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MAR. 12-19, 2026 VOL. 40 NO. 2051

Lompoc’s Historic Theater Is Finally Getting the Revival the Whole Town Deserves by Shannon Brooks Photos by Ingrid Bostrom

ALSO INSIDE Doctor Speaks Out Against Insurers’ ‘Immoral Delays’

S.B. Iranians React to War

State’s Authority over Sable Restart Trumped?

Rich People in Santa Barbara Offers a Wealth of Coastal Flavors

by Tyler Hayden

by Elaine Sanders

by Nick Welsh

by Tiana Molony

Easter FUn AT the RANCH 3 CoUrse BuBBlY brUNch

ReNegaDe (mr whistLe's DoG) tryinG TO Blend iN with THE bUNNies at the petting z00 anD RidiNg PONiEs

petting z00 RidiNg PONiEs

MoRNing AND aFternooN Egg HuNTS iN the Gardens

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MARCH 12, 2026

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U.S. Premiere of New David Lang Commission

Danish String Quartet and Danish National Girls’ Choir Charlotte Rowan, Conductor

Fri, Apr 10 / 7 PM / Granada Theatre “One of the finest piano players to emerge in decades.” All About Jazz

Celebrating Two Jazz Giants

Emmet Cohen Quintet Miles and Coltrane at 100 Sun, Apr 12 / 7 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

“They could be grounded in their tone or mystical. They allowed time to stand still, and they could assume the pose of excitingly aggressive rockers. They did it all.” – Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times on DSQ This rare collaboration features a stirring program that weaves Nordic folk songs with shimmering contemporary works by David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and more.

“Hull is as good a songwriter as a mandolin player, and could give Bill Monroe a run for his money on the latter.” Isthmus

Seven-time International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year

Sierra Hull Thu, Apr 16 / 8 PM UCSB Campbell Hall

(805) 893-3535 | www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu Granada event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 899-2222 | www.GranadaSB.org INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

SPRING

AT THE

SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART NOW OPEN: As if in a Dream: History, Fantasy, Future at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Open through January 3, 2027, As if in a Dream: History, Fantasy, Future showcases artists who transform fleeting memories, everyday moments, and visionary ideas into works of art. Henri Rousseau, a self-taught French painter, is featured with Castle in Moonlight (Le Donjon), 1889, part of SBMA’s permanent collection. Making its way to SBMA in 1993, the painting was originally gifted to Rousseau’s baker and then arrived in Paris as part of Bela Hein‘s collection. In the 1880s and 1890s, Rousseau created imaginative landscapes with castles, forests, and dreamlike settings that mix observation with fantasy, producing theatrical, slightly unreal scenes. Though criticized at first, his Naïve style was later admired by many modernists, including Pablo Picasso, who honored him at a 1908 Paris dinner with a banner reading, “Long live Rousseau!” This work is now on view as part of As if in a Dream.

CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF As if in a Dream: History, Fantasy, Future, Remixed: Entwined Histories and New PURCHASE TICKETS Forms, and RANDOM-ACCESS MEMORY: Internet Art at SBMA on Saturday, March 21, 6–8 PM.

WHAT’S ON AT SBMA

Piece by Piece: Collage & Assemblage at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art

By Achilles’ Tomb: Elliott Hundley and Antiquity

Remixed: Entwined Histories & New Forms

Through March 22, 2026

Through June 1, 2026

Through August 30, 2026

For more exhibitions and events, visit www.sbma.net. 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA Tuesday–Sunday 11 am–5 pm • 1st Thursdays 11 am–8 pm

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MARCH 12, 2026

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TOP LEFT: Henri Rousseau, Castle in Moonlight (Le Donjon) (detail), 1889. Oil on canvas. SBMA, Bequest of Wright S. Ludington. BOTTOM LEFT TO RIGHT: Suchitra Mattai, the intrepid garden (detail), 2023. Vintage saris, fabric, vintage objects made of salt, cast objects made of salt, porcelain objects, vintage shelves. SBMA, anonymous gift. © Suchitra Mattai. • Elliott Hundley, By Achilles’ Tomb (detail), 2009. Expanded polystyrene, wood, plastic, epoxy putty, pins, paper, photographs, willow, bamboo, string, wire, spray paint, and found wax vessel. Hammer Museum @ Elliott Hundley. • Candice Lin, The alchemy of predator and prey (detail), 2023. Indigo, cochineal, turmeric and iron oxide on silk. Courtesy of the Artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, New York. Photo: Paul Salveson.

Print subscriptions are available, paid in advance, for $120 per year. Send subscription requests with name and address to subscriptions@independent.com. The contents of the Independent are copyrighted 2026 by the Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. No part may be reproduced without permission from the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. A stamped, self-addressed envelope must accompany all submissions expected to be returned. The Independent is available on the internet at independent.com. Press run of the Independent is 25,000 copies. Audited certification of circulation is available on request. The Independent is a legal adjudicated newspaper — court decree no. 157386. ISSN 2834-3174 (Print) ISSN 2834-3204 (Online) Contact information: 223 E. De la Guerra St., Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 PHONE (805) 965-5205; FAX (805) 965-5518 EMAIL news@independent.com, letters@independent.com, advertising@independent.com Staff email addresses can be found at independent.com/about-us

TABLE of CONTENTS

Volume 40 #2051, Mar. 12-19, 2026

COVER STORY

Christine Brings Special Style to the Indy

COURTESY

Editor in Chief Marianne Partridge Publisher Brandi Rivera Executive Editor Nick Welsh Senior Editor Tyler Hayden Senior Writer Matt Kettmann News Editor Jackson Friedman Opinions Editor Jean Yamamura Arts and Culture Editor Leslie Dinaberg Calendar Editor Terry Ortega Calendar Assistant Isabella Venegas News Reporters Ryan P. Cruz, Callie Fausey, Ella Heydenfeldt, Elaine Sanders Senior Arts Writer Josef Woodard Mickey Flacks Fund Fellow Christina McDermott Assistant Editor Tiana Molony Copy Chief Tessa Reeg Copy Editor Nathan Vived Sports Editor Victor Bryant Web Content Manager Don Brubaker Social Media Coordinator Maya Johnson Food Writer George Yatchisin Travel Writers Macduff Everton, Mary Heebner Art Director Xavier Pereyra Associate Production Manager Bianca Castro Graphic Designers Leah Brewer, Diego Melgoza Columnists Dennis Allen, Gail Arnold, Sara Caputo, Christine S. Cowles, Laura Gransberry, Betsy J. Green, Shannon Kelley, Austin Lampson, Melinda Palacio, Cheri Rae, Hugh Ranson, Amy Ramos, Starshine Roshell Contributors Ingrid Bostrom, Rob Brezsny, Jim Buckley, Cynthia Carbone Ward, Ben Ciccati, Cheryl Crabtree, John Dickson, Roger Durling, Chuck Graham, Keith Hamm, Rebecca Horrigan, Gareth Kelly, Kevin McKiernan, Carl Perry, David Starkey, Ethan Stewart, Brian Tanguay, Tom Tomorrow, Kevin Tran, Jatila Van der Veen, Isabelle Walker, Maggie Yates, John Zant Director of Advertising Sarah Sinclair Marketing and Promotions Administrator Richelle Boyd Advertising Representatives Suzanne Cloutier, Bryce Eller, Ariana Hugo, Tonea Songer, Scott Maio Digital Marketing Specialist Graham Brown Business Operations and Accounting Manager Erin Lynch Office Manager/Legal Advertising Tanya Spears Guiliacci Distribution Gregory Hall Interns Alice Dehghanzadeh, Nataschia Hadley, Nestor Manzanares, Madeline Slogoff, Emily Vesper Columnist Emeritus Barney Brantingham Photography Editor Emeritus Paul Wellman Founding Staff Emeriti George Delmerico, Richard Evans, Camille Cimini Fruin, Laszlo Hodosy, Scott Kaufman Honorary Consigliere Gary J. Hill Indy Kids Bella and Max Brown; Elijah Lee, Amaya Nicole, and William Gene Bryant; Henry and John Poett Campbell; Emilia Imojean Friedman; Rowan Gould; Finley James Hayden; Ivy Danielle Ireland; Madeline Rose and Mason Carrington Kettmann

The Curtain Is Rising

Lompoc’s Historic Theater Is Finally Getting the Revival the Whole Town Deserves by Shannon Brooks | Photos by Ingrid Bostrom

NEWS..................................................... 7 OPINIONS..........................................16 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 News Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

OBITUARIES.....................................19 THE WEEK.........................................31 ARTS LIFE .........................................35 LIVING ................................................. 41 FOOD & DRINK............................ 45 Restaurant Guy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

ASTROLOGY .................................. 50 CLASSIFIEDS...................................51 ON THE COVER: Photo by Ingrid Bostrom. Design by Xavier Pereyra.

Christine Cowles

If you flip our paper over and open up the real estate section, you’ll find lots of beautiful homes for sale across Santa Barbara, lots of open houses throughout the week, and our local Realtors who are selling them. You’ll also find some great columns in these pages—one you’ll find this week is The Style Specialist. Christine Cowles, a designer who owns Saltwood Interiors, is also a writer regularly featured in our real estate section. She’s got all the tips, tricks, and insider design advice delivered direct to you, our readers, all for free. Read The Style Specialist this week and head to independent.com/about-the-indy to learn more about writer Christine Cowles and her designer insights.

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Presenting the world’s finest classical artists since 1919

INTERNATIONAL SERIES AT THE GRANADA THEATRE SEASON SPONSOR: SAGE PUBLISHING

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2026, 7:30 PM

DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

2025 2026 107TH CONCERT SEASON

A Season of Legacy

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD © Mat Hennek

Fabio Luisi, Music Director | Hélène Grimaud, piano Sofia Fomina, soprano

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, led by Fabio Luisi, closes CAMA’s International Series with a program of Romantic masterpieces. Renowned pianist (and local favorite) Hélène Grimaud performs Schumann’s Piano Concerto. The program concludes with Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, culminating in a radiant final movement featuring soprano Sofia Fomina—a stirring close to CAMA’s 107th season. PROGRAM SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 in G Major

Tickets at The Granada Theatre Box Office (805) 899-2222 ⫽ granadasb.org COMMUNITY ARTS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF SANTA BARBARA • camasb.org INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

SBCEO

R s ' e s n o e r u r d l c i e h C fair Do you have a child between 0-12 years old? Join SBPL for this special event co-sponsored by Santa Barbara County Education Office to learn what our community has to offer. Meet with staff from organizations that provide free educational enrichment, childcare, summer programs, tutoring, and more. Discover library programs and services for the whole family!

Sunday, March 22 Central Library 40 E Anapamu 10:30 am - 1 pm

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MARCH 12, 2026

INDEPENDENT.COM

MAR. 5-12, 2026

NEWS of the WEEK

by RYAN P. CRUZ, CALLIE FAUSEY, JACKSON FRIEDMAN, TYLER HAYDEN, ELLA HEYDENFELDT, CHRISTINA McDERMOTT, ELAINE SANDERS, NICK WELSH, and JEAN YAMAMURA

NEWS BRIEFS

COMMUNITY

Food Truck Dreams Come True

CITY

INGRID BOSTROM

Good Sam’s Farm Brings ‘Food to Table, Jobs to Housing’

The long-term vision for State Street is taking shape, with the next iteration of the plan—a concept with retractable bollards that would allow varying levels of vehicle traffic depending on the time of day — preparing for its public debut in late April. On 3/5, State Street Master Planner Tess Harris sent a memo to clarify the process and timeline for the State Street Master Plan, which was sent to all members of the city’s various review boards, which will each have a chance to provide feedback on the new plan following the 4/28 presentation to the city council. That City Council meeting will give the councilmembers a chance to comment on the new framework and give direction to lead the rest of the planning and review process. On 3/5, the city Planning Commission voted 4-2 to move forward with plans for a short-term rental ordinance, with a laundry list of suggestions for the city’s Ordinance Committee to consider during its upcoming review. Several commissioners had questions about whether the short-term rental program should be focused on zoning or by another method like a density cap or lottery system and about waivers for parking requirements. They wanted city staff to return with details about impacts on Transient Occupancy Taxes, enforcement, plans for issues with homeshares or “underground” vacation rentals, and data about the number of permitted shortterm rentals versus operational illegal vacation rentals. Commissioners also requested assurances that platforms would work with the city to implement new policies and concrete plans for regular reporting on compliance and the impacts of short-term rentals on housing and taxes.

Good Samaritan CEO Sylvia Barnard (center) was joined by a large group of assorted well-wishers and co-conspirators at the Santa Barbara Mission on Tuesday for a ribboncutting to celebrate the new Good Samwich food truck.

by Nick Welsh hen Sylvia Barnard dreams, watch out. Her dreams have a relentless habit of coming true. For a long time now, Barnard has dreamt about launching a food truck operation that sells food raised and prepared by the clients living in one of many Good Samaritan homeless shelters run by Barnard. She can’t tell you when this dream first came to her. So long ago, she said, squinting into the past, she can no longer remember the details. But a while later, she remembered that it might have been inspired by Los Angeles’s Father Greg Boyle, whose successful and now legendary Homeboy Industries food trucks helped Los Angeles gangbangers find their way off the streets and into another life. For the past 27 years, Barnard has also been in the redemption racket, her focus being the county’s burgeoning homeless population. Today, the Good Samaritan operation boasts 1,000 beds, 85 programs, and 40 locations that serve 5,000 people in the region a year. This Tuesday, Barnard and a large group of assorted well-wishers and co-conspirators gathered at the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission under a gloomy noonday sky. Greeting them was the irrepressibly joyful Father Larry Gosselin, wearing the traditional Franciscan brown cassock, who blessed the brand-new, green-and-white, 18-foot-long food truck with an electrically powered

industrial-scale kitchen. Next week, the truck will hit the streets, manned by Good Sam clients, selling soups, salads, and, as Barnard has dubbed them, “Good Samwiches,” using produce grown at a Lompoc farm operated by Good Sam, cultivated by Good Sam clients, and prepared in its revamped industrial kitchen located in Isla Vista’s Hedges House of Hope shelter. (That building once housed oil workers and then a UCSB sorority.) The first stop will be at the cluster of county government buildings out on Calle Real where workers have long been stranded far from places to eat. Tuesday’s menu included turkey sandwiches with cranberry mayo dressing on oatnut bread, tropical coleslaw with pineapples and a coconut lime dressing, and quinoa arugula salad with orange balsamic dressing. Not your typical road coach bill o’ fare. All this is overseen by Executive Chef Don Hardin—with years of catering experience under his belt—who trains Hedges House clients in the culinary arts. Glenn Bacheller, whose career in the food industry includes Dunkin’ Donuts and Jamba Juice, spoke to the crowd about a call he received from Barnard a few years back. “I’ve had this dream,” she told him. “About a farm. Food to table, jobs to housing.” “When Sylvia tells you she has a dream, you better listen,” Bacheller concluded. “When she asks you to help out, you better do it.”

None of this could happened without a $150,000 grant from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara, which has a long history of punching way beyond its weight with strategically targeted, small-ball philanthropy. (With the new kitchen installed and exterior Good Samwich logo and artwork painted, the truck cost $242,000.) Famous for the leaveno-stone-unturned thoroughness of its vetting process, Women’s Fund volunteers are trained to smell the difference between do-gooders with good intentions and those who can get things done. All this happened against all the roiling uncertainty caused by looming changes in federal funding for homeless programs. It’s not just less money; it’s what programs will no longer be funded. Any with a whiff of Housing First or mentioning diversity, equity, and inclusion are getting the chop. Programs promising long-term housing will be cut drastically back with funding going instead to shorter-term programs that emphasize addiction and mental health treatment. The crowd in front of the Mission talked about these realities among themselves. Up by the food truck, Father Larry talked about “the creative compassion” of the Santa Barbara community. He said, “A community that can dream something, that can hope something, then it can come about. We have to dream,” he said. “We have to dream. And incredible things can come out of that.” n

For the latest news and longer versions of many of these stories, visit independent.com/news.

Over the past few weeks, Santa Barbara residents were asked to pick their plant: elderberry, toyon, coast live oak, island ironwood, bay laurel, or box elder? More than 60 Santa Barbara Clean Energy Customers took home one tree from this list over the weekend, thanks to the city’s community tree program. This was the second year of the program and started with a stock of 106 drought-resistant, native trees—double what they had last year. There are about 50 oak and elderberry trees remaining, and SBCE customers are invited to fill out an application to try and reserve a tree through santabarbaraca .gov. The program is a part of the city’s Climate Action Plan, using urban tree planting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The City of S.B. has launched a new “Own Your Impact” campaign designed to help residents build green habits. For March’s theme, “Protect What You Love,” participants are encouraged to reconnect with nature and reflect on what makes Santa Barbara special. Participants can earn digital badges each month, with opportunities to win fun prizes throughout the year, including plants and other themespecific rewards, with some potentially big prizes down the road. This month, participants will be entered into a raffle for a gift certificate to one of the city’s certified “Clean Creek” businesses. Sign up at sustainability.santabarbaraca.gov/ programs/own-your-impact.

EDUCATION Leaders from Cottage Health and the S.B. Unified School District gathered at Cottage Hospital on 3/4 to formally announce a $1.5 million donation from Cottage Health to support a new health careers training campus at San Marcos High. The contribution will help fund the Building Community Wellness Project, an $11 million effort to construct a mini-campus dedicated to healthcare education and expand the school’s existing wellness center. In recognition of the gift and partnership, the program will be renamed the Cottage Health Careers Academy at San Marcos High School for at least the next 20 years. CONT’D ON PAGE 11

INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

MAR. 5-12, 2026

City Reaffirms Commitment to Immigrants; Community Members Frustrated with Lack of Response

March 14 | 1-4 P.M. | East Cliff Campus FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

for a fun, family-friendly, interactive day of science! Pick up your event map at the Welcome Desk in front of the Campus Store!

HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY PAVILLON 1-3 p.m. Featuring hands-on demos from local high-tech companies For more information, call (805) 730-4396

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MARCH 12, 2026

EXPERIMENTS

Join Santa Barbara City College on Saturday, March 14

City Council, Police Deal with ICE Fallout

SCIENCE DISCOVERY DAY

INDEPENDENT.COM

by Ryan P. Cruz

City Council discussion about the city’s response to federal immigration enforcement — which included a statement from Santa Barbara Police Chief Kelly Gordon reaffirming the department’s priority for community policing—also served to highlight how the presence of aggressive ICE enforcement in Santa Barbara has eroded the trust between police, city officials, and the community. A report prepared by the City Administrator’s Office for Tuesday’s hearing said federal immigration enforcement has caused “significant disruption” in the city, and ICE detainment of community members in public spaces, at businesses, and near schools has created a sense of “instability, chaos, and fear.” In the past six weeks, there have been multiple instances of ICE officers pepperspraying and physically pushing community members who showed up to document immigration enforcement activity. Just a few hours before the March 10 meeting, another incident near the Santa Barbara County Jail added even more fuel to the fire. During public comment, Rapid Response Network volunteers recounted the scene where ICE agents chased, tackled, and allegedly beat a man who had to be hospitalized due to his injuries. “I am beyond furious,” said Ana Garcia, a community organizer with SBResiste who was among a number of immigrant rights advocates at the meeting. “An ICE operation left a man injured and bleeding with a serious injury to his mouth. … He is now in the hospital and being prevented from seeing his family.” She credited city officials for having good-faith conversations with community defense organizations, but warned that “vague policies” would only invite more chaos. Ian Paige, an organizer with Indivisible Santa Barbara, said, “I do not expect the SBPD to interfere or impede the lawful action of ICE. However, when an ICE agent—without legal justification—attacks a member of the public, can our SBPD stand by and do nothing?” Before reading a prepared statement, Chief Gordon expressed her support for the community members affected by federal immigration enforcement, saying that “no one should be targeted based on the color of their skin.” “The Santa Barbara Police Department does not engage in immigration enforcement,” Gordon continued. “Our officers are trained to respond with restraint, empathy, and a commitment to keeping the peace.” She said the SBPD fully supports the

ELAINE SANDERS

LIVE DEMOS

IMMIGRATION

Police Chief Kelly Gordon

public’s First Amendment rights, and local law enforcement remains “dedicated to de-escalation” and ensuring that all community members feel safe reporting a crime—regardless of immigration status. Senior Assistant to the City Administrator Barbara Andersen said the city and police department would not assist or share information with federal agencies, but there were still federal statutes that criminalized other actions that could be interpreted as obstruction with federal operations. What the city could do is ensure there are protocols in place for large public gatherings, work with Rapid Response groups to disseminate verified information, and define city employees’ roles when faced with federal agents on city property. Chief Gordon explained that federal agencies hold much of the power, and SBPD cannot cite or detain agents who will not cooperate. “We can’t compel them to actually cooperate with us in any way,” Gordon said. City Attorney John Doimas said the recent actions of ICE and Border Patrol in Minnesota show just how much “real broad power” the federal government has given to federal agents working in immigration enforcement. “They were detaining people. They shot two people,” Doimas said. “It goes to show the power that the federal government has in its jurisdiction.” The city council did not take official action regarding the resolution, but in a unanimous vote the council continued the discussion to allow for city staff to work with immigrant support groups and return to a future hearing. The council also directed city staff to return with an audit of the city’s automated license plate reading contracts, to ensure no information was being accessed to assist with immigration enforcement. Councilmember Mike Jordan did not take part in the votes. As the rest of the council gave final comments at the end of a six-hour hearing, Councilmember Jordan abruptly walked out of the room. Jordan offered no explanation as to why he left the hearing. n

COURTS & CRIME

NEWS of the WEEK CONT’D

State Authority Trumped?

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION EVENT FREE for City of Santa Barbara Residents

NICK WELSH

Trump Could Let Sable Restart Oil Pipeline Using Defense Production Act, DOJ Opines

No Non-City Participants and No Business Waste Will Be Accepted

Saturday, March 14 ~ 9 AM - 1 PM Santa Barbara City College Lot 2-C (La Playa Stadium) 136 Loma Alta Drive

Sable executives planning commission October 30, 2025

by Nick Welsh

he Department of Justice issued a sweeping legal opinion last Thursday asserting that the Defense Production Act empowers President Donald Trump or his Secretary of Energy to approve Sable Offshore’s plans to restart offshore oil production in Santa Barbara County at what’s known as the Santa Ynez Unit, preempting regulatory requirements imposed by numerous state agencies and a federal decree issued in 2020 giving the Office of the State Fire Marshal the last word when it comes to restarting Sable’s corrosionprone pipeline. The opinion was written by T. Elliot Gaiser, the 35-year-old assistant attorney general with the Office of Legal Counsel, in response to complaints charged by Sable Offshore, whose officers claim that the State Fire Marshal, the State Legislature, and other California agencies have collectively acted to impede Sable from starting production at what Gaiser termed the “largest known offshore oil field in the United States.” Gaiser acknowledged he had not independently verified the accuracy of Sable’s complaints, but for the purpose of his opinion, he wrote, “We accept the veracity of the factual statements set forth in Sable’s letter.” Sable has complained that the Fire Marshal has unreasonably withheld the approvals necessary to allow the company to restart its pipeline—which sprung a major leak in 2015, releasing 142,000 gallons of oil along the Gaviota Coast. The company also complained that the Fire Marshal has changed the rules and requirements relating to pipeline repairs required before restart authorization would be granted. To the extent any state laws or regulations conflict with this invocation, Gaiser said, federal authority trumps state power. Anyone acting in furtherance of any executive order authorized by the Defense Production Act, he stated, would be immune from any liability, even, he stated, if they engaged in criminal conduct. The Defense Production Act was designed to concentrate executive authority in the person of the president to keep

the wheels of industry spinning. It was most famously deployed by President Harry Truman to end a strike by steel workers during the Korean War and more recently by both Donald Trump and Joe Biden during COVID to ensure the materials to manufacture protective N95 masks were in plentiful supply and enough masks were made. A call to the Office of the State Fire Marshal for comment resulted in a returned email from Anthony Martinez, who works for Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office. “Restarting Sable would contribute about 0.05 percent to crude oil production — a drop in the bucket that would have zero impact on the oil prices that have sky-rocketed because of Donald Trump’s Iran war,” his statement read. “The Trump Department of Justice opinion on his emergency power is as lawless as his emergency tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down. If Trump think he can override California law and an existing court order with the stroke of his pen, we look forward to hearing what the federal court he’s defying has to say.” In the meantime, he added, Sable needs to continue securing the necessary permits from the multiple state agencies empowered with jurisdictional oversight. While Gaiser’s memo clearly outlines a legal rationale by which the federal government could preempt what would otherwise be California’s sovereign authority, no one — not Trump, not his Secretary of Energy — have yet acted to invoke the Defense Production Act on Sable’s behalf. Still, the stock market responded to the legal opinion with a sharp increase in Sable’s stock value. According to a spokesperson for the Fire Marshal, the Fire Marshal’s office is still reviewing the Department of Justice opinion. Likewise, Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, the law firm bird-dogging Sable’s efforts to restart the pipeline, said she was still reviewing her legal options. “The stakes are huge,” she said. “This would allow the feds to ignore any and all the environmental protections and all the health and safety protections imposed by the state to approve this project.” n

Accepted Materials & Instructions bit.ly/hhwspring2026 Scan the QR Code for More Information For More Information, Visit SantaBarbaraCA.gov/Sustainability

Poetry Reading Paul Willis Orvieto

What happens when an American poet most at home in Yosemite is summoned to teach in the faraway land of Italy? In the tradition of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, Paul J. Willis comes to terms with the Umbrian town of Orvieto in a suite of poems that are sure to land in your memory and imagination. An interweaving of past and present, pagan and Christian, art and nature creates a rich tapestry for any eager visitor. Come and see. Paul Willis has published eight full collections and six chapbooks of poetry. He is an emeritus professor of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara.

Thu, Mar 12, 6:00 PM 3321 State St Scan the QR code to see more event info on our website. INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

MAR. 5-12, 2026

ENVIRONMENT

Naples Listed for $70M

Price, Postel & Parma llp Trusted Legal Counsellors since 1852

Price, Postel & Parma is excited to welcome Ian M. Shane as an associate attorney.

Business & Real Estate, Trusts & Estate Planning, Public Agency 200 East Carrillo Street, Ste. 400 Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2190 www.ppplaw.com 805.962.0011 10

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MARCH 12, 2026

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CO A S TA L R A N C H / K E R R Y M O R M A N N & A S S O C I AT E S

Thousand-Acre Property’s Fate up for Grabs by Callie Fausey

historic and largely undeveloped stretch of the Gaviota Coast is back on the market. The current owner of roughly 1,000 acres at Naples—also known as “Santa Barbara Ranch” — has listed the entire sprawling property for $70 million. Sitting northwest of Santa Barbara, the oceanfront ranch, currently used for cattle grazing, spans rolling grasslands with sweeping coastal views. The property includes parcels stretching from the mountainside to the bluffs, access to the “Naples” surf break and the “Naples” reef, and an 18-acre lake with bass fishing, according to its listing by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. But this scenic property comes with baggage—including a past of failed development proposals and persistent community efforts to preserve the land. “It’s extremely controversial … quite a history,” said lister Kerry Mormann, a broker who specializes in coastal ranch sales. “It’s not an easy job, but my goal is to try to find somebody who will respect and preserve this property.” Preserving Naples would involve far fewer regulatory hurdles than building on it. Everyone wants a piece of the pie—but the pie’s location, land-use constraints, and legal history have made it difficult to develop. Decades of development pressure have been met by opposition from local environmental organizations seeking to protect the Gaviota Coast’s rural and ecological character. “The ground is littered with the broken picks of developers,” said Santa Barbara attorney Marc Chytilo, who represented environmental groups in previous litigation over the property. David Liu, a wealthy investor based in Arcadia, has owned the property for about 10 years and is now looking to sell, according to Mormann. He described Liu as a “quiet guy” and said he could only speculate about why Liu is selling now or whether he ever seriously pursued development. Nevertheless, Liu has about $80 million invested in the property. At the current asking price, he would be taking a loss, and is showing “real motivation to sell,” Mormann said. Mormann added that he contacted local conservation groups — including the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County — to gauge interest. Asked if the Land Trust would be interested in buying the property, communications manager CJ Benavidez said: “We are aware that the property is for sale and are evaluating the situation.” Mormann has divided the property into portions, including five 20-acre oceanfront lots listed at $15 million each that could appeal to developers. Altogether, the North and South ranch offerings — located above and below the freeway — include more

Naples, a scenic stretch of the Gaviota Coast, is back on the market for $70 million.

than 220 legal parcels with Certificates of Compliance. Mormann said he is working with land-use planner Mark Lloyd, who has mapped out a potential scenario that could allow for development of 10 to 12 homes on the north side of the freeway and “perhaps five or six on the south side.” “So, it’s a definite danger of development on the pristine Gaviota Coast,” he said. At the same time, the property also presents an opportunity for consolidation and conservation easements that could permanently preserve most of the land, which would come with what Mormann called a “tremendous tax break” of up to 50 percent of the total cost. Mormann has been fielding a lot of interest. He said he received about 20 calls about the property just last month, including from developers. But he reiterated that he hopes to attract a conservation-minded buyer. Phil McKenna, former president of the Gaviota Coast Conservancy who now sits on its board, said the group is not currently holding detailed discussions about acquiring the land. But he emphasized that its priorities remain the same. “Acquisition was always an option, but what we needed to do was tamp down the development pressure,” he recounted. “Our objective is to prevent development, facilitate sustainable agricultural use, and preserve its rural character.” The new listing comes as Gaviota Coast Conservancy — alongside the Environmental Defense Center and Surfrider Foundation — has been fighting a proposed seaside estate not included in the current sale. But with the neighboring sales underway, the decisions surrounding that lot could become “precedent-setting,” according to Tara Rengifo, a senior attorney with the EDC — whether the project ultimately reaches construction or not. As for Liu’s property, no buyer has emerged yet, leaving Naples’s future uncertain. n

ENVIRONMENT

CONT’D FROM P.7

Students who graduate from San Marcos High’s Cottage Health Careers Academy now have a direct pipeline to higher education close to home. This new partnership between S.B. Unified and Westmont College includes guaranteed admission to the liberal arts college in Montecito and a minimum of $15,000 in financial aid. Requirements include successful completion of coursework and A-G requirements (with a B+ or better) and the Health Science and Medical Technology Career Technical Education pathway, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, and the completion of a Westmont application with one academic letter of recommendation. The term of the agreement extends until 5/31/29. L.A. nonprofit Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA) is offering education loans of up to $10,000 per school year to qualified borrowers — with no interest and no fees. Despite the name, the program serves anyone, regardless of faith, color, creed, or religion, according to JFLA. Repayment begins in small monthly installments that gradually increase. Students typically pay $100 per month while enrolled, followed by $250 per month for the year after graduation, and then $375 monthly until the loan is fully repaid. Last year, JFLA distributed more than $3.4 million in zero-interest education loans, helping students pursue undergraduate degrees, graduate school, nursing programs, and vocational training.

COMMUNITY A GoFundMe has been set up to support James Mellor, an S.B. County fire captain who is out of work after suffering a stroke. The fundraiser will provide Mellor and his wife with financial support as he undergoes medical treatment and rehabilitation. Mellor has spent more than 20 years in the fire service. He began his career in Santa Lucia Crew 7, a seasonal firefighting hand crew that draws heavily from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students. He continued on to the Los Padres Hotshots, an elite crew of wildland firefighters that performs highly specialized, demanding work, before coming to County Fire.

COURTS & CRIME

J O H N PA L M I N T E R I

S.B. police are investigating an early-morning stabbing downtown that left one person hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries. Officers were dispatched at approximately 1:44 a.m. 3/6 to the first block of West Ortega Street following a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department. When officers arrived, they located a victim suffering from multiple stab wounds. Police searched the surrounding area but were unable to locate a suspect. Investigators said preliminary information suggests the stabbing was an isolated incident, with “no indication of an on-going threat to the public,” according to police. Anyone with information is asked to contact SBPD at (805) 897-8900.

was not injured in the crash. He was arrested and booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on charges including felony evading and hit-and-run, with bail set at $75,000, according to police. County Animal Control officers seized 58 birds and items commonly used in cockfighting while serving two search warrants in the Lompoc area this week as part of an investigation into suspected animal abuse and illegal bird fighting, according to the County Health Department. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing. The seized birds, many of which showed physical signs associated with cockfighting, are currently being housed at the county’s animal shelter while the case proceeds. Captain Jerry Boylan’s appeal of his conviction in the deaths of 34 souls aboard the Conception on September 2, 2019, was turned down on 3/3 as a federal appeals court affirmed his four-year sentence. In their ruling, the three judges were explicit in describing Boylan’s negligence that led to the lethal fire aboard the ship that Labor Day Weekend. The day after the ruling, Boylan asked for his appeal to be heard again before a larger panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which would consist of the Chief Judge and 10 others. His attorneys have until 3/31 to file their petition. Ashlee Buzzard, the Vandenberg Village woman accused of murdering her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee, missed her second preliminary hearing setting on 3/4 in Lompoc. Both times, she filed a refusal to go to court due to illness. Jordan Lockey, the prosecution’s lead attorney, requested that Judge Stephen Dunkle make an extraction order, which would require Buzzard to appear in court. Buzzard’s public defender, Erica Sutherland, said that Buzzard had ongoing medical needs and asked Judge Dunkle not to order her extraction. Ultimately, Judge Dunkle rescheduled the hearing to 3/18. He said that, should Buzzard fail to appear in court for a third time, he would issue the extraction order.

HEALTH The new three-story medical structure project now under construction by the Westside intersection of Micheltorena and San Andres streets just got a $5 million infusion of much-needed cash courtesy of the Wyatt family of Montecito. Hence why the new and vastly bigger flagship for the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics will soon be named the Wyatt Family Health Center. The Wyatts had donated $5,000 and $25,000 to the clinic before, but this is by far the biggest donation they’ve given and the biggest the new clinics have received. With inflation, tariffs, and cost of materials going up, construction costs — now weighing in at $23 million — have exceeded initial projections and additional financing was required to finish the job. The new building will fuse mental health, dental, and traditional medical treatment all in one location and will enable a caseload increase from 20,000 patients to 28,000. Construction for the new clinic is scheduled to be completed in December 2026 and open for business early the first quarter of the new year.

CANNABIS

A brief police pursuit through Santa Barbara’s Eastside neighborhood ended the night of 3/5 when a fleeing driver allegedly collided with an unoccupied parked vehicle on East Gutierrez Street, crashed into a tree (above) on Calle Cesar Chavez, and fled on foot before returning to the scene to surrender to officers. Police identified the driver as Santa Barbara resident Yahir Limon-Avita, 22, who

The county supervisors drew the line on a 3/18 deadline by which 22 commercial cannabis cultivators had to install carbon-based odor scrubbers, voting 4-1 to reject a time extension requested by eight of them. First District Supervisor Roy Lee, who represents Carpinteria, said the growers have had enough time to address the problem and expressed impatience that they hadn’t acted sooner. Growers who fail to comply risk having their business licenses suspended or revoked. n

‘There Is Hope’

S.B. Iranians React to Ayatollah’s Death, War in Iran

by Elaine Sanders

bsessively refreshing social media and news sites, research scientist Ehsan Sayyad was working remotely on Saturday February 28, at his apartment off State Street. He was waiting for a confirmation of the rumors he heard all morning, and just before 2 p.m. PST, Trump announced that Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by U.S. and Israeli air strikes. Sayyad grabbed his Lion and Sun flag — the official flag of Iran before the Islamic Revolution and used by protesters of the Islamic Republic — threw it across his shoulders, and walked down Anacapa Street in celebration. His destination was Press Room bar, where he greeted the measly early-afternoon crowd and bought everyone a round of shots. Sayyad felt strange to be celebrating death and destruction, but Khamenei’s death was a signal of hope to Iranians across the world that the repressive Islamic regime could possibly be top- Ehsan Sayyad with his Lion and Sun Iranian flag after pled. For him, and many others in the hearing Trump confirm that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had Iranian community, it was an intensely been killed on Saturday, February 28 emotional moment. “I felt like crying,” said Sayyad. for the UN, of which the Islamic Republic of Sayyad left his home in Tehran in 2015 Iran is a member state, to invoke the Right and landed in Santa Barbara. He earned a to Protect principle, which states that “each PhD and met his American wife at UCSB individual State has the responsibility to and has been living in the community ever protect its populations from genocide, war since. He grew up under the Islamic regime, crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against and his friends and family are still there. humanity.” The fourth-year undergraduate student “When I talk to my friends back home, they say that we are very happy to see these said, “We were protesting because the interthugs getting obliterated. But again, every- national community was for some reason body is shit scared of what is yet to come,” very silent about what was happening.” And speaking in his personal capacity, Ahmadi said Sayyad. According to American Community believes that external military intervention Survey data collected by the U.S. Census was “100 percent justified.” Bureau in 2025, there are around 1,600 UCSB Persian language and literature Santa Barbara County residents with self- professor Aazam Feiz said speaking on her reported Iranian ancestry. personal behalf, “There is hope that susSince the U.S. and Israeli intervention in tained international engagement may create the country and killing of Khamenei, the conditions in which Iranians can determine Iranian diaspora in Santa Barbara have been their own future and eventually live norengaging in bittersweet celebration and are mal lives marked by dignity, stability, and cautiously optimistic for the future of Iran. freedom.” Before talking to an Independent reporter, The diaspora have taken on the role of messenger of the voices of loved ones in Iran Sayyad spoke to his friend from high school who are living in communication blackouts in Tehran who had been in the middle of the since the deadly January massacre, during January protests when they turned deadly. which the Islamic Regime reportedly killed His friend had been pulling bodies from the an estimated 30,000 protesters in the span streets when he sustained an injury to his of 48 hours, and have been living in con- eye. Sayyad asked him if there was anything stant worry of what may happen next in he wanted a journalist to know. the region. Sayyad’s lips whispered in Farsi as he Since January, both protesters in Iran translated the messages relayed through and in the diaspora have been calling on a messaging app that could potentially be the international community to step in. surveilled by the Islamic Republic. Sahand Ahmadi, Persian Student Group “Tell them that the people want this,” his treasurer at UCSB and the son of Iranian friend’s text read. “Their forces are not little. immigrants, says protests on campus fol- They have shut off the internet. This [U.S. lowing the January massacre were calling military intervention] must continue.” n INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

CO U R T E S Y O F E H S A N S AYYA D

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EDUCATION

UCSB Gets Grade Bump on Anti-Semitism Report Card he Anti-Defamation League (ADL) gave UCSB a grade bump from a D (“Deficient Approach”) to a B (“Better than Most”) in their latest Campus Anti-Semitism Report Card for 2026. In a statement, ADL Santa Barbara/TriCounties Regional Director Joshua Burt said that UCSB’s promotion “was earned through diligent improvements in campus policies, enforcement, and outreach to the Jewish community.” For the past three years, the ADL has been issuing report cards for universities based on three criteria: “Publicly Disclosed Administrative Actions,” “Jewish Life on Campus,” and “Campus Conduct and Climate Concerns.” Despite earning a D on the previous report card, UCSB was ranked “excellent” for Jewish Life on Campus in 2025 and maintained that rating for 2026. UCSB earned “above expectations” marks in the category assessing campus administration. The organization commended campus leadership’s response to anti-Semitic acts against Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi as recently as January 10, when two people broke into the fraternity and defaced a bathroom mirror with a shaving-cream swastika. “Chancellor [Dennis] Assanis and his administration responded quickly and appro-

priately to address the incidents and open timely investigations,” stated Joshua Burt. Out of the 135 universities ranked in 2025, almost 50 percent improved their scores in 2026. These institutions “adopt clearer antiSemitism definitions, expand training, formalize accountability structures, enforce policies consistently, and integrate anti-Semitism into broader non-discrimination and campus safety frameworks.” Back in 2024, the Department of Education opened a Title VI investigation on UCSB following anti-Zionist messages were posted in the MultiCultural Center, which was scheduled to be used for a Shabbat dinner. By December, the department issued an outline of actions that the university must take to address anti-Semitism on campus. In July 2025, Chancellor Assanis announced the formation of two new advisory committees: one focused on antiSemitism, the other on Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias. The category that UCSB leaves room for improvement is “campus conduct and climate concerns.” The ADL notes concern for the number of severe anti-Zionist incidents on and around campus, and the level of “hostile anti-Zionist” student group, faculty, and staff —Elaine Sanders activity.

ENVIRONMENT

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County Votes to Support Environmental Justice

ot all communities in Santa Barbara County can breathe easily. Some are more impacted by environmental burdens, such as pollution, pesticide exposure, and overcrowded housing conditions — defined as a glaring lack of “environmental justice.” On Tuesday, however, at the County Board of Supervisors meeting, the voices of nine United Domestic Workers (UDW) who came out to share their environmental concerns were not heard. The item about the county’s Environmental Justice Element (EJE) was pushed back several hours, forcing these workers to leave for their jobs before they were able to speak. The EJE is meant to address environmental hazards in the county’s “Environmental Justice Communities”: identified as Isla Vista, Casmalia, Cuyama, New Cuyama, Ventucopa, Sisquoc, and Los Alamos. Community members already feel that their voices are not heard when it comes to decisions made about their neighborhoods, regional advocates said, asking that the element be revised after incorporating more public input and strengthening policy language. “We remind the county that to fully encompass a just environment, you must open your eyes and ears and listen to how marginalized communities have and continue to suffer,” said Sandra PlascenciaRodriguez, the climate justice organizer for

the local UDW chapter. “My heart aches a little bit about the agenda change and that people who came weren’t able to participate,” said Supervisor Joan Hartmann. “I do think that although they’re asking for more outreach, the time has come where we really need to adopt this element.” “There’s been a lot of effort invested in this by our departments and the community,” Hartmann said. “And we’re not going to go back and open things up, but the real key is how we implement going forward.” The planning commission tweaked the document, clarifying the intent of the EJE is not to impose new regulations on land owners or businesses but to identify unique community needs including air quality and food access. It wasn’t a simple vote. Sisquoc’s designation was reduced to only include residential areas, rather than zoned agricultural lands, after public comment from a representative of the Grower-Shipper Association. Public trails were also added. With these changes, the board voted unanimously to approve and adopt the EJE. “We need to spend time with the environmental justice groups on implementation,” said Supervisor Laura Capps, suggesting that they could carve out funds to ensure that hard-to-reach populations are engaged. “And that’s where I want to focus now.” —Callie Fausey

NATIONAL

NEWS of the WEEK CONT’D

Santa Barbara Vascular Specialists

S.B. Surgeon Calls Out Health Insurance Giant

Dr. Kevin Casey Claims ‘Immoral’ Denial and Delay Tactics by UnitedHealthcare Contributed to Patient’s ‘Preventable Death’

by Tyler Hayden efore he moved to town in 2016, Dr. Kevin Casey served as a Navy trauma surgeon during the U.S.led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, when he’s not performing 10-hour surgeries or making his rounds, Casey and his team of billers at Santa Barbara Vascular Specialists do battle with American insurance carriers over their routine denial of care. Casey is constantly frustrated by the machinations of the private health insurance market, describing it as a fundamentally broken system that prioritizes profits above all else. But the tactics of one particular company — UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurer in the United States that reported $448 billion in revenue last year — have appalled and “enraged” him, he said. “While their immoral actions are too numerous to state, my most recent interaction with them was inexcusable and exemplifies yet another breach of their contract with patients,” Casey wrote in a letter to the Independent, which was followed this week by an interview. Casey stated that, in his medical opinion, a long-delayed decision by UnitedHealthcare to approve coverage for an 82-year-old patient “ultimately contributed to her preventable death.” Casey said he was sharing his patient’s story with the permission of her family, who wished to keep their identities private. Representatives for UnitedHealthcare — whose CEO last month received withering criticism from a bipartisan panel of Congress over rising consumer costs — did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Jane Doe was an active and vibrant member of the Santa Barbara community, Casey said, who, in her later years, suffered

from severe peripheral arterial disease. Despite multiple attempts to save her foot, Doe underwent a below-knee amputation in December. Following the surgery at Cottage Hospital, Doe was discharged to a skilled nursing facility to recover. Five days later, she was readmitted to Cottage for “failure to thrive.” But Doe bounced back, and, several days later, met all the criteria to return to the nursing facility, where she would receive physical therapy and other critical support not available from a hospital bed. “This is where UnitedHealthcare intervened,” Casey said. The company refused the placement. “Despite continual requests to understand why, no justification was given,” he said. “This is a woman who was a new amputee, had no immediate family to help, and required more intense nursing care than could ever be provided at home.” Casey’s team spent the following days challenging the denial. They were told they could make a “physician appeal” and would receive a response within 72 hours. Five more days passed with no word from UnitedHealthcare. “Our physicians and social workers called continuously, requesting an answer and were either put on hold indefinitely or blatantly disregarded,” Casey said. “One physician on my team was hung up on after 45 minutes of waiting. … These are busy surgeons trying to do what is best for a patient and do not have time to be on hold that long.” Meanwhile, Doe was declining. She was growing depressed sitting in the hospital with no sustainable plan in sight. “She felt abandoned,” Casey said, all because she was waiting on UnitedHealthcare to approve a medically necessary discharge to the nursing facility. By all measures, a transfer of this nature would be considered standard of care, said Casey, who currently serves CONT’D ON PAGE 14

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S.B. SURGEON CALLS OUT HEALTH INSURANCE on the board of the Central Coast Medical Association. “Conversely, refusal to do such is blatantly outside of such standards.” After 26 days, the family’s personal appeal was approved. UnitedHealthcare offered no explanation for their reversal. However, the company then said it had made a paperwork error and Doe would need to wait in the hospital another three days. Finally, Doe was transferred to the nursing facility, but she was considerably weakened and despondent. Shortly thereafter, she died. “Their strategy is very clear and methodical,” Casey said. “By creating countless hurdles for either procedure approval and/or denial of payment for standard medical care, they ultimately discourage a percentage of physicians and patients from seeking care.” The constant stress of these roadblocks contributes to the burnout plaguing medical providers across the country, he said. Casey pointed to two other cases of delay involving different insurance agencies that resulted in devastating outcomes for his patients. One needed surgery on his wounded leg. The night before the procedure, coverage was denied. The patient then became septic and passed away. Another patient required treatment for a chronic vascular condition that was simi-

CONT’D FROM P. 13

larly denied but later approved. They are still struggling with long-term complications from the delay. “Years of frustration and anger are finally bubbling over,” said Casey of his decision to speak out now. “We are part of a system that is not working, and we pay into this system. So, you expect to have services that are humane and meet your needs.” Doctors throughout the United States work tirelessly for their patients. “On the other side, you’ve got people who can make decisions without any regard for outcomes,” he said. Oftentimes, those people are not physicians. And sometimes, they’re not even human, with life-or-death calls made increasingly by artificial intelligence. Casey took his complaints about UnitedHealthcare and Jane Doe to the California Medical Association and has reached out to elected officials. He said he plans to keep ringing the alarm bell with more stories of “unethical decisions” executed by UnitedHealthcare and other insurance companies. “I hope other physicians and healthcare providers feel compelled to write in about their experiences as well,” he said. “Our patients have a right to know that this is happening to their friends, their family members, and possibly themselves in the future.” n

COURTS & CRIME

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federal judge is now considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit, brought by the company proposing to build an eight-story apartment building behind the Old Mission, against the State of California and the City of Santa Barbara. The suit alleges that a state senate bill illegally singles out the company’s housing project and requires it to undergo environmental review. The Mission LLC filed a preliminary application for the eight-story apartment building in January 2024, under the state housing provision Builder’s Remedy, that allowed it to bypass city requirements. The project has caused considerable outcry among city residents since it would dramatically dwarf other buildings in the historic neighborhood. Since 20 percent of the project’s 270 apartments could be priced for low-income households, it appeared that the building would fall under another Senate bill passed last June allowing some housing projects in urban areas to bypass environmental review. But in September, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, who represents Santa Barbara County, introduced SB 158 as a budget trailer bill that would require environmental reviews for properties that fit certain parameters, including the size of the city and county where the project is, its proximity to state-designated historic

landmarks, and wetlands and floodways identified on-site. The Mission LLC’s project appears to be the only project in the state that met the new parameters. The State of California argues that the Mission LLC’s claims are “unripe,” meaning they are based on future events, that they are barred by California’s sovereign immunity and that their complaint does not state any claims by which “relief ” can be granted. The Mission LLC is a shell company managed by real estate advisor Ben Eilenberg, who is also working on a Grand Avenue project with Craig and Stephanie Smith. A married couple, the Smiths are listed as the chief officers for another company, the Universalist Unitarian Mission LLC. In June, The Mission LLC and the Universalist Unitarian Mission LLC sued Santa Barbara County, alleging that The Mission LLC did not have to pay property taxes because it rented to the Universalist Unitarian Mission, which it identified as a church. The Mission LLC owes more than $307,000 in property taxes. Judge Hernán D. Vera, whose district covers the Central Coast, took the motions to dismiss the cases under submission on March 5 and will give his decision within 120 days. —Christina McDermott

A longer version of this story can be found at Independent.com.

NEWS of the WEEK CONT’D

HOMELESSNESS

Fifty-Seven Years Outside

At 89, Suzanne Has Spent Most of Her Adult Life Living Without a Home in Santa Barbara — by Choice and Conviction

CONTEXT IS KEY Worldwide, more than 100 million people have no shelter. Whether the reason is due to war, famine, or natural disaster, their homelessness is not a choice. In America, the shape of homelessness began to shift dramatically in the late 20th century, when deep federal budget cuts collided with rising rents, stagnating wages, and the dismantling of mental health infrastructure. Federal investment in subsidized housing dropped by billions. At the same time, inner cities gentrified, and single-roomoccupancy hotels—once a last line of defense against homelessness—were razed or flipped into boutique hotels and expensive condos. Large numbers of people with severe mental illnesses were left to navigate city streets and temporary shelters. Between 1955 and 1980, 75 percent of psychiatric hospitals closed as they lost state and federal funding. Over these decades, homelessness became more permanent—especially for people who aged into it. Today, roughly one in five unhoused people in the United States is older than 55. Many entered homelessness later in life, after job loss, illness, caregiving responsibilities, or the death of a partner. Whatever the case, they are among the most vulnerable of those living on the street.

A STORY TO TELL Homelessness, as defined by global institutions, is a condition of lack. Suzanne’s version is something else. To her, it is a protest supported by individuals and her community. By her own account, she has been unhoused for half a century—40 of those years in Santa Barbara. After many conversations over a few months, Suzanne told me her history. She was born in Pasadena during the

“

E L L A H E Y D E N F E D LT

by Ella Heydenfeldt

ong before I met Suzanne, I was uneasy with the phrase “homeless person.” It seemed to flatten too many lives into one shame-colored noun. The older words — vagrant, hobo, derelict, transient, drifter — have mostly fallen out of favor. But “homeless” remains, clinical and expansive, at once a description and a verdict. Suzanne sleeps in a sedan on the industrial edge of Goleta, but to call her homeless is too small a box to fit her life. She has lived in cabins, shelters, halfway houses, and tents. She has worked inside the system and refused it. At 89, she owns almost nothing, and still, she is not poor. She is, in her words, a privileged homeless person—a phrase that sounds like an oxymoron until you watch her mix berries in a baby blender plugged into a picnic-table outlet at a park. “I have been outside, by myself, for 57 years,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m amazed I’m still alive.” She has lived and worked in nearly every shelter in the Santa Barbara area. She camped for a time along Mountain Drive, a ridge road above the city where some people park and never quite leave. She has helped others navigate shelters, advocated for residents with trauma, confronted staff when she believed people were being mistreated, and once took unhoused people to a dentist who gave discounts. When asked how she is doing, she often responds, not with an inventory of her own needs, but with questions about the state of the world—Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, Venezuela, Greenland. Her sense of scale is planetary. “I don’t think any injustice is being done to me,” she said. “I don’t blame the government.” Suzanne’s homelessness is, in her words, a system rejected, rather than one that rejected her.

‘I don’t think any injustice is being done to me.’

PEACE OF MIND

Suzanne scoops a berry smoothie into a cup at a Goleta park, where she often blends meals using a small portable blender.

final years of the Great Depression and grew up during World War II. Her parents were, as she tells it, equal parts artistic and austere. Her mother worked as a nurse’s aide in the OB ward of a Catholic hospital; her father was a Shakespearean actor turned police officer. As a child, her family moved to Burbank, where she remembers air-raid sirens warning of a Japanese attack that never came. Eventually, she ended up at UC Berkeley, where she earned a degree in sociology in 1958. From there, she said, her life moved to New York City, where she helped tenants at the Henry Street Settlement House form grievance committees. In the 1960s, she returned to Berkeley, this time to work at Head Start, then a new federal educational program for children from low-income families. But that ended when, Suzanne said, she “didn’t want to pay taxes to a government that killed people in Vietnam.” Europe followed—twice, both times in pursuit of love. After the second, she returned to California with a different outlook on life: She wanted to wake up under trees. First in the Santa Cruz Mountains in a cabin, then a tent in Santa Barbara, then shelters, and finally a car. After a fall last spring sent her to a convalescent care center, a businessman she knew offered her a used, faded-gold sedan. She accepted it reluctantly. “I hate it,” she said. “It leaks. It’s cramped. But it’s mine.” Her car is now her bed and sometimes her bunker. She sleeps curled across the backseat, knees tucked, the windows cracked just enough to keep the glass from fogging over. She keeps a cup and a bag for her business, disposing discreetly at trash cans—the not-so-snazzy part of living sans a house. Suzanne maintains what might be called high-functioning homelessness. She is strategically parked near a public park that offers benches, bathrooms, water fountains, and an outlet to power her blender—a key item given that she has just one tooth. She is deeply embedded in the neighborhood’s informal supply chain: food and the occasional gift of money from neighbors. She makes sauerkraut and talks often about feeding her microbiome. Clothing, ideally not made in sweatshops, comes from thrift stores. “I would say I’m far more self-sufficient,” she said. She does not panhandle. She does not collect Social Security, and she attempts to stay away from any taxpayer-supported institutions. She used to support herself by recycling bottles and cans. Now, at 89, she survives.

Suzanne has never used drugs or alcohol — “no chemicals to solve problems,” she said — but her inner life has not been untroubled. She describes being “plagued by anxiety” for much of her early adulthood. She tried different types of 1970s psychotherapy, which backfired. From there, her spiritual experiments widened — Native American vision quests, scripture, Quaker meetings — in a continuous effort to steady the mind. Her current routine is refined. Mornings begin with Bible readings, journaling, a long walk, and then food. Her diet is plant-based, mostly raw, and selected with care: liquifying berries, vegetables, and nut butters. When a neighbor leaves a Mandarin orange on the lid of a trash can, she considers it a gift. “Someone left that for me,” she said, eyes lighting up. Suzanne has her cart, her lunch box, and a list of shelters and the goods they provide. She makes no suggestion that she is living this way by accident. If anything, Suzanne lives stubbornly, proudly outside. She distrusts the government, believing the system to be fragile — she does not want to be caught depending on something that could be taken away. Suzanne is not an island. She is part of a loose network of people who keep an eye out for one another. She has relationships, routines, places where she belongs. She attended Quaker meetings for years.

LIFE’S LESSONS To observers, Suzanne does not appear to be in crisis. She is lucid, spiritual. She speaks slowly, but not aimlessly. She offers advice freely. She is funny. She calls the modern world a technological monster. She worries about the loss of peace, the worship of profit, the “little machines you put in your pocket.” Chuck Flacks, a city of Goleta Homelessness Services Coordinator, notes that each person’s case is complex. “We have an outreach team who covers the whole city. We are familiar with every case of someone living on the streets,” he said. “We care deeply about each person, meet them where they are, and always offer food, water, and help to take the next right step in their lives. We don’t limit our offer of help to once, 10 times, or 100. We keep making sure everyone is okay.” Suzanne is well aware of these offers. She has accepted help in the past, asking for specific items that she needs. There are also times where she walks away from help. If there is a lesson in Suzanne’s life, it is not how to escape homelessness, but how to exist in it. And she knows that, in many parts of the world, being unhoused means death. Still, she moves through her day in a balancing act between survival and living. For Suzanne, the word “homeless” is not a classification, but a failure of imagination. She survives with intention, refusing what she cannot reconcile, and arranging her days with the efficiency of someone who has learned that permanence is an illusion and belonging is not a matter of address. n

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The Freeze

t a time when Santa Barbara renters are struggling with soaring housing costs, the threat by Santa Barbara Rental Property Association (SBRPA) to sue the city over its temporary rent increase moratorium is misguided. The ordinance, adopted January 13 and effective February 26, simply freezes rents at current levels while officials draft a permanent stabilization plan. It is temporary and measured. SBRPA calls the freeze an “unconstitutional taking” and an unlawful interference with private contracts. But the city has not seized property nor denied landlords the ability to earn income. Owners still collect rent, retain full ownership, and can sell their properties. A short-term pause on rent hikes is regulation—not confiscation. Housing has always been subject to reasonable public safeguards, from zoning laws to safety codes. Rent stabilization is no different. Courts have long recognized that cities may regulate housing markets, particularly during crises. Yes, landlords face rising costs. But renters face escalating rents, low vacancy rates, and displacement—often without wage growth to match. In a city where housing affordability threatens workforce stability and community cohesion, doing nothing is not an option. The temporary moratorium preserves stability while the city considers long-term policy. Litigation will not solve Santa Barbara’s housing crisis. Constructive participation will. —Gina Rodarte Quiroz, S.B.

Hocus Pocus

rom the beginning of the American Republic, presidents in trouble have used conflict as a distraction. Donald Trump is no exception. From his choices of loyalty over ethics and competency in administration personnel, to personal scandals, he fails the test for a second time. And now, with the Epstein files increasingly a problem, Trump turns to military actions. What will this cost in American lives and treasure?

...in the Tri-Counties

—Frank DiMarco, Goleta

Public Land Sale?

enator Mike Lee’s initial plan to sell off millions of acres of national public land, including parts of Los Padres National Forest, failed, but I’m hesitant to celebrate just yet. I worry that suits like Mike Lee are counting us to forget too quickly, so they can try again.

3845 State St. La Cumbre Plaza

805-770-7715 missdaisy.org

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What politicians in Washington seem to miss is how Californians actually experience our public lands. Yes, people travel here to see iconic destinations such as El Capitan, but for those of us who live here, our relationship with nature is forged in lesser-known campsites, neighborhood-adjacent trails, and public deserts and forests that still support wildlife such as mountain lions, condors, and snowy plovers. These places don’t matter because they’re famous, but because they’re accessible. They’re where my family would go to hike for an afternoon, where I learned to love the outdoors, and where our communities stay connected to the land. That’s why I am happy to see the State Legislature standing up for California’s lands with the bipartisan Assembly Bill 1624, the Public Lands Protection Act. This legislation would help ensure that if federal land is sold, it can’t simply be turned into a golf course or luxury development. Thank you to Assemblymember Hart for signing on early as a co-sponsor, and I urge the Legislature to pass this bill for all Californians. —Sierra Ferrante, Goleta

We Stand Corrected

read your piece regarding Canadian geese. My question is this: How did you know they were Canadian? Did you check their passports? Did they go “honk-eh”? Being Canadian is to be a citizen of Canada. Perhaps the writer ought to have referred to them as Canada geese, so as not to confuse their correct name with their supposed citizenship. —Joe Furino, Arroyo Grande

For the Record ¶ In the news story last week about Goleta West Sanitary District’s spill fine, we note that water sampling will take place across 100 wells, with 30 wells selected for remediation over four years. The environmental hearing for Carpinteria’s Surfliner Inn, in the news on February 26, took place before the city’s Environmental Review Committee, not City Council, with comments next going to the Planning Commission. The Independent welcomes letters of less than 250 words that include a daytime phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Send to: Letters, S.B. Independent, 1715 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101; or fax: 965-5518; or email: letters@independent.com. Unabridged versions and more letters appear at independent.com/opinions.

Opinions

NEWS COMMENTARY

CONT’D

A Guide to the Governor’s Race As Rivals Sprint to June 2 Primary, No Clear Favorites in Crowded Field of Candidates

British author CK Chesterton, “largely consists in saying, ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” Welcome to the 2026 California governor’s race. As voters prepare to bid farewell to incumbent Gavin Newsom—leaving him free to campaign for president full-time, instead of just 80 percent of the time—the race to succeed him remains a nebulous blob. With fewer than 90 days before the June 2 primary, which will winnow the field to two top finishers who then face off in the November 3 general, no clear favorites have emerged from a pack of rivals who’ve been raising money, debating, and giving speeches for months. The stakes could not be higher. California’s ongoing war with the Trump administration is political, legal, economic, and sometimes literal — given the militarized incursions into cities by masked federal immigration agents. The next chief executive faces unprecedented challenges navigating relations with a hostile White House, along with a long list of intractable afflictions that Prince Gavin kept assuring us he’d fix in a jiffy: most notably, homelessness and the housing shortage, but also chronic budget shortfalls, deep poverty, a boom-bust tax system, and lackluster public schools. For starters. As candidates debate and demagogue such matters over the next 11 weeks, three underlying questions frame the campaign. Arnold who? A portion of the current elec-

torate was not yet born the last time Californians elected a Republican governor—when Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 topped the ticket of a far less radical GOP. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’s decision to skip this year’s race left the field without a frontrunner, encouraging so many Democrats to enter that California’s leading political data analyst now puts the odds of a one-two Republican finish in the primary at nearly one in four. That outcome—the result of a splintered Democratic vote—would leave Democrats without a November entry and hand Trump an ally in Sacramento whose first order of business would be rolling back the state’s landmark immigrant protections. Who hates billionaires the most? Democrats

disagree about a lot, but fervent rhetoric against billionaires unites them all, at a time of unprecedented concentration of wealth and power in the U.S. It speaks volumes that even the one actual billionaire in the race has launched a full assault against plutocrats. Hedge fund financier Tom Steyer has spent north of $80 million of his own money making a Nixon-to-China argument for why he alone can fix things: “If billionaires don’t like me, I don’t care,” goes one ad tag line.

Will tech lords rule California? The anti-

COURTESY

“J

BY JERRY ROBERTS ournalism,” famously said

Croesus arrows flying through California’s political atmosphere are aimed largely at Silicon Valley. Amid the spectacle of tech leaders’ capitulation to Trump, big tech has grown more directly active in state politics, forming PACs to oppose a proposed ballot initiative imposing a flat tax on billionaires and block state regulation of AI. Tech money has also fueled the belated entry of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan — an industry alum who collected millions from tech tycoons within weeks of announcing.

By the Numbers Nearly two dozen candidates have pulled papers to run. Ten are considered “major” contenders based on past office, fundraising, or name recognition. Their standing in the most recent statewide poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California: • • • • • • • • • •

Steve Hilton (R)—14 Katie Porter (D)—13 Chad Bianco (R)—12 Eric Swalwell (D)—11 Tom Steyer (D)—10 Xavier Becerra (D)—5 Antonio Villaraigosa (D)—5 Betty Yee (D)—5 Matt Mahan (D)—3* Tony Thurmond (D)—2

(Mahan entered after the PPIC survey was conducted. Green Party candidate and UCSB professor Butch Ware was not included.)

The top 10 candidates for California governor in the June 2, 2026, primary, according to a statewide poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California

The Liberal Troika

The Wild Card

The three leading Democrats all made their bones as Trump antagonists during his first term and carry progressive platforms on climate, health care, and housing.

More pro-business and moderate on cultural issues than the three leading Democrats, Mahan, 43, entered the race in late January but swiftly made a splash brandishing support from Silicon Valley. As San Jose’s mayor, he built a centrist reputation as a Newsom foil, pushing tougher policies on crime and homelessness. His late start means limited name recognition statewide, but his fundraising trajectory likely makes him a factor.

•

The Right-Wingers Two conservative Republicans have been wrangling over who is more Trumpy—and every Democrat’s nightmare is that they finish one-two in the primary. •

•

Steve Hilton, 56, is a glib former Fox News host and ex–Conservative Party strategist who emigrated from the U.K. in time to jump aboard Trump’s 2016 bandwagon. He emerged as a 2020 election denier and has used Stanford’s Hoover Institution as a base to promote right-wing policy plans in California, including a pro-developer housing initiative that failed to qualify. Chad Bianco, 59, is Riverside County’s termed-out sheriff, whose management of the county jail drew a state investigation amid a high number of inmate deaths. His refusal to enforce Covid mandates made him a Fox News hero, and while MAGA voters love his pushback against sanctuary state immigration laws, they question his cordial handling of George Floyd protests.

•

Katie Porter, 52, won an Orange County House seat in the 2018 Democratic wave and became a social media sensation with withering committee interrogations of bankers and billionaires — with a whiteboard as her signature prop. She relinquished her seat for a failed 2024 Senate bid and now runs as a champion of universal health care and universal childcare, funding TBD. Eric Swalwell, 45, is a seven-term Bay Area congressmember and Pelosi protégé who made gun control a centerpiece of his brand. He used an Intelligence Committee perch to attack Trump over Russian election interference and helped lead the first failed impeachment, then briefly and embarrassingly ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Steyer, 68, was born rich in New York, made billions running the Farallon Capital hedge fund, then stepped back to form NextGen America, a PAC focused on climate and clean energy. He self-financed a failed 2020 presidential bid and several progressive ballot initiatives before pouring more of his fortune into this race.

The Four Formers Four lagging Democratic insiders have resisted calls from some party leaders to exit the race. Xavier Becerra, 68, is a former L.A. congressmember, former state attorney general, and former U.S. secretary of health and human services. Antonio Villaraigosa, 73, is a former Assembly speaker, former L.A. mayor, and former governor’s candidate who lost to Newsom in 2018. Betty Yee, 68, is a former budget adviser to Governor Gray Davis, a former Board of Equalization member, and the former state controller. Tony Thurmond, 57, is a former Richmond councilmember, former state legislator, and soon-to-be former state superintendent of public instruction. Fair or not, their continued presence helps fuel fears of a two-Republican November runoff. But even Newsom, asked what he would do to encourage low-polling Democrats to leave the race, suggested he’s not paying much more attention than the average Californian. “I honestly haven’t taken a look,” he told reporters recently. “I’m not directly as engaged as perhaps I might need to be.” n

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Opinions

CONT’D

VOICES

Schools Should Be Safe Spaces

obituaries Deborah J. Gross

04/01/1949-12/26/2025

While Reciting the Pledge, a Classroom Hears ICE Commotion Outside

BY S O F I A A R I A S Z A R AT E fter many years of hard work, I am

a graduate student in UC Santa Barbara’s Teacher Education Program. I became the first in my family to attend a four-year university and earn my bachelor’s degree, and now I am part of a highly recognized graduate program at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. Because of the incredible opportunity I’ve been given through the Community Fellows Fund, I am now one step closer to fulfilling my dream of becoming a teacher. Teaching is an art that many people don’t fully understand. Children spend most of their lives in school, surrounded by teachers and staff who work every day to provide a safe and nurturing environment. Teachers build communities in their classrooms so that families feel welcomed, supported, and loved. This is what I experienced growing up in Santa Barbara, and that is exactly what I hope to bring into my own classroom as I begin my career here. On a recent morning, I woke up to a message that said there had been ICE activity in the neighborhood surrounding the school where I was teaching. The moment I read it, I felt anxiety rush through my body and pressure in my chest. As I got ready that morning, my mind was filled with questions and worry. But more than anything, I kept thinking about my 1st-grade students … and the fear their families might have been feeling. Every day, I greet my students with a hug as they enter the classroom. I smile as they walk up the ramp, hang their backpacks, and come up to me while I say, “¡Buenos días!” I get to meet the parents who drop their children off at school because they trust that schools are safe spaces — places where

their children will learn, connect with friends, and simply get to be kids. That morning, I stood at the door waiting for students to arrive, but I carried the weight of that email with me. I kept thinking: “Will anyone come today? Are my students and their families safe?” By 8 a.m., only 10 students out of 23 in my class were there. Every morning, we begin the day with the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag. As I recited the words: “Juro fidelidad a la bandera de los Estados Unidos de América” (“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America”), I heard car horns, megaphones, and people shouting outside: “ICE is here! Don’t come out!” I continued, “… con libertad y justicia para todos” (“with liberty and justice for all”). In that moment, I felt the weight of what was happening outside our classroom doors. I had never experienced something like that before. And all I could do was continue our routine, keep my voice calm, and keep a smile on my face, because my students needed me to be steady, even when my community was hurting. While teaching is not easy, the truth is that teachers give their hearts to this work. They show up for their children every day. They protect them, guide them, and care for them in ways that go far beyond academics. My greatest hope is that one day, my classroom will always feel like a safe space, a place where students can learn without fear, without anxiety, and without the threat of being separated from the people they love most. I stand in solidarity with my community, with the families impacted all across the country, and with every student who deserves to feel safe in the place where they are supposed to grow. I hope we all take a moment to recognize what is happening, and remember: We can only fight injustice when n we stand together.

Our dearly loved sister slipped away peacefully on December 26, 2025 after a year long battle with stage 4 cancer. Debbie was the third daughter born to Virginia and William Gross in Hollywood, California. The family moved to Westwood when Debbie was four and then to Santa Barbarba when she was seven. In Santa Barbara she attended Montecito Union, Crane Country Day School, Santa Barbara Junior High and graduated in 1967 from Santa Barbara High School. After high school she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri for two years where she graduated with an AA Degree in 1969. She then returned to Santa Barbara where she resided the remainder of her life. Debbie worked in a variety of jobs until she was hired by Audax Corporation in 1973. Starting out as a secretary and bookkeeper, she worked her way up to become a business manager, handling all corporation, construction and property management accounting and duties. When Audax closed, she then went on to work for American Capital Management until she retired. Travel was always important to Debbie and she became a world traveler. She spent two years traveling with friends across Europe, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. She then went on to travel to Mexico, Alaska, France, Greece, Italy and the Caribbean. Over the years Debbie also travelled extensively throughout the United States, visiting friends and family and exploring new locations. On her travels she loved to collect souvenirs for her home and gifts for friends and family. Her home is still an

eclectic collection of items she found on her many travel adventures. Debbie’s love of gardening was inherited from her mother, and she became a master at it, surrounding her home with beautiful plants and flowers, especially roses. She enjoyed sharing these flowers with her many friends and neighbors. Whenever anyone visited overnight, there was always a vase with fresh flowers in the room to welcome them. Debbie’s favorite holiday was Christmas, and she collected hundreds of Christmas decorations, large and small to mark the occasion. She loved decorating for the Christmas season and for many years held an annual Christmas party, sharing her beautiful decorations with everyone. Debbie passed away peacefully under hospice care at home, surrounded by her three sisters. Her favorite holiday decorations, including a live Christmas tree, and a multitude of her favorite flowers were covering every available surface in her home. Debbie is survived by her three sisters: Virginia Milhoan (John), Alexis Willey and Laura Murphy (Mike). She will always be remembered for her joyful enthusiasm for life, her courage and grace, the respect and dignity with which she treated others and for her great love of Christmas and flowers. She was always the one that could be counted on to help, in any way she could when someone was in need. Thank you so much Debbie for all you have done and all you have given. It has been an honor and a privilege to be your sisters. The family would like to extend special appreciation to VNA Health Hospice, Dr. Michael Bordofsky and Dr. Juliet Penn. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity, plant a garden or help someone in need in her honor. A celebration of life will be held Wednesday April 1st from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Debbie’s home. Please join us in remembrance of a beautiful soul and a life well lived. For more information please call (805) 683-0960. Continued on page 21

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NIKKI HAINES 1/3/1943 - 2/17/2026

Nikki Haines followed her husband of 65 years, Roger, into the great beyond on Tuesday February 17 2026. This was 38 days after his demise and two days prior to Roger’s memorial service held at the Santa Barbara Carriage Museum on the following Thursday, February 19. Roger was remembered well but with such short notice, many were unprepared to eulogize Nikki on that afternoon. Now we hope to share something of her life from several of those who loved her dearly. “She was born Nancy Wood Gorham in Buffalo New York on January 3 1943, an only child, to Marvine and Margaret Gorham. The family moved to Brentwood Los Angeles when she was around 5 or 6. Nikki, then 17, moved to Santa Barbara in September 1960 to go to city college. She met Roger and they were together from then on. After being best friends for 65 years, I don’t think she could live without him.” —Thad Haines

“Although she and I are the same age, when

we met she seemed to me to be the elder. I had come from some years at UC Berkeley the bastion of youthful activism. Encountering Nikki and Roger making their way in the canyon with the barest of necessities and 2 little boys was an entirely different world. Nikki was, in fact, truly living off the land - the first farm-to-table household I’d experienced. She knew how to raise animals, how to prepare them for eating, how to wash and card wool, how to knit wool caps, grow food, live in rustic cabins and sleep outside, etc. Although I was “city folk”, she embraced me warmly and showed me a lot of new things. She seemed to manage her family and home life with a calm steadiness that stayed with her for life. Roger has always spoken of when he first saw her, it was love at first sight because she was so beautiful. I imagine it was also an unconscious knowing that she had the internal power enough to match his. She was a wonderful woman, comfortable in her own skin and always available to give a hand to others.” —Kathy Snow “One night in Montana we were camping with our kids. There were six of us in the station wagon and it was getting darker. We were lost! Driving up a winding mountain road. We turned to a flat area and put down our sleeping bags, all in a row, close together. It was chilly but our bodies kept us warm together, looking at the stars. In the morning, when we could see where we were, we thought about bears… yikes! We didn’t get eaten! We rolled out and down back on the winding road. On the 4th of July, after the cannon wars, we had a big party at Joe Campanelli’s house. Nikki and I had a booth selling pieces of pie. We called our business Mountain High Pies. If someone, mostly men, bought a piece of pie,

20 THE INDEPENDENT

they got a kiss too! Silly girls! I remember Nikki and the other hippy, young women down at the creek with the kids, some still in diapers, mostly naked (the kids!). Kids were squealing, having fun in the mud and getting very dirty. We were young, feeling free on the mountain. Nikki and I hiked together. Once we went up to the castle and beyond. Coming back, we walked through the brush, scratching our legs and arms. When we got to an open space, and looked at our jeans they were covered with ticks; lots of them. We took our jeans off immediately trying to get the ticks off. We walked down hill with our pants off until the ticks were gone.” —Mary Mershon “I remember being young adults on the mountain, being pregnant at the same time, (Jason and Cricket were born 2 days apart). Nikki started the mountain school where one adult would take all the kids in the Painted Cave community for one day each week as the other moms rested. Nikki made wonderful desserts and came up with the idea for the now-legendary Whipped Cream Birthday Party. Each of the kids got their own can of whipped cream. An incredible sugar-fueled whipped cream fight ensued.” —Barbara Wood “I still have & wear two great winter caps made by Nikki. She apprenticed with the bohemian queen-bee Angie Bjorklund, daughter of mountain patriarch Bobby Hyde. They processed wool combed out of Angie’s sheared sheep, then washed, scoured & mordanted it before spinning & dyeing it with all manner of wild-gathered or grown dye-stuffs to create yarn. This they knitted into cuffed beanies, timelessly stylish, warm & beautiful. Nikki did this in any spare moments between child-rearing those two mischievous & darling little towheads, tending animals, raising a garden & holding back wild nature from their two trailers & the early days of their barn, AND picking up part-time seasonal work. She was the ultimate “Mountain Mama”, beautiful, talented, curious & always learning, nurturing, practical & loyal, with a sardonic side-eye when she encountered the ridiculous. All of us who knew Roger & Nikki will miss them on this planet.” —Barbara Davis Dobbins “Nikki loved to dance. She and Roger danced like sock-hop teenagers all of their lives. She had many farm skills, knew the land and raised two boys into fine, upstanding men. She was a reliable neighbor, community volunteer, and had uncanny discernment when sorting truth from fiction.” —Joe Campanelli “I met Nikki in the fall of 1960 as the fall semester at SBCC was about to begin. A dozen or so young women were moving into a boarding house on Prospect Avenue just west of Valerio St. and there was an open house to welcome them. I stopped by on the first day of registration to meet and welcome the ladies. Several other young bucks had the same idea, one of whom was a fellow just out of the Marines by the name of Roger Haines. That was the beginning of a friendship that lasted more than 65 years for the three of us. I remember about twenty-five years later Jane Fonda had bought Laurel Springs Ranch and a number of the locals from Painted Cave were working there. Jane invited some of her staff to the opening of her latest film, I think it was ‘On Golden Pond’. I asked Nikki how she had enjoyed the show. She said she loved the movie but she said the strangest man came and sat beside her. She said he was very nice although he was dressed

MARCH 12, 2026 INDEPENDENT.COM

as if he was the master of ceremonies at a carnival. She wondered if I knew him. She said he’d introduced himself as if she should know who he was. She said his name was Michael Jackson. Nikki loved the small wonders in her world. She would buy meal worms at the bait store. About a dozen lizards would appear at the same time every day, lining up expectantly on a sunny wall. Nikki would feed each of her reptile friends by hand.” —Ted Adams Nikki got a call from a Manhattan law firm sometime back in the 1980s. It seems that a distant wealthy ancestor, her great, great grandfather, had set up a trust for his unknown descendants, a sort of fiduciary time capsule/ love letter. There was an actual love letter full of kindness, faith and admiration for children he would never meet. It had come to maturity for Nikki and her cousins after 100 years. Usually practical Nikki got this big windfall check out of the blue and spent it on a secret heart’s desire; a convertible sports car to drive up and down the mountain. Nikki played the piano beautifully. Not that she’d tell anybody. If you were lucky to be nearby, you were surprised by her mastery and elegance. —Doug Hechter One of Nikki’s many talents were her famous pies made with love! Spending over 30 New Years Eves together they were the highlight of the evening and the only true way to ring in the new year. The group waited, sometimes not so patiently, for the desserts to be served and if you blinked or happened to be in the other room you’d miss out and have to beg a kind soul to share a bite! We will surely miss those pies. —Julie Mershon “I met my friend, Nikki “Nan” Haines, in the kitchen at Laurel Springs Ranch during the summer of 1983. We were cooks for the summer camp…weekend retreats… celebrity studded Easter extravaganzas. Kitchen bonds run deep and while we didn’t call one another on the phone to chat or invite each other for Sunday dinners, during any mountain gathering we’d find ourselves on a couch or in a corner together reminiscing, talking recipes and catching up on each other’s families. Nikki was proud of her “mountain boys”. She said you could always tell which kids grew up “on the mountain” … great balance!

Nikki was probably the most down-to-earth person I’ve known—someone who just didn’t sweat the small stuff. Her husband, Roger, was a renowned raconteur and, dare I say, a bit of a know-it-all? I adored Roger, but I often wondered how Nikki put up with the bluster, the certainty. It didn’t faze her one bit. Like I said, she didn’t sweat the small stuff…she let Roger be Roger. They bought a rustic property near the Painted Cave on San Marcos Pass and built a beautiful, hand-crafted home with a huge garden, geese and a wonderful barn. Their New Year’s Eve bonfire parties were legendary with a big cast-iron, wood-fired hot tub which they called the cannibal pot. Nikki worked as a chef at Laurel Springs Ranch, cooked for the volunteer fire crews and finished her culinary career at UCSB keeping hungry students fed. She always went the extra mile to make something tasty and special. She could crack 6 eggs at one time. In retirement, Nan was so proud to join the Assistance League of Santa Barbara (now known as Community Friends of SB) in 2011. She loved all the philanthropic work, especially the prom dress program and spoke about it often… (she’s the reason I joined :) Most Saturdays you would find Nan behind the receiving counter and Roger directing traffic and unloading cars. Nikki loved her boys, Jason and Thad, her grandchildren and always had sweet words and gratitude for her daughters-in laws, Star and Amanda.” —Laurel Lyle

obituaries Bruce H. Bell 1935-2026

To submit obituaries for publication, please call (805) 965-5205 or email obits@independent.com around long enough!”. Bruce donated his remains to the UCLA research Medical Center, better than just being thrown away. Services, IF ANY, will be private.

Ryan William Allard 05/11/1983-03/04/2026

Bruce H. Bell passed away on February 26, 2026 at 10:20 AM, he was 90 years old. Shortly after his honorable discharge from the Navy, Bruce left his native Los Angeles for the Santa Barbara South Coast, he with his wife and two children arrived on the 4th of July, 1962. Bruce was anchored. He, like thousands of others, truly loved the South Coast. In fact, he seldom left. He was a staycation guy. Bruce made his living in a number of ways; Salesman, mostly cars, bartender, MTD Bus Driver (not at the same time), and City of Santa Barbara Parking Kioskiteer, you may have seen him in the Train Station. He was there 3, 4, or 5 days a week for nearly 13 years. Bruce retired at age 76. He was a longtime volunteer for the American Heart Association and the Santa Barbara Airport Visitor Center. His hobbies were small craft sailing, bowling, and par 3 pitch and put golf. Bruce was a league bowler for 50 years. He never achieved that perfect 300 game, but he bowled in tournaments from San Diego to Las Vegas and Reno, won a couple and cashed in many others. He leaves his best friend and loving wife Christine, they were married for 50 years. Bruce also leaves three children; daughters Pamela Lynn Fordyce of Bay Village, Ohio, and Tracy Bell McMahon of Avon Lake, Ohio. Bruce’s son; Chipper “Bro” Bell, lives in Ventura, CA. Bruce had eleven grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren There are few instructions on how to die,-my predominate feeling is one of gratitude, thanks to having lived a long and happy life on this beautiful planet. I loved and was loved in return, also, I never missed a meal. I trust I left on time. Complications from a long and hardy life took him out! His last words were: “I knew this would happen if I hung

Ryan William Allard of Goleta peacefully passed away on March 4th, 2026 at the age of 42. Ryan was born on May 11th, 1983, to Margaret and Doug Allard, joining his 2 year old sister Katie, in Rowland Heights, CA. In 1986, the family moved to Goleta, where Ryan attended local schools - Mountain View, Elwood, La Colina, Dos Pueblos, and a transitional community-based program. He loved his teachers, especially his transition teacher, Mary Lynn. At age 22, Ryan joined the Alpha Resource Center Day Program, where the phenomenal staff, particularly his one-on-one, Paul, helped Ryan become a true member of the Santa Barbara community. Ryan was also able to move into his own bungalow with 24/7 caregivers, one of whom was Edgar, who became Ryan’s dearest friend. Ryan took many vacations with his family, including to Hawaii, Canada, Yosemite, San Francisco, San Diego, the Grand Canyon, Big Sur, and countless trips to Disneyland and family visits to Orange County. He also went yearly to RAD Camp - a summer camp for adults with disabilities. Ryan had many passions such as dogs, collecting pamphlets, and going out to eat, especially getting donuts or McDonald’s. But Ryan’s deepest passion was his Catholic faith and he never left the house without his Missal in hand. He was at his happiest when sitting with his mother in Mass at San Roque Church, listening to David Potter play the pipe organ. Above all, Ryan loved people and people loved him. He had a way of finding something unique to remember about someone, and then he never

forgot them. And he made people feel special in a way that they never forgot him. Life handed Ryan many challenges, but he always persevered with the love and support of his family and caregivers, and his unwavering faith in Jesus. On 1/10, he began a 45 day battle with pneumonia before coming home on hospice, where he spent a peaceful week surrounded by friends and loved ones before he passed. Ryan is survived by his parents, Margaret and Doug, his sister Katie, brother-in-law Aaron, and nephews Harry and Billy, caregiver and friend, Edgar, Grandparents Bob and Marlene, and his many aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was reunited in heaven with his beloved Grandmas’ Harriette and Kathe, and Aunt Karen. A funeral Mass for Ryan will be held on March 18th at 10:30 am at San Roque Church, with the graveside service to immediately follow at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Alpha Resource Center.

happy anniversaries together before Alma passed away in 2022. In 1982, Mike and Alma purchased property in Woodlake, CA, where they had a home built and planted grapes. Both Mike and Alma worked for the United States Post Office, with Mike retiring in 2001. He and Alma enjoyed taking cruises, including the Panama Canal, Mexico and the California Coast. Mike also enjoyed fishing, camping and barbecuing. Mike was preceded in death by his wife Alma, and parents Michael and Mildred Russo. Mike is survived by his nephew Fred (Cindy) Tabacchi, niece Julie (Joseph) Grimes, grandniece Laura Tabacchi, and many cousins here in Santa Barbara. Graveside services will be held on Friday, March 6, 2026, at 10:00 am at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to your favorite charity. Arrangements entrusted to Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapels (805) 965-5145.

Michael Russo

Carol Lee Morales

It is with sadness that we announce the death of Michael Ralph Russo. Mike passed away on March 3, 2026, in Santa Barbara, CA, after a brief illness. Mike was born on September 24, 1946, in the borough of Queens in New York, New York, to Michael A. and Mildred Masucci Russo. After moving to Santa Barbara, Mike graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1964. Mike attended Santa Barbara City College, and then served in the military with the 472nd Military Police Company based at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. Upon his release from the military, Mike worked with his father, uncle and other family members at Renga Brothers on State Street. That building backed up to a dental office on Islay Street. That is where Mike met the love of his life, Alma Tabacchi, who worked at the dentist office. They were married on December 5, 1970, and celebrated 51

Carol Lee Morales passed away suddenly on January 6, 2026 while staying at an assisted living home in Canoga Park, CA. Carol was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on March 4, 1957 to Manuel and Naomi Morales. She graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1976 and subsequently went to work at Josten's in Summerland where she made many lifelong friends. After being on her own for some time she moved back home where she cared for her mother, Naomi, until her death. Carol had a great love for dolphin collectibles, BBQ, music, gadgets of all sorts, QVC, HSN and phone calls anytime, day or night. One never knew if she was joking or telling the truth. She is preceded in death by her parents, Manuel and Naomi Morales, and all those who went before them. Carol is survived by her sisters, Rose Olivera (Wayne), Leonora Torrez (Danny), niece

09/24/1946–03/03/2026

1957-2026

Naomi Rosales, great nieces, Caitlynn and Carissa Conley, Aunt Donna LaForce and cousin, Clifford Cordero. There are numerous surviving cousins of the Dommeyer, Ortegon, Garibay and Weese families, and her longtime friend, Mary Green and family. A graveside service will be held on Friday, March 13, 2026, 10: 00 am, at Carpinteria Cemetery, 1501 Cravens Lane, Carpinteria, CA followed by a Celebration of Life at the Moose Lodge, 110 W. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA from 12:00-4:00 pm. Please RSVP with Rose (805) 452-9149. Arrangements entrusted to Pueblo del Rey Funeral Services.

Allen K. Baxter

01/01/1951-10/30/2025

Celebration of Life A paddle out and memorial will be held at Ledbetter beach on Saturday, March 21. Paddle out will be at 11 AM. Josh Bradbury will conduct the paddle out. Please bring flowers to share to be tossed into the ocean. There will be a memorial box for cards and memories of Allen. A small memorial will be held after the paddle out starting around 12:30. Please share stories or how you knew or met Allen, or just your presence would be greatly appreciated. A Taco truck will be provided as well as nonalcoholic drinks. Please bring your own beverage if you desire anything else. Let’s give Allen the happy lively celebration that he would love. Hawaiian shirts are encouraged. Contact info: Mary Ellen Broeffle 805-218-2938 or April Montoya 805-451-2807

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obituaries Barbara VNA Hospice, for their care for Anthony and comfort.

C. Anthony Breck

03/17/1943-03/01/2026

Anthony Breck, 82, passed away on March 1, 2026. He was born on March 17, 1943, in San Jose, California, to Edward Charles Breck and Margaret Carmelita Ventura Breck. Anthony was a Santa Barbara native and a descendant of some of the region’s earliest families. His fourth great-grandfather was Don José Francisco de Ortega, chief scout of the Gaspar de Portolá expedition of 1769 and later the first commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara. The expedition opened Alta California to Spanish settlement and helped pave the way for the establishment of the California mission system. Anthony also carried forward a family legacy of courage and love for adventure through his grandfather, William Anthony Breck, who journeyed west from Boston, Massachusetts, as the gunsmith on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth’s overland expedition to the Oregon Country in 1832, one of the early American expeditions across the continent. William Anthony Breck later married Francisca Ortega and settled in the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo region. Anthony graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1961 and soon afterward enlisted in the United States Army. Stationed in Korea along the Demilitarized Zone, he served as a sergeant and medical specialist and earned badges in expert marksmanship and sharpshooting. Following his military service, he pursued premedical studies at the University of New Mexico and went on to build a career in healthcare, working in nursing and radiologic technology. Above all else, Anthony was a devoted husband and father who treasured his family. On June 12, 1971, he married the love of his life, Anne Rae Breck, and together they built a life centered on their children and grandchildren. Anthony was preceded in death by his siblings Charlie, Dorothy, and Stanley Breck. He is survived by his wife, Anne; his children Amber, Lincoln, and Sarah; his grandchildren, Huxley and Beaudry; his beloved niece Christine; and his nephews David and Loren. He will be greatly missed. The family would like to thank Santa 22

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Seymour Lehrer

09/04/1927– 02/27/2026

Seymour Lehrer passed away on February 27, 2026, at the age of 98. Born September 4, 1927, in Los Angeles, CA, Seymour was a unique individual in the best sense, a renaissance man one might say, who was an accomplished businessman, original thinker, creative, exceedingly generous man, who possessed a hilarious, mostly dry sense of humor. Seymour was direct and told it like it was. He was a self-made man who began his working life during WWII at age fourteen sweeping floors at a gun shop after school. By the end of the war, he had become a skilled machinist and an accomplished tool and die maker. From humble beginnings he and his business partner built a business, Commercial Tool & Die Co, in downtown Los Angeles in the late 1950s. Through many years of hard work seven days a week, the partnership became successful and earned a high reputation in this field. In 1963, Seymour was involved with his trade association, the National Tooling and Machining Association and was appointed Chairman of the Southern California Joint Apprenticeship Committee; he helped develop a vocational training facility that trained over 3,000 people who were placed in well-paying jobs. He was later appointed to the National Apprenticeship committee which set standards for tool and die makers across the United States. He later started CTD Machines, Inc., a premier manufacturer of mitre and double mitre cut-off saws. As the success of CTD Machines grew, with Ellen and Tom becoming partners in the business for over 30 years, Seymour began investing in industrial real estate in the Los Angeles area. He had an innate

MARCH 12, 2026

skill at realizing property opportunities. He spent many years buying less desirable properties, which he upgraded, expanding his industrial property portfolio which thrived under his watchful eye. Shirley Lehrer is the love of Seymour’s life and beloved wife of 76 years. The two of them were a wonderful team; she ran the household and Seymour, and he ran the business and interfaced with the outer world. Together they enjoyed creating a strict but loving home for their two daughters Karen and Ellen. They enjoyed traveling, especially to their beloved Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, and loved all aspects of hiking and nature. They also traveled internationally and attended musical and cultural events in Los Angeles at the LA County Museum of Art, The Hollywood Bowl, and the Music Center, enjoying performances of classical music, ballet, opera, and theater. In 1990 Shirley and Seymour decided to settle into semi-retirement in Montecito and built their dream home on Knollwood Drive. Seymour included plans for a separate metalworking shop on the property where he began creating metal sculptures from scrap metal, both large scale and small. Seymour deeply loved classical music and devoted over 25 years to the Music Academy of the West, where he served on the Board of Directors, and played significant roles in improving the programming and facilities. From the time they moved to Santa Barbara, Seymour and Shirley provided exceptional support to local organizations such as Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Casa Dorinda, Congregation B’nai B’rith, The Jewish Federation, Santa Barbara Symphony, and many other non-profits. Seymour’s greatest devotion was to his family. He and Shirley married on June 11, 1949, having met on a hayride where Seymour fell in love at first sight. Their love story spanned more than seven and a half decades through lean years, triumphs, businesses built, and homes created and destroyed, which happened to their Montecito home in the 2018 mudslide. Additionally, Seymour recollected his life and adventures through the authorship of several books including Ramblings; Poems And Stories From The Lucky Life Of Seymour Lehrer; The Man, The Machines, and The Life: A Tool and Die Maker’s Story; and the Lehrer-Skoss Russian Legacy. He is survived by his wife, Shirley Lehrer, his daughters Karen Lehrer and Ellen Lehrer

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Orlando, and his sons-inlaw Steve Sherwin and Tom Orlando, his grandson Brett Orlando and great-grandchildren Mia and Julian Orlando. To speak of Seymour is to speak of a man deeply devoted to family and community and as a man who built things that last. Seymour is a premiere example of one who has achieved the American Dream. He will be remembered as a pioneer in tool and die making, a leader in national apprenticeship reform, a real estate visionary, a patron of the arts, and a beloved husband, father, grandfather, colleague and friend. He leaves an enduring legacy that will inspire others who knew him. There will be a Celebration of Life held on Thursday, March 19th at 12 Noon at Hahn Hall of the Music Academy of the West.

Shirley Dettmann 1929-2026

Shirley Z. Dettmann (that’s Z for Zimney) passed away peacefully in her sleep at age 96. She lived in Goleta for over 50 years, arriving in the summer of 1972 with husband Don and their four children, Julie, Andrew, Jean, and Steve, due to Don’s career with Delco Systems. Their family odyssey included the Apollo era, with homes in Cocoa Beach, Denver, Little Rock, and Long Island, forging many dear friendships along the way. Born in Milwaukee, in 1929, Shirley was the middle of three sisters in a vibrant, hard-working family of Polish heritage. All three attended the University of Wisconsin as firstgeneration college students. In Madison, Shirley wrote for the Daily Cardinal, graduated in 1952, and joined the staff of the Capital Times. She met Don just before college while singing in the chorus of Milwaukee Civic Light Opera when Don supposedly “forgot” his music and asked to share hers. They were married for over 43 years until Don’s passing in 1999. Their love of musicals, dancing, and singing around the piano is forever in the family DNA. As a community activist, Shirley served on the PTA at La Patera Elementary and Goleta Valley Junior High. She was a

fierce advocate and volunteer for the arts and became a director of the PTA Creative Arts Co-op, an after-school program giving Goleta elementary students the opportunity to study theater, dance, gymnastics, visual arts, piano, guitar and other instruments with expert instructors. She was appointed to the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and wrote the percent-for-arts plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors. She subsequently co-founded The Arts Fund, in 1983, creating a nonprofit partner to promote and support the arts countywide. Shirley relished her time as a docent with the Santa Barbara Art Museum and enjoyed leading school tours and traveling with the docents to iconic art museums in Bilbao, Kyoto, and New York City. She received a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award in 2016. She was active in the American Association of University Women and later joined the Assistance League, now Community Friends of Santa Barbara, serving in many roles, including treasurer. She volunteered with Catholic Charities and Handicapables and was a longtime parishioner at St. Mark’s University Parish where she was a lector until almost 90. Shirley is remembered for her sharp, analytical mind and sense of adventure. She enjoyed theater outings, Bridge, and travel with friends, including an African safari. She loved coffee and crossword puzzles, discussing the stock market, and debating politics over a glass of wine. She was the number one fan (and constant chauffeur) for her children’s music, dance and sports activities and later traveled by air, road and rail to cheer her nine grandchildren — Ben, Emily, Molly, Nathan, Ethan, Lily, Evie, Lauren and Grant — in their theater and ballet productions and to celebrate birthdays, First Communions, and graduations. When great-grandbabies Natalie and Isaac joined the lineup, she could still get down on the floor to play with them — and get up again! Shirley often expressed deep gratitude for her lifetime of good health and the blessing of family and friends, whom she cherished. Funeral arrangements are pending. Please reach out to family for updates. Donations in Shirley’s memory can be made to The Arts Fund, https:// artsfundsb.org/ or to Community Friends of Santa Barbara, https://cfofsb.org.

obituaries Tomasita P Miller (Tommie)

03/04/1934-02/27/2026

To submit obituaries for publication, please call (805) 965-5205 or email obits@independent.com by all. Tommie will be fondly remembered for her generosity, her friendship to all that knew her, and the love that she gave to her family. She will be laid to rest next to her husband, John, in Carpinteria cemetery in Santa Barbara, California. Per Tommie’s wishes, no services will be held.

Kathleen "Kathy" Sheahan Reid

05/05/1944-01/20/2026 Tomasita P. Miller, better known as Tommie, daughter to Joseph and Thomasa Rivera passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus on February 27, 2026, surrounded by her loved ones. Tommie was born on March 4th, 1934, in Santa Barbara, California as one of ten children and was the last remaining member of her family to pass. Tommie was an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School, graduating class of 1952 and was married to Frank Wright from 1952 to 1964, raising three children: Ruth, Chuck, and Dean. She was married to her loving husband, John Miller from 1968 until his passing in 2003. Tommie was a long-time employee of Jedlicka’s Saddlery in Santa Barbara and Los Olivas, and was involved in her hometown church, Grace Baptist, under Dr. Edward Mitchell until his passing. Tommie lived in Santa Barbara all her life until she moved to Idaho in November of 2016 to be closer to her daughter, Ruth. Tommie loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman, choosing to volunteer her time at the Neil Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake in her years living in Santa Barbara. She loved to travel, but her favorite places that she got to see were Alaska, Australia, and Panama. Tommie was always up for road trip and loved to travel and see family and friends. Tommie is survived by her children Ruth Prather and Dean Wright, her two grandchildren Josh Prather, and Sarah Vernon, six great grandchildren, four greatgreat-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. Tommie loved her family more than anything in this world and was honored to live long enough to be a friend, mother, sister, grandmother, greatgrandmother, and a greatgreat-grandmother to so many. Tommie loved to be involved in her family’s life and supported them in any way that she could. She will forever be a missing piece to all their lives but will be affectionately remembered

college boyfriend, contacted Kathy, and the two started dating. In 2001 they wed at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, California and were married for 25 years. Kathy was predeceased by her parents Dorothy and Richard Sheahan, her first husband Peter Reid, and her nephew, Aidan Sheahan. Her survivors include her son, Jim Reid, her husband Kemble White, her siblings Susanne Sheahan Wilson, Marnie Sheahan Paulus (Tony), Casey Sheahan, and Caroline Sheahan, niece Jennifer Paulus (Cleve Pasarell), nephews Will Paulus (Emmie Braun), Caelin Sheahan, and Carson Meyer, and great nieces Olive and Riley Paulus.

Robert A. de la Torre Kathleen “Kathy” Sheahan Reid, spouse, mother, sister, and aunt died on Tuesday, January 20th in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 81. She was born during World War II on May 5, 1944 to Richard Eugene Sheahan and Dorothy Case Sheahan in San Marino, California. The family moved to Montecito, California in 1951 where Kathy rode horses, raced bikes, played tennis, and swam in the Pacific Ocean. Kathy attended Montecito Union School, Crane Country Day School, and Laguna Blanca School where she won the Female Senior Character Award. Her college search eventually took her to Sweetbriar College in Virginia where she studied history. Returning to California her junior year, she continued her studies at University of California Santa Barbara. She met her first husband, Peter Laurence Donald Reid, a Scotsman, at Thacher School in Ojai, California. They married in Santa Barbara in 1968, and later moved to Winchester, Massachusetts where Kathy assisted in opening the first Patagonia store in Boston, and was an administrator at health centers in the area. In 1984, Kathy and Peter adopted a baby and named him James “Jim” Olivier Reid. Jim described his mother as his rock who gave him his chance at life by adopting him, and was always there for him. “We traveled, we laughed, and she is irreplaceable,” he said. After Kathy and Peter divorced, Kathy and Jim moved to Manhattan Beach, California. Kathy was hired by the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Southern California to fundraise. Kemble White, her former

04/03/1938– 02/28/2026

A sixth generation Santa Barbaran, Robert A. de la Torre at the age of 87, passed away peacefully February 28th, 2026, at St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. He was born Robert Anthony de la Torre on April 3rd, 1938, to Joseph B. de la Torre and Mary (Encinas) de la Torre. His greatgreat grandmother, Maria de los Angeles Cota, was the daughter of Don Pablo Antonio Cota, one of the founding officers to arrive in Santa Barbara in 1782. She was born in the Presidio in 1790 and later married Don Jose Joaquin de la Torre, a Spanish soldier who arrived in Santa Barbara with Father Junipero Serra traveling from Monterey, California in 1801. Loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle, neighbor and friend, Bob de la Torre, Bob attended Harding Elementary School, La Cumbre Jr. High School, and Santa Barbara High School. He also took certificated courses in Business Management at UCLA. After high school Bob started working for General Telephone Company. In 1959 Bob married the love of his life, Shirley Anne Belsaas in Santa Barbara, where they initially resided. After their first child, Debbie, was born, they moved to Lompoc in 1963. The family, which now included their

youngest daughter Jill, moved to Camarillo in 1967. Bob continued to work for the telephone company for over 38 years. He started work as an assistant draftsman (manual version of engineering diagrams) and went on to various positions within the company including but not limited to Cable Maintenance Superintendent, Network Construction Manager – Facilities, Network Construction Operations Administrator, Senior Administrator Division Resources and ended as a supervisor over most of Southern California. Both Bob and Shirley traveled extensively for the next 13 years. Together they explored Spain, England, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Morocco, Canada, Mexico and across the USA. They also enjoyed discovering different types of cuisine with their close-knit Gourmet Group since 1996. After his wife’s death in 2008 Bob continued to enjoy his grandchildren, travel, concerts and sports. Bob never met a person he couldn’t talk with and would stop and pass the time with various neighbors and friends throughout his life. In his early years he played sports of all kinds and passed that knowledge on to younger family members, neighborhood kids, and people in general. He was there for anyone who needed help. Bob is survived by their daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and Marty Dziuk; daughter Jill Lomeli; grandchildren, Kyle, Connor, Carson, Shilo and Gavin; and great grandchildren Nova, Xena and Lyra; his sister-in-law Jackie de la Torre and his niece and nephew and cousins. Uncle Bobby will be missed by many. Bob was preceded in death by his parents; sister Delia; brother Joseph R.; brother-inlaw, Yankee Breck; many cousins and Bob and Shirley’s furry family. There will be a service on Thursday March 12th at Ivy Lawn Funeral Home, 1075 E. Daily Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010. Donut and Coffee Reception at 9:00am prior to the service at 10:00am. Following the service a private interment will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers please make donations available to: Boys Town 200 Flanagan Blvd. P.O. Box 6000 Boys Town, NE 68010-9988 Donate online at boystown.org/spring

Diana Sue Basso

09/12/1949– 11/28/2025

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Diana Sue Basso. Diana passed away peacefully in Santa Barbara, California, on November 28, 2025, surrounded by her family. Diana was born on September 12, 1949, in Altadena, California. She spent her early years in Glendora, California, where she lived until 1979. In that year, she moved to Bullhead City, Arizona, where she resided until 1985. Diana later made her home in Solvang, California. It was there that she met her future husband, Rick Brown. In 2002, she moved with him to Goleta, California, where she spent her remaining years. Diana had a deep love for art and creativity, finding joy and expression through artistic pursuits throughout her life. She also loved to travel, embracing new places and experiences whenever she could. Above all, she adored her grandchildren, who were the light of her life and a constant source of pride, joy, and love. Diana lived with multiple sclerosis for many years, facing her illness with remarkable strength, grace, and resilience. She endured her challenges without complaint, showing a toughness and quiet determination that inspired everyone who knew her. She was truly a strong and courageous woman. Diana was predeceased by her parents, William and Marguerite Dixon. She is survived by her loving husband, Rick; her son, Keith, and wife, Michelle; her daughter, Nicole, and husband, Mark; her cherished grandchildren, Cade, Ryland, and Shelby; her sister-in-law, Marsha, and husband, Gary; her nephew, Connor, and niece, Erin; her great-nephews, Elias and Isaac; her nephew, Bruce; and great-grandchildren, Winnie, Westin, and Jackson. Diana's sister, Maureen, passed away on January 5, 2026. Diana will be remembered for the life she built across the many places she called home, her unwavering strength, her kindness, and the deep love she had for her family. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.

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National Book Award Winner

Ibram X. Kendi Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age Tue, Apr 7 / 7:30 PM UCSB Campbell Hall FREE for UCSB students FREE copies of Kendi’s new book, Chain of Ideas, will be available while supplies last (pick up at event, one per household)

Bestselling Author and Climate Journalist

Bill McKibben

George Polk Award-winning Journalist and Author

Masha Gessen Politics of the Past, Politics of the Future Tue, Apr 14 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall FREE for UCSB students

National Book Award-winning Poet

An Evening with

Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization Tue, Apr 21 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

Martín Espada Wed, Apr 29 (new date) / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall FREE for UCSB students

(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu 24

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MARCH 12, 2026

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Cover Story

Lompoc’s Historic Theater Is Finally Getting the Revival the Whole Town Deserves by Shannon Brooks Photos by Ingrid Bostrom

hange is in the wind in the Lompoc Valley. You can feel it in Old Town and in the conversations happening at kitchen tables and community meetings across North County. And soon, if the people behind one of Santa Barbara County’s most ambitious cultural projects have anything to say about it, you’ll be able to feel it the moment you step through the doors of a fully restored, reborn Lompoc Theatre when it reopens in conjunction with its centennial year. What began as a grassroots preservation effort—weekend barbecues on the corner, small donations, sheer stubbornness—has grown into an $18.9 million capital campaign that has already raised more than $12 million. This includes a $2.285 million California State grant, a $1 million commitment from the John C. Mithun Foundation, sizable contributions from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (including an additional $500,000 matching grant announced this week), and other local organizations, and more than 5,000 individual donors, many who gave $100 or less. But the numbers don’t capture what the project truly represents. To understand that, you have to understand where it started: with a 10-year-old boy, a Saturday matinee, and a performance that changed everything.

The Boy from Lompoc Mark Herrier grew up in Lompoc in the 1950s and ’60s, when the theater was the undisputed center of town. Kids were dropped off on Saturday mornings with a dollar in their pockets—enough for popcorn, a hot dog, a soft drink, and an all-day escape into cartoons and double features. When he was 10 years old, his mother dragged him to a showing of The Music Man. While watching the film, his reluctance transformed to reverence. “At the end of it, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Herrier recalls. His heart was set on becoming an actor. “Robert Preston as Harold Hill changed my life.” That revelation set Herrier on a path to Hollywood—as an actor, a director, and eventually a Broadway performer. Several years after that Saturday matinee, he found himself preparing to take the stage at the Majestic Theatre in New York, in the same dressing room where Robert Preston had originated the very role that had transfixed Herrier as a child. The boy from Lompoc had made it. Now, he’s brought those dreams back home.

A Century of Stories The Lompoc Theatre has been a cultural anchor at the intersection of H Street and Ocean Avenue since 1927. In its prime, it hosted vaudeville acts, movie screenings, and live performances by icons such as

Key figures in the Lompoc Theatre Project include (from left) Benton Delinger, TheatreDNA; Ewa Pocwiardowska, 19six Architects; Mark Herrier; Brad Hall; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Scott Reed; and Jon Bishop.

Liberace, Van Cliburn, and The Coasters. In the 1930s, it was an official Mickey Mouse Club venue. It was the kind of place where, as 3rd District County Supervisor Joan Hartmann recalled Herrier describing it, the son of a trash collector could sit next to the mayor. “Everybody’s equal in the theater,” she said. “It’s just a tremendous place to celebrate.” By 1975, facing economic pressure and changing media habits, the curtains closed. The final film screening took place in 1991. For decades, the building sat dormant and in disrepair, but preservation efforts never entirely ceased. The Calvert family, longtime owners, protected the structure from demolition before eventually selling it to the Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation. In 2012, the Lompoc Theatre Project officially formed. By 2016, they had the keys. And by the end of 2017, they had paid the back taxes, gutted the interior, and restored the iconic marquee. Now the restoration is entering its final, most ambitious chapter.

As executive director of the Lompoc Theatre Project, Herrier speaks about the restoration not as a real estate project or a nonprofit initiative, but as a moral obligation. “There are hundreds of kids in this town as talented as I was, as driven as I was, but they do not have that catalyst to inspire them to dream,” he says. “It doesn’t happen from an iPad or your laptop. You have to be with people — hear them laugh, see them cry, be moved collectively. It’s cavemen sitting around a fire telling stories. It is primal to us as human beings.” Herrier envisions high school bands hearing the Marsalis brothers perform and returning to their rehearsals forever changed. Elementary school kids seeing PCPA productions on a real stage — not in a cafeteria. A generation of artists, actors, dancers, and musicians who just needed somewhere to belong. “Lompoc,” he says simply, “is a creative volcano waiting to erupt.”

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Tuesday, March 17

Award recipient, Catherine Remak, for her outstanding contributions to our community.

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Cover Story

A peek inside at the main stage

Granada, Arlington, and New Vic theater renovations. Lead architect Ewa Pocwiardowska described a fundamental shift in thinking that shaped the current design plans: “We looked at this as a hub for the community, a place where people from Lompoc will come for events, for their kids’ birthday parties, for quinceañeras. This is a building for the people, for everybody to enjoy.” She’s especially excited about the courtyard canopy—a semi-transparent structure that will filter light while providing shade and weather protection, creating an indoor-outdoor atmosphere unlike anything of its scale in the region. (They went so far as to conduct a wind study to get the canopy technology just right, one of the many well-thought-out details to the designs.) Rounding out the team are honorary project chairs Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall, who have been champions of this revival from the very beginning. The couple’s first donation enabled the project to remove the asbestos that was blocking progress, clean the auditorium, and clear what Herrier described as “six inches of guano” from the stage. They gave the project instant credibility, and they haven’t stopped. Hall and Herrier met as teenagers acting in PCPA theater programs and have been friends ever since. Hall talked about the project’s role in the Lompoc Valley: “It’s just a rich area in so many ways. It has such a rich cultural heritage, and the opportunity is so tremendous.” “We think that art is good,” Louis-Dreyfus deadpanned. “We’re believers in community gathering places for everyone, particularly here in Lompoc, which is a wonderfully diverse community in Santa Barbara County.”

‘We looked at this as a hub for the community, a place where people from Lompoc will come for events, for their kids’ birthday parties, for quinceañeras. This is a building for the people, for everybody to enjoy.’

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall

The Dream Team If Mark Herrier is the heart of this project, the team he’s assembled is the backbone. And by any measure, it is extraordinary. Theater Restoration Consultant Benton Delinger is, in Herrier’s words, “the best in the world” at what he does—designing and equipping performance venues. Delinger’s firm, TheatreDNA, has managed major projects in Mumbai, Los Angeles, and everywhere in between. Yet, his connection to Lompoc runs deep, too. His father taught music in the town’s schools as far back as 1965, which is how the family first crossed paths with a 5th-grader named Mark Herrier. Delinger has been contributing his expertise to this project ever since he spotted Herrier on Facebook in 2012 and reached out. “I saw what he was trying to do,” Delinger recalled, “and I said, ‘Hey, I can help.’ ” For Delinger, the dream realized isn’t seeing a famous headlining act on the stage; it’s seeing a full house of locals. “Seeing a wonderful mariachi concert followed by our local flamenco school dancers would be worth almost anything and everything,” he said. “When you have the arts in your community in a flagship way, reflecting ‘This is who we are,’ you can’t ask for a better thing. And Lompoc needs this.” The buildout is being handled by 19six Architects, the respected Santa Barbara firm whose portfolio includes the

Reimagining What a Theater Can Be The physical transformation of the building is ambitious in scope. Phase two—already fully funded—saw the completion of seismic upgrades and reroofing the main building. Next up is overhauling the main stage. The fully restored

—Ewa Pocwiardowska 450-seat main auditorium will host first-run films, concerts, plays, ballets, and more. The “Backstage Theater,” inspired by Austin’s famed Continental Club, will feature an intimate black box configuration on the main stage for up to 85 attendees, where performers and audience share the same level. The plan is to be able to host weekly live music events and smaller acts. One of the most symbolic elements is the historic Land Office, the oldest wooden commercial building in Santa Barbara County, dating to 1874. Once used as the theater’s dressing room, it will be relocated and repurposed into a boutique cinema and smart room for smaller screenings, gaming, and events. But what makes this project truly unusual—and super smart—is the business model underneath all of it. “Mark is saying an 80/20 split—80 percent earned income, 20 percent contributed revenue—because of the flexibility of the space,” explained Scott Reed, a key advisor to the project, along with his Lane 4 Fundraising partner Jon Bishop. Most performing arts organizations run on a 60/40 model: 60 percent contributed revenue, 40 percent ticket sales. That works in communities with deep philanthropic infrastructure. It was never going to work in Lompoc, so the leadership team

continued >

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Cover Story flipped the script entirely. The flexibility is baked into every corner of the design. A stunning outdoor courtyard and bar is available for weddings and private events—filling a void that downtown Lompoc has never been able to address. A reconfigurable main stage. A second screen for films. A smaller venue equipped for gaming competitions. Food truck Fridays in the parking lot. “They’ve come up with so many flexible ways to utilize the theater on a year-round basis that will boost earned income, keep it sustainable, and not tap the community out,” Reed said.

A Community Finally Being Seen Supervisor Joan Hartmann has watched Lompoc for years with both admiration and deep desire to see it reach its full potential. “One of the things about Lompoc that really strikes me is that it’s 60 percent Latino, and yet in public spaces, you’d never know that,” she said. “You see Latinos in church and you see them in the parks, but you don’t see public celebrations. You don’t see their culture.” The theater, she believes, changes that. “I believe culture grounds people. It helps you know who you are, where you come from, what you’re about, and we need to create more of that. In Lompoc, it’s our most diverse community. It’s really, in many ways, our most exciting, vibrant community. It’s got so many different influences historically, and we need to showcase that.” Susan Torrey, who runs the John C. Mithun Foundation—widely regarded as a gold standard in Santa Barbara County philanthropy—echoed that sentiment. Her foundation has committed $1 million to support the Education Suite, reflecting its deep focus on the intersection of arts and education. But she is equally moved by what the project represents for a community she feels has been overlooked for too long. “Lompoc

has really been overlooked by Santa Barbara and the philanthropic community,” she said, “and we have to remember that Lompoc has supported Santa Barbara for so long. It’s where so much of our food comes from, so much of our labor. It’s really time for Santa Barbara to give back.” For Torrey, the Education Suite is the piece that sealed her foundation’s commitment. She envisions it not as a classroom, but as something more expansive. “My hope is really just to see it as a place to incubate dreams and ideas—a safe space for people to go to express their identity, to meet, to learn, to explore the arts.” She noted that while not every child aspires to be a performer, maybe they get a chance to stand on a stage, and they end up being a business leader who needs to give speeches — and they remember what it felt like to be there. Barbara Satterfield, the theater’s Board Chair and a member of a Lompoc legacy family, grew up, as Herrier did, spending Saturdays at this very theater. When she walked back through its lobby more than a decade ago, something unexpected happened. “I’m not that emotional of a person,” she said with a laugh, “but I walked into the lobby, and I just had all these memories and emotions rush back in.” She sees the restoration as something Lompoc has needed for a long time. “Lompoc always had a bit of an identity crisis—they didn’t know if they were flowers or art or wine or missiles,” she said. “I’m hoping that when this theater comes to pass, it’ll help pull everything together.”

The Next Generation Is Watching Jamie Durek represents a newer wave of community investment in Lompoc — a dynamic professional with deep ties to the region’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic circles. When she and her partner were searching for a place to put down roots,

This mural on the side of the theater is themed around the ideas “Embrace Love, Refuse Hate” and was conceived by students participating in the Endowment for Youth Community project. 28

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WOMEN OF THE

YEAR For Women’s History Month, California State Senate Leader Monique Limón is honoring six women from Santa Barbara County as the 2026 Women of the Year. Every year, the California State Legislature celebrates women from each Senate district who have made a significant

Mark Herrier, Ewa Pocwiardowska, and Benton Delinger

they considered many options. Lompoc kept rising. “The more time we spent here, the more it rose to the top of our list,” she said. “We saw potential, heart, and a community that genuinely shows up for one another.” From that vantage point, she sees the theater renovation as something that fundamentally shifts the conversation about what Lompoc is and where it’s headed. “This project signals that Lompoc isn’t just affordable or ‘up-and-coming,’ ” she said. “It’s intentional. It’s investing in culture, in gathering spaces, and in quality of life for the community and future generations.” For the next generation of professionals deciding where to build their lives, she believes the presence of a thriving cultural hub sends an unmistakable signal. “A theater brings life — performances, conversations, shared moments. It becomes a gathering place not just for one group, but across generations.”

Partnerships Taking Center Stage The Lompoc Theatre isn’t waiting until opening night to build its programming ecosystem. Partnerships are already forming across Santa Barbara County that will make the theater a North County hub for some of the region’s most respected arts organizations. “With a belief that the Santa Barbara Symphony is for everyone,” says President and CEO Kathryn R. Martin, “a collaboration with the Lompoc Theatre will create unprecedented opportunities to bring the community the transformative power of both our professional symphony and our immersive youth education programs.” State Street Ballet will bring its Nutcracker to Lompoc every year — giving many Lompoc children their very first experience with the beloved ballet. “This

collaboration opens new pathways for aspiring artists and young dancers to train, perform, and experience life within a professional ballet company while staying close to home,” said Executive Director Cecily MacDougall. UCSB Arts and Lectures is exploring programming partnerships, and conversations are underway with the UCSB film and archives department. The theater will also make its space available at no cost to local arts groups, giving them a home stage worthy of their work.

The Finish Line Is in Sight With $12.2 million already raised, just $6.7 million remains to fully fund the centennial renovation. The project is also eligible for new market and historic preservation tax credits, which unlock when $4 million more has been raised. Herrier has studied hundreds of historic theater restorations across the country. The pattern is consistent: Not one has failed, and every surrounding downtown was revitalized within years, as Modesto, Merced, and Old Town Pasadena have proved. Studies project $6 million in additional annual economic activity for Lompoc once the theater reopens. But the case he makes most passionately isn’t economic. “You’re going to be able to see your kids and your grandkids perform on that stage,” he said. “It’s going to transform your family’s life.” This is not a theoretical dream anymore. Lompoc is waiting for the lights to come up, for the curtain to rise, for the moment that changes everything. “We are approaching the finish line,” Herrier said. “I am no longer Sisyphus. The rock is on top of the hill. We just need the last of you to kick it down the other side.”

impact in their communities. The honorees have left their mark on critical industries throughout Santa Barbara County. Thank you for your dedicated service to our community.

2026 HONOREES

TERESA ALVAREZ

TEREASE Y CHIN

CARPINTERIA CHILDREN'S PROJECT

SANTA BARBARA TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

ERICA RUVALCABA

ANN SAUNDERS MCCARTY

CORAZON LATINO

NORTH COUNTY RAPE CRISIS & CHILD PROTECTION CENTER

INGRID BOSTROM

SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT / FREELANCE

ELISABETH RIZO

RETIRED, SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

To support the Lompoc Theatre Project, visit lompoctheatre.org.

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INDEPENDENT CALENDAR

mar.

12-18

the

TERRY ORTEGA

As always, find the complete listings online at independent.com/events. Submit virtual and in-person events at independent.com/eventsubmit.

FRIDAY

3/12-3/15:

Musical Comedy Follow what happens when the ultimate princess of dark-

ness, Wednesday Addams, now 18, falls in love with a sweet, intelligent, and completely “normal” young man from a respectable family in this creepy, kooky musical with two different casts. Thu.-Fri.: 7pm; Sat.: 2 and 7pm; Sun.: 2:30 and 7pm. Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 E. Cota St. GA: $20-$36; VIP: $80.

lightsupsb.com

3/12: PBS Film Screenings: An Evening of Wild Hope The Community Environmental Council (CEC) will screen the PBS series Wild Hope, episode 44, “City in Nature,” which shows how Singapore is integrating urban living with biodiversity by carving out wildlife habitats, followed by a talk with CEC’s Bre Sliker, who will share her insights on regional biodiversity efforts. A screening of episode 38, “Significant Otters,” about the return of sea otters to Elkhorn Slough, will follow, with The Nature Conservancy’s Dr. Phoebe Racine to provide updates. 6:30-8:30pm. CEC Environmental Hub, 1219 State St., Ste. A. Free. Call (805) 963-0583. cecsb.org/events

FRIDAY 3/13 3/13: GLOW X: A High-Definition Neon Experience Join for high-energy sets from premier live deejays, body paint and shimmer stations, glow-themed backdrops, and interactive booths for high-end digital keepsakes all amplified by black lights and neon visuals followed by a silent disco at 10pm that will toggle between distinct musical journeys. 7pmmidnight. 28 W. Victoria St. $30-$40. Ages 18+. Email contact@sbeventhorizon.com.

COURTESY

tinyurl.com/GLOW-X-Neon

3/13:

Electric Elton: A Tribute to Elton John

Sean Trombley will perform songs that capture the essence of Elton John at the height of his popularity in the 1970s with songs such as “Rocket Man,”“Bennie and the Jets,”“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,”“Candle in the Wind,” and more, backed by a live band, with multimedia and dazzling costumes and dancers. 7:30-10pm. Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. $65-$82. Call (805) 963-0761. lobero.org

3/12-3/15: The Theatre Group at SBCC Presents A Small Family Business See the farce and social satire in this comic morality play about the new head of a family furniture business who believes he will initiate a new age of honesty and integrity. Unfortunately, his family has other ideas that include affairs, embezzlements, extortion, and corporate shenanigans. The play runs through March 21. Thu.-Sat.: 7:30pm; Sun.: 2pm. Garvin Theatre, 721 Cliff Dr. $16-$29. Call (805) 965-5935. theatregroupsbcc.com

SUNDAY

Goleta: Camino Real Marketplace, 10am-2pm

TUESDAY

Montecito: 1100 and 1200 blocks of Coast Village Rd., 8-11:15am

Old Town S.B.: 500-600 blocks of State St., 3-6:30pm

SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY

Downtown S.B.: Corner of State and Carillo sts., 8am-1pm

COURTESY

THURSDAY

Carpinteria: 800 block of Linden Ave., 2:30-6:30pm

Lights Up! Theatre Company Presents The Addams Family: A New

Shows on Tap

FARMERS MARKET SCHEDULE

Solvang: Copenhagen Dr. and 1st St., 2:30-6:00pm

Cold Spring Tavern Sat.: Sage City Band. Band 3/14-3/15: Sun.: Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan. 5995 StageFree. Call (805) 967-0066. coldspringtavern.com

coach Rd. 1:30-4:30pm.

FISHERMAN’S MARKET

SATURDAY Rain or shine, meet local fishermen on the Harbor’s commercial pier, and buy fresh fish (filleted or whole), live crab, abalone, sea urchins, and more. 117 Harbor Wy., 6-11am. Call (805) 259-7476.

3/13-3/14: Maverick Saloon Fri.: Redondo B*tch, 9pm. Sat.: Jimi Nelson

Margot Sinclair, 8pm. $22-$25. Ages 18+.

Band, 8:30pm. 3687 Sagunto St., Santa Ynez. Call (805) 686-4785. Ages 21+.

Fri.: Funk It Up with Area 51, 8:30pm. $15-$18. Ages 21+. Sat.: Soul Majestic

and Selecta 7 Plus KnoLij Tafari, 9pm. $20-$25. Ages 21+. Sun.-Mon.: Young Singers Recital, 5:30pm. Free. Tue.: St. Patrick’s Day Bash: Spencer & The Worried Lads, 6pm. $10. 1221 State St. Call (805) 962-7776.

cfsb.info/sat

SATURDAY 3/14

sohosb.com

3/14: The VADA Draw S.B. High School’s Visual Arts & Design Academy (VADA) invites you to a party featuring original art pieces donated by area artists, food, beverages, and music with proceeds going toward SBHS’s VADA program. 7-10pm, (Draw ends at 9pm). Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden St. $55. Email friends ofvada@gmail.com.

3/13: Carr Winery Barrel Room Ses-

3/14: State Street Ballet Young Dancers: A Spring Celebration of Dance Dancers will showcase their skills,

3/14-3/15: Hook’d Bar and Grill Sat.: Out of the Blue, 3pm. Sun.: Cowboy Diplomacy, 1pm. 116 Lakeview Dr., Cachuma Lake. Free. Call (805) 350-8351.

hookdbarandgrill.com/music-onthe-water

3/14: M.Special Brewing Co. (Goleta) Mashbox, 7pm. 6860 Cortona Dr., Ste. C, Goleta. Free. Call (805) 9686500. mspecialbrewco.com

3/13-3/14, 3/17: M.Special Brewing Co. (S.B.) Fri.: Danny Vista, 8pm. Sat.: Joyride, 8pm. Tue.: The Waymarkers, 3:30pm. 634 State St. Free. Call (805)

3/15: Longoria Wines Live music, 3-5pm. 732 State St. Free. Email info@ longoriawine.com.

308-0050.

mspecialbrewco.com

longoriawines.com/events

3/16: The Red Piano Church on Monday: Doc Ventura, 7:30pm. 519 State St. $5. Call (805) 358-1439.

theredpiano.com

3/14:

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Event City of S.B. residents can drop off antifreeze, batteries, used motor oil filters, paint, fluorescent lightbulbs, cleaning supplies, and garden chemicals. Contact MarBorg about acceptable items. 9am-1pm. SBCC Lot 2-C (La Playa Stadium Parking Lot). Free. Call (805) 963-1852.

3/14: S.B. Music Club Free Concert: A Quintet of Trios This program of five charming trios by Maurice Duruflé, Hugo Cole, Ernest Bloch, Max Bruch, and Florent Schmitt will be performed by Jane Hahn (flute), Nancy Mathison (clarinet), Tom Turner (viola), Mi Young Kim (piano), and Pascal Salomon (piano). 3pm. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 4575 Auhay Dr. Email concerts@sb musicclub.org. sbmusicclub.org

PLEASE CONTACT THE VENUE TO CONFIRM HOURS AND EVENT CANCELLATIONS OR POSTPONEMENTS.

mavericksaloon.com/eventcalendar

sions: Do No Harm, 7pm. 414 N. Salsipuedes St., Santa Barbara. Free. Call (805) 965-7985. Ages 21+.

carrwinery.com/events

vadasbhs.org/the-vada-draw

performing excerpts from Swan Lake as well as new choreography by Royce Zackery, Cecily MacDougall, Saori Yamashita, Amber Hirschfield, Audrey Messer, and Allison Gustafson with live accompaniment by the S.B. Youth Symphony. 6pm. Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. GA: $19-$32; patron: $60. Call (805) 963-0761. lobero.org

3/12-3/17: SOhO Restaurant & Music Club Thu.: Ray and Paul with

LOST VOYAGER

COURTESY

THURSDAY 3/12

tinyurl.com/HHW-Mar14

Volunteer Opportunity

Fundraiser

Civil Discourse

Protest

INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

Thur 3/12 8:00 pm

WE THE BEAT PRESENTS: RAY & PAUL WITH MARGOT SINCLAIR ALT-INDIE

Fri 3/13 8:30 pm

FUNK IT UP

WITH AREA 51! FUNK/DANCE ROCK Sat 3/14 9:00 pm

CANOPY CLUB & PAKA PRESENT:

SOUL MAJESTIC AND SELECTA 7 PLUS KNOLIJ TAFARI REGGAE

Tue 3/17 6:00 pm

ST. PATRICK'S DAY BASH:

SPENCER & THE WORRIED LADS IRISH/FOLK

Thur 3/19 8:00 pm

NEFESH MOUNTAIN BLUEGRASS/FOLK Fri 3/20 8:00 pm

FALSE PUPPET & THE FRAMERS GARAGE ROCK Sat 3/21 9:00 PM

SB SOCIAL & ME SABOR PRESENTS:

SALSA NIGHT SALSA CLASS

FOR OUR FULL LINEUP, PLEASE VISIT

SOHOSB.COM

1221 STATE STREET • 962-7776 32

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MARCH 12, 2026

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MAr.

12-18 COURTESY

the

SUNDAY 3/15

3/15:

Buellton’s Wine & Chili Festival Sample from

more than 20 chili and salsa cooks and vote for your favorite. Taste from 30+ wineries, craft breweries, seltzers, and ciders and spirit companies with a variety of merchants and food trucks with food for purchase, and music from band Maclovia and DJ FIU. Round-trip transportation available from Goleta, Lompoc, and S.B. ($30). Proceeds will sponsor programs on behalf of the Buellton Chamber of Commerce. Noon-4:30pm. Flying Flags RV Resort, 180 Ave. of the Flags, Buellton. Free-$71.59.

buelltonwineandchilifestival.com

SATURDAY 3/14

TUESDAY 3/17

3/14: Wine & Stargazing: An Evening at Kessler-Haak Join Alta Vista Tours for estate wine tasting with winemaker Dan Kessler, gourmet grilled tacos, and expert-led stargazing with PhD students using premium telescopes. Optional transportation from downtown S.B. available. 7-10pm. Kessler-Haak Winery, 1700 Gypsy Canyon Dr., Lompoc. $100-$125. Email concierge@altavistatours.com.

3/17: Open House at Braille Institute Learn about the free

altavistatours.com/stars

resources available to the community with campus tours, classroom demonstrations, a mini concert, and light refreshments. Call or email to RSVP. Noon-3pm. Braille Institute S.B., 2031 De la Vina St. Free. Call (805) 898-8312 or email merocha@brailleinstitute.org.

tinyurl.com/Braille-OpenHouse

WEDNESDAY 3/18

MONDAY 3/16 3/16: S.B. Parks & Rec Older Adults Clubs: Scrabble Club Players of all levels are invited to this weekly social group designed to connect older adults through their love of Scrabble. The group is open to English and Spanish speakers. 1-4pm. Louise Lowry Davis Ctr., 111 W. Victoria St. Free. tinyurl.com/Scrabble-Club

3/18: TechTopia Summit 2026 Learn about the thriving high-tech community from Goleta to Carpinteria, tour AppFolio, join breakout sessions, and hear from leading local technology executives from Amazon, AppFolio, Curvature, Google Quantum, and more. 12:30-6pm. OASIS, 71 S. Los Carneros Rd., Goleta. $100-$150. Email camden@bscchamber.com. tinyurl.com/TechTopia-2026

3/14:

S.B. St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

Bar Crawl 2026 Dress in Kelly green

and visit the best celebrations and bars that include drink and food specials, and free cover with one all-access digital bar crawl pass. Check in: 4-8pm. Shaker Mill, 418 State St. $18.89, $22.99, $35.78 (fees included). Ages 21+. Email info@pubcrawls.com.

tinyurl.com/Pub-2026-ShakerMill

3/14: S.B. St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl & Block Party Wear shamrock green to join for the fun and free cover at 10+ venues with drink coupons, free welcome shot vouchers, and a map of all participating State Street bars. 3pm. Whiskey Richards, 435 State St. $15, $19.98, $24.98 (fees included). Ages 21+. Email events@Nasstive.com.

tinyurl.com/Crawl-Party-WhiskeyRichards

3/17:

presents

3/17: S.B. Independent’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Stroll Calling all leprechauns, community members, and families. Put on your green and meet at the parking lot of our new office (223 E. De la Guerra St., Ste. B) and follow the bagpipers to State Street, then on to Institution Ale for a pint and a good time. Meet: 5pm; stroll: 5:30pm. Free. Call (805) 965-5205. tinyurl.com/Indy-Stroll-2026

3/17: St. Patrick’s Day Bash: Spencer & The Worried Lads The Worried Lads and Lasses will bring their own brand of Irish, Calypso, Tex-Mex, indie folk, and pop in celebration of St. Paddy’s Day! 6pm. SOhO Restaurant & Music Club, 1221 State St. $10. Call (805) 962-7776.

sohosb.com/events

COURTESY

Season!

By Alan Ayckbourn Directed by Katie Laris

Kerry Irish Productions Presents St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland

Take in a celebration of a live band and world-class Irish dancers featuring champion dancers from shows such as Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Celtic Fyre, Celtic Wings, and An Irish Christmas. Entire families will be immersed in the spirit of Ireland. 7:30pm. Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. $45-$75. Call (805) 963-0761. lobero.org

MAR. 6-21, 2026 PREVIEWS MAR. 4 & 5

GARVIN THEATRE, SBCC West Campus www.theatregroupsbcc.com | 805.965.5935 Thank you to our corporate sponsors:

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RICH PEOPLE IN SANTA BARBARA OFFERS A WEALTH OF COASTAL FLAVORS

L I F E COURTESY PHTOS

AUTHOR ELIZABETH GILCHRIST REVISITS HER HOMETOWN IN A NEW PAIR OF NOVELLAS

A SMALL FAMILY BUSINESS

ARRIVES AT SBCC THEATRE

BEN CROP

lizabeth Gilchrist had long imagined writing a book about Santa Barbara. “Since I was 14,” she tells me over the phone from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “I grew up in Santa Barbara…. The place has always spoken to me.” For years, the idea stayed tucked away, like a note in the margins. It resurfaced in 2019 at a noir writers’ conference outside Montpellier in southern France. By then, Gilchrist had largely stopped introducing herself as a writer. Doing so inevitably led to the question “What have you written?” The answer — two novels, Your Cheatin’ Heart and Second Chances—felt unsatisfying. Both were long out of print. But after talking with other writers at the conference, she relented. “Yes,” she admitted, she was a writer. And when the conversation turned to whether she was working on anything new, she mentioned an idea she had carried for years. “For a long time,” she began, “I’ve wanted to write a book about Santa Barbara.” The reaction surprised her. People leaned in. They asked questions. “I was completely treated like a writer.” It was the push she needed. In February she released Rich People in Santa Barbara, a pair of noirish novellas set in Santa Barbara. On Thursday, March 19, Gilchrist is returning to the place that inspired it all, holding an author talk and signing at Chaucer’s Books. The first novella, Montecito Peak, set in 1990, follows Barbara Palmer, a wealthy Montecito woman in a relationship with a deadbeat alcoholic, who soon falls in love with Mike Brooke and wants to leave her marriage. Novella two, The Polo Club, set in 2000, follows Lydia Graham, who is in a happy marriage but reconnects with a man from her past and realizes it was a terrible mistake. He threatens her marriage. She wants him gone. Originally, Gilchrist planned for just one novella, The Polo Club, but after writing it, she realized it was too short to run on its own. So, she wrote Montecito Peak. Both stories exist in the same world but are completely separate stories. Still, they follow a similar plot centering on women who are the main character, who “find themselves in situations where there is a man who is getting in the way,” says Gilchrist. “There’s a man who, if he wasn’t around at all, it would really simplify things — they both [force the women to] take matters into their own hands.”

PAGE 35

The author, Elizabeth Gilchrist, at 8 years old, on the lawn at Las Manzanitas in Montecito

Gilchrist notes that making the characcharac ters wealthy is partly a practical choice: It removes everyday money worries so the story can focus on their emotional and moral lives instead of “how will they pay for this?” In the Polo Club novella, money is more active—it shapes power, motives, and social dynamics inside Santa Barbara’s elite. Overall, wealth is less about glamour and more about the way it quietly structures who has freedom, status, and leverage in the world of the book. Are the characters based on real people? No, she says; they are “totally made up.” But, she offers, “there are certainly bits and pieces of real people.” Santa Barbara, however, is a main character. She jokes, “You can deny the people are real people, but you can’t deny that Santa Barbara is a real place.”

Gilchrist grew up on Parra Grande Lane in Montecito. One way to really tell if someone is from Santa Barbara, she says, is to ask them what school they went to. She went to Santa Barbara Junior High; spent a few years in school in Sedona, Arizona; finished her senior year at Santa Barbara High School; and then attended UCSB. She had a house in Santa Barbara but moved away in 2007. When I spoke with Gilchrist, I had just finished the first novella and would read the second later that evening. As someone who grew up in Santa Barbara, I found the book evoked a powerful nostalgia for a version of the town that feels increasingly distant, even if I wasn’t yet born to witness some of the places she touches on: the Miramar as it used to be, the since-closed restaurants, the less-crowded roads, and the earlier social world. Then there are the smells that remain no matter how much time has passed: the orange-blossom-like air, the minty aroma of blue gum eucalyptus. “It’s a meditation on nostalgia,” she confirmed. For a while, she wasn’t sure if or when the Santa Barbara book would happen. Now that it has, she speaks about it with a sense of quiet completion. “Oh, how nice, you know — I actually wrote it,” she reflects. “I could die happy.” —Tiana Molony Elizabeth Gilchrist is holding an author talk and signing at Chaucer’s Books (3321 State St.) Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m. For more information, see chaucersbooks.com.

Tyler Gilbert, Felicia Hall, Paul Canter, and Anikka Abbott in The Theatre Group at SBCC’s production of A Small Family Business. In Alan Ayckbourn’s A Small Family Business, an honest man falls prey to his in-laws’ criminal enterprises while trying to float the family industry. Produced by the SBCC Theatre Group, the show stars Paul Canter as Jack McCracken, who prides himself on his unwavering moral compass. “But like any good comedy,”says Canter, “the more uncompromising he is, the farther he has to fall… . His arc is one of unraveling throughout the course of the play.” “It’s a funny play,” says director Katie Laris, “but it also looks at how corruption happens. It begins with taking home a single paper clip from the office. Next, you’re taking home pencils and reams of paper, and it goes from there.” This motif of slippery slope ethics brings down the characters in the play, which Canter calls “brisk and funny with a dark edge.” A Small Family Business confronts capitalism (or Thatcherism, in the context of the late-1980s script). “It talks about the greed of big business,” says Canter, “and how they extract ungodly wealth and charge an arm and a leg for the basic necessities of life.” More specifically, says Laris, the play illustrates the void of obsession with material wealth. “When one’s pursuit is only in the realm of fleeting experiences, and life becomes about piling up one thing after another,” she says, “what is really important—like relationships, reputation, taking care of other people, acts of generosity and compassion—there’s a hollowness when those things disappear.” The show features a realistic interior of a two-story home on stage. The set design serves as four separate, identical houses—sometimes with people from all four homes interacting with the space (in their own houses) at the same time. Expect fast entrances and exits, and the obligatory “slamming doors”of the farcical structure. —Maggie Yates The show runs at SBCC’s Garvin Theatre (721 Cliff Dr.) through March 21. See theatregroup.sbcc.com.

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RECESS! March 21–22 · The Lobero Theatre March 21 · Sensory-friendly Performance Featuring Alexei Kremnev’s Carnival of the Animals Jerome Robbins’ Interplay Autumn Eckman’s Level Up With live accompaniment by Opera Santa Barbara

Tickets

StateStreetBallet.com

Sybil Rosen ETC honors the memory of

whose unwavering dedication and generosity were integral to the heart and growth of our entire organization. Her passion for theatre helped shape our community in lasting ways, and her legacy will continue to inspire us for years to come.

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THE QUIET ARCHITECTS OF THE MOVIES YOU LOVE

hen you think of films such as Kill Bill or Pulp Fiction, director Quentin Tarantino likely comes to mind — as does actress Uma Thurman. What about La La Land? Well, that’s Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. And The Royal Tenenbaums? That’s Wes Anderson, of course. Unless you’re especially versed in the film world, it’s unlikely the names that David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco sprang to mind at the mention of these titles. And yet, in watching them, you’ve experienced their work. The since-retired and married duo — production designer David and set decorator Sandy — have shaped the visual worlds of more than 40 feature films, including those mentioned above, crafting the spaces that give these stories texture, mood, and meaning. Even after being in the industry for four decades, David and Sandy, Santa Barbara residents since 2012, say that they’re still surprised by how little most audiences understand about their roles — a gap they hope to close with their exhibit in the new SBIFF McHurley Film Center, From left, Justin Huntsman, James Hapke, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, David Wasco, and Pecos Pryor which chronicles their work on La La Land, the film that landed them the 2017 Oscar for Best Achievement in Prodepartment materials: drafting, refined illustrations, and duction Design. step-by-step design boards that reveal how sets and key Lining up with the film’s 10th anniversary, the exhibit, sequences evolved over time. A highlight is a smaller version which is open to the public, is designed to show visitors of the huge painted backdrop from the film’s epilogue, surhow the world of La La Land was created by the film’s art rounded by the artwork that led to its final form. department, step by step, from early ideas to the images you Taken together, the exhibit doesn’t just celebrate La La see on screen. Land; it teaches viewers what production design is and how David and Sandy brought the exhibit to life with the a team of artists quietly works in the shadows, building the help of Justin Huntsman, who handled construction; James world a story lives in. Hapke and Pecos Pryor, who are in charge of installations at “We’re supposed to remain in the background and be UCSB’s Art, Design and Architecture Museum on campus; quiet,” said David. “Not overwhelming the story or the and Installation Art Director Patricia Peter. actors, just helping them do their job.” For La La Land, they had roughly a year to put together As you walk through the corridor, you’re essentially walkFilm poster details ing through the movie’s design process. Along the walls, what the world would look like, which was much longer the exhibit presents director Damien Chazelle’s original than the usual eight to 10 weeks. That extended timeline lookbook and early visual references, which outline the tone, gave them the chance to fully capture the spirit of the film, layers, working with the prop master so that everything color, and atmosphere he imagined for the film. These are they say, and ultimately contributed to their Oscar win. “We surrounding the actors, even what they hold in their hands, paired with location photographs from around Los Angeles captured L.A. so much so that the mayor designated April 21 provides subtle, subliminal story cues. and the surrounding areas, showing the real-world places as La La Land Day,” David joked. As Sandy put it, “You’ll be able to really explain what this person does by what’s in [their] office.” that inspired the film’s settings. Next to them are concept While David handles everything big-picture, Sandy’s role On designing Mia and Sebastian’s spaces in La La Land, sketches and watercolor renderings that translate those ideas focuses on the psychological and storytelling layers. After Sandy enjoyed exploring the two worlds of the main charthe construction of the interiors, she brings in the furniture, into stylized, cinematic spaces. Further along, the display moves into more technical art artwork, objects, and details that peel back a character’s acters. Sebastian’s world was “masculine, more simple, more authentic,” she says. And Mia’s, “much more dreamy — that was a really fun contrast to develop.” Mia’s and Sebastian’s apartments may seem insignificant to the plot, but David and Sandy point out that these spaces are essential to understanding the characters. “When an audience is sitting and looking at the image, there are these subliminal things that will help tell the story,” said David. After our call, I found myself playing a game of I Spy, scanning my own space: the Polaroids on my refrigerator, the Post-It note taped to my computer with my grocery list from three weeks ago, and the random rock I found one day at the beach that sits under the window above my bathroom sink. It’s those things, said David, those “weird little things.” —Tiana Molony

Set design details

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SBIFF EXHIBIT TRACES HOW DAVID WASCO AND SANDY REYNOLDS-WASCO TRANSFORMED A VISION INTO AN OSCAR WINNER

David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco’s exhibit is free and open to the public at SBIFF’s McHurley Film Center (916 State St.). For more information, see sbifftheatres.com.

M O R E A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T > > > INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

janis joplin A NIGHT WITH

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FABRIC AS FORM, CONTENT, AND CONTEXT ARTIST JULIA FORD PRESENTS A 50-YEAR SURVEY OF WORK IN ATKINSON GALLERY POP-UP SHOW

Mary Bridget Davies Photo: Jason Niedle

STARRING TONY AWARD® NOMINEE

CREATED AND WRITTEN BY

CO-DIRECTED BY

APRIL 1-26

Mary Bridget Davies Brian McDonald

Randy Johnson

AND TONY AWARD NOMINEE ®

Mary Bridget Davies etcsb.org 805.965.5400

MUSIC DIRECTION BY

Brent Crayon

CALL TO ARTISTS Grant Opportunity for AI Artists – Accelerator Working Group The Brill Family Foundation invites artists in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties to apply for an AI-focused artist accelerator cohort exploring ecological themes. Selected artists will: Join a collaborative working group Receive grants up to $5,000 Deadline: Friday, March 13, 2026 For more info visit: peterbrill.net/2026-call-to-artists 38

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MARCH 12, 2026

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08.09

JOSEF WOODARD

y their very nature, pop-up art exhibitions bank on the power of surprise elements. A solidly pleasant surprise has landed in the welcoming space of Santa Barbara City College’s Atkinson Gallery at the moment, in the form of Swings and Roundabouts, the Weavings of Julia Ford, through March 17. Ford, the beloved and veteran fabric artist based in Santa Barbara, has flown into the gallery with an inviting small cross-section of her work from over the past nearly 50 years. On a recent afternoon visit, I found the artist in the space, working at a loom in the room. Now 70 and going creatively strong, she sniffed at the notion that the show was a retrospective and was only half joking when she explained, “I view this as a mid-career show.” In a statement, she writes, “I think of weaving on floor looms as somewhere between a remedial workhorse, a vocational workshop, an art studio practice, and a meditation center.” Those combined qualities are well accounted for in the art here. Unfortunately for the art-watching public in town, the Atkinson—long a valued space in Santa Barbara’s art scene — has suspended its public exhibition agenda in favor of campus/student functions. A bonus for the SBCC art department, an onus for the viewing public. But Ford’s sneak attack exhibition is heartening to see in this space, and it actually bridges purposes: in addition to her own work, one short wall showcases pieces by her students. Thus, the maker and the teacher are both on view. Ford, who was raised on a 100-acre farm in England, begins this exhibition’s story with vintage art from her graduate show in England in 1978. In some of this body of work, we encounter art about fashion and conceptual detours, in the self-descriptively titled “American Rock and Roll Bermuda Shirt”— with colors of the U.S. flag muted and altered—and “Star Spangled Egyptian Men’s Vest, with lurex polka dots in sparkle mode.” Her vintage artwork also explores transformed objects and functions, with expected materials replaced by fabric, creating a trompe l’oeil effect. Small notebooks and bow ties are woven into being, deft to the visual touch (resist temptation to touch the art), and softly subversive in context. Upon entering the gallery, attention is quickly drawn to her delicate yet large-scaled pieces in the “Life Lines, Family Ties” series, long, drip-like works draped down the gal-

“Circles Spheres and + Bubbles, Gravias et Levitas” by Julia Ford

lery wall and sometimes suspended from the ceiling, touching the floor. Dramatic, yet subtle and diaphanous, these pieces—made of silk, wool, linen, and mixed fibers—suggest a life force of lean means and atavistic associations. Some secret essence hums within: one piece includes a sharp wooden stick and tiny paper scrolls, as if hiding clandestine information. On the opposite wall, works include the 2010-vintage “Circles, Spheres + Bubbles, Gravitas et Levitas,” suitably light and dark mood strips, with a design sensibility somehow reminiscent of Constructivism and Orphism, to name check early modernist art movements. Vertical panels in “Track of Time” balance biomorphic forms and a hint of time-related geometric ordering. Jumping ahead to 2026, her piece, bearing the show’s title “Swings and Roundabouts,” engages strips hanging from a tree limb, embedded with varied shapes and patterns, and shifting color palettes. Though modest in scale, Ford’s exhibition manages to convey the sweep and range of her artistic life so far, minus other adventures, such as her exploration of felt, seen in shows around the region in past years. It is instructive and heartening to catch up with Ford’s art in a gallery setting, and also to take a moment to lurk in the splendor of this art space again. On an extra-art note, don’t forget to step outside onto the patio, the site of one of Santa Barbara’s prime harbor views. It’s part of the Atkinson experience, triggering that “Oh yeah, that’s why we live here” sensation. —Josef Woodard

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P. 41 INGRID BOSTROM

Cardio Confidential

Still Dancing After All These Years

n the ’90s, when I worked downtown, I used to experience was far more aligned with dance than squeeze in midday workouts, lifting weights and tak- martial arts—possibly because that’s what I was ing step classes alongside the loan officers, land use looking for. Gilbert told me some students just planners, and legal secretaries who made up the lunchtime want to move their bodies, while others are there group fitness crowd. For a brief golden age, our favorite for self-healing. The result is a diverse clientele—a student with instructor, hands-down, was Ken Gilbert, who taught a high-impact aerobics class that left us all elated — and vision loss who still takes Nia, a Parkinson’s patient trying to retain mobility, and a trans person who exhausted. When I reconnected with him decades later, I was needs a safe space to work out. Gilbert’s students delighted to learn that Gilbert is still a fitness leader with range from veterans who’ve been with him for 30 a following of students just as devoted as the old lunch years to relative newcomers such as Linda, a onebunch. These days, he teaches Nia dance and Pilates classes time jazz dancer who came to Nia three years ago (barre, standing, and seated) and also offers private Pilates and told me, “I hope I can take this class for the rest of my life.” sessions in his own studio space, all at the Dance Hub. In addition to the studio spaces where he To see where Gilbert’s fitness journey had taken him, I decided to check out a Nia class. Nia was created, Gilbert teaches, Gilbert also has a Pilates studio with told me, “as a rebellion against the repetition of high- dramatic gray walls and a Reformer, Cadillac, and impact aerobics,” which reigned over the fitness world in Ped-a-Pul. I’ve taken mat Pilates and group Pilates classes on a Reformer, but my private session with the ’80s. No wonder, then, that some differences between Nia Gilbert was in a category by itself. Gilbert studied and conventional dance classes are immediately apparent, Pilates with Ron Fletcher, who began his practice such as the lack of footwear. Students dance barefoot on after he was injured dancing with Martha Graham the studio’s marley floor, which is kind to the feet. There and sought out Joseph Pilates himself to guide his In addition to Nia classes, Ken Gilbert also teaches Pilates. are no dance club remixes or recent pop hits, either. The rehabilitation. Gilbert’s Pilates practice focuses on helping the music was rhythmic but without a jackhammer beat. GilWe finished with pliés and relevés on the Ped-a-Pul, bert said the gentler music “gives the nervous system time client align the midline and plumb line, incorporating the five spinal movements: forward flexion, rotation, lateral a deceptively simple piece of equipment that consists of to recover.” movement, circumduction, and upper back exten- a pole, a small platform to stand on, and two straps with Gilbert began the session by gathering everyone sion. My session started on the Reformer, handles. The challenge came from maintaining my body’s in a circle as he gave us our intentions for the where Gilbert gave me a lot to keep track contact with the pole as I moved up and down, forcing me day: “Your self-worth is intrinsic” and of as I lay on my back and pushed the to maintain an erect posture. “Your uniqueness is invaluable.” Then Gilbert teased me during our session, playfully scolding carriage out—breathing in differhe invited us to “step in,” which he ent patterns from what I’m used me when my form wasn’t quite up to par, praising me when described as letting go of distractions. to, exhaling with puffy breaths, I got it right. The work is hard, he acknowledged. Why not Setting the intention and stepping and lifting my manubrium, a have fun? in are the first two of the seven cycles And with that, I was reminded why Gilbert has always part of the sternum I never knew of a Nia class; the remaining cycles I had. The footwork exercises on inspired such loyalty and enthusiasm, whether among my are generally similar to other exerthe Reformer (heel lifts, Achilles lunchtime comrades from long ago or his current commucise routines, with a warmup, period stretches) made my feet feel great, nity of exercisers. Working out with him can be hard, but of highest intensity, and cool-down. though. Gilbert kept reminding he always makes it fun. Before “stepping out,” there’s also a segby Amy R. Ramos “At my best,” he told me, “as a teacher, I can be a leader me to pull my knees together, which ment that involves lying on the floor and I honestly thought was physically impos- and a guide.” calming the nervous system, perhaps with a sible, but he told me my quads Pilates sequence. Each song had its own choreography—and then, every were simply too dominant from working out so often, Gilbert would declare, “Free dance!” and each in the gym. I did finally get my knees in closer student did their own thing, letting the music inspire their proximity to each other, and I felt that work in movement. I used to really hate it when a dance teacher my inner thighs the next day. We moved on to the Cadillac, which is would say “free style!”—I felt lost and a little resentful Ken Gilbert Embodyment is located at the Dance at not being told how to move for a few measures. But I a simple machine for having such a fancy Hub, 22 East Victoria Street. Classes offered Monday, actually enjoyed the free dance portions of the Nia class, name. Ab crunches involved holding onto Wednesday, and Friday (Pilates at 11:15 a.m., Nia at coming up with my own steps and combinations and not a trapeze-like bar as I lowered, hinged, and curled — then did the reverse. Gilbert caring whether anyone was watching me. 12:30 p.m.). Registration not necessary, but call or Gilbert described Nia as combining the precision of patiently coached me through spinal rotatext Gilbert at (805) 452-7164. martial arts, the expressiveness of dance, and the functional tions, until I was finally extending my spine movement of the healing arts in a workout set to music. My instead of my arms.

Catching Up with Fitness Veteran Ken Gilbert

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Sports

Can UCSB Rebound in Tourney Play?

ne of the thrilling aspects of college basketball is the chaotic and unpredictable nature of conference tournaments. For the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team, the Big West Conference Championships offer an opportunity to turn a disappointing end to the regular season into a memorable postseason run.

Gauchos Take On UC Davis in Big West Conference Championships by Victor Bryant | Photos by Gary Kim

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“Our one word is ‘attitude.’ How do you respond? Our team has self-awareness of what has gone wrong the last couple games,” said UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack. “This is about 50-50 balls, blocking out, and competing.” The Gauchos have tumbled down the Big West Conference standings after losing five of their last six games. Two of those losses came in overtime: The Gauchos dropped a nailbiter at first-place UC Irvine, and the loss in the regular season finale to UC San Diego came on a buzzer beater. If those results were flipped, UCSB would be the top seed in the tournament and receive a doublebye into the semifinals, but instead the Gauchos are the seventh seed and will take on sixth-seed UC Davis in the first round on Wednesday night. “This is a team that can do special things, and Long Beach State did it a couple years ago,” said Pasternack of winning four games in four days to capture the Big West Conference tournament. “We are in a one-game season now. We control our own destiny.” UCSB dropped both matchups with the Aggies during the regular season, which included a 93-86 home loss on January 8 in which the Gauchos surrendered an 18-point lead. Both teams finished with identical 18-13 overall records and 11-9 records in Big West play. “I was in a kind of similar situation this summer playing with my national team. Going into the playoffs, one game decides everything in the round of 16 playing against Serbia,” said UCSB guard Miro Little, who helped Finland pull off a monumental upset of a Serbian team led by NBA superstar Nikola Jokic at EuroBasket. “Somebody said we didn’t have any chance of winning; somebody said we had a one percent chance or a two percent chance, but it’s all about whoever is in the locker

UCSB forward Colin Smith

room, and this team reminds me a lot of that team I have back home.” UC Santa Barbara will be the No. 7 seed in the Big West Championships and take on the No. 6– seed UC Davis Aggies on Wednesday, March 11. The Gauchos and Aggies will tip off at 8:30 p.m. at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.

UCSB Women’s Basketball Opens Big West Championships Against UC Riverside UCSB guard Maddie Naro

The UCSB women’s basketball team dropped its regular season finale to UC San Diego, 72-65, and will be sixth seed in the Big West Tournament. The Gauchos will take on No. 7–seed UC Riverside in a first-round matchup on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. UCSB split its two matchups with the Highlanders this season, including a 61-57 victory at Riverside on February 26. UCSB will look to recapture their early season magic, especially in close games after opening the season with a 13-2 overall record. Zoe Borter has expanded her role as a key contributor this season, averaging a team-high 15.3 points per game and shooting 41.3 percentage on three-pointers on high volume (155 attempts). She has scored at least 20 points in each of the last eight games. n

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Health

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS! Born in the fall of 1986, the Independent is proud to be turning 40 years old in 2026, and we’re cooking up all sorts of plans to mark our awesome anniversary.

SO WE ARE REACHING OUT TO YOU, OUR DEDICATED READERS.

Santa Barbara City College is now offering free mental health counseling to their older student population through the School of Extended Learning.

Free Counseling for Extended Learning Students

o l l e g e can come with mental roadblocks, whether you’re a young adult taking classes for the first time or a lifelong learner going back to school.

Some students have traveled from other countries to Santa Barbara without their family to take English classes or get their GED. Career advisors reported that students were disclosing information that would be more well-suited for a session with a mental health counselor. “This is in response to that,” Campbell said. “Students may come here without a lot of support,” Campbell said. “So, this becomes their home base. This is their community.” There are no limits to sessions, no questions about insurance, and no cost—SEL itself is completely tuition-free. The only requirement is that participants be enrolled in a class. With about 4,500 SEL students, the school’s largest student population is older adults, including retirees looking for enrichment. “I come to work, and there’s some older students that are in the parking lot doing their tai chi, and they’re in their nineties,” Campbell said. “It’s just so cool.” SBCC has also hired two new bilingual counselors, one for each campus, Campbell said. It’s funded through a grant provided to SBCC’s Mental Health and Counseling Department. Students can access these services by visiting the office adjacent to the Welcome Center on each campus. “The SBCC Mental Health Counseling Department is excited to collaborate with the School of Extended Learning to provide much needed mental health services to our noncredit students,” said Lacey Peters, SBCC Mental Health Counselor, LMFT.

SBCC Now Offering One-onOne Mental Health Support by Callie Fausey For the older adults who may be struggling, Santa Barbara City College’s School of Extended Learning is now offering free, one-on-one mental health counseling for the first time ever. Their Schott and Wake campuses will be “onestop shops” for students to take classes and get counseling, said Monica Campbell, director of SBCC’s School of Extended Learning (SEL). The school’s Cliff campus already had “really robust” student support services, but for noncredit students at SEL, it was “a little bit difficult to access,” she said. Usually, SEL students would be referred out to other community organizations for counseling. “This is pretty big, because a lot of our students have transportation issues, or they ride their bike, or take the bus,” Campbell continued. “So, it’s important to offer as many wraparound services as we can on our campuses.” These new counseling services, which are already in effect, will help students cope and manage stress, as well as provide general emotional support for whatever is weighing on them. “We’ve noticed over the past few years just how difficult their personal life might be,” Campbell said.

SEL students can make an appointment by calling SEL Mental Health Counseling at (805) 898-8190, or by emailing selmentalhealthcounseling@pipeline.sbcc.edu.

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Feasts

FOOD&DRINK

p.45

Convivo & SanguiS

Team Up for Nose To Tail DiNNer Chef Peter MCNee Breaks DowN why LaMB stars iN this thirD aNNuaL affair

The lamb tortellini

FOOD & DRINK

How did this dinner series come about? It was about

PAUL WELLMAN FILE PHOTO

’ve gotten to know Peter McNee, the chefowner of Convivo, quite well over the years, and his cooking — whether for white-tablecloth affairs, crowded festivals, backpacking trips, or remote island adventures—never ceases to surprise and satisfy. But even I was taken a bit aback last year when attending Convivo’s second annual “Nose to Tail” dinner, for which McNee butchered a boar into 10 wildly distinct dishes. There was “boar-tadella,” boar’s head agnolotti, and a creamy chocolatemeets-pig-blood treat called sanguinaccio, among other standouts, all paired with SAMsARA wines. For the third affair, McNee is switching up the star of the show, bringing in a spring lamb and pairing the chorus of resulting dishes with the wines of Sanguis, whose owner, Matthias Pippig, practiced his craft for years in a tucked-away urban chateau off of Milpas Street. This year’s menu features a similarly inventive array of lamb-linked fare, separated into smaller first bites and then the Spring Lamb Feast. There’s lamb loin tartare, soppresatta di testa (that’s head!), crispy lamb belly with mushroom risotto, lamb shoulder cannelloni, roasted lamb leg … well, let’s not ruin all the surprises. This year’s dinner is coming up quickly on March 18, and the tickets—quite a steal at $125—are likely to sell out soon. To learn more about what to expect this year, I asked McNee a few questions. Here’s what he had to say.

COURTESY PHOTOS

BY MATT KETTMANN

Chef Peter McNee, as he looked when he opened Convivo back in 2016

A sneak peek at a couple of the lamb dishes that Chef Peter McNee is serving with Sanguis wines at Convivo’s third annual Nose to Tail dinner on March 18

So, I guess I am returning to my roots with the Spring Lamb Feast.

two years ago that I finally took up the offer from my friend, farmer Jesus “Chuy” Mendez, to work Scenes from a previous Nose to Tail dinner with one of his “wild boar.” Chuy had a few boar he’d caught and was raising in captivity. He also has empty since our last dinner. Chuy suggested to give his pasture-raised goat and lamb, egg-laying chickens, and lamb a chance, and it seemed fitting to feature a different a small herd of Black Angus cattle. My relationship with animal in this “Nose to Tail’ series. However, the lamb, as Chuy and his persistent requests for me to use his boar they say, is a whole other animal. was the inspiration behind our first “Nose to Tail’ wine What’s your experience with lamb? I lived and worked in dinner. I am a trained norcino (pig butcher) and, with the help Italy in 2003, a lifetime ago. I arrived before winter had let of a lifelong friend, Romano Chieti, built a very elaborate go of Lake Garda, where I was working in a town called charcuterie program at my old restaurant, Poggio, in the Salo. It was very cold for a couple of weeks, and then sudBay Area. Chieti, originally from Trequanda, Italy, was denly it was warm one day, and it was spring! my partner in crime when it came to making contraband Every day, we would harvest the bounty of spring: the salumi. Shhhh. And of course, the boar and the pig are artichokes, peas, favas, and beautiful lettuces. The garden extremely similar, if not identical to one another. So, at Ristorante Campagnola was second to none. Through these dinners made a lot of sense. these memories, I always associate the spring with Easter in Italy, “Buona Pasqua,” as they say. The spring vegWhy did you switch to lamb this year? It turns out it’s harder etables, the spring lamb (agnello), and the spring goat to catch boar than last time, and that pen has remained (capretto) cooked on a spit, allo spiedo.

How did you select Sanguis as your partner for this dinner? We’ve been partnering with Matthias’s wines on

our menu at Convivo for some time. Both his Loner “‘A Trip to the Moon” pinot noir and his “Since You Asked Me Kindly”’ cabernet sauvignon are excellent and have garnered a ton of fanfare from both our team and our guests. This dinner is providing us a chance to see more of his catalog and feature a couple of new wines on our menu. Our beverage director, Mark Jimenez; Matthias; and I chose some amazing selections to be part of this year’s dinner. I’m especially excited about his cab franc and “The Verve” grenache blend. I look forward to the day’s events to see how much fun it will be for those two wines to play along with our two pasta courses, risotto, and the Moroccan leg of lamb. What else should diners know? This is not your parents’

wine dinner. It’s almost not a wine dinner at all. It’s a “Nose to Tail” dinner where fun, diverse, adventurous diners come to share a Convivial meal together. Eat a light lunch that day. n

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Full Belly Files

Matt Kettmann’s award-winning Full Belly Files serves up multiple courses of food & drink coverage every Friday, going off-menu from our regularly published content to deliver tasty nuggets of restaurant, recipe, and refreshment wisdom to your inbox.

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MARCH 12, 2026

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40 YEARS Santa Barbara

How I Won the 30th Anniversary Ale in Paso Robles

MATT KETTMAN PHOTOS

Winning Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale Battle dozen years ago, I received what remains one

ES BOTTBLARRELS &

Matt Kettmann shows off his winner’s crown.

After about an hour, every team’s entry was submitted, so Brynildson’s crew crafted the proposed blends and then poured them into six samples. We all tasted them blindly, then voted for our top three ales, which were tallied in the back room. Brynildson returned to announce the winners, giving nods to the third- and second-place finishers before revealing the gold medalists. “Our first place this year is C,” he said, referring to the third sample, which was the lightest of the batch and one of our table’s collective favorites when we voted. “The Noodlers.” “Whoa ho ho, we won!” I shouted, and high fives exploded around our table. We were presented with our two crowns and four brand-new championship belts, all of which we must further adorn in advance of next year’s event. They made me take one of the two crowns home, proud that it would reside in Santa Barbara County for the first time ever. The multi-tiered, bejeweled beast now sits in the entryway to my house, atop my late grandfather’s old typewriter, greeting house guests with half-naked photos of Russell From, lots of sparkles, and stickers from past winners such as Tablas Creek, Denner, and Castoro Cellars. If you’d like to try our winning blend, Firestone Walker will release its 30th Anniversary Ale in early May. That’s just in time for the 2026 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest on May 30. As usual, the main event sold out very quickly, but there is also a block party the night before on May 29 and the hangover brunch on May 31, both at the taproom in Paso Robles. See firestonewalker.com. In the meantime, I’m suggesting a special Santa Barbara release party as well. Stay tuned.

FOOD & DRINK

of my most coveted invites ever: to be the firstever journalist allowed to cover and participate in Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s annual Anniversary Ale blending competition. This tradition, which was started by brew boss Matt Brynildson back in 2006, challenges teams of mostly Paso Robles–based winemakers to craft that year’s winning cuvée from a lineup of their existing barrel-aged beers such as Velvet Merkin, Parabola, and Stickee Monkee. As I learned firsthand back in September of 2014 — yes, the winemakers ditched an afternoon in the heart of harvest season to participate — each team gathers around tables of pipettes, graduated cylinders, and small samples of different, very strong ales, employing their professional palates to test various combinations in search of harmony. The competition is fairly fierce, and the winners’ reward of handcrafted, ever-moredecorated crowns is — albeit somewhat silly in appearance — treated with serious respect. That year, I was paired with football-star-turnedwinemaker Terry Hoage, who’d never won but always placed in the top three. Well, except that time. We failed to reach any podium with our blend — Hoage seemed Brian Terrezzi measures carefully. displeased with my performance — while Sherman Thacher (a former brewer, convenient) and Daniel Cal- the barrel room, where Brynildson explained the Annilan of Thacher Winery took the crowns, which they versary Ale’s history and then announced the six teams. were tasked with protecting and enhancing over the There were plenty of returning stars, such as ensuing year. Russell From of Herman Story and Matt TrevUnsurprisingly, I did not get the call to isan of Linne Calodo; a healthy showing of return the next year. Or the next year, female winemakers such as Maggie Tillman of Alta Colina and a rather pregnant or the next, and so on. But then an email popped into my Riley Roddick of Hubba Wines; a French inbox in February, requesting my return squad fronted by Guillaume Fabre of Clos to this year’s blending battle. In fact, it’s Solene; and even a S.L.O. Coast rep in Firestone Walker’s 30th anniversary in Mikey Giungi from Scar of the Sea. 2026 — just a decade behind the Santa BarI was hitched up with competition N N A M KET T T bara Independent’s own 40th celebration — so veteran Mark Adams of Ledge VineT A BY M this year’s Anniversary Ale would be even yards (who recently, somewhat randomly, sent me more exalted than usual. an academic book called The Ethnology of Salinan IndiI could not turn this down and arrived right on time ans) and first-timers Brian and Stephy Terrizzi, owners of on February 18, joining the couple dozen wine pros in Giornata Wines and Etto Pastificio. That was fitting, as I’d just seen Brian at Etto Pasta Bar while eating lunch an hour ago, and recently wrote about their pasta in Goleta schools. We christened ourselves “The Noodlers” — for the pasta, obviously, but noodling also applies to writing (me) and music (Adams is a guitarist/singer/ sound engineer) — and went to work, sipping through the eight base ales provided and mixing them up carefully in the various measuring devices. The pouring-into-pipette part was easy enough, but the fractional math converting millimeters to barrels of beer was more complicated, thankfully handled primarily by the Terrizzis. Participants are deep in concentration at Firestone-Walker’s 30th Anniversary Ale blending session.

This column originally appeared in the February 26 edition of Matt Kettmann’s Full Belly Files newsletter. See independent.com/fbf.

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MARCH 12, 2026

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COURTESY

Urbane Café, the California-based sandwich and salad chain founded in Ventura in 2003, is expected to open at 7000 Hollister Avenue in Goleta, replacing Choppa Poke and joining other restaurant changes underway at Hollister Village Plaza.

Urbane Café Coming to Goleta

JAMAICAN RESTAURANT OPENS DOWNTOWN:

Reader TZSB let me know that delivery service Kool Runninz S.B. has a new, permanent home at 409 State Street and is now open seven days a week, 1-10 p.m. They serve authentic Jamaican cuisine, including jerk chicken with rice, beef patties (stuffed pastry), plantains, and more. Owner/Chef Christopher JohnRoss Sloley (a k a Jamaican Chris), offers dine-in, takeout, and delivery. To place a takeout or delivery order, call (805) 626-6444. No reservations are needed for dine-in. S.B. SUNSHINE CAFÉ ADDS DINNER: Santa Barbara Sunshine Café at 5711 Calle Real in Goleta, is now open for dinner

on Friday and Saturday nights, 4:30-8 p.m. They will continue serving breakfast and lunch daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The new dinner menu includes salads, steaks, pastas, and more. LA CANTINA CLOSES, WILL LAUNCH NEW CONCEPT: Reader Spank13 let me know that

La Cantina at 199 South Turnpike Road, Suite 105, which launched in September 2024 in the Turnpike Center, closed last weekend. “La Cantina has closed its doors permanently as of February 28,” says the restaurant. “Thank you to our patrons and the community for enjoying and supporting us! We have enjoyed serving you. Stay tuned for a new concept coming spring 2026!”

FOOD & DRINK

eader Eric M. let me know that Urbane Café is coming to 7000 Hollister Avenue in Goleta, the current home of Choppa Poke, which plans to close this summer. That means a complete overhaul is underway of the eastern section of Hollister Village Plaza. It was first reported here that, in the same building, Raising Cane’s will be replacing Kyle’s Kitchen (which is moving next to Target) and that El Pollo Loco is taking over Sleep Number. Urbane Café is a counter-service restaurant chain known for sandwiches and salads built on fire-baked focaccia bread. The brand was founded in Ventura in 2003 by Tom Holt after he set out to create “a different type of sandwich shop focused on freshly baked bread and simple ingredients.” According to the company, the concept centers on bread baked in a hearth oven and a menu built around house-roasted meats, sauces, and locally sourced ingredients when available. The chain now operates more than 30 locations across California and a few in Nevada. Menu items include sandwiches, salads, and grain bowls, including a carved steak sandwich and an ahi tuna bowl. Visit urbanecafe.com.

RINCON BREWERY IN FUNK ZONE CLOSES:

Reader Inri C. forwarded me an Instagram message from Rincon Brewery at 205 Santa Barbara Street: “Today is the last day at Rincon Brewery Santa Barbara in the Funk Zone. We’re open 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. If you’ve shared a pint, a laugh, or a sunny afternoon here with us in Santa Barbara, thank you. Today is all about gratitude for the memories we’ve made together. This isn’t goodbye—just a new chapter. Come see us soon at our other Rincon Brewery locations in Carpinteria and Ventura. Thanks for all the good times.” SOUTH COAST DELI COMING TO THE FUNK ZONE:

Reader Primetime spotted a South Coast Deli truck exhibiting signs that they are the next tenant at 205 Santa Barbara Street in the Funk Zone, where Rincon Brewery just departed. YONA REDZ UPDATE: For the last two weeks,

Yona Redz at 1230 State Street has been completely closed except for two and a half hours last Saturday. Now, their website is down and their phone is disconnected. Yelp and Google still list them as open for business as usual.

John Dickson’s reporting can be found every day online at SantaBarbara.com. Send tips to info@ SantaBarbara.com. INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH 12, 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

The Independent’s annual

SUMMER

camp Guide

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY by Rob Breszny WEEK OF MARCH 12

ARIES

(Mar. 21-Apr. 19): In theater, “breaking the fourth wall” means acknowledging the audience. An actor steps out of the pretense that what’s happening on stage is real. It’s a disruptive moment of truth that can deepen the experience. I would love you to break the fourth wall in your own life, Aries. It’s a favorable time to slip free of any roles you’ve been performing by rote and just blurt out the more interesting truths. Tell someone, “This isn’t working for me.” Or say, “I need to be my pure self with greater authenticity.” Breaking the fourth wall won’t ruin the show; it will be more fun and real and entertaining.

TAURUS

(Apr. 20-May 20): English speakers like me use the terms “destiny” and “fate” interchangeably. But a scholar of ancient Sumer claims they had different meanings in that culture. Nam, the word for “destiny,” was fixed and immutable. Namtar, meaning “fate,” could be manipulated, adjusted, and even cheated. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I believe you now have a golden chance to veer off a path that leads to an uninteresting or unproductive destiny and start gliding along a fateful detour.

GEMINI

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(May 21-June 20): The coming months will be a favorable time for you to shed the fairy-tale story of success that once inspired you when you were younger and more idealistic. A riper vision is emerging, calling you toward a more realistic and satisfying version of your life’s purpose. The transformation may at first feel unsettling, but I believe it will ultimately awaken even deeper zeal and greater creativity than your original dream. Bonus: Your revised, more mature goals will lead you to the very rewards your youthful hopes imagined but never quite delivered.

CANCER

(June 21-July 22): Even if you’re not actually far from home, Cancerian, I bet you’re on a pilgrimage or odyssey of some kind. The astrological omens tell me that you’re being drawn away from familiar ideas and feelings and are en route to an unknown country. You’re transforming, but you’re not sure how yet. During this phase of exploration, I suggest that you adopt a nickname that celebrates being on a quest. This will be a playful alias that helps you focus on the pregnant potential of this interlude. A few you might want to consider: Journey Seed, Threshold Traveler, Holy Rambler, Map-Edge Maverick, or Wanderlust Wonderer. Others? Choose one that tickles you with the sense that you are being born again while you travel.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): Love is more than a gentle glow in your heart or a pleasurable spark in your body. When fully awakened and activated, it becomes a revolutionary way of being in the world that invites you to challenge and rethink all you’ve been taught about reality. It’s a bold magic that alters everything it encounters. You can certainly choose a milder, tamer version of love if you wish. But if you’d like to evolve into a love maestro — as you very well could during the next 12 months — I suggest you give yourself to the deeper, wilder form. Do you dare?

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Octopuses have neuron clusters in their arms that enable them to “think with their limbs.” Let’s make them your spirit creature for now, Virgo. Your body’s intuitions are offering you guidance that might even be as helpful as your fine mind. This enhanced somatic brilliance can serve you in practical ways: a creative breakthrough while doing housework, a challenging transition handled with aplomb, a fresh alignment between your feelings and ideas. I hope you will listen to your body as if it were a beloved mentor. Trust your movements and physical sensations to reveal what you need to know.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I love your diplomatic genius: the capacity to understand all sides, to hold space for contradictions, to find the middle ground. But right now, it’s in danger of curdling into a kind of self-erasure where your own desires become the one thing you can’t quite locate. Another way to understand this: You are so skilled at seeing everyone’s perspective that you sometimes lose track of your own. Here’s the antidote I recommend: Practice the revolutionary act of having strong opinions, of preferring one thing over another without immediately undercutting your preference with a counter-argument. I guarantee that your relationships will survive your decisiveness. In fact, they will deepen as people locate the real you beneath your exquisite balance.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): New love cravings have been welling up inside you, Scorpio. These cries of the heart may confuse you even as they delight you and invigorate you. One of your main tasks is to listen closely to what they’re telling you, but to wait a while before expressing their messages to other people. You need to study them in detail before spilling them out. Another prime task is to feel patient awe and reverence for the immensity and intensity of these deep, wild desires.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you are fulfilling your birthright as a Sagittarius, you are a philosopher-adventurer with a yearning for deep meaning. As you seek out interesting truths, your restless curiosity is a spiritual necessity. You understand that wisdom comes from collecting diverse, sometimes contradictory experiences and weaving them into a coherent worldview. You have a fundamental need to keep expanding and reinventing what freedom means to you. All these qualities may make some people nervous, but they really are among your primary assignments now and forever. They are especially important to cultivate these days.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In traditional navigation, “dead reckoning” means finding your position by tracking your previous movements. Where you have been tells you where you are. But it only works if you’ve been honest about your course. If you’ve been misleading yourself about the direction you have been traveling, dead reckoning will get you lost. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because I really want you to rededicate yourself to telling yourself the deepest, strongest, clearest truths. Where have you actually been going? Not where you told yourself you were going or where other people imagined you were going, but where your choices have actually been taking you. Look at the pattern of your real movements, not your stated intentions. Once you know your true position, you can chart a true course for the future.

AQUARIUS

(Jan.20-Feb.18): You’re entering a rambling zigzag phase. Each plot twist will branch into two more, and every supposed finale will reveal itself as the opening act of another surprise. Fortunately, your gift for quick thinking and innovative adaptation is sharper than ever, which means you will flourish where others might freeze. My suggestion? Forget the script. Approach the unpredictable adventures like an improv exercise: spontaneous, playful, and open to the fertile mysteries.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-Mar. 20): Can you compel acts of grace to intervene in your destiny? Can bursts of divine favor be summoned through the power of your will? Some spiritual scholars say, “Absolutely not.” They claim life’s wild benevolence arrives only through the mysterious tides of fate—impossible to solicit and impossible to predict. But other observers, more open-minded, speculate that your intelligent goodness might indeed attract the vivid generosity of cosmic energies. I bring this up because I suspect you Pisceans are either receiving or will soon receive blessings that feel like divine favor. Did you earn them, or are you just lucky—or some of both? It doesn’t matter. Enjoy the gift.

Homework: Take yourself to the river when it’s time to go to the river. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700. 50

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MANAGEMENT

GENERAL MANAGER OPPORTUNITY The Santa Ynez Community Services District Board of Directors is seeking a creative and experienced leader for their new General Manager. This is an excellent opportunity to manage the wastewater services of a true community. The General Manager is the chief executive officer of the District under the direction of a five‑member Board of Directors. The General Manager is responsible for the overall management and administration of the District, its services and personnel. The salary range is $130,000 to $175,000 per year DOQ plus a competitive benefit package. For additional information, requirements, application, additional position information, and supplemental questionnaire go to www.sycsd.com. To be considered for this position, a complete application package must be received at the District by Monday March 23, 2026.

PROFESSIONAL

ASBESTOS & LEAD PROGRAM MANAGER

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES Serves as the campus expert for hazardous building materials and as the campus liaison with regulatory officials. Manages the campus Asbestos & Lead programs and determines strategies for achieving

campus objectives for compliance. Has the authority to perform inspections and surveys in campus buildings and project sites, and conduct air sampling and clearance inspections to document compliance with applicable California OSHA standards and University policy. Prepares abatement specifications for Capital Improvement Projects and verifies contractor work practices to ensure the work is performed in compliance with codes and regulations governing asbestos and lead abatement work. Resolves conflicts and responds to concerns regarding asbestos abatement work independent of design professionals or other project consultants. Acts as the University representative responsible for all aspects of the administration and oversight of Capital Improvement Projects, and of deferred maintenance and major infrastructure upgrade projects. Projects range widely in size, complexity, scope and contract value. Has the authority to independently interpret contracts, negotiate changes in the Work, hire and manage professional consultants, oversee development of plans and specifications, create budgets and manage expenses, direct the work of project support staff, serve as liaison with all campus departments, and obtain project approvals and permits. These activities are executed within the framework of university policy and pertinent local, state and federal laws and codes. Responsible for all aspects of the programming, design, bid and construction process and must possess advanced project management skills to effectively manage complex projects with critical timelines. Execution of assigned duties requires frequent problem solving and a high degree of autonomy in decision making while also working collaboratively with clients, consultants, contractors and other campus departments. Reqs: Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management or related field. 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in the area of program management of capital improvement projects involving asbestos and lead abatement. Notes: Required to hold a valid driver’s license, have a driving record that is in accordance with local policies and procedures, and/or enroll in the California Employer Pull Notice Program. Must be physically able to wear a self‑contained breathing apparatus. Satisfactory criminal history background check. Hiring/ Budgeted Salary Range: $140,000 to $150,000/year. Full Salary Range: $97,200 to $182,100/year. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https:// jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84305

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, BUSINESS & FINANCIAL PLANNING

HOUSING, DINING, & AUXILIARY ENTERPRISES Leads the team of financial support functions for key service departments within Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises (HDAE). Acts as the principal financial services officer for HDAE, providing both routine accounting services, ad hoc cost/ benefit and feasibility analysis. Utilizing wide‑ranging experience, uses professional concepts and organizational objectives to resolve complex issues with organization‑wide impact in creative and effective ways. Works on complex issues with little or no precedent where analysis of situations or data requires an in‑depth evaluation of variable factors. Exercises judgement in selecting methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. Is considered a subject matter expert. Oversees HDAE Vault Operations and the campus Access Card program. Directly supervises three career staff, indirectly supervises two career staff and approximately 10 student workers. Distributes and develops work assignments and makes recommendations on personnel related actions. Ensures accountability and provides direction according to policy and departmental goals and objectives. Leads, directs, initiates, designs, and provides analytical studies, summary reports, and background materials to department executives and managers on proposed organization or university policies. Responsible for providing budget management and analytical support for highly complex budget, financial, and resource projects dealing directly with department managers and/or outside constituents for HDAE management of HDAE MOU’s and assessments with various campus departments. Reqs: Bachelor’s Degree in related area and /or equivalent experience / training. 4‑6 years of extensive experience with financial policies, practices and systems, budgeting and reporting techniques, accounting and bookkeeping. 1‑3 years of supervisory/leadership experience. Extensive knowledge of finance policies, practices and systems, budgeting and reporting techniques, accounting and bookkeeping. Solid understanding of financial and resource planning concepts as well as how to control organizational budgeting.Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing. Ability to act as a strategic business leader for Department managers and stakeholders. Ability to prepare and present materials to internal and external constituents. Advanced skills in the use of spreadsheet and database software. Thorough knowledge and understanding of internal control practices and their impact on protecting resources. Leadership skills to provide guidance, coaching and mentoring to professional and support staff. Notes: Satisfactory criminal history background check.Budgeted Pay Rate/Range: $97,200 ‑ $139,600/

year. Full Pay Rate/Range: $97,200 to $182,000/year. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84718

COOK

CAMPUS DINING The Cook performs culinary duties such as preparing soups and casseroles, grilling, roasting or barbecuing foods, working a sauté station, and preparing and assembling made‑to‑order entrees serving up to 1,500 meals per shift. Ensures that assigned responsibilities are accomplished and that high standards of food quality, service, sanitation and safety are met at all times. Assists with student training, food production and sanitation. Reqs: High School Diplomma or equivalent combination of education and experience. Work Experience 1‑3 years culinary experience in a high‑volume culinary environment, or 1‑3 years knowledge of and experience with culinary techniques, including but not inclusive of sauteing, grilling, frying, steaming, preparing sauces and stocks, Or equivalent combination of education and experience. Notes: Satisfactory criminal history background check. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. UCSB is a Tobacco‑Free environment. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds and work standing for up to 8 hours per day. Work hours/days may vary. Hiring/Budgeted Range: $25.00/hr. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84818

skills. Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word and Google Suite. Strong attention to detail & accuracy with financial data. Experience analyzing & researching products, vendors, parts or equipment relating to facilities maintenance environment. Ability to work independently & as a team member with sensitivity towards a multicultural work environment. Ability to manage multiple tasks & meet deadlines. Notes: Required to hold a valid CA driver’s license, have a driving record that is in accordance with local policies and procedures, and/or enroll in the California Employer Pull Notice Program. Satisfactory criminal history background check. Hiring/ Budgeted Salary Range: $29.35 to $36.83/hr. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84538

PARKING SYSTEM ANALYST

PARKING OFFICE Responsible for the configuration of all departmental software systems and maintains on‑street and off‑street parking equipment, applying established policies and technical expertise. Plans and implements hardware and software upgrades for parking pay stations, ensures payment card security standards, and works with vendors on warranties, parts, and system performance. Supports security access and key

control systems, collaborates with internal partners and external vendors, maintains inventory and equipment security, and diagnoses and resolves automated parking system issues in accordance with best practices. Reqs: 4‑6 years Hardware and software systems experience. Notes: Required to hold a valid driver’s license, have a driving record that is in accordance with local policies and procedures, and/ or enroll in the California Employer Pull Notice Program. Satisfactory criminal history background check. Hiring/Budgeted Hourly Range: $30.98 to $41.18/hour. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84035

RECEIVABLES OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR

efficient service delivery. Reqs: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience. 1‑3 years Experience in accounts receivable, billing operations, or financial services. 1‑3 years Supervisory or lead experience. 1‑3 years Knowledge of internal control practices and financial compliance requirements. 1‑3 years Strong analytical, organizational, and customer service skills. Notes: Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employee sponsorship. Satisfactory criminal history background check. Budgeted Salary or Hourly Range: $71,600 to $80,000/ yr. Full Salary Range: $71,600 to $127,400/yr. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu, Job # 84792

BUSINESS & FINANCIAL SERVICES

SR. BAKER

Provides direct supervision and operational oversight for student and non‑student (sundry) billing and receivables functions within Business & Financial Services. The position ensures accurate and timely billing, receivable processing, collections support, and customer service in Oracle Financials Cloud. The Supervisor monitors compliance with university policy, internal control standards, and regulatory requirements while safeguarding campus revenue and supporting

Continued on p. 52

CAMPUS DINING Responsible for the daily Production of all bakery items that are delivered to various Retail units for customer sale. Trains and supervises all bakery staff and must be knowledgeable in all areas of bakery production. Ensures that high standards of food quality, service, sanitation and safety are met according to Dining Services. Reqs: High School Diploma or equivalent combination of education and experience. Three years of

FINANCIAL COORDINATOR

RESIDENTIAL OPERATIONS Provides financial analysis and administrative support for Distribution & Logistical Services. Analyzes issues in relation to UCSB policy, regulations, initiatives, and assists Distribution & Logistical Services Management in determining procedures, methods, and implementation of policy applications that best serve the overall goals of the Furniture’s Services department. Assists with Furniture and Mail Services monthly recharges, file retention, and financial reconciliations. Reqs: At least 3 years of customer service experience. 1‑3 years experience in AP, AR, billing and collections, or equivalent combination of education, training and experience. Excellent written and verbal communication

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EMPLOYMENT (CONT.) LEGALS progressively more responsible baking experience in a high‑volume cooking environment. Knowledge and experience with basic and advanced cooking /baking techniques. Supervisory skills and leadership to coordinate, train, oversee and review the work of others in English. Ability to read and write English for the purpose of preparing food from recipe guidelines and producing reports. Ability to perform basic mathematical calculations. Knowledge of food safety and sanitation regulations to ensure proper food handling. Or Equivalent combination of education and experience. Notes: Satisfactory criminal history background check. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds. Ability to stand for up to 8 hours per day. Hiring/Budgeted Hourly Range: $25/hr ‑$26.27/hr. Posting Hourly Range: $25/hr ‑ $27.31/hr The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https:// jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84753

SR. CUSTODIAN

RESIDENTIAL OPERATIONS Performs duties in accordance with established standards and instruction, for University owned Residence Halls, Apartments and Dining Facilities. The Sr. Custodian promotes a customer service environment to residents and clients. Assists with the development and maintenance of a work environment which is conducive to meeting the mission of the organization and supports the EEP. Responsible for completing job duties that demonstrate support for the Operations Team. Initiates communication directly with co‑workers and or supervisor to improve and clarify working relationships, identifying problems and concerns, and seeking resolution to work‑related conflicts. Reqs: Working knowledge and experience utilizing the following equipment: vacuums, conventional and high‑speed buffers, extractors, and related custodial equipment desired. Will train on all equipment and chemicals used. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with others as a team. Must have effective communication skills. Ability to interact as a team member with sensitivity towards a multi‑cultural work environment. Notes: May be required to work other schedules other than assigned to meet the operational needs of the department. Required to hold a valid driver’s license, have a driving record that is in accordance with local policies and procedures, and/or enroll in the California Employer Pull Notice Program. Satisfactory criminal history background check. Pay Rate/Range: $25.74/hr. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Open until filled. Apply online at https://jobs.ucsb.edu Job #84486

ADMINISTER OF ESTATE

STUDY ABROAD ADVISOR

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION ABROAD PROGRAM This position with UCEAP, a University of California (UC) systemwide, international academic program, completes assignments applying acquired job skills, policies, and procedures to complete assignments, projects, and tasks of moderate scope and complexity; exercises judgment within defined guidelines and practices to determine appropriate action, with guidance from Program Specialists. Coordinates and provides advising and administrative support in operational aspects of the work performed by the UC study abroad program team. Applies professional student services concepts in providing a variety of student services to the student population served by the organization, and to faculty and management within that organization. Communicates program information to students throughout the application and pre‑departure process; communications with students usually take place remotely (online and phone) rather than in person. Monitors and adheres to the workflow calendars to meet program‑specific tasks and project deadlines. Provides backup support for the Program staff (Student Services Advisors 3 and 4) as requested. Plans and executes a range of administrative projects and procedures for the Global Program Team. As an integral member of the Global Programs Team, the Study Abroad Advisor understands and applies broad administrative rules, policies, and procedures; consults with experienced level staff and receives direction for more complex assignments, projects, tasks, and policy interpretations. Reqs: Requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Candidates should have at least 1 to 3 years of administrative support experience, experience working with an information database such as a student or customer information system, and customer service experience with knowledge of advising techniques. The position also requires knowledge of university processes, procedures, rules, and regulations, or experience in a similar complex higher education setting. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational and project management skills, close attention to detail, and effective written and verbal communication skills. They should demonstrate service orientation, active listening, critical thinking, and the ability to work effectively with diverse populations. The role also requires the ability to work independently and collaboratively, manage tight deadlines, prioritize assignments, and use computer programs proficiently, including advanced skills in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with the ability to quickly learn new software. Notes: Satisfactory criminal history background check. UCEAP is located off campus (near UCSB). This position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement within California, with a minimum of two days per week in the office. On‑site presence will be required more frequently for periods of visa processing (typically April‑May and October‑November), and will also be required for leadership and staff meetings, delegation visits, training sessions, etc. The selected candidate must reside in California or be willing to relocate. The University will not pay for or reimburse expenses prohibited by University policy, including travel expenses associated with commuting to the designated office. Approximately two annual trips, 1‑4 days for Study Abroad fair travel (fall and/or spring) to UC campuses. Budgeted Salary or Hourly Range: $25.77 to $29.00/hour. Full Salary Range: $25.77 to $43.58/ hr. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Open until filled. Apply online at https:// jobs.ucsb.edu, Job # 84808

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MARCH 12, 2026

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DONNA LENORE MATTHEWS aka DONNA L. MATTHEWS aka DONNA MATTHEWS Case No. 26PR00026 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of DONNA LENORE MATTHEWS aka DONNA L. MATTHEWS aka DONNA MATTHEWS A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Shanna Rae Benskin in the Superior Court of California, County of SANTA BARBARA. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Shanna Rae Benskin be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent's will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held on April 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM in Dept. No. SB5 located at 1100 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: TROY WERNER ESQ SBN 265907 GRACE LIM‑AYRES ESQ

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SBN 321004 THE WERNER LAW FIRM 27433 TOURNEY RD STE 200 SANTA CLARITA CA 91355 CN124574 MATTHEWS Feb 26, Mar 5,12, 2026 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: PATRICK R. LEWIS also known as PATRICK ROLAND LEWIS No.: 26PR00068 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: PATRICK R. LEWIS also known as Patrick Roland Lewis A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: JANE LEWIS in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): JANE LEWIS be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/16/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: SB 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA DIVISION IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/13/2026 by Nicolette Barnard, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Dana F. Longo of Fauver Large Archbald & Spray LLP; 820 State Street, 4th Floor Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805‑966‑7000 Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: RICHARD ALLAN YEE No.: 25PR00626 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: RICHARD ALLAN YEE A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: KATHERINE MARGARET YEE (for competing petition) in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): KATHERINE MARGARET YEE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will

be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 3/12/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Anacapa Division. IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/18/2026 by Nicolette Barnard, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Peggy Chen‑Rader; 25 East Anapamu Street, Second Floor Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805‑708‑3307 Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JOHN CHARLES KELLY, SR. CASE No.: 26PR00060 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: JOHN CHARLES KELLY, SR., also known as JOHN C. KELLY A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: DIXIE DAVIS KELLY in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): DIXIE DAVIS KELLY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 4/09/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: SB 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA DIVISION. IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of

estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/20/2026 by Monica Buenrostro, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Peter A. Muzinich, Esq.; 1912 De La Vina Street, Suite 1, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805‑963‑6185 Published: Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: SHULAMME LEWIS (aka SHULAMME TISHRI LEWIS, SHULAMME TISHRI BROWN, and SHULAMME TISHRI ADCOCK) No.: 26PR00086 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: SHULAMME LEWIS (aka SHULAMME TISHRI LEWIS, SHULAMME TISHRI BROWN, and SHULAMME TISHRI ADCOCK) A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: JANE LEWIS in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): JANE LEWIS be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/23/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: SB 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA DIVISION IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/17/2026 by Monica Buenrostro, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Dana F. Longo; 820 State Street, 4th Floor Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805‑966‑7000 Published: Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: VICTOR PLANA, Deceased No.: 26PR00067 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: VICTOR PLANA, Deceased A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: JENNIFER PLANA in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): JENNIFER PLANA be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions,

however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/16/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street PO Box 21107 Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA DIVISION. IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/18/2026 by Monica Buenrostro, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Lori A. Lewis, Esq.; Mullen & Henzell, L.L.P.; 112 E. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805‑966‑1501 Published: Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: CLIFFORD MICHAEL GANSCHOW CASE No.: 25PR00257 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: CLIFFORD MICHAEL GANSCHOW A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: HOGAN GANSCHOW in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): HOGAN GANSCHOW be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 4/30/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: SB 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. PROBATE. IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a

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LEGALS (CONT.) Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 2/27/2026 by Monica Buenrostro, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: R. Sam Price; 454 Cajon Street, Redlands, CA 92373; 909‑328‑7000 Published: Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JASON DEREK LEGGITT No.: 25PR00161 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: JASON DEREK LEGGITT A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: DANA WALTERS in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): KEVIN LEGGITT be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/23/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: SB 5 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA‑PROBATE IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided

in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 03/03/2026 by Nicolette Barnard, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Andrew M. Haskett; 1465 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110; 858‑333‑0226 Published: Mar 12, 19, 26 2026. NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: GERALDINE W. CRAMBLIT No.: 25PR00609 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of: GERALDINE W. CRAMBLIT A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by: RICHARD P. MAGNUSON in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. THE PETITION requests that (name): RICHARD P. MAGNUSON be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The Independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/02/2026 AT 9:00 a.m. Dept: Five SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, located at 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. ANACAPA IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as

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BULK SALE NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF BULK SALE (UCC Sec. 6105) Escrow No. 10797‑AK NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a bulk sale is about to be made. The name(s), business address(es) to the Seller(s) are: BANKE BIHARI LLC, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, 109 S. FAIRVIEW AVE., SUITE E, GOLETA, CA 93117 Doing Business as: LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA RESTAURANT#3400‑0002 All other business name(s) and address(es) used by the Seller(s) within three years, as stated by the Seller(s), is/are: LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA RESTAURANT#3400‑0001: 1048 CASITAS PASS RD., CARPINTERIA, CA 93013 The name(s) and business address of the Buyer(s) is/are: AFP FOODS INC, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, 109 S. FAIRVIEW AVE., SUITE E, GOLETA, CA 93117 The assets to be sold are described in general as: FURNITURE, FIXTURES AND EQUIPMENT, GOODWILL, COVENANT NOT TO COMPETE, LEASE, AND LEASEHOLD IMPROVEMENT and are located at: 109 S. FAIRVIEW AVE., SUITE E, GOLETA, CA 93117 The bulk sale is intended to be consummated at the office of: DETAIL ESCROW, INC, 13737 ARTESIA BLVD. #206 CERRITOS, CA 90703 and the anticipated sale date is APRIL 1, 2026 The bulk sale is subject to California Uniform Commercial Code Section 6106.2. [If the sale is subject to Sec. 6106.2, the following information must be provided.] The name and address of the person with whom claims may be filed is: DETAIL ESCROW, INC, 13737

ARTESIA BLVD #206 , CERRITOS, CA 90703 and the last date for filing claims shall be MARCH 30, 2026 , which is the business day before the sale date specified above. Dated: MARCH 3, 2026 BUYER: AFP FOODS INC, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION ORD‑5089905 SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT 3/12/26

FBN ABANDONMENT STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME The following Fictitious Business Name is being abandoned: BROWNIE & ASSOC. INC.: 385 Greendale Court Santa Barbara, CA 93110 The original statement for use of this Fictitious Business Name was filed 5/21/2024 in the County of Santa Barbara. Original File no. FBN 2024‑0001242. The persons or entities abandoning use of this name are as follows: Brownie & Assoc. Inc. (same address) The business was conducted by an A Corporation. Registrant commenced to tranact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Aug 19, 2019 Signed by: LINDA M. BROWN/PRESIDENT Filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 2/13/26, FBN 2026‑0000422 E66. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in the Office of the County Clerk, Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: LEVELEX: In Calle Cesar Chavez 11 Santa Barbara, CA 93103; PM & RC Builders, Inc Santa Barbara, CA 93121 This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on May 16, 2014. Filed by: ANDI LESEC/ CONTROLLER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 08, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000254. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: SERVICEMASTER ANYTIME: In Calle Cesar Chavez 11 Santa

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defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE‑154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special notice form is available from the court clerk. Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 12/03/2025 by Monica Buenrostro, Deputy. Attorney for Petitioner: Mary Jane Miller; Miller & Berryhill LLP Post Office Box 5691, Santa Barbara, CA 93150; 805‑969‑4451 Published: Mar 12, 19, 26 2026.

MARCH 12, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: TRADITIONAL ROOFING: 510 Castillo St. Suite 310 Santa Barbara, CA 93101; GSB Roofing, LLC PO Box 21543 Santa Barbara, CA 93121 This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 27, 2026. Filed by: ANDI LESEC/ CONTROLLER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 08, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000295. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES: 132 Garden Street, Suite 13 Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Jon F Bryan (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 22, 2026. Filed by: JON F BRYAN/ CONTRACTOR with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 29, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000262. Published: Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: THE CHANTICLAIR: 113 West De La Guerra Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Fuyu Group, LLC 115 West De La Guerra Santa Barbara, CA 93101 This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 23, 2026. Filed by: JOHN DEWILDE/GENERAL

PARTNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 23, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E28. FBN Number: 2026‑0000177. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: NERI HARDWOOD FLOORS: 1409 W College Ave Lompoc, CA 93436; Neri Hardwood Floor Inc. (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 27, 2026. Filed by: BEATRIZ NERI‑MORA/SECRETARY with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 12, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E63. FBN Number: 2026‑0000408. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ASTROLUXE AUTO SALES: 322 N H St. D Lompoc, CA 93436; Summer Business & Co., LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 06, 2026. Filed by: ILLIAMS VALENTIN LETELIER MORALES/ MEMBER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 09, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E30. FBN Number: 2026‑0000068. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUNSET KIDD, SUNSET KIDDS SANTA BARBARA YACHT SALES, SANTA BARBARA YACHT SALES: 125 Harbor Way, 13 Santa Barbara, CA 93109; Dennis G Longberger (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jun 01, 1986. Filed by: DENNIS LONGABERGER/ OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 23, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E28. FBN Number: 2026‑0000179. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026.

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Barbara, CA 93103; SMANYTIME, INC. Po Box 787 Santa Barbara, CA 93102 This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jul 16, 2009. Filed by: ANDI LESEC/CONTROLLER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 30, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000297. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ELITE MAINTENANCE AND TREE SERVICE: 2972 Larkin Ave Clovis, CA 93612; Emts Inc. (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. Filed by: DERIK JAKUSZ/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 04, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000339. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: E3 ELECTRIC: 133 E. De La Guerra Street, #75 Santa Barbara, CA 93101; E3 Electric (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. Filed by: ERIC ESTRADA/PRESIDENT with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 06, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000383. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: SANTA BARBARA SPA INC.: 4 W. Calle Laureles Santa Barbara, CA 93105; Santa Barbara Spa Inc. 4589 Camino Molinero Santa Barbara, CA 93110 This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 11, 2016. Filed by: ROBERT ROWE/ CO‑OWNER/CFO with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 11, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000393. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EOS CATERING: 500 Anacapa St Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Heng Low, Inc (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 06, 2026. Filed by: SPENCER HUNT/PRESIDENT with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 12, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E30. FBN Number: 2026‑0000072. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: KATIE’S SWEET CLOUD: 811 Camino Viejo Road Santa Barbara, CA 93108; The Qing Kasch (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2026. Filed by: QING KASCH with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 16, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E49. FBN Number: 2026‑0000120. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAPID RESET CLEANING SOLUTIONS: 185 Foxenwood Dr Santa Maria, CA 93455; The Rodriguez Group LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 04, 2026. Filed by: GILBERT RODRIGUEZ/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 04, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E35. FBN Number: 2026‑0000344. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: CHAN PLANNING & DESIGN STUDIO: 47 Ocean View Ave., #11 Santa Barbara, CA 93103; Crystal E Chan

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E M A I L A D V E R T I S I N G @ I N D E P E N D E N T. CO M

LEGALS (CONT.) PO Box 40123 Santa Barbara, CA 93140 This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 06, 2026. Filed by: CRYSTAL E. CHAN with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 11, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E66. FBN Number: 2026‑0000404. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LITTLE EVENTS SB: 90 2nd Street, Unit 101 Buellton, CA 93427; Darshana L. Dimmitt (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 01, 2026. Filed by: DARSHANA DIMMITT/ OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 02, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000332. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: GRAY CAT FRAME SHOP: 2 W Mission St Santa Barbara, CA 93105; Kenneth B Knox (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Mar 01, 2021. Filed by: KENNETH KNOX/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E63. FBN Number: 2026‑0000418. Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN2026‑0000338 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: THE HOLISTIC SKIN SPECIALIST, 1324 STATE STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101 County of SANTA BARBARA EAST BEACH PRODUTIONS, 810 BOND AVE D, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103 CA This business is conducted by a Corporation The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Not Applicable. s/ Christine Duell, President This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 02/04/2026. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19/26 CNS‑4012970# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WEAVING RAINBOWS: 3033 Calle Noguera Santa Barbara, CA 93105; Charlotte M Peake (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 26, 2026. Filed by: CHARLOTTE PEAKE with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 29, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000276. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LIFESTYLE SYV: 243 Glennora Way Buellton, CA 93427; Michelle Tellez (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 17, 2026. Filed by: MICHELLE TELLEZ/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 19, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E81. FBN Number: 2026‑0000460. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/

are doing business as: SB DOG JOG: 724 Miramonte Dr, Santa Barbara CA 93109; Santa Barbara Dog Jog, LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2026. Filed by: GREGORY GOLF/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 23, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000475. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HANK NEDLY MUSIC: 631 W. Ortega St, Apt A Santa Barbara CA 93101; Alec H Ropes (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 12, 2026. Filed by: ALEC ROPES/FOUNDER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 12, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E66. FBN Number: 2026‑0000410. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CARO WINES: 2121 Alisos Road Santa Ynez CA 93460; Caroline L Sommers 2907 State Street Apt M Santa Barbara, CA 93105 This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 16, 2026. Filed by: CAROLINE SOMMERS/OWNER/WINEMAKER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 17, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000440. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIP TRIP: 334 Fuente Dr. Santa Barbara, CA 93434; Josh A Quintero (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Sep 11, 2025. Filed by: JOSH QUINTERO/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 18, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E35. FBN Number: 2026‑0000443. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN 2026‑0000078 The following person(s) is doing business as: HUGO’S RESTAURANT, 1049 CASITAS PASS RD CARPINTERIA, CA 93013 County of SANTA BARBARA JADIAH PARTNERS INC 27015 PEBBLE BEACH RD UNIT 8 VALENCIA, CA 91381 State of Incorporation: CA This business is conducted by a Corporation The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A /s/ JOON CHANG, CEO This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 01/13/2026 Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19/26 CNS‑4013786# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: BALANCED PLATE NUTRITION, LLC: 4975 Yaple Avenue Santa Barbara, CA 93111; Balanced Plate Nutrition (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 05, 2026. Filed by: EMILY SCOTT/MANAGER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 17, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000436. Published: Feb

26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOCAL CONSTRUCTION: 2550 Azurite Circle Newbury Park, CA 91320; Local Roofs, LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. Filed by: GARY SOLTANI/CFO with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E18. FBN Number: 2026‑0000421. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FBN2026‑0000247 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: Fictitious Business Name: LONGHORN VINEYARDS Street Address of Principal Place of Business: 2560 Pommel Drive Solvang CA 93463 County of Principal Place of Business: Santa Barbara County Name of Corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc. / Org. / Reg.: THE RANCH AT CANYON RIDGE, LLC, State of Inc./Org/Reg. CALIFORNIA Business Mailing Address: 910 Canyon Ridge Road Solvang CA 91463 This business is/was conducted by: a limited liability company. Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. BY SIGNING, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Signature: BERNADETTE HINDMAN Printed Name of Person Signing: BERNADETTE HINDMAN Printed Title of Person Signing: Member Filed in County Clerk's Office, County of Santa Barbara on January 28, 2026. NOTICE ‑ In accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Except, as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to Section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or Common Law. (See Section 14411 et seq., business and professions code). Business Owner is responsible to determine if publication is required. (BPC 17917). Filing is a public record (GC 6250‑6277). JOSEPH E. HOLLAND, County Clerk ‑ Recorder Filing CN124430 19283‑1 Feb 26, Mar 5,12,19, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MONTECITO CHIMNEY SERVICE, MONTECITO CHIMNEY SWEEP: 2131 Gillespie Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Scott Cummings (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2018. Filed by: SCOTT CUMMINGS/ BUSINESS OWNER with the County Clerk

of Santa Barbara County on Feb 12, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E63. FBN Number: 2026‑0000409. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: GALLAGHER’S HOME MAINTENANCE: 325 Linda Rd. Santa Barbara, CA 93109; Marc A Gallagher (same address) Kristin A Arellano (same address) This business is conducted by A Married Couple Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 03, 2026. Filed by: MARC GALLAGHER/ OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 17, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000346. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: ETHICARE HOME HEALTH LLC: 4583 Camino Del Mirasol Santa Barbara, CA 93110; Ethicare Home Health LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 11, 2026. Filed by: MARCELLA R. MILLER/ MANAGING MEMBER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 17, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000439. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN2026‑0000340 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: VOCALSHOP, 777 GLEN ANNIE RD, GOLETA, CA 93117 County of SANTA BARBARA VOCALMIST LLC, 777 GLEN ANNIE RD, GOLETA, CA 93117 CA This business is conducted by a limited liability company The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 12/01/2025. s/Aaron Schumacher, Managing Member This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 02/04/2026. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19/26 CNS‑4012969# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: HONEST HOME SERVICES: 705 E Mission St Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Janina O Guerra (same address) Janina A Sanchez (same address) This business is conducted by A Married Couple Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 16, 2025. Filed by: JANINA GUERRA/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 27, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000418. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN2026‑0000389 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY, 221 EAST HIGHWAY 246, UNIT 103, BUELLTON, CALIFO 93427 County of SANTA BARBARA TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY WEST, LLC, 5401 VIRGINIA WAY, BRENTWOOD, TN 37027 This business is conducted by a limited liability company The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. S/ KURT BARTON, CEO This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 02/10/2026. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk

2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19/26 CNS‑4013585# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEIGHBOR NEIGHBOR: 885 Toro Canyon Road CA 93108; Taiana M Giefer (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 17, 2026. Filed by: TAIANA GIEFER/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 17, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000429. Published: Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUGARLAND, SUGARLAND CANDY: 444 Alisal Road Solvang CA 93463; Sugarland Candy 1231 N Refugio Rd Santa Ynez, CA 93460 This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 23, 2026. Filed by: JENNIFER HURNBLAD/CEO with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 23, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000469. Published: Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ADVANCED PARAMEDICAL AESTHETICS: 5370 Hollister Ave, K Santa Barbara, CA 93111; Elvira Rozhko PO Box 367 Goleta, CA 93116 This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Mar 25, 2025. Filed by: ELVIRA ROZHKO/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 27, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN

Number: 2026‑0000502. Published: Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KALYPSO: 2670 Montrose Pl Santa Barbara, CA 93105; Kelsey K Bushman (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 23, 2026. Filed by: KELSEY BUSHMAN/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 06, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000551. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN2026‑0000492 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: LA AZTECA BAKERY ‑ SANTA MARIA, 722 EAST MAIN ST #111, SANTA MARIA, CA 93454 County of SANTA BARBARA CULIACAN'S INC., 722 EAST MAIN ST #111, SANTA MARIA, CA 93454 State of Incorporation: CA This business is conducted by a Corporation The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 02/12/2026. S/ HECTOR ACOSTA, CEO This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 02/25/2026. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/2/26 CNS‑4017755# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN2026‑0000444 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: NEW LIGHT VINTAGE, 614 W. ISLAY STREET. UNIT B, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101 County of

SANTA BARBARA MAJIME PRODUCTIONS LLC, 614 W. ISLAY STREET. UNIT B, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101, CALIFORNIA This business is conducted by a limited liability company The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. /S/ AMY URATSU, MANAGING MEMBER This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 02/18/2026. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/2/26 CNS‑4017709# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: SKUNK BEAR LASERWORKS & SIGNS, SKUNK BEAR TACTICAL: 900 McMurray Rd, Ste 2 Buellton, CA 93427; SKUNK BEAR ARMS LLC 5142 Hollister Ave #534 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 30, 2020. Filed by: PASI PUENTES/MANAGING DIRECTOR with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 03, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E73. FBN Number: 2026‑0000517. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALICLAY, CALICLAY BASALT SURFACES: 336 Sheffield Drive Santa Barbara, CA 93108; Novacourt Usa LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2016. Filed by: STEPHEN BRILLHART/ MANAGING PARTNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 02, 2026. This statement expires five years

Ordinance No. 5282 An Ordinance Amending the Santa Barbara County Code Chapter 22, Section 22-8, Adding A New Section, Section 30-31.5, to Chapter 30, and Adding a New Chapter, Chapter 52, to the Santa Barbara County Code to Implement Regulations Regarding Sidewalk Vending Countywide. Passed, approved and adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara, State of California, on this 3rd day of March 2026, by the following vote: Ayes:

Supervisors Lee, Capps, Hartmann, Nelson and Lavagnino

Noes:

None

Absent:

None

Abstain:

None

MONA MIYASATO CLERK OF THE BOARD By: Sheila de la Guerra – Deputy Clerk NOTE: A complete copy of Ordinance Nos. 5282 is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and is available for public inspection and copying in that office in accordance with the California Public Records Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1. Ordinance No. 5283 An Ordinance Amending Chapter 17, Solid Waste Services, of the Santa Barbara County Code. Passed, approved and adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara, State of California, on this 3rd day of March 2026, by the following vote: Ayes:

Supervisors Lee, Capps, Hartmann, Nelson and Lavagnino

Noes:

None

Absent:

None

Abstain:

None

MONA MIYASATO CLERK OF THE BOARD By: Sheila de la Guerra – Deputy Clerk NOTE: A complete copy of Ordinance No. 5283 is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and is available for public inspection and copying in that office in accordance with the California Public Records Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1. INDEPENDENT.COM INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH MARCH 12, 12, 2026 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

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LEGALS (CONT.) from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E49. FBN Number: 2026‑0000515. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PRECISION WELDING: 5790 Thornwood Drive, Suite B Goleta, CA 93117; Santa Barbara Structural Steel Inc. (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Sep 19, 2025. Filed by: TAYLOR GILKESON/ PRESIDENT/OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb

12, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E66. FBN Number: 2026‑0000411. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE WILLOWS MHC, THE WILLOWS MHP, THE WILLOWS, THE WILLOWS MOBILE HOME PARK, THE WILLOWS MANUFACTURED HOME COMMUNITY, THE WILLOWS MOBILE HOME COMMUNITY, HOMETOWN THE WILLOWS: 1317 N. V Street Lompoc, CA 93436; The Willows MHC, LLC. 110 N. Wacker Drive Suite 4500 Chicago, IL 60606

This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 09, 2026. Filed by: GREGORY R. LYNCH/SECRETARY with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 09, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000507. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EXTERTWITNESSPA: 5662 Calle Real, #120 Goleta, CA 93117;

NOTICE INVITING BIDS Santa Barbara Unified School District 720 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Request for Bid FS-2627-04 Food Service Produce Notice is hereby given by the Santa Barbara Unified School District acting by and through its Board of Education, hereinafter referred to as the “District”, will receive sealed bids up to but not later than 2:00pm PT, April 9, 2026 for: FS-2627-04 Food Service Produce. This solicitation is conducted in support of the District’s federally approved child nutrition program. Sealed bid responses should be submitted to the District’s Food Services office to the attention of Laszlo Horvath, Purchasing Tech located at Santa Barbara Unified School District, Food Services Department, 720 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 with the corresponding bid response CLEARLY LABELED on the outside of the bid response and will be opened at or after the time and date set for the bid opening. Bids will be opened at the bid submission deadline of 2:00pm PT, April 9, 2026, at this location, and results will be posted on the District website. Bid documents are available from the Food Services Department or by contacting Laszlo Horvath at lhorvath@sbunified.org or at 805-963-4338 x6365 All bids shall be submitted on the forms provided in the bid document and must conform to all bid instructions and any addenda issued. No Bidder may withdraw their bid for a period of sixty (60) days after the date set for the bid opening. The District reserves the right to reject any, all, or any part of the proposal. The District may waive any irregularities or informalities, or may sit and act as sole judge of the merit and qualifications of the products and services offered in any proposal, or in the bidding process, based on the criteria set forth in Section 15, Award of Bid and Formation of Contract. By order of the BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. By: Laszlo Horvath Purchasing Tech Published: March 12 and March 19, 2026

NOTICE INVITING BIDS Santa Barbara Unified School District 720 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Request for Bid FS-2627-03 Food Service Dairy and Milk Products Notice is hereby given by the Santa Barbara Unified School District acting by and through its Board of Education, hereinafter referred to as the “District”, will receive sealed bids up to but not later than 2:00pm PT, April 9, 2026 for: FS2627-03 Food Service Dairy and Milk Products. This solicitation is conducted in support of the District’s federally approved child nutrition program. Sealed bid responses should be submitted to the District’s Food Services office to the attention of Laszlo Horvath, Purchasing Tech located at Santa Barbara Unified School District, Food Services Department, 720 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 with the corresponding bid response CLEARLY LABELED on the outside of the bid response and will be opened at or after the time and date set for the bid opening. Bids will be opened at the bid submission deadline of 2:00pm PT, April 9, 2026, at this location, and results will be posted on the District website. Bid documents are available from the Food Services Department or by contacting Laszlo Horvath at lhorvath@sbunified.org or at 805-963-4338 x6365 All bids shall be submitted on the forms provided in the bid document and must conform to all bid instructions and any addenda issued. No Bidder may withdraw their bid for a period of sixty (60) days after the date set for the bid opening. The District reserves the right to reject any, all, or any part of the proposal. The District may waive any irregularities or informalities, or may sit and act as sole judge of the merit and qualifications of the products and services offered in any proposal, or in the bidding process, based on the criteria set forth in Section 15, Award of Bid and Formation of Contract. By order of the BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. By: Laszlo Horvath Purchasing Tech Published: March 12 and March 19, 2026 56

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Expert Witness Professionals LLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. Filed by: LAMONT HUNTER/MANAGING MEMBER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 4, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000524. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SEA BOLT FABRICATIONS: 132 Harbor Way Santa Barbara, CA 93109; Graham M Martin 16 E. Padre St. #11 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Mar 04, 2026. Filed by: GRAHAM MARTIN‑SETARO with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 4, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E49. FBN Number: 2026‑0000532. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: CHRISTUS VICTOR LLC, VALINOR, VALINOR SPORTS CENTER: 1964 Las Canoas Rd. Santa Barbara, CA 93105; Christus Victor LLC 6737 Steele Oak Ln Carmichael CA 95608 This business is conducted by A Limited Liability Company Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Feb 02, 2026. Filed by: CHARLES RUTSCH/ MANAGER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 5, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E4. FBN Number: 2026‑0000360. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEMMAHS & ASSOCIATES: 1900 N San Marcos Rd Santa Barbara, CA 93111; Hemmah Works Inc PO Box 235 Goleta, CA 93116 This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A. Filed by: CODY HEMMAH/PRESIDENT with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 27, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E24. FBN Number: 2026‑0000209. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SILK ROAD TRANSPORTATION, SILK ROAD TRANSPORTATION & WINE TOURS, SILK ROAD: 4604 Appaloosa Trail Orcutt, CA 93455; Silk Road Holdings, Inc. (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2025. Filed by: UMUT OZKAN/ PREIDENT/CEO with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Jan 27, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E63. FBN Number: 2026‑0000388. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROSE ELECTRONICS OF SANTA BARBARA: 88 Willow Springs St, Unit 101 Goleta, CA 93117; Kevin A Rose (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Mar 3, 2026. Filed by: KEVIN A ROSE/ OWNER with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 03, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E76. FBN Number: 2026‑0000519. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: ERIN FEINBLATT PHOTOGRAPHY, INC., COAST PHOTOGRAPHY: 1302 Chino Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Erin Feinblatt

Photography, Inc. (same address) This business is conducted by A Corporation Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Mar 2, 2010. Filed by: ERIN FEINBLATT/PRESIDENT with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Mar 03, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E35. FBN Number: 2026‑0000544. Published: Mar 12, 19, 26. Apr 2 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: STOUT, KAUFMAN, HOLZMAN & SPRAGUE, APLC: 5951 Encina Rd, Ste 208 Goleta, CA 93117; STOUT, KAUFMAN, HOLMAN & SPRAGUE, APLC (same address) This business is conducted by A Individual Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on Jan 01, 2023. Filed by: JODY M. KAUFMAN/MANAGING ATTORNEY with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on Feb 20, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL) by E78. FBN Number: 2026‑0000466. Published: Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026.

NAME CHANGE IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: JULIE J. YOUNG CASE NUMBER: 26CV00335 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: JULIE J. YOUNG A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: JULIE J. YOUNG PROPOSED NAME: JULIE JURINJAK YOUNG THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing April 1, 2026, 10:00 am, DEPT: 3, SUPERIOR COURT COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa Street. Santa Barbara, CA 93101, ANACAPA DIVISION A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated February 9, 2026, JUDGE Thomas P. Anderle of the Superior Court. Published Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: EMA GISSELLE SANCHEZ GARCIA NUMBER: 26CV00784 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: EMA GISSELLE SANCHEZ GARCIA A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: EMA GISSELLE SANCHEZ GARCIA PROPOSED NAME: GISSELLE KIANNA SANCHEZ GARCIA THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing April 6, 2026, 10:00 am, DEPT: 5, SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa St Santa Barbara, CA 93101, A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Santa Barbara Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least

once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated 02/13/2026, JUDGE Colleen K. Sterne of the Superior Court. Published Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: PHILIPE PHILIP ANDRES ANDREW MURILLO CASE NUMBER: 26CV00096 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: PHILIPE PHILIP ANDRES ANDREW MURILLO A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: PHILIPE PHILIP ANDRES ANDREW MURILLO PROPOSED NAME: PHILIP ANDREW MURILLO THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing April 21, 2026, 8:30 am, DEPT: SM 2, SUPERIOR COURT COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 312 East Cook Street, Building E. Santa Maria, CA 93454, COOK DIVISION A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated January 9, 2026, JUDGE James F. Rigali of the Superior Court. Published Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: MELISSA NICOLE MARTINEZ and RICARDO ALEXANDER HARRIS SANCHEZ CASE NUMBER: 26CV00558 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: MELISSA NICOLE MARTINEZ AND RICARDO ALEXANDER HARRIS SANCHEZ A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: LEVI NICOLAS MARTINEZ‑HARRIS‑SANCHEZ PROPOSED NAME: LEVI XAVIER HARRIS‑SANCHEZ THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing April 17, 2026, 10:00 am, DEPT: 4, SUPERIOR COURT COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa Street. Santa Barbara, CA 93101, ANACAPA DIVISION A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated February 25, 2026, JUDGE Donna D. Geck of the Superior Court. Published Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: ENRIQUE CONTRERAS LOPEZ CASE NUMBER: 26CV00449 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: ENRIQUE CONTRERAS LOPEZ A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: ENRIQUE CONTRERAS LOPEZ PROPOSED NAME: HENRY CONTRERAS LOPEZ THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the

objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing April 6, 2026, 10:00 am, DEPT: 5, SUPERIOR COURT COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa Street. Santa Barbara, CA 93101, ANACAPA DIVISION A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated February 13, 2026, JUDGE Colleen Sterne of the Superior Court. Published Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026. IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: WILLIAM M. YOUNG CASE NUMBER: 26CV00558 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: PETITIONER: WILLIAM M. YOUNG A petition has been filed by the above named Petitioner(s) in Santa Barbara Superior Court for decree changing name (s) as follows: PRESENT NAME: BRYCE OLIVER YOUNG BURT PROPOSED NAME: BRYCE OLIVER YOUNG THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing May 1, 2026, 10:00 am, DEPT: 4, SUPERIOR COURT COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa Street. Santa Barbara, CA 93101, ANACAPA DIVISION A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published in the Independent, a newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition. Dated February 25, 2026, JUDGE Donna D. Geck of the Superior Court. Published Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF AGING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the California Department of Aging (CDA) shall conduct a public hearing on the designation of a new Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for Planning and Service Area (PSA) 17, Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. PURPOSE: To gather public input on the Department’s intent to designate a new AAA for PSA 17, which encompasses the geographic boundary of the County of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. BACKGROUND: On March 6, 2026, CDA released a request for proposals (RFP # SLO‑2627‑17, link to RFP: https:// caleprocure.ca.gov/event/4170/ SLO2627‑17), to solicit a public agency or private nonprofit organization to serve as the permanent AAA for PSA 17. The selected entity will assume responsibility for programmatic, fiscal, and administrative oversight of services provided under Title III of the Older Americans Act and the Mello‑Granlund Older Californians Act, consistent with the approved Area Plan. The deadline to obtain the RFP and submit proposals is April 27, 2026. PUBLIC HEARING DATE: Monday, April 13, 2026 TIME: 1:00 p.m.

INDEPENDENT CLASSIFIEDS

PHONE 805-965-5205

E M A I L A D V E R T I S I N G @ I N D E P E N D E N T. CO M

LEGALS (CONT.) PARTICIPATION OPTIONS: Virtual: The hearing will be conducted via Zoom. Comments will be limited to two minutes. Members of the public are encouraged to participate virtually. Zoom link: h tt p s : / /a g i n g ‑ c a ‑ g o v. z o o m . u s / webinar/register/WN_hUPAaHImQqq_ dwrXWannwA#/registration In‑Person: An in‑person location is available for individuals who wish to provide comments for up to two minutes onsite: Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 The Santa Barbara Library does not advocate or endorse the viewpoints of the meetings or meeting room users. Written Comments: Members of the public who are unable to attend the hearing virtually or in person may submit written comments regarding the proposed designation. Written comments must be received no later than April 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Comments may be submitted by email to PSA17@aging.ca.gov with the subject line “PSA 17 Public Hearing Comment.” Written submissions may not exceed two (2) pages in length and must use at least 12‑point font. All timely received written comments will be considered as part of the public record. QUESTIONS: For questions regarding: Public Hearing logistics‑ please contact PSA17@aging.ca.gov. RFP process‑ please contact rfpsubvention@aging.ca.gov. ACCOMMODATIONS: If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in this public hearing, please contact the CDA Office of Communications at info@ aging.ca.gov at least (10) ten business days before the event. CDA will do its best to meet requests made after March 30, 2026. BY THE ORDER OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF AGING, County of Sacramento, State of California, this March 6, 2026. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING* DATE OF HEARING: MARCH 25, 2026 PLACE: ENGINEERING BUILDING, ROOM 17 PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING ROOM 123 E. ANAPAMU STREET SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101 IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION The County Planning Commission provides in‑person participation as well as virtual participation until further notice. The following methods of participation are available to the public. You may observe the live stream of the County Planning Commission meetings on (1) Local Cable Channel 20, (2) online at: https://www.countyofsb.org/1333/ CSBTV‑Livestream; or (3) YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSBTV20 If you wish to provide public comment, the following methods are available: •Distribution to the County Planning Commission ‑ Submit your comment via email prior to 12:00 p.m. on the Monday prior to the Commission hearing. Please submit your comment to the Recording Secretary at dvillalo@countyofsb.org. Your comment will be placed into the record and distributed appropriately. •Attend the Meeting In‑Person: Individuals are allowed to attend and provide comments at the County Planning Commission meeting in‑person. •Attend the Meeting by Zoom Webinar ‑ Individuals wishing to provide public comment during the County Planning Commission meeting can do so via Zoom webinar by clicking the below link to register in advance. Register in advance for this meeting: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing important information about joining the webinar. When: March 25, 2026 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: County Planning Commission 03/25/2026 https://santabarbaracounty.zoomgov. com/webinar/register/WN_J1cRyPYM‑ RzaLYGjGEX9RlA After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. OR PARTICIPATE VIA TELEPHONE: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 213 338 8477 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 720 928 9299 or +1 971 247 1195 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 602 753 0140 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 470 250 9358 or +1 646 518 9805 or +1 651 372 8299 or +1 786 635 1003 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 267 831 0333 or +1 301 715 8592 or 877 853 5257 (Toll Free) or 888 475 4499 (Toll Free) or 833 548 0276 (Toll Free) or 833 548 0282 (Toll Free) Webinar ID: 160 044 7271 The Commission’s rules on hearings and public comment, unless otherwise directed by the Chair, remain applicable to each of the participation methods listed above. The Planning Commission hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. The order of items listed on the agenda is subject to change by the Planning Commission. Anyone interested in this matter is invited to appear and speak in support or in opposition to the projects. Written comments are also welcome. All letters should be addressed to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, California, 93101. Letters should be filed with the secretary of the Planning Commission no later than 12:00 P.M. on the Monday before the Planning Commission hearing. The decision to accept late materials will be at the discretion of the Planning Commission. Maps and/or staff analysis of the proposals may be reviewed at https://www.countyofsb.org/1625/ County‑Planning‑Commission a week before the hearing or by appointment by calling (805) 568‑2000. If you challenge the project 26LUP‑00053, 22CUP‑00000‑00007, 23GPA‑00006, or 23RZN‑00006 in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence to the Planning Commission prior to the public hearing. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need a disability‑related modification or accommodation or are exempt from applicable Health Officer Orders, including auxiliary aids or services such as sound enhancement equipment or an American Sign Language interpreter, to participate in this hearing, please contact Hearing Support Staff at 805‑568‑2000. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the hearing will enable the Hearing Support Staff to make reasonable arrangements. If you have any questions or if you are participating in the hearing telephonically or electronically and need a disability‑related modification or accommodation or have any issues attempting to access the hearing telephonically or electronically, please contact Hearing Support Staff at 805‑568‑2000. * This is a partial listing of the items to be heard at the Planning Commission Hearing of March 25, 2026. 26LUP‑00053 22CUP‑00000‑00007 Chick‑Fil‑A at Calle Real Eastern Goleta Valley Exempt, CEQA Guidelines Section 15183Joe Dargel, Supervising Planner (805) 568‑3573 Willow Brown, Planner (805) 568‑2040 Hearing on the request of Turnpike Lodges, property owner, to consider the following: •Case No. 22CUP‑00000‑00007 for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow for a drive‑through facility in compliance with Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) Section 35.82.060; •Case No. 26LUP‑00053 for a Land Use Permit (LUP) to allow for a restaurant in compliance with LUDC Section 35.82.110;

•Determine that no additional environmental review is required for the project pursuant to Section 15183 [Projects Consistent with a Community Plan or Zoning] of the State Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The application involves Assessor’s Parcel No. (APN) 067‑230‑041, zoned Retail Commercial (C‑2), located at 4765 Calle Real, in the Eastern Goleta Valley Community Plan area, Second Supervisorial District. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION RECORDING SECRETARY (568‑2000)

PUBLIC NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES SPRING STREET COURTHOUSE Case No.: BCV‑21‑101927 Complex Action NOTICE REQUIRING FILING OF ANSWER AND PHASE 3 FORM DISCOVERY BOLTHOUSE LAND COMPANY, LLC, a California limited liability company; WM. BOLTHOUSE FARMS, INC., a Michigan corporation. and GRIMMWAY ENTERPRISES, INC., a Delaware corporation, DIAMOND FARMING COMPANY, a California corporation; LAPIS LAND COMPANY, LLC, a California limited liability company; RUBY LAND COMPANY, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; Plaintiffs, vs. ALL PERSONS CLAIMING A RIGHT TO EXTRACT OR STORE GROUNDWATER IN THE CUYAMA VALLEY GROUNDWATER BASIN (NO. 3‑013); ALL PERSONS UNKNOWN, CLAIMING ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE RIGHT, TITLE, ESTATE, LIEN, OR INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT ADVERSE TO PLAINTIFF’S TITLE, OR ANY CLOUD UPON PLAINTIFF’S TITLE THERETO; DOES 1 THROUGH 5000 and THE PERSONS NAMED AS DEFENDANTS IDENTIFIED ON EXHIBIT D TO THIS COMPLAINT as may be amended from time to time, Defendants. TO ALL PERSONS CLAIMING A RIGHT TO EXTRACT OR STORE GROUNDWATER IN THE CUYAMA VALLEY GROUNDWATER BASIN (NO. 3‑013): 1. At the January 26, 2026, Order to Show Cause, the Court ordered that ALL PERSONS CLAIMING A RIGHT TO EXTRACT AND STORE GROUNDWATER IN THE CUYAMA GROUNDWATER BASIN, BASIN NO. 3‑013 MUST, NO LATER THAN MARCH 27, 2026, FILE AND SERVE AN ANSWER AND COMPLY WITH THE COURT’S AUGUST 22, 2025, ORDER RE PHASE 3 FORM DISCOVERY OR HAVE THEIR WATER RIGHTS TERMINATED. 2. A copy of the Form Answer and the Court’s August 22, 2025, Order re Phase 3 Form Discovery may be accessed via CaseAnywhere at https:// www.caseanywhere.com/get‑started/ join‑an‑existing‑case/. The phone number and email address for CaseAnywhere support are: Phone: (800) 884‑3163 Email: support@caseanywhere.com A copy of the Form Answer may also be accessed via Cuyama Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency website at https:// cuyamabasin.org/index. 3. Parties who (a) have not extracted groundwater in the last 12 months and are simply filing an answer to protect unexercised pumping rights or (b) have extracted 2.5 acre‑feet or less of groundwater in the last 12 months may be eligible for a fee waiver by filing Judicial Council Forms FW‑001 and MC‑025 and indicating their eligibility. 4. Self‑represented parties may contact the Court’s Self‑Help Center at (213) 830‑0845 or https://selfhelp.lacourt.org/ for assistance. The Court has also indicated that the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center may be able to provide assistance. The Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center may may be contacted at (661) 766‑2369,

office@cvfrc.org, or 4689 Highway 166, New Cuyama, CA 93254. Dated: February 3, 2026 Zimmer & Melton, LLP By: __/s/ Richard G. Zimmer______________________ Richard G. Zimmer, Esq. William T. Zimmer, Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiffs, Bolthouse Land Company, LLC Dated: February 3, 2026 LeBEAU – THELEN, LLP By: __/s/ Robert G. Kuhs________________________ ROBERT G. KUHS, ESQ. Attorneys for Plaintiffs, Diamond Farming Company; Lapis Land Company, LLC; Ruby Land Company, LLC Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE A public meeting concerning the current plans, development, policies, and capital improvement programs of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation will be held on‑site and remotely on Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 4:00pm. To attend this meeting

please email rick@sbbowl.com for meeting instructions by 6pm on Wednesday March 18th .

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO DESIGNATE AN AREA AGENCY ON AGING (AAA) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the California Department of Aging (CDA) intends to designate an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for the Planning and Service Area (PSA) described below, pursuant to 22 CCR § 7206. 1. GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES: This designation is for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties/PSA 17.

2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AAA: Under federal and state law (Older Americans Act and Mello‑Granlund Older Californians Act), the designated AAA shall: •Serve as the principal advocate and planning body for older adults and caregivers. •Develop and administer a multi‑year Area Plan on Aging with annual updates. •Coordinate community‑based services (e.g., nutrition, legal, and caregiver support). •Manage federal/state funds and monitor service provider compliance. 3. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) AVAILABILITY: Interested public entities or private non‑profit entities may obtain a detailed RFP package and application instructions online at: https://caleprocure. ca.gov/event/4170/SLO2627‑17 4. IMPORTANT PROCUREMENT DATES: The RFP submission deadline is April 27, 2026, at 5:00 PM. The anticipated award date is May 27, 2026, and the Agreement start date is October 1, 2026. More detailed information about the RFP schedule is available at the link above.

SUMMONS SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): DANNY UC, an individual and DOES 1 to 5, inclusive YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: (LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): LENDMARK FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC, a limited liability company NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS CALLING FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received for a bid opening by the Board of Education of the Santa Barbara Unified School District at the Administration Office, 720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101, not later than: Bid opening will be held on April 15, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. for the La Cumbre Junior High School Sewer and Drainpipe Repairs (“Project”). A mandatory job walk and pre-bid conference will be conducted on March 30, 2026 beginning at 9:30 a.m. Meet at La Cumbre Junior High School, by the flagpole in front of the school at 2255 Modoc Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Bids will not be accepted from contractors not attending the mandatory job walk and prebid conference. Prospective Bidders arriving after the above-designated starting time for a mandatory job walk and pre-bid conference shall be disqualified from submitting a bid for this project. Plans and specifications will be on file and available to view, download or purchase through Cybercopy at http://www.cybercopyplanroom. com The deadline for pre-bid questions or clarification requests is April 7, 2026. All questions are to be in writing and directed to the Project Architect/Engineer, Mel Enriquez, 19Six Architects Inc., at menriquez@19six.com. CLEARLY MARK BID RESPONSE ENVELOPE WITH TIME/DATE OF BID OPENING AND PROJECT NAME. Bids so received shall be opened and publicly read aloud at the Santa Barbara Unified School District Administration Office, 720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101. All bids shall be made on the forms provided in the specifications, and each bid must conform to the Contract Documents. Each bid shall be accompanied by the bid security specified in the Instructions to Bidders. The Project description is as follows: Provide all labor, materials, and equipment as required for demolition and replacement of the existing sewer and vent piping systems serving the Industrial Arts Building. The scope will include reconnecting the new drainage systems to the existing sewer infrastructure. Additionally, the project will involve the removal and replacement of affected flooring and finished surfaces, restoring them to match the original finishes as indicated in these plans and specifications. Contractor License required: B Prequalification of Bidders and E/M/P subcontractors: As a condition of bidding on this Project, and in accordance with the provisions of Public Contract Code section 20111.5 and 20111.6 all Bidders and all electrical, mechanical and plumbing subcontractors listed in the Bidder’s proposal must either be pre-qualified for at least five business days before the date of the opening of the bids or must submit a completed prequalification package by the deadline stated below. Bids not conforming to this requirement will not be accepted. Prequalification packages are available through Cybercopy at http://www.cybercopyplanroom.com. Prequalification questions must be directed to L.M. Sweaney at Lindasweaney@gmail.com, leave a voice message or text at (805) 705-0034. Prequalification packages must be submitted to L.M. Sweaney & Associates, P.O. Box 3187, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 (U.S. MAIL ONLY) no later than April 7, 2026. [Note: Per PCC 2011.6 – must have submitted package at least 10 business days before bid opening, can specify earlier date]. FAXED PRE-QUALIFICATION APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1773 and 1773.2 of the Labor Code of the State of California, the District has obtained from the Director of Industrial Relations, the general prevailing rate of per diem wages and the general prevailing rate for holiday and overtime work in the locality in which the work is to be performed for each craft, classification or type of workman needed to execute the contract which is available for review at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/statistics_research.html. During the Work, the Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) will monitor compliance with prevailing wage rate requirements and enforce the Contractor’s prevailing wage rate obligations, with a copy of the same being on file with the clerk of the District’s governing board. It shall be mandatory upon the contractor to whom the contract is awarded, and upon any subcontractor under him, to pay not less than the said specified rates to all workmen employed by them in the execution of the contract, and to comply with all prevailing wage requirements set forth in the Labor Code. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1771.1 of the Labor Code of the State of California, a contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid or engage in the performance of any contract for this project unless; (1) currently registered and qualified to perform public work pursuant to Section 1725.5; or (2) expressly authorized to submit a bid by Section 1771.1 and provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded. This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations. The successful Bidder will be required to post all job-site notices required by DIR regulations and other applicable law. The successful bidder and its subcontractors will be required to follow the nondiscrimination requirements set forth in the General Conditions. The District will be participating in the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) Participation Goal Program pursuant to Education Code section 17076.11 and Public Contract Code section 10115. No Bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of sixty (60) days after the date set for the bid opening. The District reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to waive irregularities in any bid. BY THE ORDER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT By: Steve Venz, Interim Director of Facilities and Modernization INDEPENDENT.COM INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH MARCH 12, 12, 2026 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

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LEGALS (CONT.) nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Website (www.lawhelpcalifornia. org), the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. !ADVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación.

Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en el formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www. sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de

remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www. sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 o más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 312‑C East Cook Street , Santa Maria, CA 93454 CASE NO: (Número del Caso): 24CV04854 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without

an attorney, is: (El nombre, la dirección, y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante que no tiene abogado es): THE DUNNING LAW FIRM APC (858) 974‑7600 California DFPI Debt Collector License #10059‑99, Donald T. Dunning (144665) James Macleod (249145), 9619 Chesapeake Drive, Suite 210, San Diego, CA 92123 DATE Fecha): 08/29/2024. Clerk, by (Secretario) /s/ Erin Josie, Deputy (Adjunto) Published: Feb 19, 26. Mar 5, 12 2026. PLAINTIFF’S CLAIM and ORDER to Go to Small Claims Court Notice to the person being sued: • You are the defendant if your name is listed in on page 2 of this form or on form SC‑100A. The person suing you is the plaintiff, listed in on page 2, • You and the plaintiff must go to court on the trial date listed below. If you do not go to court,‑you may lose the case, If you lose, the court can order that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. • Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. • Read this form and all pages attached to understand the claim against you and to protect your rights. Aviso al Demandado:

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS CALLING FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received for a bid opening by the Board of Education of the Santa Barbara Unified School District at the Administration Office, 720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101 not later than: Bid opening will be held on April 15, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. for the Santa Barbara High School Fieldhouse Sewer and Drainpipe Repairs (“Project”). A mandatory job walk and pre-bid conference will be conducted on March 30, 2026 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Meet at Santa Barbara High School, by the flagpole in front of the school at 700 E Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. Bids will not be accepted from contractors not attending the mandatory job walk and prebid conference. Prospective Bidders arriving after the above-designated starting time for a mandatory job walk and pre-bid conference shall be disqualified from submitting a bid for this project. Plans and specifications will be on file and available to view, download or purchase through Cybercopy at http://www.cybercopyplanroom. com The deadline for pre-bid questions or clarification requests is April 7, 2026. All questions are to be in writing and directed to the Project Architect/Engineer, Mel Enriquez, 19Six Architects Inc. at menriquez@19six.com. CLEARLY MARK BID RESPONSE ENVELOPE WITH TIME/DATE OF BID OPENING AND PROJECT NAME. Bids so received shall be opened and publicly read aloud at the Santa Barbara Unified School District Administration Office, 720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101. All bids shall be made on the forms provided in the specifications and each bid must conform to the Contract Documents. Each bid shall be accompanied by the bid security specified in the Instructions to Bidders. The Project description is as follows: Provide all labor, materials, and equipment as required for the demolition and replacement of the existing floor drains and plumbing fixture systems serving the field house building. The scope will include reconnecting the new drainage systems to the existing sewer infrastructure. Additionally, the project will involve the removal and replacement of affected concrete flooring, wall finishes, reinstalling salvaged fixtures and restoring finished surfaces to match original finishes. Contractor License required: B Prequalification of Bidders and E/M/P subcontractors: As a condition of bidding on this Project, and in accordance with the provisions of Public Contract Code section 20111.5 and 20111.6 all Bidders and all electrical, mechanical and plumbing subcontractors listed in the Bidder’s proposal must either be prequalified for at least five business days before the date of the opening of the bids or must submit a completed prequalification package by the deadline stated below. Bids not conforming to this requirement will not be accepted. Prequalification packages are available through Cybercopy at http://www.cybercopyplanroom.com. Prequalification questions must be directed to L.M. Sweaney at Lindasweaney@gmail.com, leave a voice message or text at (805) 705-0034. Prequalification packages must be submitted to L.M. Sweaney & Associates, P.O. Box 3187, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 (U.S. MAIL ONLY) no later than April 7, 2026. [Note: Per PCC 2011.6 – must have submitted package at least 10 business days before bid opening, can specify earlier date]. FAXED PRE-QUALIFICATION APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1773 and 1773.2 of the Labor Code of the State of California, the District has obtained from the Director of Industrial Relations, the general prevailing rate of per diem wages and the general prevailing rate for holiday and overtime work in the locality in which the work is to be performed for each craft, classification or type of workman needed to execute the contract which is available for review at http:// www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/statistics_research.html. During the Work, the Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) will monitor compliance with prevailing wage rate requirements and enforce the Contractor’s prevailing wage rate obligations, with a copy of the same being on file with the clerk of the District’s governing board. It shall be mandatory upon the contractor to whom the contract is awarded, and upon any subcontractor under him, to pay not less than the said specified rates to all workmen employed by them in the execution of the contract, and to comply with all prevailing wage requirements set forth in the Labor Code. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1771.1 of the Labor Code of the State of California, a contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid or engage in the performance of any contract for this project unless; (1) currently registered and qualified to perform public work pursuant to Section 1725.5; or (2) expressly authorized to submit a bid by Section 1771.1 and provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded. This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations. The successful Bidder will be required to post all job-site notices required by DIR regulations and other applicable law. The successful bidder and its subcontractors will be required to follow the nondiscrimination requirements set forth in the General Conditions. The District will be participating in the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) Participation Goal Program pursuant to Education Code section 17076.11 and Public Contract Code section 10115. No Bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of sixty (60) days after the date set for the bid opening. The District reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to waive irregularities in any bid. BY THE ORDER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT By: Steve Venz, Interim Director of Facilities and Modernization 58

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Usted es el Demandado si su nombre figura en c de la pagina 2 de este formulario, o en el. formulario SC‑100A, La persona que lo demanda es el Demandante, la que figura en de la pagina 2. Usted y el Demandante tienen clue presentarse en la corte en la fecha del juicio indicada a continua.cion. Si no se presenta, puede perder el caso. Si pierde el caso, la corte podria ordenar que le quiten de su sueldo, dinero u otros bienes para pagar este reciamo. • Lleve testigos, recibos y cualquier otra prueba que necesite para probar su easo • Lea este formulario y todas las pc ginas adjuntas para entender la demanda en su contra y para proteger sus derechos. Order to Go to Court Superior Court of California County of Santa Barbara Darrel E. Parker, Executive Officer 10/17/2025 8:01 AM By: Gabriel Moreno , Deputy Fill In court name and street address: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara Anacapa Division 1100 Anapa’a Street Santa Barbara, CA 93121‑1107 Court fills in case number when form is filed. Case Number: 25CV06598 Case Name: William Hugh Forestelle, III v. April Reid The people in 1 and 2 must attend court: 3/03/2026 9:00 am SB 4 , Darrel E. Parker Date: 7/29/2025 Clerk, by Is/ Gabriel Moreno , Deputy nstructions for the person suing: Do not use this form to recover COVID‑19 rental debt, which is unpaid rent or other financial obligations under a tenancy due between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. (See Code of Civil Procedure, §1179.02.) To recover COVID‑19 rental debt, use form SC‑500, Plaintiffs Claim and ORDER to Go to Small Claims Court. You are the plaintiff. The person you are suing is the defendant. Before you fill out this tbrm, read form SC‑100‑INFO, Information for the Plaintiff, to know your rights. You can get form SC‑100‑INFO at any courthouse or county law library, or go to wwwcourts;ca,‑ goqb•ms. Fill out pages 2, 3, and 4 of this form. Make copies of all the pages of this form and any attachments—one for each party named in this case and an extra copy for yourself. Take or mail the original and the copies to the court clerk’s office and pay the filing fee. The clerk will write the date of your trial in the box above. Your court may allow electronic filing, Check your local court website for information: www.courts. cagovIfind‑my‑courthon. • You must have someone at least 18—not you or anyone else listed in this case give each defendant a court‑stamped copy of all pages of this form and any pages this form tells you to attach. There are special rules for “serving,” or delivering, this form to public entities, associations, and some buSihesses. See forms •SC404, SC‑104B, and SC‑1040. • Co to court on your trial date listed above. Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. Published: Feb 26. Mar 5, 12, 19 2026. SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): 25CV00194 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): JULIO IGNACIO LOPEZ, AN INDIVIDUAL, AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, INCLUSIVE YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): IVER CAPITAL CORPORATION NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an

attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación. Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. The name and address of the court is (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTAN BARBARA 312‑C EAST COOK STREET, BLDG. F, SANTA MARIA, CA 93454 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff's attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is (El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): ALI NABAVI, COASTAL CREST LAW FIRM, APLC, 24310 MOULTON PKWY, SUITE O‑1007, LAGUNA WOODS, CA 92637, 949‑751‑6788 DATE (Fecha): 1/10/2025, Clerk (Secretario), by ERIN JOSIE, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26/26 CNS‑4014439# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT Summons (CITACION JUDICIAL)

CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): 25CV01991 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): SEKEITHHA D JACKSON, AN INDIVIDUAL, AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, INCLUSIVE YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): IVER CAPITAL CORPORATION NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación. Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el

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LEGALS (CONT.) Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. The name and address of the court is (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, 312‑C EAST COOK STREET, BLDG. E, SANTA MARIA, CA 93454 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff's attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is (El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): ALI NABAVI, COASTAL CREST LAW FIRM, APLC, 24310 MOULTON PKWY, SUITE O‑1007, LAGUNA WOODS, CA 92637, 949‑751‑6788 DATE (Fecha): 4/1/2025 DARREL E. PARKER, Clerk (Secretario), by ERIN JOSIE, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served XXX 2/5, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26/26 CNS‑4003199# SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT SUMMONS ‑ (FAMILY LAW) NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: GERARDO D. LEYVA PEREZ AVISO AL DEMANDANDO: PETITIONER’S NAME IS: NORMA RAMIREZ DEMANDANTE: CASE NUMBER: (NUMERO DEL CASO) 25FL00686 You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL‑120) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter, phone call will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnership, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self‑Help Center (www. courts.ca.gov/selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca. org), or by contacting your local county bar association. NOTICE‑RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: These restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further orders. These orders are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them. FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. Tiene 30 dias calendario despues de haber recibido la entrega legal de esta Citación y Petición para presentar una Respuesta (formulario FL‑120) ante la corte y efectuar la entrega legal de una copia al demandante. Una carta o llamada telefónica o una audiencia de la corte no basta para protegerlo. Si no presenta su Respuesta a tiempo, la corte puede dar órdenes que afecten su matrimonio o pareja de hecho, sus bienes y la custodia de sus hijos. La corte también le puede ordenar que pague manutención, honorarios y costos legales. Para asesoramiento legal, póngase en contacto de inmediato con un abogado. Puede obtener información para encontrar un abogado en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en el sitio web de los Servicios Legales de California (www.lawhelpca.org) o poniéndose en contacto con el colegio de abogados de su condado. AVISO‑LAS ÓRDENES DE RESTRICCIÓN SE ENCUENTRAN EN LA PÁGINA 2: valen para ambos cónyuges o pareja de hecho hasta que se despida la petición, se emita un fallo o la corte de otras órdenes. Cualquier autoridad de la ley que haya recibido o visto una copia de estas órdenes puede hacerlas acabar en

cualquier lugar de California. EXENCIÓN DE CUOTAS: Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario un formulario de exención de cuotas. La corte puede ordenar que usted pague, ya sea en parte o por completo, las cuotas y costos de la corte previamente exentos a petición de usted o de la otra parte. 1.The name and address of the court are (El nombre y direccion de la corte son): SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT 312‑C East Cook St. Santa Maria, CA 93454. The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, are: Norma Ramirez 1677 Maple Ave #18 Solvang, CA 93463; (805)‑325‑9267 (El nombre, dirección y número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante si no tiene abogado, son): Dated April 07 , 2025. Clerk, by (Secretario, por) Teddy Napoli, Deputy Clerk (Asistente) Published Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 2026.

TRUSTEE NOTICE TSG NO.: 92589619 TS No.: CA2500293107 APN: 025‑071‑011 Property Address: 2409 STATE STREET SANTA BARBARA, CA 93105 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED 08/12/2015. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On 03/25/2026 at 01:00 P.M., First American Title Insurance Company, as duly appointed Trustee under and pursuant to Deed of Trust recorded 08/19/2015, as Instrument No. 2015‑0044359, in book , page , , of Official Records in the office of the County Recorder of SANTA BARBARA County, State of California. Executed by: PETER GEORGE BERTLING AND DEBORAH MARKS BERTLING, HUSBAND AND WIFE AS COMMUNITY PROPERTY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH, CASHIER’S CHECK/CASH EQUIVALENT or other form of payment authorized by 2924h(b), (Payable at time of sale in lawful money of the United States) At the main entrance to the County Courthouse, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 All right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property situated in said County and State described as: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED DEED OF TRUST APN# 025‑071‑011 The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 2409 STATE STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93105 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, under the terms of said Deed of Trust, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The total amount of the unpaid balance of the obligation secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale is $ 195,448.51. The beneficiary under said Deed of Trust has deposited all documents evidencing the obligations secured by the Deed of Trust and has declared all sums secured thereby immediately due and payable, and has caused a written Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be executed. The undersigned caused said Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be recorded in the County where the real property is located.

NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property. Please be advised that the trustee may require entity or trust bidders at this trustee's sale to provide information, documentation and/or certification of the vesting instructions and the data required to be reported pursuant to FinCEN regulations effective for transfers of residential real property to covered transferees on or after March 1, 2026. The required information must be provided to the trustee before a trustee’s deed upon sale will be issued for covered transfers. Additional information regarding these regulations and the required transferee information and certifications can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/doc uments/2024/08/29/2024‑ 19198/anti‑money‑laundering‑ regulations‑for‑residential‑real‑ estate‑ transfers and https://www.fincen.gov/rre‑faqs#D5. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (916)939‑0772 or visit this internet website http://search.nationwideposting.com /propertySearchTerms.aspx, using the file number assigned to this case CA2500293107 Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Website. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. NOTICE TO TENANT: You may have a right to purchase this property after the trustee auction if conducted after January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 2924m of the California Civil Code. If you are an “eligible tenant buyer,” you can purchase the property if you match the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. If you are an “eligible bidder,” you may be able to purchase the property if you exceed the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. There are three steps to exercising this right of purchase. First, 48 hours after the date of the trustee sale, you can call (916)939‑0772, or visit this internet website http://search.nationwideposting.com /propertySearchTerms.aspx, using the file number assigned to this case CA2500293107 to find the date on which the trustee’s sale was held, the amount of the last and highest bid, and the address of the trustee. Second, you must send a written notice of intent to place a bid so that the trustee

receives it no more than 15 days after the trustee’s sale. Third, you must submit a bid, by remitting the funds and affidavit described in Section 2924m(c) of the Civil Code, so that the trustee receives it no more than 45 days after the trustee’s sale. If you think you may qualify as an “eligible tenant buyer” or “eligible bidder,” you should consider contacting an attorney or appropriate real estate professional immediately for advice regarding this potential right to purchase. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. First American Title Insurance Company 4795 Regent Blvd, Mail Code 1011‑ F Irving, TX 75063 Date: FOR TRUSTEES SALE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL (916)939‑ 0772NPP0484875 To: SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT 02/26/2026, 03/05/2026, 03/12/2026 TS No: CA08000837‑25‑1 APN: 017‑231‑015 TO No: 250627106‑ CA‑VOI NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE (The above statement is made pursuant to CA Civil Code Section 2923.3(d)(1). The Summary will be provided to Trustor(s) and/or vested owner(s) only, pursuant to CA Civil Code Section 2923.3(d)(2).) YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED July 6, 2018. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On April 8, 2026 at 01:00 PM, at the main entrance to the County Courthouse, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, MTC Financial Inc. dba Trustee Corps, as the duly Appointed Trustee, under and pursuant to the power of sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust recorded on July 20, 2018 as Instrument No. 2018‑0030428, and that said Deed of Trust was modified by Modification Agreement and recorded July 14, 2021 as Instrument Number 2021‑0051470, of official records in the Office of the Recorder of Santa Barbara County, California, executed by ARELHY ARROYO ALVAREZ, A SINGLE WOMAN, as Trustor(s), in favor of MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., as Beneficiary, as nominee for AMERICAN PACIFIC MORTGAGE CORPORATION as Beneficiary, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, in lawful money of the United States, all payable at the time of sale, that certain property situated in said County, California describing the land therein as: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN SAID DEED OF TRUST The property heretofore described is being sold “as is” The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 1318 CARPINTERIA ST, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made without covenant or warranty, express or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the Note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said Note(s), advances if any, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, estimated fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The total amount of the unpaid balance of the obligations secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publication of this Notice of Trustee’s Sale is estimated to be $654,183.52

(Estimated). However, prepayment premiums, accrued interest and advances will increase this figure prior to sale. Beneficiary’s bid at said sale may include all or part of said amount. In addition to cash, the Trustee will accept a cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the California Financial Code and authorized to do business in California, or other such funds as may be acceptable to the Trustee. In the event tender other than cash is accepted, the Trustee may withhold the issuance of the Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale until funds become available to the payee or endorsee as a matter of right. The property offered for sale excludes all funds held on account by the property receiver, if applicable. If the Trustee is unable to convey title for any reason, the successful bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee and the successful bidder shall have no further recourse. Notice to Potential Bidders If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a Trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a Trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the

county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same Lender may hold more than one mortgage or Deed of Trust on the property. Notice to Property Owner The sale date shown on this Notice of Sale may be postponed one or more times by the Mortgagee, Beneficiary, Trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about Trustee Sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may visit the Internet Website address www.nationwideposting.com or call Nationwide Posting & Publication at 916.939.0772 for information regarding the Trustee’s Sale for information regarding the sale of this property, using the file number assigned to this case, CA08000837‑25‑1. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Website. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. Notice to Tenant NOTICE TO TENANT FOR FORECLOSURES AFTER JANUARY 1, 2021 You may have a right to purchase this property after the trustee auction pursuant to Section 2924m of the California Civil Code. If you are an “eligible tenant buyer,” you can purchase the property if you match the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. If you are an “eligible bidder,” you may be able to purchase the property if you exceed the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. There are three steps to exercising this right of

purchase. First, 48 hours after the date of the trustee sale, you can call 916.939.0772, or visit this internet website www.nationwideposting.com, using the file number assigned to this case CA08000837‑25‑1 to find the date on which the trustee’s sale was held, the amount of the last and highest bid, and the address of the trustee. Second, you must send a written notice of intent to place a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 15 days after the trustee’s sale. Third, you must submit a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 45 days after the trustee’s sale. If you think you may qualify as an “eligible tenant buyer” or “eligible bidder,” you should consider contacting an attorney or appropriate real estate professional immediately for advice regarding this potential right to purchase. Effective March 1, 2026, new federal regulations (89 Fed. Reg. 70.258) will impact residential real property (1‑4 residential units) title transfers to covered entities trusts, with reporting requirements unless exempt. https://www. federalregister.gov/doc uments/2024/08/29/2024‑ 19198/anti‑money‑laundering‑ regulations‑for‑residential‑real‑ estate‑transfers Date: March 2, 2026 MTC Financial Inc. dba Trustee Corps TS No. CA08000837‑25‑1 17100 Gillette Ave Irvine, CA 92614 Phone: 949‑ 252‑8300 TDD: 711 949.252.8300 By: Loan Quema, Authorized Signatory SALE INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED ONLINE AT www.nationwideposting.com FOR AUTOMATED SALES INFORMATION PLEASE CALL: Nationwide Posting & Publication AT 916.939.0772 NPP0485900 To: SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT 03/12/2026, 03/19/2026, 03/26/2026

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Governing Board of the Cachuma Operation & Maintenance Board (COMB) will hold its regular meeting at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23, 2026 via teleconference and in person. Information on how to attend can be found on the meeting agenda which will be posted on the COMB website. As part of said meeting, the Board will hold a public hearing, prior to the adoption of an ordinance pursuant to Water Code Sections 20200 through 20207, to establish the compensation of Board members in accordance with the provisions of said Water Code Sections. This Notice is given and published under the provisions of Water Code Section 20203 and Government Code Section 6066. Dated: 3/05/2026 Cachuma Operation & Maintenance Board By: Janet Gingras, Secretary and General Manager PUBLIC NOTICE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TRAFFIC STRIPING AND PAVEMENT MARKINGS SERVICES Published: March 5, 2026 Notice is hereby given that the City of Goleta (City) is currently soliciting proposals for Citywide Annual Replacement of Traffic Striping and Pavement Markings . PROPOSERS MUST BE REGISTERED ON THE CITY OF GOLETA’S PLANETBIDS PORTAL(https://pbsystem.planetbids.com/portal/45299/portalhome) IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ADDENDUM NOTIFICATIONS AND SUBMIT A PROPOSAL. If any Addendum issued by the City is not acknowledged online by the Proposer, the PlanetBids System will prevent the Proposer from submitting an RFP. Proposers are responsible for obtaining all addenda from the City’s PlanetBids portal. Proposals will be received electronically until March 26, 2026 through the City’s PlanetBids Portal. If further information is needed, submit questions through the Q&A tab in the PlanetBids Portal. It is the responsibility of the proposer to submit their RFP with sufficient time to be received by PlanetBids prior to the receiving date and time. Late or incomplete Proposals will not be accepted. FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT Service Provider agrees in accordance with Section 1735 and 1777.6 of California Labor Code, and the California Fair Employment Practice Act (Sections 14101433) that in the hiring of common or skilled labor for the performance of any work under this contract or any subcontract hereunder, no contractor, material supplier or vendor shall, by reason of age (over 40), ancestry, color, mental or physical disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), national origin, race, religious belief, or sexual orientation, discriminate against any person who is qualified and available to perform the work to which such employment relates. INDEPENDENT.COM INDEPENDENT.COM MARCH MARCH 12, 12, 2026 2026 THE INDEPENDENT

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