño and a graduate of San Marcos High School?

After super sizing Chapala Street, much of Anacapa, and now Coast Village Road, the Mayor and Santa Barbara City Council have adopted a new theme song…

“they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”

“Cradle to Cradle”, or C2C, is a cool concept that is spreading in the manufacturing world, to our great benefit. In the design of a product, it is looked at from a truly “big picture” perspective, from its creation - materials and manufacturing process - to its next incarnation, because it’s end of life will not be in the landfill. This is a closed loop system, where, rather than things being manufactured, used and tossed away (we know now that there is no “away”) materials are perpetually reused. Besides using natural resources, (biological nutrients) this system also uses non-toxic “technical nutrients”, as there are not enough biological nutrients to support all human needs.

William McDonaugh, an architect and Michael Braungart, a chemist, wrote the book [Cradle to Cradle], which was published 6 years ago - bizarrely, but with clear intent - on plastic pages, a plastic polymer that can be used again and again when the book’s useful life is over. The book is a “manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.” As for why the book is not of paper, Mr. McDonough explains: “Imagine something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes color with the seasons an self-replicates…..why don’t we knock that down and write on it!” - Submitted by Barbara Hirsch, chair of the SANE library committee (Sustainable Actions Needed Everywhere), UCSB.

The Mission Chapel by renowned photographer James Neeley

Continuing with Fiesta coverage, the Blog caught up with Tim Taylor and asked about his path to the position of El Presidente 2008…

“I began as a volunteer for the Old Spanish Days (OSD) organization in 1989. After my first year as a board member in 2002, I realized the organization was a great group of people and I truly enjoyed helping orchestrate the fiesta events and sharing time with the community, volunteers and sponsors. The next 3 years I headed the Merchandise Committee where I was in charge of t-shirts, pins, hats, posters sales for all fiesta events. The following year I headed the Mercados and Arts & Crafts Committee, followed by one year of Fundraising and served one year as 2nd Vice Presidente where I was in charge of all OSD operations. After 7 years, I was elected as El Presidente of Old Spanish Days.”

As tens of thousands of local motorists have found out, construction on Highway 101 between Milpas Street and Hot Springs Road has begun. These “Operational Improvements” mark one of the largest projects undertaken by Caltrans in Santa Barbara County and are expected to take 4 years.

Construction crews began installing concrete barriers, “K-Rails”, in the middle of the Highway this week while traffic slowed to a crawl from Salinas to Garden Street. Officials have said that motorists should expect an estimated 10 minutes of added travel time, but judging from the miles-long backups, the $53 million project could add hours to many people’s weekly commute.

Old Spanish Days announced today that Cheryl Ladd is set to be the Celebrity Grand Marshal for the Historic Fiesta Parade. The Parade is on Friday August 1st and begins at 12 noon. Keep it bookmarked to Santa Barbara’s Blog for complete Fiesta coverage.