As I’ve said before, our team at Noozhawk has been overwhelmed by the volume of reader response after managing editor Giana Magnoli asked for your questions about the coronavirus vaccine and its chaotic rollout.
But it’s been the subsequent heartfelt thanks from those same readers that has been the most gratifying for us.
A handwritten note from Hawks Club members Fermina and Steve Ferry of Goleta is representative of the kind of feedback we’ve been receiving.
“Your coverage of the confusing and anxiety-making process of getting a COVID vaccination has been spectacular for its thoroughness and clarity,” they wrote. “We have come to rely on it as our best source of guidance and background.”
We’re happy to provide that, but we know we can do more. Later this month, we will via a free Noozhawk Talks webcast forum on the vaccine scene.
Early next week, we’ll announce the day, time, panelists, sponsors and registration details. I’ll be moderating the program, which will include an impressive panel of the leading health-care professionals on Santa Barbara County’s South Coast.
I’m excited about this forum, and I think you will be, too.
We at Noozhawk believe that an informed Santa Barbara County is a better Santa Barbara County, and our first-rate team of professional journalists works long hours to keep you in the know.
But as a small local company, we also depend on the financial support of our readers to help us keep providing you with the local news and information you need, 24/7.
With all the uncertainty and upheaval from the COVID-19 crisis and its twin economic disaster, we know that not everyone is able to contribute right now. But if you can, please do so by becoming a member of our Hawks Club.
You’ll be helping us grow, uncover more groundbreaking stories, and keep all of Noozhawk’s coverage free and accessible to everyone.
Your contribution, at any amount, makes a huge difference for us. Thank you.
Noozhawk had an audience of 123,396 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics, and this column is my own recap of the Top 5 stories you were reading during that period.
Don’t forget that this is an opinion column — my opinion — in case you come across some.
1. Santa Barbara Residents Arrested in Connection with Double Homicide Near Goleta
Exactly four weeks after the shocking murders of two Santa Barbara college students, four people were arrested as suspects in the case — including a 15-year-old boy.
To recap, the two 19-year-old victims — Enzo Marino Rastelli of Santa Barbara and Jasper Pieter van der Meulen of Isla Vista — were each shot in the head at point-blank range while they sat in Rastelli’s car around midday Jan. 7 in a quiet residential neighborhood just east of Goleta.
Rastelli died at the scene in the 600 block of Burtis Street, near the entrance to Hollister School at 4950 Anita Lane. The critically wounded van der Meulen was hospitalized for three weeks before succumbing.
The gunman fled on foot but eluded an extensive, hours-long manhunt in and around the neighborhood.
After an excruciating absence of news, our Tom Bolton got word early on Feb. 4 that search warrants were being served at several locations in Santa Barbara. Hours later, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown held a news conference to outline the sweeping developments.
Brown described the crime as a “drug deal that went bad,” and said Rastelli and van der Meulen were trying to sell marijuana when they fell victim to a “robbery rip-off.”
He said sheriff’s deputies and SWAT units served warrants in the 1900 block of Robbins Street, the 800 block of San Pascual Street and the 600 block of West Cota Street on the Westside and in the 600 block of North Voluntario Street on the Eastside.
As our Jade Martinez-Pogue reported, three men and the 15 year old were arrested in the operation, which included a county helicopter and Santa Barbara police.
Brown identifed the three men as 21-year-old Bryan Munoz, 24-year-old Joshua Isaac Vega and 32-year-old Jorge Luis Silva Guevara, all of Santa Barbara. The juvenile was not identified because of his age.
Munoz was booked into County Jail on suspicion of homicide with special circumstances that there were multiple killings and they were committed in the course of a robbery. He also is accused of robbery, conspiracy and committing the crimes for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Brown said he was being held without bail.
Vega was booked on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy, with bail set at $50,000, and the juvenile was booked on an outstanding no-bail warrant for a probation violation.
Guevara may have been hanging out with the wrong crowd at the wrong time. Brown said he was arrested on unrelated drug charges.
According to Brown, investigators found about a half-pound of marijuana at the crime scene.
“The victims of this terrible crime … were two college students,” he said of Rastelli, who was attending Santa Barbara City College, and van der Meulen, a first-year UC Santa Barbara student.
“Two college students who made some bad choices and fell victim to what is often thought to be a victimless crime, the illicit sale of drugs — in this case marijuana.”
2. Woman’s Body Found Adjacent to Railroad Tracks Near Santa Barbara Waterfront
The body of a woman was found Feb. 3 along the Union Pacific railroad tracks near South Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, but she apparently had not been hit by a train and foul play was not suspected.
Police Lt. Aaron Baker told our Tom Bolton that a passerby discovered the woman around 11:40 a.m.
“It looked like she had been walking along the tracks,” he said of the woman, who appeared to be in her mid-20s to mid-30s.
The woman’s identity is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of relatives, said Baker, who added that “there is no reason to believe foul play is involved.”
The Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau is investigating the cause of death.
3. Northbound Highway 101 Lanes Reopen After Big-Rig Crash in Carpinteria
A big rig hauling a load of fertilizer ran off Highway 101 in Carpinteria early on Feb. 2, and the overturned mess blocked the two northbound lanes for more more than 10 hours.
As our Giana Magnoli first reported, the tractor trailer crashed off the right shoulder near Santa Monica Road around 5 a.m. In addition to the fertilizer spill, Caltrans District 5 spokesman Jim Shivers said, the truck was leaking fuel.
The wreck pushed morning commuter traffic into Carpinteria, and the community’s streets were clogged all day.
The highway was reopened around 3 p.m. after crews cleaned up the fertilizer, righted the truck and towed it away.
There were no apparent injuries in the crash, and the California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause.
Right about here, I’d make a bad joke about the competing aromas of fertilizer and cannabis, but Carpinterians have suffered enough.
4. County Breaks Daily Rainfall Records at Santa Barbara, Santa Maria Airports
Last week’s three-day series of storms was one of Santa Barbara County’s wettest in recent memory, and downright record-setting in some places.
As our Giana Magnoli first reported, the National Weather Service said daily rainfall records were set Jan. 28 at both the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria airports.
The Santa Barbara tally of 1.84 inches broke a record set in 1983, while Santa Maria’s 1.79 inches topped a mark stretching all the way back to 1911.
Father north, in San Luis Obispo County, the Paso Robles Airport collected a whopping 2.25 inches of rainfall that day.
As impressive as those numbers were, county Public Works Department rainfall stations recorded remarkable figures over the three days — led by more than a foot of rain at Celite, south of Lompoc.
Unfortunately, the storms did little for area water supplies. Our Tom Bolton reported Feb. 1 that Lake Cachuma, the county’s major water supply source, rose about 9 inches from the storms, but was only 64.4 percent full and still 26 feet below spill level.
5. Bill Macfadyen: Remember Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Lockdown Reasons? Never Mind
For all his talk, I’ve been underwhelmed by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s so-called COVID-19 strategy — whatever it may be at any given moment.
But don’t take my word for it.
When K-12 educators are schooling you on the SCIENCE you used in the half-assed homework you’ve been turning in, maybe you should stop acting like a playground know-it-all and start actually studying.
Thank you to Santa Barbara Unified School District board president Kate Ford and Superintendent Hilda Maldonado for calling out Newsom while calling for the immediate reopening of public schools — as had been planned for last month.
Evidently, disappointment and frustration aren’t confined to the small business community.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Possibly Suicidal Woman on Overpass Shuts Down Highway 101 in Santa Barbara.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Talk about sinking money into a project: Artist Submerges Six Monumental ‘Masks’ to Form Cannes Underwater Museum.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
What was in my Instagram feed this past week? A rogue range and a law enforcement crackdown at a Montecito #trashytrailhead, along with the return of a #bestofbillrecommendation.
• • •
Watch It
Nate Bargatze has a tiger for a tale.
(Just for Laughs 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.