Animal Rescue Team, INC., executive director Julia Di Sieno was arrested by the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department for allegedly defying a court oder to turn over her weapons on Monday, Feb 5.

Julia DiSieno booking photo 
Photo contributed

Di Sieno was arrested without incident for violating the court order, possessing firearms although she had been prohibited from having them as part of the court order, and possessing a baton, according to Kelly Hoover, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Department.

In December 2017, Di Sieno was charged by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office with the Penal Code Violations of 422 – Criminal Threats & PC 646.9 – Stalking with the alleged victims identified as neighbors Mary and Richard Nohr. As a result, Di Sieno was issued a Criminal Protective Order pursuant to PC 136.2, which was served on Dec. 22, according to the Sheriff’s press release.

Di Sieno was ordered to surrender all firearms and ammunition within 24 hours after being served with the Criminal Protective Order, and she had 48 hours to file a receipts to the court showing she surrendered all firearm and ammunition belonging to her.

Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Santa Ynez Valley, responded for a report of Criminal Protective Order violation on Feb. 2, allegedly perpetrated by Di Sieno towards the Nohr’s. Based on the deputies investigation, Di Sieno was in fact believed to have violated the Protection Order and the case was ultimately forwarded to the District Attorney requesting criminal charges be brought against Di Sieno, the press release stated.

Detectives with the Santa Barbara County Special Investigations Bureau (SBCSIB) began conducting their investigation and it was learned  Di Sieno had not surrendered her registered firearms / ammunition which was ordered by the court, therefore a search warrant granted based on the probable cause that Di Sieno was in violation of the Criminal Protective Order.

Detectives with the SBCSIB found numerous firearms were located along with a copious amount of ammunition of various calibers throughout Di Sieno’s residence, according to the press release.

As a result, Di Sieno was arrested based on the Penal Code violations and booked into the Santa Barbara County Main Jail.

Animal Rescue Team has been subject to controversy lately as their permit to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife was severely restricted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in September of last year, according to a Noozhawk article on Sept. 27.

The operation run in the 800 block of Carriage Drive in Solvang was restricted to care for birds, rabbits, raccoons, opossums and squirrels.

This story is still developing, check back for details.

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Stephen Foster wrote the iconic American tune “Hard Times Come Again No More” in 1854, more than 160 years ago. In summer 2016, perhaps the most culturally and musically diverse group ever to perform the song took the stage during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concert at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

The musicians included 16 teen mariachis, country artist Maurice Tani, Filipino-American folk singer Aireene Espiritu, Bollywood and blues blender Aki Kumar, and the man who brought them all together – Los Olivos resident Jim Pugh.

Playing the keyboard, Pugh stole the show only for a few seconds, to deliver a spirited organ outtake. Being in the background is a role that the career musician is accustomed to. For the last 40 years, he has played keyboard alongside talents including Etta James, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray.

But despite sharing the stage with some of America’s most famous musicians, the artists Pugh is excited about today include a 17-year-old female mariachi from the Central Valley and a quartet of aging gospel singers from Oakland.

Pugh’s nonprofit Little Village Foundation helps undiscovered and underappreciated musicians from all walks of life record their original music, and then pushes to get them noticed.

Pugh records the music at no expense to the artist, and then the Little Village Foundation gives all proceeds from sales back to the artists. The effort is funded solely through donations from people who want to support the foundation’s mission.

“My real gift is that I am just moved by music, whether it is listening to Mixteco music in somebody’s living room in Santa Maria or at the Church of God in Christ in Oakland. It doesn’t make all that much difference what type of music it is – it all is of equal to value to me,” Pugh said in a recent interview.

Pugh is exceptionally humble and even self-deprecating about his own musical accomplishments, which include contributions to Grammy-winning albums, global tours and personal relationships with some of the biggest names in blues of the last half century. Asked about the legends he has performed with, he talked about the content of their character.

“For the most part, all the people I have worked with in my career were all really nice people. B.B. King was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Robert Cray was interesting because he was so painfully shy that he came across as being standoffish, but he’s kind of a hero to me. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but he has done a lot of things for a lot of people anonymously,” Pugh said.

Cray, a five-time Grammy winner and also a Santa Ynez Valley resident, is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame.

Pugh stopped touring with Cray in 2014 and took stock of his life. He’d been a performer since his early 20s. He decided that the logical next chapter involved encouraging those attempting to break into the music industry – which had grown infinitely more challenging during Pugh’s 40-year career.

“I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. So I combined music and diversity and community service. I put those all together because those are the things that I like to do,” he said.

The result is Little Village, which has produced the albums of 13 unknown artists over the last two years. They include blues and soul singer Wee Willie Walker, Indian blues artist Aki Kumar, folk singer Aireene Espiritu, cowboy musician Dave Ellis, and gospel quartet Sons of the Soul Revivers, among others.

The musicians receive 1,000 CDs — free — to sell to their fans and followers, as well as a small honorarium. But it’s often the connections that Pugh can introduce them to that have the most value.

Thanks to his industry contacts, Little Village artists have performed at shows like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, and the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland. A group of youth mariachi musicians from the Central Valley took it one step further, landing an evening gig at Carnegie Hall.

Going on a tip from a friend, Pugh found Mariachi Mestizo, a coed band of teenagers from Delano, performing at a park in Woodlake, Calif. He drives long miles to see potential talent, and estimates he’ll put 60,000 miles on his car in 2017.

Their Little Village album, “Te Doy La Libertad,” was recorded in a single day at Capitol Records and released in 2016 to acclaim from those who know the genre well.

“In an era of commercially driven and ‘over produced’ music, it’s refreshing that Jim Pugh’s production of Mariachi Mestizo is all about feel. The other wonderful aspect is that what you hear on the CD is exactly what you’ll hear when you see them live,” said Arturo Gastelum, founder of The Mariachi Channel.

In April, the group became the first California mariachi band to debut at Carnegie Hall since Los Camperos de Nati Cano, the Grammy-winning LA mariachis, who played there in the 1960s.

“That’s the poster child of the Little Village Foundation, because it’s such an amazing transformation from seeing them in the park in Woodlake to them performing at Carnegie Hall,” Pugh said.

A second album has also come out of the relationship, featuring teen poet and trumpet player Xochitl Morales.

A second album has also come out of the relationship, featuring teen poet and trumpet player Xochitl Morales. Her evocative words about daily life in the Central Valley have earned her national attention, as well as the chance to study at NYU on a journalism fellowship this summer.

“These kids are more American than I am,” Pugh said of Morales and her fellow mariachis. “They are working really hard, teaching little kids how to play music, practicing themselves, and studying to be top students as well as musicians.”

The plan is for Little Village to expand and continue to discover and recognize artists like Morales and Mariachi Mestizo – the diverse and hopeful voices that make America’s music scene unique.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing with my poetry in 20 years,” Morales said of her recently released spoken-word album.  “But I know that right now, its purpose is to serve as a voice for people who either are too scared to speak for themselves or who just can’t.”

To see more information about the Little Village Foundation and its artists, or to make a donation, go to http://littlevillagefoundation.com.

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Almost every evening was sold out as the Arts Outreach Summer Youth Community Theater program presented “Annie Get Your Gun” in late July at the Little Theater at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.

Arts Outreach provides the summer opportunity for students to dive into live theater in an intensive four-week program. Students take lead roles, teach younger students, create friendships, learn new talents, and foster pride through acting, singing, and dancing.

In the musical, the rough-and-tumble Annie Oakley is the best shot around. A backwoods gal, Annie uses her skill to support her family by selling the game she hunts. When she’s discovered by Buffalo Bill and persuaded to join his Wild West Show, Annie is plucked from obscurity and becomes the toast of Europe.

Annie meets her match in Frank Butler, Buffalo Bill’s leading man and star marksman. She falls head over heels for Frank, but soon eclipses him as the main attraction in the show.

“Annie Get Your Gun” follows the journey of Annie and Frank, revealing their competitive natures as they vie for best-marksman honors — and each other’s hearts. This fictionalized version of the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her romance with Frank Butler boasts a score of Irving Berlin gems including “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “I Got Lost in His Arms,” “I Got the Sun in the Mornin,’” “Anything You Can Do,” and “They Say It’s Wonderful.”

Each summer, the cast has grown larger, with past students volunteering their time and talent to help the up-and-comers on their theatrical journey.

With a  mission to “bring life to art and art to life,” Arts Outreach is a nonprofit arts education organization that provides experiences in visual, dramatic, literary and performance art to the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos valleys.

For more information, visit www.artsoutreach.com.

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