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Santa Barbara Permaculture Network’s
2025 Annual Eco Hero Award
Honoring Bill & Athena Steen & Roxanne Swentzell
Natural Building Pioneers

Sunday, March 23, 6:30-9pm, 2025
TICKETS $10, $20, & Friends of Eco Hero $100 (students & kids free)

Location: Lobero Theatre
33 E Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Tickets on Sale Now: Lobero Ticket Office

Reception follows in the Lobero Courtyard for all ticket holders

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network celebrates its 5th Annual Eco Hero Award, continuing to honor those making significant and positive change, this time honoring Natural Building pioneers, Bill & Athena Steen & Roxanne Swentzell, joining us in person on Sunday, March 23, 2025.

All three hail from the American Southwest, they are natural builders, authors and acclaimed artists, each one devoted to the beauty of the land, with a commitment to building with care of the earth as a priority.

Up next in the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History’s Talk & Talkback Speaker Series will be Carpinterian Dale Olivas’ Urban Forestry & Native Habitats, a talk about trees—safety, maintenance, pruning, native and non-native trees, urban forestry, and defensible space—on June 3, 5 to 6 p.m. at the museum, 956 Maple Ave., in downtown Carpinteria.

Olivas is an arborist and tree expert who serves on the City of Carpinteria’s Tree Advisory Board. In addition to his tree-related work, Olivas volunteered with Hope805 after the Thomas Fire to bring mental health wellness to people in the region and worked on the rehabilitation of public lands after debris flow from flooding in the Montecito area as a FEMA-trained volunteer.

The 2025 Talk & Talkback Speaker Series is hosted by the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History. The Urban Forestry & Native Habitats talk is free for members of the museum and $10 per person for visitors.
For more information on the Talk & Talkback Speaker Series, volunteering at the museum, or other questions, call (805) 684-3112, email info@carpinteriahistoricalmuseum.org, or visit carpinteriahistoricalmuseum.org.

2025/26 Joint Season Opener
Saturday, October 18 | 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 19 | 3:00 PM

Attend "Conversations with KUSC" with on-air personality Jennifer Miller Hammel
Saturday Pre-Concert Chat | 6:30-7:00 PM
Sunday Pre-Concert Chat | 2:00-2:30 PM

A love forbidden. A love immortal. The greatest moments from Prokofiev’s greatest ballet—the ardent Romeo and Juliet performed with grace and passion by dancers from State Street Ballet on the Granada stage. These concerts—and the season—begin as Nir Kabaretti and the Santa Barbara Symphony perform Shostakovich’s spirited Festive Overture and Rachmaninoff’s Men’s Dance from the Opera Aleko.

The Artists
Nir Kabaretti, conductor
State Street Ballet
Santa Barbara City College Brass

Repertoire
SHOSTAKOVICH | Festive Overture
RACHMANINOFF | Men’s Dance from the Opera Aleko
PROKOFIEV | Romeo & Juliet, Acts 1 & 2 (with dancers from State Street Ballet)
Visit for more: https://thesymphony.org/concerts-events/orchestra-concerts/state-street-ballet/

Tickets start as low as $35 (does not include Granada fees).

Santa Barbara Symphony- Bella Italia

Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 29, 2026 | 3:00 PM
The Granada Theatre

Attend "Conversations with KUSC" with on-air personality Jennifer Miller Hammel
Saturday Pre-Concert Chat | 6:30-7:00 PM
Sunday Pre-Concert Chat | 2:00-2:30 PM

A five-century survey of Italian classics. From Vivaldi’s perennial The Four Seasons, to Puccini’s youthful Capriccio Sinfonico (an early working of tunes to later appear in La Bohème!) to Respighi’s thunderous The Pines of Rome with brass blazing from the four corners of The Granada Theatre. And discover a recent, lively concerto by Christian Carrara inspired by the dazzling Red Ferrari Accordion.

The Artists
Nir Kabaretti, Conductor
Hanzhi Wang, Accordion

Repertoire
VIVALDI | “Winter” from The Four Seasons
CRISTIAN CARRARA | Red Ferrari Accordion Concerto
(co-commissioned by Santa Barbara Symphony, Orchestra della Toscana, Musica Insieme – Bologna, Richmond Symphony Orchestra & FVG Orchestra)
PUCCINI | Capriccio Sinfonico
RESPIGHI | The Pines of Rome

For more info and tickets, visit: https://thesymphony.org/concerts-events/orchestra-concerts/bella-italia/

The Simi Valley Family YMCA is hosting an Alumni Reunion and Open House on Thursday, October 23, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 pm to celebrate the YMCA’s 40th anniversary. The community is invited to join the celebration.

Since first opening its doors a little over 40 years ago, the Simi Valley Family Y has been a second home for generations of families. From swim lessons and summer camps to teen leadership programs, after-school enrichment, youth sports and fitness classes, the Y has touched tens of thousands of lives over the past four decades.

Guests can enjoy a walk down memory lane with a display of photos from the YMCA’s early years, reconnect with alumni and staff and hear about Y’s upcoming expansion plans, with construction slated to begin next year.

Beverages and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. The Simi Valley Family YMCA is at 3200 Cochran St. Event registration is required. To register, go to https://www.sevymca.org/events/ymca-alumni-happy-hour-open-house.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, the first all-female mariachi in the United States, is that they have paved the way for other female mariachi groups to exist at the professional level. Reyna, which was formed in 1994, has truly broken the stereotypes surrounding Mariachi music. In a musical landscape of songs that are often written by men, and for men, Reyna has created their own history.

Under the leadership of ten-time Grammy nominee, Maestro Jose Hernandez, Reyna was the first female Mariachi to break out of local level recognition to international stardom with original compositions, arrangements, and interpretations of mariachi classics.

Noteworthy accomplishments include playing private concerts for superstars such as George Harrison, John Travolta, and debuting at the Hollywood Bowl. Perhaps their greatest career highlight was performing at the White House for President Obama's Cinco De Mayo celebration. As performers, their passionate vocals, ability to engage the audience, and stellar musicality are second to none, leading to both American and Latin Grammy Nominations.

FOUR FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
Thursday, January 15 | 7 PM | Carpinteria Vets Memorial Building
Friday, January 16 | 7 PM Isla Vista Elementary
Saturday, January 17 | 7 PM | Guadalupe City Hall
Sunday, January 18 | 6 PM | Marjorie Luke Theatre

For more information please visit:
https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/learn/viva-el-arte-de-santa-barbara/

The Democratic governors of three Western states — California, Oregon and Washington — say they will form a new public health partnership to preserve access to vaccines.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe and Holly Anderson, co-host of the Shutdown Fullcast, discuss the unusual college football season.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have canceled their football seasons this fall, but other college conferences said they're determined to play — and they believe they can do so safely.

A recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found nearly 6-in-10 voters say President Trump's top priority should be lowering prices. That concern is being expressed loudly in the swing state of Wisconsin.