According to authorities, saber rattling between two Eastside gangs is responsible for the recent rash of violence on the lower Eastside. Two young men, ages 16 and 18, were admitted to the Cottage Hospital emergency room last Thursday afternoon with stab wounds from an alleged gang fight near the Cacique Street footbridge. The younger of the two was in critical condition due to a thigh wound that nicked an artery.
by Matt Kettmann, with Sam Kornell and Ethan Stewart
So it’s with open arms that we welcome the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival to our town this weekend, which is being co-presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. With a collection of eight films ranging geographically from the Middle East, Balkans, and Sri Lanka to New Jersey, New Orleans, and Colombia, we can expect a weekend full of insightful documentaries, beginning with Friday night’s opening at the Lobero and continuing all day Saturday at the Victoria Hall Theater. If you consider yourself a positive force or conscious participant in the world, this is a must-see, whether that means picking one to check out, or buying a $30 pass to see ’em all. What follows are reviews of each film to be presented this weekend.
At The Mercury Lounge, Thursday, May 11.
It opened with a sinister little puppet show and ended in an extended blast of adrenaline, in the line of punk-fortified urban soul music. Just another Thursday night at The Mercury Lounge in Goleta, where a bounty of kitschy decor and musical intensity lurks within the unassuming storefront in the blissfully dead zone of Old Town Goleta by night. This joint deserves historic hangout status in the grand timeline of local culture-before this stretch of Goleta is cruelly dehumanized by the mini-mallers. Those thoughts might have run through the head of someone at this raucous cool show by The BellRays and The Spores.
BASTA: Okay, I admit it: Long before construction even started, I’ve had it in for the monumentally silly new parking garage that’s recently erupted behind the Granada Theatre. It’s been explained to me a million times that this aesthetically overwrought and hyperventilated, five-story, $24.5 million parking lot is the second coming of sliced bread and Swiss cheese-not to mention the salvation of upper State Street-but such arguments fail to penetrate the perimeter of my cranial fog. The way I see it, upper State-the stretch between Carrillo and Sola-has been thriving very nicely without divine intervention of massive publicly financed construction projects.
by Joyce Johnson, with Dona Haber and Marsha Elleston
One of Santa Barbara’s great treasures, Patricia A. Wandler, passed away at age 78 on April 28, 2006 after a valiant battle with cancer. Patricia was known to many as a Rolfer, healer, and friend. She had a larger-than-life existence that changed the lives of others forever. Her ability to heal the body and see through to the soul was a gift to all who knew her. She had a keen sense of self, encouraged the personal growth of others, and delighted in hearing their accomplishments and triumphs.
The Pearl Chase Society presents its 8th Annual Historic Homes Tour on Sunday, May 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year the society will showcase five homes in Montecito’s Hedgerow neighborhood, offering an intriguing mix of architectural styles.
Brunch: Been there. Flowers: Done that. If trying to come up with something new to do this Mother’s Day has left you frustrated and resigned to hitting the 1-800-flowers button on your speed dial, why not consider tapping into this hot new trend, steeped in elegant tradition?
Twenty-seven years since the removal of the notorious dictator Idi Amin, Uganda is still struggling. Refugee camps dot the northern portion of an east African nation ravaged by AIDS.
Capping two tumultuous weeks for Santa Barbara’s daily newspaper, News-Press editorial writer Travis Armstrong-famous for his blistering opinions-was arrested for drunken driving late Saturday night after police noticed him driving the wrong way down one-way Santa Barbara Street.
Despite vehement objections and threats of lawsuits by neighborhood preservation groups, the county Board of Supervisors at long last adopted a draft revised housing plan to send to the state.
