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W E D N E S DAY, M AY 31, 2 0 2 3
Redesigning State Street
Memorial Day weekend seen as successful
Advisory committee looks at three design scenarios
TRIBUTE
Milt Larsen lived a magical life Magic Castle co-founder and Santa Barbara resident leaves legacy of entertainment
Airport saw more than 2,200 passengers Friday By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Memorial Day was a success as tourists and community members flocked the streets of Santa Barbara to celebrate the long weekend. The Santa Barbara Airport had a busy kick-off to the summer season, serving just over 9,500 passengers over the weekend, according to SBA representative Angie Daus. She told the News-Press that there was an average of 1,904 passengers per day and the highest volume day was Friday at 2,223 passengers. “Although we heard feedback from our passengers traveling at peak times that it gets a bit crowded, we heard very positive feedback overall from those traveling through SBA over this busy weekend,” Ms. Daus said. “For us, this is all to be expected, and the airport team is at work on the improvements needed to make those passengers in need of traveling during peak times better.” Ms. Daus also reported that the airport is implementing new short-term efforts to help passengers in unique and efficient ways. One of these projects is called the Sunflower Program. This program will help passengers who may have a hidden disability get the care and help they need as they go through TSA. The SBA wants to remind everybody that summer is the busiest time for the airport and to arrive early and be prepared. For the roads, Friday was the busiest for Highway 101. As noted by Doug Shupe, the West Coast representative for AAA, the afternoon of Memorial Day saw an uptick in congestion on the roads. Fortunately, there were no major crashes reported over the weekend. Santa Barbara also had many great events that took place over the weekend. The main event, the I Madonnari Street Painting Festival, took place alongside the Santa Barbara Mission. This year’s featured artist, Lorelle Miller, has been coming to the festival for over 20 years. Her painting depicted her immigrant grandfather as he entered the United States. There were other magnificent paintings that lined the street for people to come and enjoy, all representing the unofficial theme of family. Overall, the weekend was fun in Santa Barbara as the start of summer has now begun. email: abahnsen@newspress. com
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Milt Larsen is shown in 2017 during his walk on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood. Behind him is the iconic Magic Castle, which he cofounded with his brother, William Larsen Jr.
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
It was a sunny day in 2017, and Milt Larsen was walking down Franklin Avenue in Hollywood toward a 1920s-style pub on Hollywood Boulevard, a place right out of the movies: the Pig ‘N Whistle. This writer was walking with him. Mr. Larsen, a longtime Santa Barbara resident and Hollywood legend who was on a first-name basis with countless stars, was
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
A bicyclist rides past a sign saying “no bicycling” during the Santa Barbara Farmers Market on State Street. The city of Santa Barbara is considering various scenarios for redesigning State Street.
By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
State Street is being reenvisioned for what it could look like for the next 30 years as the center of a new urban neighborhood and community space for all Santa Barbara residents. The State Street Advisory Committee last week got its first look at three design scenarios for State Street, each providing a different vision of what the city’s main thoroughfare could look like in the future. “While there still is work to be done on the design concepts, this meeting was the first glimpse of the potential for what the future of State Street and the downtown Santa Barbara area could become,” Tess Harris, State Street master planner, told the NewsPress. The Advisory Committee met Wednesday afternoon in the Faulkner Gallery at the Santa Barbara Central Library. Members of the committee and community filed into the room, which had the design renderings and plan views around the room for viewing. “Over the 3-plus hour meeting,
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the design scenarios were presented by MIG, the city’s consulting team, and consisted of an option that the team called ‘flat and flexible,’ another option called ‘multi-modal,’ and a hybrid of the first two options,” Ms. Harris said. FLAT AND FLEXIBLE This option consists of a curbless street from the 500 block to the 1200 block, allowing for maximum flexibility. The renderings showed outdoor dining, art, play areas, pedestrian space and a separated bicycle facility. The curbless design allows the space to be primarily closed to vehicles, although deliveries would still be allowed and the option to open the street to vehicles or to shuttles would exist. One of the renderings showed the “flat and flexible” scenario during an event or festival where the space was fully closed off to vehicles and bikes. MULTI-MODAL This option consists of a curbed street from the 500 to 1200 block allowing for maximum transportation options. In some areas, the curb would
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Please see LARSEN on A4
Ronald Reagan’s granddaughter married in Montecito Ashley Reagan talks to the News-Press about the ceremony
be extended to allow for more space for various uses, including outdoor dining, to occur on the sidewalk space. The curb design allows the space to be primarily open to vehicles and provides the opportunity for a shuttle with a one-way, one-lane vehicle lane configuration. This option also showed a separated bicycle facility on the street. Portions of the curbed street could be closed off to vehicles for events. THE HYBRID A hybrid of flat and flexible and multi-modal options showed the 700-900 blocks as curbless in the “flat and flexible” configuration, which would be primarily closed off to vehicles. It also shows the 400-600 and 1000-1300 as primarily open to vehicles in the “multi-modal” configuration. In addition, the 400 block is shown as a two-way street with the option to extend curbs in some areas, and the 1300 block would maintain curbs and could have a one-way or two-way vehicle configuration.
looking forward to lunch. As he walked, there was a castle behind him. Not just any castle. It was the Magic Castle, and Mr. Larsen co-founded it in 1963 with his brother, the late Bill Larsen. Inside its castle are a ghost playing the piano, magicians performing card tricks in front of you and grand illusions on stage, and the Academy of Magical Arts. This is where everyone from
COURTESY PHOTO
Ashley Reagan and Joe Dunster were married recently in Montecito.
By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Ashley Reagan — President Ronald Reagan’s granddaughter and daughter of Mr. Reagan’s eldest son, Michael — recently got married to Joe Dunster in Montecito. The couple wed on May 5 in an
intimate ceremony of 80 guests at Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Church. “The day was perfect!” Ms. Reagan told the News-Press. “There’s so much anticipation leading up to the ceremony and reception. The day almost seems Please see REAGAN on A4
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-17-20-21-36 Meganumber: 19
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 7-3-6-9
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 8-13-24-36-39
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 08-01-02 Time: 1:41.55
Monday’s POWERBALL: 21-33-35-62-64 Meganumber: 24
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A3 Weather................. A4
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 3-7-5 / Tuesday’s Midday 6-0-3