With Major League Baseball labor negotiations going nowhere fast, it looks like I’ll have to hold my breath for the Super Bowl.
That’s OK, because after the last two weeks of six of the most exciting pro football games I’ve ever seen, I’m actually looking forward to the contest. I’ll be rooting for the Rams but won’t be surprised by a Bengals victory.
This past week’s run of Noozhawk news may not have generated quite as much excitement — drawing an audience of 93,055 readers, according to our Google Analytics — but it was a steady flow of traffic to our website.
What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading over the last seven days. As a reminder, this is my opinion column and not a news story.
Thank you for reading us!
1. Major Injuries Reported in Head-On Collision on Highway 154 Near Los Olivos
A ferocious head-on collision on Highway 154 near Los Olivos put the two drivers in the hospital with critical injuries the evening of Feb. 2.
As our Janene Scully reported, the crash occured around 6:30 p.m. on the highway west of the Foxen Canyon Road intersection.
According to the California Highway Patrol, 27-year-old David Romero was driving a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix west on the highway “at a suspected high rate of speed” when the car drifted into the opposite lane and slammed into an oncoming 2019 Honda Civic driven by 36-year-old Joseph Person of Santa Barbara.
Both vehicles were badly damaged in the wreck, with one of them ending up in a ditch.
Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said both drivers — the only occupants — required major extrication before they could be flown by Calstar medical and county sheriff’s Air Support Unit helicopters to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Details on their conditions were not known.
Friends established a GoFundMe account for Person, who they said suffered “devastating internal injuries as well as a broken leg.”
Persons, a Caltrans employee with a wife and young son, was described as “one of the best people you could ever know, a family man, animal lover, an active referee for wrestling, and committed and giving to his loved ones.”
As of Feb. 5, nearly $10,000 had been raised to assist with his recovery. Click here to make an online donation.
The CHP is investigating the circumstances of the collision, but it was not yet known whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to contact the CHP’s Buellton office at 805.688.5551.
2. BizHawk: Mariscos Tita’s Looks to Lure Fans of Mexican Seafood Fare to Old Town Goleta
A couple of local families are bringing traditional Mexican seafood fare to Old Town Goleta, and the anticipation among Noozhawk readers has been extraordinary.
Chef Edgar Hernández and his wife, Alejandra Sanchez, and Mary and Karlos Gonzalez are teaming up to open Mariscos Tita’s at 5892 Hollister Ave. If that address sounds familiar, it is, as the former home of Wingman Rodeo, Gimeal Café and the Natural Café.
The Mariscos Tita’s menu includes ceviches, Aguachiles, Botanas de Mariscos Mixtas and Mexican seafood cocktails.
Basically, those are many of my favorite foods, but I’m not alone. Since we posted Josh Molina’s BizHawk column last week, countless readers have told me they can’t wait for the doors to open.
According to Karlos Gonzalez, that should happen any day now, just as soon as the City of Goleta gives its final permit blessing.
3. SpaceX Rocket Carrying Secret Payload Soars from Vandenberg Space Force Base
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rumbled away from Vandenberg Space Force Base at midday Feb. 2, carrying a top-secret U.S. payload into orbit.
As exciting as the 12:27 p.m. launch was, the almost immediate reversal of the first-stage booster doing the heavy lifting was the real highlight as it returned to Space Launch Complex-4 East on South Base.
Sonic booms heralding the booster’s return could be heard and felt throughout the Central Coast. Although SpaceX missions have employed the reusable first-stage booster before, it typically lands on a drone ship out in the ocean.
As our Janene Scully reported, the rocket’s payload was some kind of a top-secret spacecraft, dubbed NROL-87, belonging to the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. spy satellite agency.
The launch drew throngs of spectators around the Central Coast. Janene was watching from Vandenberg Village while our Tom Bolton was among the crowd along Farren Road west of Goleta. I had my eye on the sky in Montecito but was unable to see anything from my vantage point.
4. Bill Macfadyen: Montecito Debris Flow Victim Jack Cantin Remains in Limbo
I have nothing new to report on the negotiations between Kim Cantin and Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown over the remains of Cantin’s 17-year-old son, Jack, who was among 23 people killed in the Jan. 9, 2018, flash flooding and debris flows in Montecito. But our reporters are in touch with representatives on both sides.
5. Santa Barbara Man Facing Federal Charges of Producing, Distributing Child Pornography
A federal grand jury has indicted a Santa Barbara man on an array of child pornography charges related to his arrest last fall.
According to Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, 47-year-old Louis Anthony Alvaro is facing one count of producing child pornography, three counts of distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.
As our Tom Bolton first reported, Santa Barbara police arrested Alvaro as a suspect in the case in November, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in December, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and he’s being held without bail in federal custody.
Alvaro’s trial is expected to start in May. If convicted, he could be sentenced to between five and 30 years in prison for each of the half-dozen charges.
SPBD investigators are still asking the public to help identify other possible victims. Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said Detective Andre Miller can be contacted at 805.897.2346 or amiller@sbpd.com.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? 2nd Victim of Double Shooting Near Goleta Dies of His Injuries.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
I. Told. You. So.
As far back as early April 2020, I was warning in almost every Best of Bill column that the unintended consequences of the arbitrary, inconsistent and nonsensical coronavirus lockdowns would be ruinous for our society for years to come. I steadfastly pointed out that COVID-19’s economic catastrophe was a twin of the public health crisis, not a stepchild, and that they had to be confronted together, simultaneously.
Of course, I’m neither a doctor nor an epidemiologist, so what did I know? Quite a lot, evidently: A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
For an #alaskanmalamute, @sadiethealaskanmalamute is uncharacteristically silent around sirens. You can hear what I mean in my Instagram feed this past week.
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Americans Held Hostage: Day 158
It’s been 158 days since hundreds of U.S. citizens and green-card holders — a number of them Californians — were left to fend for themselves after the abrupt and appallingly inept U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. The Taliban may be systematically hunting them down, but that’s no longer the U.S. government’s concern.
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Watch It
Singer-songwriter Stephanie Quayle is one of my favorite country artists. She’s also an enthusiastic promoter of her native Montana, although there are neigh-sayers.
(@stephaniequayle 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.
