Though details are still being hashed out, the tentatively brokered California state budget resolution appears to have spared most of the area state parks threatened with closures by earlier incarnations of the plan. With some $8 million in cuts this year and twice that amount identified for next year in the as-yet unofficial budget, the California Department of Parks and Recreation is now looking at shuttering three parks in Santa Barbara County according to park officials. Those on the list include La Purisima Mission, Chumash Painted Cave Historic Park, and Point Sal State Beach.
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Efforts to save the Gaviota Coast from development are locked in an online dogfight with an anti-beach-fill movement in Palm Beach, Florida. The two worthy causes are battling for $10,000 in pledged donations from the California-based Barefoot Wine and whichever one gets the most votes at barefootwines.com/beachrescue scores the dough. The contest runs through 8/15.