Viva la Fiesta!
Or as much Fiesta as is possible in the Age of the Coronavirus.
This year’s version of Old Spanish Days bears little resemblance to previous celebrations of Santa Barbara’s culture and heritage. No parades, and now no mercados. To my great disappointment, a severely pared down Fiesta Stock Horse Show & Rodeo.
At least it’s happening, unlike last year. So we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.
Meanwhile, with public schools apparently on course for another exciting year of chaos, this time with the promise of more classroom action, exasperated parents can be forgiven if they feel just as bewildered as before.
Noozhawk’s reporters will continue to keep you informed on those developments, but our annual ParentNooz After-School Activities Guide publishes Aug. 9 to provide additional opportunities you and your kids can count on.
If you’ve got a camp, program or service to include, click here to contact Kim Clark, Noozhawk’s business development vice president, for more information.
According to our Google Analytics, a wave of 111,776 readers hit Noozhawk this past week.
What follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading. And by “my take,” I mean my opinion. This is my opinion column, not a news story.
1. New Tsunami Hazard Maps Show Santa Barbara County Areas Most At-Risk in ‘Worst-Case Scenario’
New mathematical modeling of tsunami hazards — and a “worst-case-scenario” from a hypothetical magnitude-9.3 earthquake in Alaska’s eastern Aleutian Islands — caught the attention of our Brooke Holland. Not surprisingly, her July 25 story produced a surge of reader traffic in our coastal community.
As she reported, the California Geological Survey updated its statewide tsunami hazard maps with new interactivity and assessments to help with evacuation and response planning.
The maps allow users to enter an address or neighborhood to determine whether the location is within a tsunami hazard area. Click here for the Santa Barbara County map.
Much of the county’s coastline is in such areas, including low-lying portions of Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Goleta Point, Devereux Slough, Ocean Beach Park west of Lompoc and Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Preserve.
According to the maps, the Santa Barbara waterfront is in a hazard area that sweeps a few blocks inland to Highway 101. Part of the zone extends north of the freeway, in an area bounded by Garden Street on the west, East Haley Street on the north and North Salsipuedes Street on the east.
“Bottom line: If you’re near the coast and feel strong shaking from a local earthquake or get an official notification to evacuate, move inland or to a higher elevation as soon as possible,” said Rick Wilson, head of the CGS Tsunami Program.
“A large tsunami surge might be fascinating to watch but you don’t want to be anywhere near it.”
More than 150 tsunamis have been recorded in California since 1800, but the CGS acknowledges that most are barely noticeable.
In that time period, there have been 17 deaths, a dozen of them occurring in a monstrous 1964 tsunami that swamped Crescent City, just south of the Oregon border. That tsunami was triggered by a deadly and devastating 9.2-magnitude earthquake in Alaska.
The night of July 28, the Alaska Peninsula experienced a long, magnitude-8.2 earthquake, the state’s largest in nearly 60 years. There were no serious injuries or major damage, and a localized tsunami warning and evacuations were canceled after waves of less than a foot arrived on the Alaska shore.
2. BizHawk: Timbers Restaurant Returning to Western Goleta After 15-Year Hiatus
The historic Timbers Restaurant, just off Highway 101 in western Goleta, will be back in business next month after sitting mostly empty and unused for some 15 years.
As our Josh Molina first reported, the iconic and cavernous building at 10 Winchester Canyon Road is being restored by new owners Kim and Gino Stabile, along with business partner Sandy Boyd.
The trio’s plans are for a more formal dinner to be served after 4 p.m. on one side of the building, with a more casual atmosphere on the other side, which will serve customers throughout the day. A patio will feature a firepit and a variety of games.
“It has such an amazing history,” Kim Stabile told Josh. “It was a shame to see it not open for so many years.”
The restaurant was built in 1953 with oil-streaked lumber from the nearby Ellwood Pier, hence The Timbers name. It had gone through several iterations over the decades, before closing for good in 2005.
The Stabiles, who also own Woody’s BBQ in the Magnolia Shopping Center, say they hope to secure some historical pictures and artifacts from the family of Timbers founder H.C. “Tex” Blankenship to honor the restaurant’s roots.
“We spent the past six months restoring it, remodeling it, kind of bringing it back to what it really was,” Kim Stabile said.
3. Remains of 17-Year-Old Jack Cantin Recovered 3½ Years After Deadly Montecito Debris Flows
The discovery and recovery of the remains of 17-year-old Jack Cantin continued to draw strong readership this last week, as did my Best of Bill column leading with it.
Jack and his family were among the scores of victims of the Jan. 9, 2018, Montecito flash flooding and debris flows that killed 23 people.
When Montecito Creek exploded through the Cantins’ Hot Springs Road home that morning, Jack and his dad, Dave, were swept away to their deaths. His mom, Kim Cantin, and sister Lauren were severely injured but somehow survived.
Jack’s remains were not found until late May, 3½ years after the disaster, Kim Cantin revealed last week. No other details were disclosed, although she said her son was found less than 1,000 yards from where their house once stood.
A 2-year-old neighbor of the Cantins, Lydia Sutthithepa, is still missing.
4. Santa Barbara County Faces ‘Pandemic of the Unvaccinated’ with Surge of Coronavirus Cases
The one-two combination of COVID-19’s highly infectious Delta variant and the still large minority of unvaccinated Santa Barbara County residents is being blamed for July’s spike in coronavirus cases.
As our Jade Martinez-Pogue reported, the county’s COVID-19 case rate increased by 400% over the last month.
The result, according to Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county’s public health officer, is that we’re now facing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” — a phrase I used in last week’s column while noting that it always has been.
As of July 28, the county had 366 active cases — the highest number in five months.
Related hospitalizations also jumped by 71% from a two-week average of 16, which sounds alarming until you read that the number just as quickly dropped back to a total of 17.
“I am particularly saddened and upset because all of this is 100% preventable,” Ansorg said. “We make it as easy and as accessible as possible (to get the vaccine), and still, way too many people are unwilling to get vaccinated.
“We now experience the pandemic of the unvaccinated, it is unnecessary and completely preventable.”
As of July 29, our Giana Magnoli reported, nearly 70% of the county’s 450,000 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 52% are fully inoculated.
The county Public Health Department says the number of vaccinations has been inching up recently but it’s still a far cry from the public stampede in April when eligibility was expanded to anyone over age 21.
Click here for vaccination locations in the county, including walk-up appointments.
Unfortunately, one of the most popular and convenient locations — the drive-through mass vaccination clinic at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital — delivered its last shot in the arm July 29. The hospital is dismantling the impressively efficient operation after delivering just under 100,000 doses since mid-January.
5. Ray Ford: Front-Country Trailhead Parking Issues Are Symbol of Larger Concerns
I live near Montecito’s Hot Springs trailhead, which has been beset by parking and trash problems for more than a year. The controversy has been the subject of several Noozhawk stories and made the lead item in my April 23 Best of Bill column.
As most of you know, the challenges are not unique to the Hot Springs Trail, or to Montecito. In fact, they’re nearly universal at most front-country trailheads.
Our outdoors writer, Ray Ford, who probably uses our local trails more than anyone but Noozhawk columnist Dan McCaslin, took a long look at the issue and delivered a comprehensive report on the situation.
You won’t find a more thorough account of the circumstances, responses and solutions, and it’s well worth your time to read — even if you don’t consider yourself a hard-core hiker.
These trails, and the neighborhoods around them, are community assets, and we all have a responsibility to use them wisely and respectfully.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Black Bear Spotted Roaming Through Montecito Neighborhoods.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
I’ve never been to the Farallones, a cluster of rugged, desolate islands jutting out of the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles west of San Francisco. But I’ve wanted to go since I first read, The Devil’s Teeth, about the enormous great white sharks that patrol the storm-tossed waters around them. So of course this caught my eye: Protecting San Francisco’s Wild Islands.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
@pedalthepacific took up a lot of my time and my Instagram feed this past week. It was well worth it. #endsextrafficking
• • •
Watch It
I’m afraid this J.P. Sears video from exactly a year ago sure held up well.
(AwakenWithJP video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.