Apparently there’s only an international media spectacle when the terrorists win. When Freedom kicks their asses … crickets.
Meanwhile, I have to ask: What’s the point of a “watch list” if there isn’t an actual plan to do anything?
• • •
Closer to home, 106,528 people read Noozhawk this past week. Here were your top stories:
1. Cody West’s Body, Car Found in Culvert in Goleta
The search for Cody West was last week’s top story, and it remained in the top spot again this week. If only the outcome were different.
After an intensive, five-day search, the body of the 22-year-old Goleta man was found pinned under his car, which apparently had rolled down an embankment and into a concrete culvert under Los Carneros Road near Calle Real.
West was last seen at 3:30 a.m. April 26, leaving a party on Avenida Gorrion east of Lake Los Carneros Park — about a mile away from where he was found.
His family reported him missing the next day when he failed to show up for work.
Family and friends sprang into action and organized an impressive, systematic search of much of the area — near and far. They were assisted by Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies and Search & Rescue team members, and county helicopters conducted flyovers of remote locales.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover told our Tom Bolton that detectives do not suspect foul play in the case, but believe it was just a tragic vehicle accident. The circumstances remain under investigation and authorities expect to release additional details at a later date.
The family is holding a memorial service for West at 10 a.m. May 8 at St. Raphael Catholic Church, 5444 Hollister Ave. in Goleta.
He is survived by his mom and four sisters.
2. Bill Macfadyen: ‘Bring Back Cody’ Search Ends in Heartbreak, Not Far from Where It Started
I’ve got nothing to add.
3. Developers Spruce Up Historic Timbers Restaurant In Hopes of Making a Go of Troubled Property
The Timbers Restaurant, just off Highway 101 in western Goleta, first opened in 1953 — famously built with wood procured from the nearby Ellwood Pier, which even more famously was shelled by a rogue Japanese submarine during World War II.
After a pretty consistent run, it fell on hard times a decade ago and has been mostly empty ever since.
Now a new developer has plans to revitalize the historic restaurant, reopening The Timbers while adding a 2½-acre organic farm, a local market, a bakery and a commercial kitchen.
Montecito resident Sandy Boyd, who ran the former Fresh Choice Restaurant and Espresso Roma Café chains, has leased the property at 10 Winchester Canyon Road and hired Jeremiah Higgins of HJL Hospitality Advisors to handle the project.
Boyd’s team expects the market to open next month, with The Timbers back in business in the fall.
4. Woman Injured After Vehicle Plunges Off Roadway in Santa Barbara’s Riviera Neighborhood
A woman escaped serious injury May 4 when her car plunged down a steep embankment near the intersection of Eucalyptus Road and Eucalyptus Circle on the far east end of Santa Barbara’s Riviera neighborhood.
Santa Barbara Fire Battalion Chief Mike DePonce told our Lara Cooper that the woman drove off the road just before 9 a.m. The car bumped around until it came to rest in medium vegetation about 100 feet down the slope.
He said firefighters hiked down, helped her out of the car, and stabilized her neck and spine before placing her in a Stokes basket so she could be carried to safety.
The woman, whose identity and age were not disclosed, was transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where officials say she was treated for moderate injuries.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. A Montecito Fire Protection District engine joined SBFD crews at the scene.
5. BizHawk: Designer Cooking Up New Restaurant Concept for Former Arts & Letters Café Space
Late last year, Tricia and Frank Goss announced plans to sell Arts & Letters Café, the downtown Santa Barbara restaurant they had owned and operated for the last 20 years.
They eventually sold the hidden gem at 7 E. Anapamu St. to Montecito resident Steve Hermann, a high-end celebrity home designer and owner of The Horizon Hotel — a retro-cool, midcentury modern masterpiece on East Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.
Hermann told our Gina Potthoff that he plans to redesign the restaurant’s interior and courtyard, and will turn over the kitchen to a celebrity chef to make the place a premiere downtown dining destination.
“We’re going to be doing something that’s very exciting here,” he said.
Goss, meanwhile, has leased 3,000 square feet of space next door at 11 E. Anapamu St., where he will continue to run his renowned art gallery.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week, from my peripatetic tour of the World Wide Web … and beyond: New Roswell Pix Prove ‘Beyond Any Doubt’ That ET Exists, UFO Experts Claim.
• • •
What’s with the winter weather? This ain’t Australia.
(communitychannel 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.