Noozhawk logged 111,022 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics. I know I promised you an expanded analytics report this week, but I’ve been swamped with a very ambitious upcoming project so I’m just gonna take a knee. If you don’t mind.
You will hear all about that project next week, however, because it’s launching next weekend. We’re really excited about it, and I’m pretty sure most of you will be, too.
In the meantime, this is my take on your Top 5 stories for the week. As I often do, I must remind you that this is my opinion column, and it may contain … opinion.
1. 2 People Injured in Helicopter Crash at Santa Barbara Airport
A small helicopter crashed at the Santa Barbara Airport on Sept. 24, injuring both occupants as it ended up on its right side and missing the rotor.
Santa Barbara fire Engineer Kevin Corbett said the crash occurred just after 9:30 a.m. in the slough area of the airport, to the west of Runway 15 Right, which runs north-south.
The cause and circumstances are under investigation.
Corbett said the pilot and a passenger suffered minor to moderate injuries, and were transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Their identities were not released.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the aircraft’s N177SR tail number belongs to a Robinson Helicopter R22 Beta registered to Tumbleweed Leasing Co. Inc. out of Salt Lake City.
2. Hotel Californian Opens on Santa Barbara’s Waterfront
The Hotel Californian has opened — at last — in what once was a wasteland but is now Santa Barbara’s hottest neighborhood.
The 121-room hotel at 36 State St. is built on the site of the historic hotel of the same name. That hotel’s crumbled façade is one of the most memorable images of the 1925 earthquake that destroyed much of Santa Barbara.
Although it later gained fame as the home of Rocky Galenti’s bar, one, maybe two generations of locals remembers it only as a boarded-up shell of a building trapped in the stalled La Entrada project.
That’s all history now with a gleaming new structure proudly sporting the Spanish Colonial Revival style that made Santa Barbara famous.
The hotel, developed by Michael Rosenfeld, CEO of Los Angeles-based Woodridge Capital Partners, in conjunction with DesignARC Santa Barbara, features lavishly appointed guest rooms, paseos, gardens, a rooftop pool, a ballroom and event spaces, a spa and two restaurants: Blackbird and Goat Tree.
The property is perhaps the most high-profile anchor of a still-emerging neighborhood that includes the red-hot Funk Zone, the already popular MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, the Reagan Ranch Center and, oh yeah, the beach.
“This enormous undertaking will continue to provide a fitting entry to our beautiful city, as well as the Funk Zone,” DesignARC architect Mark Kirkhart told our Josh Molina.
Carlos Lopes, the Hotel Californian’s managing director, says an Oct. 5 ribbon-cutting is planned.
3. Bill Macfadyen: Stabbing and Manhunt at Goleta Beach Park Followed by Silence
My Sept. 22 column sure clicked with readers, although those in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department apparently weren’t too thrilled.
The column was filed under an admittedly provocative headline noting the absence of any useful details from a broad-daylight stabbing — five days before — at popular Goleta Beach Park.
The incident was followed by an hours-long, three-agency manhunt, complete with helicopter. The search area near the park included a heavily used bike path and a state highway with freeway speeds, and is adjacent to UC Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Airport. Six people were detained for questioning but no arrests were made.
After my column posted, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover told our Giana Magnoli that there was no update to be had.
“The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening, and he was treated and released,” she said. “Sheriff’s deputies detained six people for questioning and they were released pending further investigation.
“If anyone has information regarding this incident or video to share with us, we would appreciate it.”
Here’s where you imagine me saying, in my best soft-spoken, breathy and somewhat creepy classical music deejay voice, “Now … back … to our regular, scheduled programming.”
4. Santa Barbara County Accountant Among Group Accused of Taking $1.7 Million in Public Works Funds
A senior accountant in the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department has been arrested and charged with embezzling nearly $2 million from the agency over the last decade. She is one of nine people accused in a 27-count criminal complaint that also includes misappropriation, conspiracy and forgery charges.
Wha-a-a-a-at?
According to the complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office, county employee Lynn Hogan, 47, of Santa Barbara, is accused of diverting about $1.7 million between May 2008 and July 25, 2017, when the county Auditor-Controller’s Office alerted authorities after discovering “suspicious activity” that month in the Public Works Department books.
The complaint alleges that Hogan, who has worked for the county since 1988, created bogus vendor numbers and issued false refund checks to 10 people and two organizations during the period in question, and also deposited faked checks herself.
Hogan was arrested, along with Michael Anzivino, Vincent Anzivino, Leanna Harada, Christina Huffman and Michele Lavin, all Central Coast residents; Richard Kaplinski of Merced; and Wendy Puchili, who lives in Wyoming. The same arrest warrant was issued for Michael Elliot, a Pennsylvania resident.
Eight of the defendants appeared in Superior Court on Sept. 25 but their arraignment was continued until Sept. 29. Puchili, who is being extradited from Wyoming, is expected to join her alleged confederates at that hearing, prosecutor Brian Cota said.
The county believes the losses are covered by its insurance, according to a statement from the County Executive Office. That mulligan does not begin to cover the gaping hole in the county’s internal checks and balances, however. Nor does it inspire much confidence.
Sheeesh.
5. Highway 1 Landslide in Big Sur a Massive Repair and Construction Challenge
A spectacular landslide on the iconic Big Sur coast took out a lengthy stretch of scenic Highway 1 just north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line in May.
Removing tons of that dirt and rebuilding the highway may seem like a monumental challenge, and it is. It’s also a glacially slow project given that even the biggest earth mover is dwarfed by the sheer size of the 8 million-ton pile.
San Luis Obispo-based John Madonna Construction Co. was hired to make the dent, and its crews already have made inroads at the Mud Creek Slide site, as well as at Paul’s Slide, a smaller slip about 10 miles farther north.
John Madonna, the company president and CEO, as well as a scion of the famed Madonna Inn family, expects the roadway to be closed until at least late next summer.
Pushing all that dirt into the ocean is not an option, as a result of the Highway 1 Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan that aims to preserve the coastline, he said.
The cause of the slide may be related to last winter’s heavy storms, although the avalanche didn’t occur until May 20.
HT to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, our affiliate partner, for sharing reporter Stephen H. Provost’s story with us.
Speaking of The Tribune, we at Team Noozhawk extend our bittersweet congratulations to our friend, executive editor Sandy Duerr, who has announced that she’ll be retiring Nov. 10 after 19 years in the job and 42 in the news industry.
Sandy is a highly acclaimed and respected journalist, and a true class act. In fact, there are no finer journalists around these parts than Sandy and our own Tom Bolton. It’s not surprising that they’ve been such close friends over the years.
While her departure is a blow to SLO, I’m excited that she will continue to teach in Cal Poly’s journalism program. Now more than ever, tomorrow’s Sandy Duerrs need someone to show them that even in this tumultuous era of New Media, there is still a right way to do things — and that it all starts with solid reporting and story telling.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Nipomo Man Killed in Motorcycle Crash on Highway 101 in Carpinteria.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Groom dives right in, but not for marriage: Canada Groom Saves Child from Drowning.
• • •
Watch It
This Cooper’s hawk caught a ride in a Houston cab to escape Hurricane Harvey, and then rode out the storm in taxi driver William Bruso’s apartment. After Bruso’s video of his cheep fare went viral, the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition rescued the hen, dubbed Harvey the Hurricane Hawk, and has since released her in a Plano nature preserve. Bruso drove up from Houston to help set her free.
(National Geographic video)
(William Bruso video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.