Before we dive into what you were reading this past week, a quick plug of my own.
For decades, Dan Walters has been my go-to guide for understanding California politics, first at the Sacramento Bee and now CalMatters.
Clear-eyed, unsparing and deeply informed, his work cuts through the noise like few others can. And these days, there’s a lot of … noise.
On Feb. 5, Dan will take the stage at the Lobero Theatre to launch Spotlight Santa Barbara, Noozhawk’s new speaker series created in partnership with Jeff Giordano and Brian Goebel and co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce, American Riviera Bank, Nicholson & Schwartz CPAs and Pence Vineyards.
As our Rebecca Caraway reported, the goal is simple and badly needed: thoughtful, civil conversation about the forces shaping our state and community — without slogans, shouting or spin.
I’m honored to emcee the evening and especially excited to do it with Dan, who will offer an unvarnished look at California’s past, present and future — and invite real dialogue in the process.
Tickets are still available so you can click here to purchase them online.
Now, on to the Noozhawk stories that an audience of 143,606 readers was clicking on over the last seven days, according to our WordPress analytics.
What follows is my own take on your Top 5 stories during that span, as tracked by our Google Analytics.
As a reminder, this is my opinion column, which I write in my civic capacity as Noozhawk’s publisher. It is not a news story.
1. Federal ICE Agent Pepper Sprays Woman in Face in Santa Barbara Eastside Incident
An apparent federal immigration operation on Santa Barbara’s Lower Eastside escalated into a confrontation on Jan. 28 when a U.S. law enforcement officer pepper-sprayed a woman who appeared to be recording the middle-of-the-street face-off on a cell phone.
As our Pricila Flores and Evelyn Spence reported, the incident occurred just after 7 a.m. at the intersection of Carpinteria and South Salinas streets, and was captured in multiple videos sent to Noozhawk and posted on social media.
An alert from the 805UndocuFund immigration advocacy group that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was in the neighborhood drew dozens of protesters to the area, where they converged on the officers and began recording their activity, blew whistles, honked car horns and yelled at them to leave.
In the pepper-spray video, the masked woman appeared to be filming the masked officer at close range with her cell phone while he was standing amid traffic in the middle of the street.
The officer can be heard warning her to back away before finally giving her a blast from the aerosol canister.
Santa Barbara police Sgt. Bryan Kerr said SBPD officers were dispatched around 7:17 a.m. to reports of a “large fight” and found four ICE officers and a group of protesters at the scene.
He said one person was treated for pepper-spray exposure, and another was reportedly pushed by a federal officer before local police arrived.
No known arrests were made and no citations were issued.
While people have the right to record law enforcement in public spaces, it is a crime — a felony, actually — under 18 U.S.C. § 111 of the U.S. Criminal Code to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate or interfere with federal law enforcement officers who are performing official duties.
Kerr said SBPD had no advance notice of the federal activity but that responding officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, coordinated medical aid and conducted traffic control before the federal officers left.
The City of Santa Barbara considers itself a “sanctuary” city, and police Chief Kelly Gordon has said her department does not cooperate with federal law enforcement officers on immigration issues, nor do her officers inquire about immigration status when dealing with the public.
It was not known why the federal contingent was in the area, but one witness told Pricila that he saw a man who appeared to be running away from the scene.
Noozhawk was unable to reach ICE officials for comment on the day’s activity.
That night around 100 protesters gathered at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in a rally against federal immigration enforcement and tactics.
2. 2 Men Found Guilty of Gang Murders of 2 Santa Barbara High Students on Lower Eastside
Two Carpinteria men have been convicted of murder in the 2021 gang-related shooting that killed two Santa Barbara High School students and wounded two others.
As our Daniel Green reported, 31-year-old Angel Varela and 29-year-old Oscar Trujillo-Gutierrez were found guilty on Jan. 14 by a Santa Barbara County Superior Court jury of two counts of first-degree murder for the Jan. 3, 2021, shootings that killed 18-year-old Omar Montiel-Hernández and 17-year-old Angel Castillo.
The jury also convicted both men of premeditated attempted murder for shooting two additional victims, both of whom survived the 5:40 p.m. attack outside a house in the 1200 block of Liberty Street on Santa Barbara’s Lower Eastside.
Jurors found true a special allegation that Varela personally discharged a firearm causing death, and that the killings involved multiple victims.
Following a bifurcated trial, the jury also determined both men were members of the Carpas criminal street gang in Carpinteria and committed the crimes against a rival gang for their gang’s benefit.
The two defendants were additionally convicted of a 2022 jail assault while awaiting trial.
Trujillo-Gutierrez and Varela are being held without bail in County Jail and face possible life sentences without parole. Sentencing is set for March 24.
As I wrote in several columns at the time of the crime, Santa Barbara police were cryptic and vague after the brazen attack, barely acknowledging the shooting and only announcing the following day that investigators were working “several leads.”
Even the Santa Barbara Unified School District was oddly muted in its response to the murder of two of its students.
Three months later, on April 8, 2021, police announced a “major law enforcement operation” that resulted in the arrests of Trujillo-Gutierrez and Varela at a residence in the 1000 block of Cramer Road in Carpinteria and at a construction site in the 2300 block of Golden Gate Avenue in Summerland.
3. A Killer Quest to Find Orcas in Santa Barbara Channel
Earlier this month, my friend and former colleague, Mike Eliason, embarked on a whale of an adventure in the Santa Barbara Channel.
The Pacific Offshore Expeditions “Orca Quest” out of Channel Islands Harbor turned into a successful — and grueling — 12-hour search that ended with a rare close-up encounter with killer whales.
Aboard a 30-foot Zodiac, Mike and his mates zigzagged past the northern Channel Islands for hours before finally spotting orcas near Santa Rosa Island late in the afternoon.
The encounter included a pod of 12 to 15 transient orcas, including several well-known males, which surrounded the boat as the sun set.
The expedition covered more than 230 miles, underscoring the company’s warning that sightings are never guaranteed — but sometimes worth the wait.
Also worth it? Mike’s action shots, many of which we included with his report. The rest can be found on his Instagram account at @eliasonphotos.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked with a number of truly gifted photographers in my career, and Mike is by far my favorite.
4. BizHawk: The Copper Italian Restaurant Moves Into Historic State Street Building
In at least one way, Santa Barbara history tops Italian history.
L’antica Pizzeria Da Michele, which traces its Naples roots back to 1870 and opened in Santa Barbara in 2022, has a new owner and a new name paying homage to a beloved downtown institution of decades past.
As our Rebecca Caraway reported, The Copper is now open at 1031 State St., the former home of The Copper Coffee Pot, the first restaurant to operate at the historic courtyard location when it opened in 1927.
In later years, you may remember it as Aldo’s Restaurant, which closed in 2017 before being followed by a Caribbean-Creole place for a few minutes.
The Copper’s owner, 29-year-old Rish Rozera, says diners can expect lower-priced appetizers, handmade pastas and a new coffee bar using beans from Ojai.
He says the Neapolitan pizzas — cooked to perfection in brick pizza ovens — will remain priced from $20 because ingredients are sourced from Italy.
There are plans to potentially add breakfast service and a happy hour if business allows.
Rozera told Rebecca he feels honored to become part of the building’s long legacy. Inside, the restaurant now displays historic photographs of past patrons and servers, along with images from Santa Barbara’s early history, including scenes from the 1925 earthquake, Stearns Wharf, the train station and Old Spanish Days.
The Copper is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday, and from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
5. Bill Macfadyen: Convicted Rapist’s Luck Runs Out — Twice in One Day
More than a week after a dramatic escape attempt by newly convicted rapist Arian Eteghaei, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has said absolutely nothing new.
The department has revealed not a single new detail about the 23-year-old East Bay man’s foiled flight of fancy, the conclusion of which was captured on exclusive video taken by our Pricila Flores.
Pricila just happened to be at the corner of East Figueroa and State streets when the commotion unfolded before her on the afternoon of Jan. 16, and a sheriff’s bailiff — with the help of another deputy and two bystanders — caught up with the already handcuffed escapee.
Noozhawk has filed official requests for Sheriff’s Department incident reports and other available documentation to determine how Eteghaei was able to make a run for it.
We’re still waiting for something other than a repeat acknowledgement of the attempt and the time it happened.
Thanks, Captain Obvious. We’re aware.
One thing we want to know is exactly where Eteghaei was when he took off, as my column last week may have erred in saying he was being escorted across East Figueroa Street from the Superior Court’s Figueroa Division courthouse at the time and that he ran the 1½ blocks to State Street.
A very good source told me I didn’t know the half of it, and that the foot chase may have been more of a marathon than a sprint.
My source said Eteghaei was being escorted out of a Figueroa Division elevator when he bolted out of a first-floor emergency exit, ran through the Probation Department parking lot and onto East Carrillo Street.
How he got to the intersection of East Figueroa and State streets apparently is anyone’s guess at this point.
As for how Eteghaei came to be facing a bleak future lasting “15 years to life,” well, that’s entirely on him.
About an hour before, our Giana Magnoli reported that the jury had convicted the Dublin resident and former UC Santa Barbara student of multiple felony sex crimes.
Jurors found Eteghaei guilty of forcible rape of one woman and sexual penetration with a foreign object and domestic violence battery involving another, and that there was more than one victim.
The jury deadlocked on 14 additional counts tied to sexual assaults alleged by six women, which prompted Judge Von Deroian to declare a mistrial on those charges.
Prosecutors have not yet decided on whether to retry him on those alleged assaults.
• • •
Good Reads
Here are six more stories you should read:
» Santa Barbara Council Approves ‘Temporary’ Rent Freeze in Split Vote — Staff writer Rebecca Caraway has the details of the Santa Barbara City Council majority’s latest blight idea.
» South Coast Chamber Unveils Strategic Plan for Regional Economic Growth — Executive editor Giana Magnoli reports on the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce’s plans to change the moribund status quo in a region rich in assets and unsustainably short on opportunity.
» San Marcos Health Careers Students Get Admission, Aid Under Westmont Partnership — Staff writer Pricila Flores takes the temperature of a unique new connection between Westmont College and San Marcos High School students in the powerhouse Health Careers Academy.
» Judy Foreman: Late to the Table, But Going the Extra Tile to Learn Mahjong — 93108 columnist Judy Foreman finally takes up mahjong, getting a brain workout and feelings of nostalgia with every clack.
» Tom Modugno: Bishop Ranch — For the Love of the Land — History columnist Tom Modugno tells the story of Goleta’s mysterious Bishop Ranch.
» U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Rolls to 5-0 Win Over Chile at Sold-Out Harder Stadium — Sports editor Diego Sandoval — along with 15,000 other fans — has a grand time at a historic match for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. I think my Best of Bill columns have had more mentions of soccer so far this year than they have in the past 18 years. When does the 2026 baseball season start?!
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Macy’s Building Set for Demolition After Report Finds No Historical Significance.
• • •
What I’m Up To
Although I’m not looking for a free meal, I occasionally do have free time if you’re looking for a speaker for your club, group or organization and want to hear more about Noozhawk. Email me at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com.
Feb. 5 — Noozhawk is partnering with Spotlight Santa Barbara on a 2026 speaker series and I’ll be moderating a Q&A with Dan Walters, the legendary gold standard of California political writers. His topic at the Lobero Theatre? California politics — past, present and future. Click here to purchase tickets online.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
This tale of the sea doesn’t involve orcas but it’s a treasure trove of intrigue: Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the San José.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
My Instagram feed caught the sun coming and going this past week.
• • •
Watch It
Spoiler alert: Budweiser has outdone itself with this year’s Super Bowl commercial. America is back.
