I had an interesting interview this past week with the U.S. correspondent from Germany’s Der Spiegel news magazine. He was reporting on Montecito, which has piqued the curiosity of Germans due, in no small part, to our recent resident royals.
Princes and princesses, movie stars, talk show hosts, professional athletes and entertainers … we locals generally are unfazed by celebrity. I certainly am, although running into Troy Aikman never fails to excite me.
Having lived here most of my life, with the added baggage of being a cynical journalist, I sometimes forget how special a place this is.
Yes, the traffic is getting worse, California’s heavy-handed housing mandates are a direct threat to the community’s semi-rural character, and it’s human nature to want to keep things the way we remember them.
But the conversation with my Der Spiegel friend forced me to look at Montecito with fresh eyes, and it renewed my appreciation for it. I’ll give you four examples.
First, our two award-winning public elementary schools — Cold Spring and Montecito Union — now are approaching maximum enrollment after years of decline. The growing presence of children in a community is always, always, a healthy sign.
Second, the recent influx of new residents certainly runs the risk of bringing with it missionaries who want to change our culture instead of refugees who will assimilate into it.
But I realized that the last large population shift — after the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake — ultimately seems to have ended up with more of the latter than the former. Hopefully, the current rush — following the COVID-19 catastrophe and last year’s riots — will produce a similar result.
Third, the sanctuary of All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church reopened July 4 for the first time since January 2019, when the parish embarked on a two-year, multimillion-dollar seismic retrofit and renovation.
The transformation is breathtaking, but the spiritual boost was palpable among those in attendance on our first Sunday back. I guarantee that momentum will carry beyond the church campus.
Finally, people the world over still want to live here. My neighbors, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Rob Lowe and Katy Perry, are driving up the value of my own house, which will only be to my wife’s and my benefit if we sell.
Then we can move to even more semi-rural Los Alamos — as refugees, not missionaries.
That’s far into my future, however. Looking back at the immediate past, Noozhawk had an audience of 101,097 readers over the last seven days, according to our Google Analytics.
What follows is my take on the Top 5 most-read stories of the past week. This is an opinion column, my opinion column, and not a news story.
1. Former Jail Lieutenant Gets Six-Year Sentence for Multi-Injury DUI Crash on Highway 154
As expected, former Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Lt. Javier Jonathan Antunez has been sentenced to a grand total of six years in state prison for his horrific 2019 drunken-driving crash that left several of his victims with a lifetime of catastrophic injuries, complications and agony.
In April, our Janene Scully reported that the 46-year-old Goleta resident had abruptly pleaded guilty to a felony charge of driving under the influence causing injury and a great bodily injury sentencing enhancement.
He originally had pleaded not guilty to two felony charges that could have gotten him up to 32 years in prison if convicted.
Antunez, who worked in the sheriff’s Custody Operations Division before retiring last year, was formally sentenced July 2 in Santa Maria Superior Court.
As Noozhawk had reported at the time of the collision, Antunez was driving east on Highway 154 in a BMW sedan belonging to his passenger, Esther Trejo, a county Probation Department employee. Both were off-duty at the time.
The California Highway Patrol said Antunez crossed the double-yellow line near Lake Cachuma and the car slammed into an oncoming Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, which was then rear-ended by a trailing Jeep.
Antunez’s most seriously injured victim, Judith Hall, was in court to deliver an emotional victim impact statement.
Hall, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, described the grueling regimen of surgeries and physical therapy required by her extensive injuries, including the “bloodless decapitation” she experienced.
“The defendant decided to drive on Highway 154 while intoxicated,” Hall said. “He thought he was above the law and decided to put everyone’s life in danger. He made the decision to drink and drive even though he knew better. Yet, he decided to not only change his life, but also destroy mine.
“Does he even know what he did to us? Does he know that I died three times? Does he know I suffered a bloodless decapitation? My head came off my spine.”
Hall’s injuries included a broken clavicle, sternum, foot and ribs, as well as a collapsed lung. She lost numerous teeth, and doctors had to remove part of her small intestines and colon. One surgery lasted 14 hours.
“I will, for the rest of my life, be disabled,” she said.
Hall asked Judge John McGregor to throw out the plea deal Antunez and his lawyer, Josh Lynn, had struck with the state Attorney General’s Office. He declined.
2. South Coast Fourth of July Celebrations Include Fireworks, Flyovers and a Festive Motorcade
The Fourth of July is back. After last year’s downer of an Independence Day, normalcy began to return this year as locals celebrated America’s 245 birthday with an outpouring of patriotic pride.
Our Josh Molina — with the pictorial contributions of Noozhawk photographers Ryan Cullom, Ray Ford, Peter Hartmann and a number of readers — was out and about covering the Montecito Association’s Village 4th Road Show, the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation’s Fourth of July commemoration at the Santa Barbara Cemetery, and the Santa Barbara fireworks show at the harbor.
Freedom is always worth celebrating, but never more so than on the day we declared our independence. Let’s keep it that way.
3. ‘Adventurous’ Building for Corner of State, Ortega Streets Charms Historic Landmarks Commission
Jeff Shelton is one of Santa Barbara’s boldest and most creative architects, and he’s brought his trademark whimsy to a downtown building that could really use a lifeline.
As our Josh Molina first reported, the Historic Landmarks Commission on July 7 gave final approval to Shelton’s plans for 700 State St., at the northeast corner of State and East Ortega streets across from the hulking former Macy’s building.
The project envisions a reimagining of the single-story building that has had a hard-luck history with tenants. After a succession of forgettable restaurants, the space was subdivided a couple of years ago to accommodate a 7-Eleven in one half.
The other half will now be turned into a tequila-themed restaurant with new architectural features that include decorative blue and white Moorish arches; six new windows on Ortega Street; an opening up of the dark, imposing and seemingly caged patio area; and a new palm tree in front.
“We really want to turn this building down Ortega Street so it is a whole building, not just a façade stuck to a box on State Street,” Shelton said.
The restaurant is innovative, too. Owned by Berkeley “Augie” Johnson and named, well, Augie’s, it’s inspired by his love of agave.
It’s also a recognition of the plants’ water-retention utility as a natural fire break. One of Johnson’s tequilas will even be called “Firebreak” in honor of local firefighters and first-responders who have helped his family on more than one occasion over the years.
“This place will be my opus to agave and to my desire to elevate the distillation arts and to reflect my desire to continue elevating the Central Coast’s food and spirit offerings,” he told Josh.
Augie’s is expected to open next year.
4. Montecito Country Club Seeks After-the-Fact Approval of Newly Built ‘Sports Complex’
After a nearly five-hour meeting July 8, the Santa Barbara Planning Commission granted the Montecito Club 120 days to perform a noise-monitoring plan and tweak a new sports complex it built without permits.
As our Josh Molina has been reporting, the historic private club at 920 Summit Road was seeking “as-built approval” for two pickleball hard courts, a sand volleyball court, a turf soccer field, a batting cage, a children’s sliding hill, an unroofed trellis, retaining walls to extend an event lawn, and other landscaping, hardscaping and grading.
The club also was looking to tee up approval for a new golf simulator building planned for the property.
The City of Santa Barbara previously had approved some of the work, but a representative of Suzanne Elledge Planning & Permitting Services acknowledged that part of the project “exceeded that scope and includes other elements that were not contemplated under the previous approval.”
A nearby neighbor had blown the whistle on the construction, securing a restraining order to halt all activity at the sports complex as of July 3. Hence, the club’s urgent request for after-the-fact approval.
Attorney Barry Cappello says his client, Angelo Mozilo, who owns a 12,000-square-foot home in the 100 block of Rametto Road, is suffering “visual and auditory impact” from the sports complex.
“On multiple occasions, he has been forced to retreat inside to escape the ongoing nuisance and disturbance,” Cappello wrote in a letter to city officials. “His viewshed has been ruined, and the adverse impact of the unpermitted activities on his property value is substantial.”
Mozilo is no stranger to high-profile controversies. The disgraced former chairman and CEO of scandal-ridden Countrywide Financial Corp. is considered by many — but not by himself — as one of the lead architects of the subprime mortgage lending crisis that triggered the 2007-2008 housing market collapse and subsequent Great Recession.
Facing securities fraud and insider trading charges, Mozilo in 2010 settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a staggering $67.5 million in fines and agreeing to a lifetime ban from leadership roles in any public company.
5. Driver, Passengers Injured in Collision with Tree on Cliff Drive in Santa Barbara
An injured Santa Barbara motorist and his three passengers had to be extricated from a mangled Ford Mustang after the car collided with a stout tree west of Arroyo Burro Beach the night of July 4.
Santa Barbara fire Battalion Chief Jim McCoy told our Tom Bolton that the wreck was reported around 9:20 p.m. in the 3200 block of Cliff Drive, near Yankee Farm Road east of Hope Ranch.
According to Santa Barbara police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale, the driver — identified as 23-year-old Marlon Anibal Valle Mejia — was speeding east on the windy road when he apparently lost control and crashed head-on into a tree on the ocean side of the street.
Neighbors heard the collision and ran out to render aid until emergency personnel could arrive, Ragsdale said.
Firefighters had to use special equipment to extricate the four seriously injured victims, all of whom were taken by American Medical Response ambulances to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
On July 5, Ragsdale said Mejia, who is undergoing further medical treatment, was placed under administrative arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Firefighters Battle Vegetation Fire Near Highway 101 in Goleta.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
An Agoura Hills project may give wildlife a chance to cross that bridge when they come to it: California Betting $61 Million That New Freeway Crossings Will Keep Wildlife Safe.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
After an absence of more than 16 months, I finally was able to return to @allsaintsbythesea Episcopal Church, #myfavoritechurchinmontecito, and it was divine! My less-than-divine photos are in my Instagram feed.
• • •
Watch It
Last week, Weston Mazey stepped into the batter’s box for the first time since a March baseball collision left him with a fractured skull and a near-catastrophic brain injury. And then this happened …
(Jacobvideos 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.
