Regarding Noozhawk’s May 27 article, “Design Proposals for Santa Barbara’s State Street Spark Heated Debate,” having sat through the meeting to talk about the future of State Street, it was obvious that the consultant was not presenting their plan but simply submitting versions of what multiple interest groups wanted to see.
This resulted in three submissions that no one agreed with and would likely be way beyond the funds the City of Santa Barbara has for the project.
It might be best to regroup and agree on what needs to be done and the best way to go about it. In my opinion, the starting point should be to return State Street to what it was and address the sidewalk areas with whatever landscaping and improvements it takes to make State Street a must-see attraction for residents and tourists alike.
Equally important would be securing the funds to keep it that way. This means two-way traffic along with electric buses and, of course, the many parades and special events that make Santa Barbara so special.
Once that plan is in place we could consider how a modest bike lane might be included as well as how we might accommodate outdoor dining by restaurants.
The imperative for restaurant dining should be attractive settings that add to the beauty of State Street, not what we have today. By approaching it this way we should be able to get something done to revive State Street with time later to consider the benefit of adding space for bikes and dining.
George Lilly
Santa Barbara
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A light went on in my head when I read the May 10 article, “Legal Pot Is More Potent Than Ever — And Still Largely Unregulated.”
Like many who grew up in Santa Barbara in the late 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, I was exposed to marijuana at a very early age and continued to smoke pot and grow it off and on for the next 50 years.
In the beginning, it was homegrown weed, grown by folks who care and tendered their plants with care, using nature’s soil and basically organic ingredients.
In high school, my buddies and I poured over Ed Rosental’s classic book Marijuana Growers Guide. We used a mixture of potting soil, chicken manure and the secret ingredient, fish emulsion.
We spent the growing season hauling fresh water in five-gallon bottles on our backs, scrambling through thick brush to our secret grow sites. We were covered in ticks, poison oak and scratches all summer.
Our biggest treats were the rats and deer that would love to eat our precious plants.
We put our hearts and soul into this homegrown ganja, and we had pride in the finished product. When we harvested, we celebrated the harvest, and we always gave much of our harvest away to friends in need.
My mother and her esoteric friends referred to this homegrown pot as the “sacred substance,” and I know that it has helped many people (especially those who grew up in conformist society or suffered from PTSD like Vietnam vets) to open a widow to a different reality and find inner peace.
Then came legal weed. After a bad divorce and loss of work (laid off after the Thomas Fire and again after COVID-19), I was intrigued to try using pot again. As I no longer had any connections to homegrown pot and no time or space to grow it, I was drawn to the new legal cannabis dispensary.
I started purchasing various brands, mostly from Carpinteria growers, packed in shiny packages. Then I went to my dispensary, where they had some of the “growers” in store to promote their brands.
What I saw shocked me: instead of the old homegrown growers who knew their weed, I met slick talking corporate-looking dudes from Orange County who were nervous and twitchy, looking at their phones while I asked them questions.
After a few months of smoking this new corporate pot, I started to notice I was feeling constantly nauseated, my belly was getting very sour and upset, and my mind was getting foggy.
The worse I felt the more I smoked to relieve the pain in my belly. I was getting depressed.
When I read the Noozhawk article, I learned about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. I now understood what was happening to me.
I made the decision at that moment to stop smoking that day. This is not the “sacred substance” of the past, but a vile corporate product full of unknown crap, grown for greed and profit, not for my benefit.
Thank you, Noozhawk, for publishing the article. It has saved my health and well-being! Please avoid this new pot.
Michael Gardner
Santa Barbara
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In his book, Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg says, “The library really is a palace. It bestows nobility … People need to have nobility and dignity in their lives … The library assumes the best out of people. The services it provides are founded upon the assumption that, if given the chance, people will improve themselves.”
The Santa Barbara City Council is deliberating on budget decisions and among the most important is fully funding our library. Cuts to the library’s budget over the years have resulted in fewer hours, less access and limitations on collections, literacy programs, adult education and much needed services.
Measure C, passed in 2018, includes the library as a vital municipal service, and allows these funds to be used by the city to restore and improve such services and facilities.
Contact the City Council and let them know that you support fully funding the Santa Barbara Public Library: increase access and open hours; improve literacy for infants, children and adults through reading programs; enhance free access to internet and computers; and continue providing space and services for all members of the community to learn, grow, to experience art, to learn about technology and innovation.
The Santa Barbara Public Library is a vital part of our community. Through collaboration with city services, schools and nonprofit organizations, the library helps assure that everyone has an opportunity to achieve their potential and contribute successfully to our community.
Cece Harris
Santa Barbara
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The Santa Barbara Library is more important than ever when the school year ends. The Santa Barbara Unified School District has close to 4,000 students who attend their elementary schools, but this summer, there will be room for only 540 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in their four-week summer program.
On June 10, the day after school lets out for the summer, the Santa Barbara Public Library Summer Reading Program will kick off at Alameda Park.
Children and teens will have a chance to stop by the Friends of the Library table and choose a free book, and a game board to track their goals.
In addition to meeting with librarians, participants will be able to choose from a variety of prizes donated by local businesses and museums once they complete their goals.
Many of our children depend on a lunch program at school so the library offers “Lunch at the Library” and provides children and teens with free summer meals, and other activities that support learning, health and wellness.
It also brings families to the library where staff can connect adult family members and caregivers with essential library resources and services.
In addition, other literacy programs will continue throughout the summer, and the Library on the Go will be out bringing the library to the community.
All programs and services are free to the community, but they all cost money. Even though many are funded through grants that the library has applied for, the library can’t keep ahead of the budget cuts it receives each year.
I honestly can’t think of a more important community resource to support.
Barbara Hershberg
Santa Barbara
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