Supervisor Wolf responds to the view that she supports new off-shore oil drilling…

My support for the now abandoned PXP Project was consistent with my desire to place firm limits on existing federally permitted oil and gas extraction activities.  The proposal was presented to the Board of Supervisors on appeal from the Planning Commission by a competing oil company.  The issues we were asked to consider were relatively narrow, and after listening to all the evidence and careful consideration of the facts then known to us, I trusted our County Counsel’s assurances that the contract’s end dates were enforceable; and that this project would begin the process of ending off-shore oil drilling activities.  Subsequent to that vote the State Lands Commission in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office determined that the end dates were not enforceable, and State Lands Commission denied the project.  If I had had the benefit of the State Lands Commission and Attorney General’s Analysis prior to my vote, I would have opposed the project then.

Column by Barbara Hirsch

Energy = potential. Thanks to an Italian named Volta, we have batteries – small things that have lots of energy and possibilities in store for us. Besides powering our cell phones, cameras, flashlights, etc, there are currently more laptops being sold than desktop computers. Our cars and trucks have been using them all along but now our future will rely even more heavily on them. Nissan has just broken ground for a lithium ion battery plant in Tennessee, to supply its electric car, the Leaf. (Wow, great name.) Power from the sun and wind is stored in them, for when the sun isn’t shining and the wind not blowing.

From an environmental perspective, they produce clean power, if you don’t take into account their production and their afterlife in the dump. Billions of batteries are produced annually. Each year, Americans buy around 3 billion of the little dry cell ones and 100 million lead acid car batteries. Most of the former are discarded, most of the latter are recycled.

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Former SB Mayor Marty Blum wants to plug the BP oil leak with Sarah Palin.

As Dr. Dan Secord gains momentum in the race for 2nd District Supervisor by blaming Janet Wolf for Santa Barbara County’s $40 million budget shortfall, another issue bubbles to the surface… Wolf’s support of new off-shore oil drilling.

As Supervisor, Janet Wolf backed the British Petrolium PXP Plan, which would have allowed a Texas-based oil company to open up the first new drilling project in Santa Barbara waters since the 1969 oil spill.

The waterfront and downtown region of Santa Barbara have become dangerous places thanks to all the “vehicle” rentals for tourists.  There are the miniature electric cars, The hard-to-pedal surrey’s,  Zuumers, Segways… and now these motorized contraptions (picture below the fold) spotted inside Paseo Nuevo.

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With less than a week before the Statewide Direct Primary Elections, Dr. Dan Secord has found his footing with a simple message… Janet Wolf is largely responsible for Santa Barbara County’s $40 million budget shortfall.

The “sinkhole” which shut down Route 192 on Tuesday, May 18th remains under construction. East Valley Road, a main artery from Montecito to Summerland, has been closed between Ortega Ridge Road and Freehaven Drive for over two weeks. The lack of progress begets a joke…

What is orange and sleeps four?

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June gloom remains more than a myth. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which tracks the climatology of average percent of possible sunshine, reports that May and June are the months with the lowest percentages (59% and 58%) of sunshine in Santa Barbara respectively.

For the worst of I Madonnari, make the jump…

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The Victorian building at 625 Chapala Street, best known as the former home of Chad’s, has a new tenant… Jodi House. The historic structure has been remodeled and will serve as a brain injury support and rehabilitation center.

Chad’s, home of the weighted coin used for the popular “Flip for Your Dinner” promotion, was a Santa Barbara watering hole for 16 years.