City staff, elected officials and community members paid a visit to the Vitalant blood donation truck today at City Hall and contributed 18 pints of life-saving blood. Everyone walked away with a $10 grocery gift card and a chance to win a grand prize. The real winners were the future patients whose lives may be saved by today’s donations! Thank you to City staff and elected officials for spearheading this important effort.

Colombian-born songwriter and performer Nathalia will perform her original bilingual music at this year’s final Summer Reading Program event on Friday, August 16 at 3:30 p.m. at the Carpinteria Veteran’s Hall, 941 Walnut Ave.

Brought to you by Carpinteria Community Library, the family friendly concert will feature catchy melodies, heartfelt lyrics and musical stories that have families singing, dancing and even opportunities to learn a little Spanish.

Winners of the Summer Reading Prizes will also be announced at the event. Don’t miss it!

On Aug. 15, the Architectural Review Board will hold its final review of a mixed-use project at the former site of Sun Coast Rentals, 4745 Carpinteria Ave. The proposed three-story mixed-use (commercial/residential) development includes a 24-unit apartment complex and a 4,044 square foot two-story commercial building.

Additional projects on the meeting agenda include review of a sign program for an existing multi-tenant building at 1145 Eugenia Place and the preliminary review of a proposal for collocation of a new wireless telecommunications facility at 6267 Carpinteria Ave.

The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. and will include virtual and in-person opportunities for public comment.  Learn more about viewing and participation options, as well as project details, at https://bit.ly/3M7HtPC.

The Carpinteria City Council traditionally cancels one of its summer meetings to give councilmembers an opportunity to take a short break. For that reason, there will be no Council meeting on Aug. 12. Regular meetings will resume on Monday, Aug. 26.

The City of Carpinteria is currently recruiting for a Part Time Maintenance Worker.

To view the job posting and apply, visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/carpinteriaca/jobs/4608710/part-time-maintenance-worker?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Please share this information with anyone who may be interested in the opportunity. For additional details, contact Javier Gutierrez at (805) 755-4404 or Teresa Ilasin at (805) 755-4458.

Partners in Education’s six-week Computer Basics course will kick off on Aug. 12.  Offered in English and Spanish, the FREE course will take place at Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave.

The English course will take place Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. in English, and from 6 to 8 p.m. in Spanish.

Participants will receive a strong foundation in computer basics and each will receive a new Chromebook.

To register, contact Alondra Rodriguez at (805) 964-4710 ext. 4401 or email partners@sbceo.org.

Wondering what to do if you come across a stranded marine mammal?

The Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) is reporting a recent increase in calls for marine mammals showing signs of domoic acid (DA) poisoning. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin that can be fatal for marine mammals when consumed at high amounts. If a marine mammal is poisoned, it might exhibit signs similar to stargazing, head weaving, lethargy, or erratic behavior.

If you see a marine mammal exhibiting these signs, please do the following:

–       Do not touch! Marine mammals can react negatively to human interaction and they may bite.

–       Observe the animal from a minimum of 50 feet away (length of a school bus)

–       Determine the location of the animal

–       Call CIMWI’s hotline at (805) 567–1505 or fill out an online rescue form at: https://www.cimwi.org/online-rescue-form

In the event you come across a dead marine mammal, do the following steps above AND fill out a service request form at https://carpinteriaca.gov/service-request/, so that the City can properly handle the situation.For more information, please visit www.cimwi.org or the Marine Mammal Rescue & Reporting webpage on the City’s website.

Beneficial bugs are incredibly, well, beneficial!

Learn all about insect species that are super helpful to humans on Friday, Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. at Carpinteria Community Library.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Ecology Technician Kylie Etter will deliver the engaging and informative talk as part of the library’s Summer Reading Program.

On August 12, Partners in Education will kick off its free six-week Computer Basics class in English and Spanish at Carpinteria Community Library, 5141 Carpinteria Ave.

The six-week course takes place Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. in English and from 6 to 8 p.m. in Spanish.

Participants will receive a strong foundation in computer basics and each will receive a new Chromebook.

To register, contact Alondra Rodriguez at (805) 964-4710 ext. 4401 or email partners@sbceo.org.

A multi-year effort to restore native pollinator habitat on Santa Monica Trail will continue on Saturday, Aug. 10. Volunteers are asked to pitch in and join the Pollinator Habitat Project and the City of Carpinteria with weeding, planting and prepping the area around the trail. Work will take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and volunteers may drop by 4405 El Carro Lane at any point in the day and stay for as long as they want.