It was not the best week for news, what with the gruesome tragedy of Noozhawk’s top story, staggering 9.1% inflation, and revulsive surveillance video from inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
As is often the case, however, we can count on sports as a diversion. The Los Angeles Dodgers are riding a come-from-behind high, and there’s quite a bit of buzz about professional soccer coming to Santa Barbara. I find myself excited about that, and I don’t even like soccer!
According to our Google Analytics, Noozhawk had an audience of 87,002 readers this past week. What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading.
As a reminder, this is my opinion column and not a news story.
1. Retired Couple From Lompoc Killed in Florida Crash Involving Tesla, Big Rig
A Lompoc couple on a cross-country trip died July 6 in a horrific crash at a Florida rest area.
As our Janene Scully first reported, the Florida Highway Patrol said a 2015 Tesla sedan slammed into the rear of a big rig trailer parked at a rest stop on Interstate 75 near Gainesville.
The impact peeled back part of the car’s roof as it drove under the trailer.
The driver, 66-year-old Mary Lou Seelandt, and her 67-year-old husband and passenger, Karl, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Florida Highway Patrol and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating the collision and its circumstances.
In a Facebook post, Michael Seelandt said his parents were taking a cross-country vacation, and had spent more than a week with his family in suburban Atlanta, helping to celebrate their first grandchild’s first birthday.
“They loved absolutely every minute of the eight whole days they spent with us and their granddaughter,” he wrote. “We are heartbroken that they were not allowed more time as grandparents, but we are grateful that they were able to experience grandparenthood.
“Gracie is one of the lights keeping us going right now.”
Michael Seelandt said he and his brother, Richard, had been assured that their parents did not suffer in the wreck.
“They went quickly and together,” he said of the couple, who had been married for 48 years.
Mary Lou Seelandt had taught in the Lompoc Unified School District for more than 21 years, retiring in 2016. She spent most of her career as a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at La Cañada School, but also had taught at Lompoc Valley Middle School.
Karl Seelandt was retired from the aerospace industry.
The Seelandts were avid runners and members of the Lompoc Valley Distance Club. On the Fourth of July, they had participated in a 5K in Dacula, Georgia.
“It is a lot cooler to run on the California Central Coast!!” Mary Lou Seelandt had posted on her Facebook page after she finished second in her age group.
Funeral arrangements are pending, but the family is planning celebrations of the Seelandts’ lives in Lompoc and in Cocoa, Florida.
A GoFundMe account to help with expenses has raised only $1,600 as of July 15. Click here to make an online donation.
“We know that they touched a lot of people’s lives, and we want to be transparent and supportive of your loss as well,” Michael Seelandt wrote of his parents in his Facebook post.
“We turn to God at this time, and believe that they have just brightened Heaven’s party with wine and charcuterie.”
2. Expansion Pro Soccer Franchise Coming to Town in Name of Santa Barbara Sky FC
Professional soccer is coming to Santa Barbara, and its backers believe the sky’s the limit on multiple levels. Sky is also the United Soccer League expansion team’s name, but we’ll come back to that.
As our Barry Punzal first reported, the Santa Barbara Sky Football Club will begin play in the spring of 2024 at Santa Barbara City College’s picturesque but underutilized La Playa Stadium.
The club — which will field both men’s and women’s teams — is backed by Peter Moore, a Montecito resident, gaming and marketing executive, and former CEO of the venerable Liverpool Football Club of England’s Premier League.
“This is a community ripe for having a professional club,” Moore said at a July 12 announcement ceremony at MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation.
“I’m so blessed to have the opportunity to live here. I’ve made a few dollars in my life and now I have the opportunity to give back.”
Moore and Sky FC paid a $5 million franchise fee to join the USL, the largest professional soccer organization in North America.
The Sky FC men’s team will play in USL League One, whose season runs from March through October. The women will play in the new USL Super League, which follows a fall-to-spring schedule.
SBCC’s La Playa Stadium will be the home field that Sky FC hopes to use to its advantage.
“It’s not a perfect soccer stadium, but, boy, there’s not a more perfect location anywhere,” Moore said. “You can imagine the TV pans before kickoff …”
He said the club and SBCC are working together on stadium improvements, which will include better lighting, seating and a marine-grade video board.
According to the USL, League One is expanding to markets with “strong local ownership groups, populations with broad-based diversity, a vibrant millennial and strong family base, established corporate support, and stadiums to properly showcase the sport for fans, partners and the public.”
Currently, the only other California squad in the 11-team league is Fresno’s Central Valley Fuego FC.
Sky FC’s distinctive logo features the face of Saint Barbara and a crest shaped like a window of the Santa Barbara Mission. The team colors are terra cotta and navy blue.
It’s a cool brand but what’s even cooler, for me, was when I was perusing Sky FC’s online store and came across a familiar face modeling team gear: one of my Mountain View School sixth-grade exit interviewees from several years ago. Small town, small world.
3. BizHawk: Sweetie’s Scoops Up Ice Cream on Santa Barbara’s Mesa
Our Josh Molina served up the latest scoop on Santa Barbara restaurant entrepreneur Chris Chiarappa, who has just opened Sweetie’s Ice Cream Shop on the Mesa.
Sweetie’s, at 1826-A Cliff Drive, features McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams along with frozen yogurt, ice cream cookies, homemade waffle cones, shakes, malts, sundaes and banana splits.
Bold colors and a swell mural of the Santa Barbara Channel by the Fallon Brothers — local artists Drew and Todd Fallon — brighten up the place, which includes a couple of retro, sit-down arcade games like the 1980s classic Gyruss.
The shop is in the heart of Chiarappa territory. It’s across the street from one of his company’s now four Lighthouse Coffee shops and around the corner from the original Mesa Burger, which has been joined by locations in Goleta and Montecito.
Sweetie’s is open from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 1 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
4. 3 People Injured in 2-Vehicle Collision on Storke Road in Goleta
A Storke Road collision in Goleta the evening of July 11 injured three people, two of whom ended up in the hospital.
Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Scott Safechuck told our Tom Bolton that a Honda sedan and a Porsche coupe collided about 6:15 p.m. on Storke Road near Santa Felicia Drive, south of Camino Real Marketplace and just yards away from county Fire Station 11.
Firefighters had to extricate one of the injured from the wreckage.
Safechuck said two people were transported by an American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment. The third was treated at the scene.
Authorities did not disclose any identities or medical conditions.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the circumstances of the crash.
5. Falcon Rocket Lifts Off from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 46 Starlink Satellites
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 10, carrying the latest load of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
As our Janene Scully was first to report, the two-stage rocket roared away from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base at 6:39 p.m.
An hour later, SpaceX confirmed that the 46 satellites had deployed successfully, further strengthening Starlink’s satellite internet coverage over much of the world.
Although a heavy marine layer obscured the launch for local Lompoc observers, specatators farther inland had a clear view of the liftoff.
About eight minutes into the mission, the Falcon’s booster separated from its payload and reversed course, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean somewhere south of Santa Barbara.
The launch was SpaceX’s 29th of the year from VSFB and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. In all, SpaceX has made 167 such launches since its first voyage in 2019.
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Good Reads
Here are a half-dozen stories I recommend:
» Person Spotted Pulling a Casket Along Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo — Since I first saw the headline, I’ve been dying to put this coffin in a corner of my column. San Luis Obispo Tribune reporter Sara Kassabian almost made the Top 5 with her report blowing the lid off the casket caper, but came up a few bodies short.
» Proposed Monument to Celebrate Santa Barbara’s Rich Deep-Sea Diving History — My friend, Don Barthelmess, is leading a team that wants to install a statue at the Santa Barbara Harbor to honor the local legacy of deep-water diving. Our Josh Molina dives in to the story himself.
» Solvang Festival Theater Sets the Stage for Grand Reopening After $5.3 Million Rebuilding Project — Congratulations to Solvang Theaterfest for pulling off a $5.3 million renovation in the middle of a public health catastrophe. Our Serena Guentz lifts the curtain on the stunning improvements, but you can see them for yourself now.
» Cox Communications to Invest $60 Million to Improve Internet Service in Santa Barbara County — Our Grace Kitayama joined Cox Communications’ group chat as company officials explained next-level plans for smart home technology.
» Livestock Exhibitors Arrive as Santa Barbara County Fair Readies for Return — The Santa Barbara County Fair is back, and North County editor Janene Scully drops by the Santa Maria Fairpark barns to talk to our next generation of ranchers and farmers about their animals’ magnetism.
» Does Your Kid Want to Cowboy Up as Noozhawk’s Fiesta Rodeo Mutton Bustin’ Rider? — Noozhawk is looking for a buckeroo to ride for our brand in the Aug. 7 mutton bustin’ event at the Fiesta Stock Horse Show & Rodeo. We’re drawing the name July 18 so don’t be sheepish.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Woman Struck, Killed While Trying to Cross Highway 101 in Santa Barbara.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Heroism has no age requirement: Mississippi Teen Hailed as Hero After Helping Rescue 3 Girls, Police Officer from River.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
It was a rough week in my Instagram feed this past week, but all’s well at @homecrushshop.
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Americans Held Hostage: Day 321
It’s been 321 days since the U.S. government abandoned thousands of American citizens and green-card holders in Afghanistan. On July 8, 2021, we were assured that everything was under control.
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Watch It
This day at the beach in La Jolla was no pinniped picnic when a woman got too close to a sea lion while trying to take its picture. HT to Best of Bill reader Rebecca Castaño.
@favortown These sea lions made my day yesterday #california ♬ Apple bitten jeans beach boys 1964 – done4dayz
(Charlianne Yeyna 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.