My business partners, executive editor Tom Bolton and business development vice president Kim Clark, and I will be in Nashville next week for the annual conference of the Local Independent Online News Publishers Association, of which Noozhawk is a founding member.
Before I go, though, it’s time to select three new Hawks Club members for this month’s free Lunch with the Publisher. If you’d like to enter our random drawing, click here to leave your name and telephone number with Noozhawk marketing assistant Collin Nathanson.
We’ll draw names Oct. 21 for the #noozhawkeats lunch on Oct. 29. The offer is limited to those at our Red-Tailed Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk membership levels. Click here to become a member, or to upgrade.
We can talk about our plans for the rest of this year and beyond, and we can discuss how we approach and cover the news. It’s really up to you, and I’m grateful for your feedback, perspective and support.
Speaking of news, things certainly have been chaotic in our community this past week — and it’s been keeping Team Noozhawk very busy.
For those of you who don’t know, my Best of Bill columns are a recap of the Top 5 most-read stories of the previous seven days, as tracked by our Google Analytics. An unusually large slate — almost a dozen stories — was in the running for a listing this time.
Although our top story reached No. 1 within 12 hours of its publication, the 191,080 of you who were reading us this past week helped keep seven others seesawing all day Oct. 17.
What follows is my take on those stories. Please remember that this is an opinion column — my opinion as Noozhawk’s publisher — and not a news report.
1. Suspect in Hope Ranch Homicide Shot Dead by Sheriff’s Deputies
A Hope Ranch family was ripped apart the night of Oct. 15 when, authorities say, the 30-year-old son of Tarzan actor Ron Ely stabbed his mother to death and later was shot dead after he allegedly confronted Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies who were searching for him on the property.
As our Tom Bolton first reported, deputies were dispatched at 8:15 p.m. to 4141 Mariposa Drive, above Marina Drive on the east end of Hope Ranch, after a 9-1-1 caller reported a “family disturbance.”
Inside the house, sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said, deputies found Ely’s 62-year-old wife, Valerie, dead from multiple stab wounds.
“While on scene, deputies identified the suspect as the Elys’ son, 30-year-old Cameron Ely,” she said.
A search of the 1½-acre property and the neighborhood was launched, and Zick said Cameron Ely was discovered outside his parents’ house.
She said he allegedly “posed a threat” and four deputies fired their service weapons at him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
As per department protocol, Lt. Erik Raney said, the deputies were placed on paid administrative leave while an officer-involved-shooting investigation is conducted. None of the deputies was injured in the incident, and their identities have not yet been disclosed.
Zick said autopsies would be conducted on mother and son.
Raney said a “disabled elderly man,” presumably Ron Ely, was inside the house at the time of the crime, but was unharmed. Ely, 81, is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1960s TV series of the same name.
Cameron Ely was a popular and star athlete at San Marcos High School, where he was voted Mr. Royal in 2006. He went on to play quarterback on the football team at Harvard University, graduating with a psychology degree in 2012.
Friends describe Valerie Ely, a former Miss Florida USA, as a devoted mother and wife. In addition to her husband, she is survived by their two older children, daughters Kirsten and Kaitland.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
R.I.P.
2. New Details Emerge About Fatal Bus Crash in Downtown Santa Barbara
As family, friends and total strangers continued to mourn for Eve Debra Johnson, the 67-year-old Santa Barbara woman killed by a bus while she sat at a downtown bus stop, authorities have — slowly — been releasing more information about the Oct. 10 tragedy.
According to Santa Barbara police spokesman Anthony Wagner, the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District bus had just turned right onto the first block of West Figueroa Street from Chapala Street when, for unknown reasons, it suddenly jumped the curb and slammed into a bus bench at about 2:20 p.m.
The impact killed Johnson and critically injured another woman sitting beside her.
Wagner said the second woman — identified as Gloria Bravo De Ayala, 75, also of Santa Barbara — suffered injuries to both legs and was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment. She remained hospitalized in fair condition as of Oct. 17.
Other people standing near the bus stop escaped injury, but at least two of the bus passengers were transported to the hospital, as well.
After prodding by our Tom Bolton, with public record legal citations, SBPD finally identified the bus driver as Aura Mijangos, 60. Details of her employment tenure and driving record have yet to be disclosed.
According to Wagner, a preliminary investigation determined that the bus was traveling at 5-10 mph, and it was scheduled to pull over to pick up passengers at the bus stop.
Wagner said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Speculation seems to be focused on possible driver error or mechanical failure
Mijangos has been interviewed by police, but Wagner would not say whether she has been cited or faces any criminal charges as a result of the collision.
A celebration of Johnson’s life is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 23 at Oak Park, 300 W. Alamar St.
3. Structures Threatened by Wind-Whipped Vegetation Fire Near El Capitán Canyon
Propelled by powerful, gusty winds, a brush fire ignited along the Gaviota coast on Oct. 17, threatening more than 100 structures in and around El Capitán Canyon and forcing the closure of Highway 101 just before the afternoon commute.
The wildfire, which was reported shortly after 4:30 p.m., quickly grew to nearly 450 acres in size as it burned in the foothills on the north side of Highway 101 near El Capitán State Beach.
Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli told our Tom Bolton that about 250 firefighters were on hand from his department, Cal Fire, the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies. They were backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft attacking from above with retardant and water drops.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Bertucelli said it started in a canyon west of El Capitán Canyon. High winds quickly pushed it east toward the El Capitán Canyon resort and its companion Ocean Mesa RV campground, as well as nearby ranches.
All were evacuated, as was El Capitán State Beach campground on the other side of the freeway.
Ultimately, Bertucelli said, no structures were damaged in the blaze and no injuries were reported. By late on Oct. 17, containment was at approximately 20 percent, he added.
The flames forced authorities to close Highway 101 for several hours, and train traffic on the Union Pacific railroad also was halted for a time.
Another hot, dry, windy weekend is in the National Weather Service forecast. Winds of 20 to 30 mph are expected in the area, with gusts as high as 60 mph.
The weather service said relative humidity could drop as low as 10 percent, further intensifying wildfire risks.
Just in case, click here to sign up for Noozhawk’s free breaking news text alerts.
4. Possible Power Shutoff for Santa Barbara South Coast Edison Customers
California may be the laboratory that fuels the world’s high-tech innovations, but the once-golden state’s electrical infrastructure would only be the envy of the 19th century these days.
As you’re well aware, equipment and transmission lines operated by Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric have been the sources of and/or blamed for sparking deadly and devastating wildfires that have burned up so much of California.
With the blessing of state regulators, the utilities created the controversial Public Safety Power Shutoff program, which allows them to pull the plug on customers during extreme weather events.
Since extreme weather events are a hallmark of California — and have been for forever — welcome to your future.
As our Giana Magnoli reported Oct. 16, Edison looked at a weekend forecast of powerful sundowner winds and announced that preventive power outages were possible — beginning Oct. 18 — in its service area on Santa Barbara County’s South Coast.
“In Santa Barbara County, we have 6,689 customers under consideration, and that’s in the city of Santa Barbara as well as unincorporated areas, including Gaviota, Conception, El Capitán State Beach, Mission Canyon and Montecito,” Edison spokeswoman Sally Jeun told Giana.
If that sounds ambiguously unhelpful, you’re right.
According to Jeun, the Edison shutoffs are done circuit by circuit, so high winds in any part of a circuit area will trigger a preventive outage — even if it’s not actually windy at your house or in your neighborhood.
Click here to see if you’re about to experience life as a pioneer. Maybe.
5. Cary Matsuoka Under Fire at Santa Barbara Unified School District Meeting
Embattled Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Cary Matsuoka got an earful from a disdainful public during an Oct. 15 special meeting the district trustees called to discuss his contract.
Matsuoka’s $294,000-a-year deal runs through June 30, 2021, but the school board has been meeting to evaluate his performance.
If the public comment period is any indication, parents and community members already have given him failing grades for his leadership and management of the 15,000-student district. A grassroots petition calling on the school board to not renew the contract garnered more than 850 signatures.
“I am over-concerned that the board and superintendent don’t care about students,” Denice Spangler Adams said. “Nothing has changed in my neighborhood: Cleveland School, 13 percent proficiency.
“All students deserve to be able to read. All students deserve to be able to do math.”
The board took no action before going into closed session to continue the proceedings.
Matsuoka declined our Josh Molina’s request for an interview.
The next day, the district issued a statement saying that Matsuoka has not asked for a contract extension. Um, thank you?
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Santa Barbara Man Dies of Injuries Suffered in Crash Tied to Police Pursuit.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Excuse you: Listen to an Underwater Volcano Burp 750-Foot Bubbles.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
My niece, Dr. Hannah Standley, née Gaylord, got married in Houston. Your invitation’s in my Instagram feed.
• • •
Watch It
Still don’t have a costume for your kid for Halloween? Think inside the box.
(Insider video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk and Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.