Hello Santa Barbara! Stay connected with the latest updates from around town. Let's dive in! ☕️️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: Santa Barbara Symphony Season Kickoff Celebration and 9 more events.
Today's riddle: Is there anybody completely useless? 🤔 (Answer below!)
1. Santa Barbara City Council introduces ordinance to establish rent stabilization (keyt.com) — Santa Barbara renters and landlords face big changes as the City Council introduces a rent stabilization ordinance that caps annual increases at 3% or 60% of CPI and creates a rental registry. The rules would start January 1 when the rent freeze ends, with registry fees set in December and new funding directed to the city's flexible housing fund.
2. The sixth annual Masq(p)arade! returns to State Street for roving performances (newspress.com) — State Street will come alive on Friday, October 2, when the free, family-friendly Masq(p)arade! roving performance showcase returns to Santa Barbara's Historic Arts District with piano-centered acts every 15 minutes. You can wander between painted pianos from the Arlington Theatre down State Street, ending at the new Michael Towbes Library Plaza, with masks encouraged to join the festive atmosphere.
3. Test score gap between white and Latino students remains wide in Santa Barbara Unified (newspress.com) — Santa Barbara Unified families are seeing small gains in state test scores, but a large achievement gap between white and Latino students persists in both English and math. District data highlight which local schools are improving, which are slipping, and outline new literacy, language development, and intervention efforts aimed at boosting performance across Santa Barbara classrooms.
4. El Niño Storm Preparations Underway (keyt.com) — Santa Barbara officials are urging residents to get ready now for potential El Niño-driven winter storms, emphasizing flood risks below the south county foothills. The city and county are sharing preparedness tips, hosting an October 1 virtual community meeting, and directing people to sign up for ReadySBC alerts, check flood zones, and assemble evacuation plans and go bags.
5. Santa Barbara's Rent Stabilization Talks Nearly Fall Apart Over Housing Exemptions (noozhawk.com) — Santa Barbara's rent stabilization ordinance is moving forward after a tense council fight over whether to exempt deed-restricted and Section 8 housing, with exemptions ultimately passing 4-3. Starting January 1, the measure will cap most rent hikes at 3% or 60% of CPI, create a rent board and citywide rental registry, and launch a multimillion-dollar program whose final costs are still being studied.
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Ok Santa Barbara! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: No because they can always be used as a bad example! (Thank you Gary M. for sending it in!)
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