Happy birthday, America.
The Fourth of July isn’t just a celebration of “the last, best hope for a mankind plagued by tyranny and deprivation,” in the words of the late President Ronald Reagan.
It also heralds the start of Cowboy Christmas, an annual stampede of nearly four dozen rodeos — America’s true national pastime — taking place throughout the West this month.
After two years in the COVID-19 wilderness, the Fiesta Stock Horse Show & Rodeo returns this year as part of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days celebration. The rodeo takes over Earl Warren Showgrounds from Aug. 4 to 7, which I’ll call Cowboy Christmas-adjacent.
As we do every rodeo, Noozhawk is sponsoring a rider in the mutton bustin’ competition, which features little kids trying to ride big sheep — and usually ends with a faceplant in the dirt and the sheep trotting incuriously back to its mates.
Buckaroos who want to ride for our brand can enter our July 11 drawing for a spot in the Aug. 7 rodeo matinee. All the other rodeo mutton bustin’ slots have been filled so this is your child’s last chance till next year.
Contestants must be between the ages of 4 and 6 as of Jan. 1, 2022, and weigh no more than 60 pounds. In addition to the chance to earn woolly glory or eat some dirt, the Noozhawk rider — and his or her family — will receive rodeo tickets and some Noozhawk swag.
Click here to enter our drawing, which closes at 5 p.m. July 10. Don’t be sheepish.
Noozhawk lassoed an audience of 100,945 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics. What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading over the past seven days.
Please be advised this is my opinion column and not a news story, so pull on your boots and watch where you step.
1. Santa Barbara County Strikes Back at Montecito Residents Over Right-of-Way Encroachments
Over the last two years, this story has had more twists and turns than the upper reaches of Montecito’s Hot Springs Trail. It didn’t need to be that way, but it just goes to show how utterly devoid of political leadership Santa Barbara County is — at all levels.
As Noozhawk readers are well aware, the Hot Springs Trailhead, on East Mountain Drive near upper Riven Rock Road, has been ground zero for tensions involving three mostly incompatible groups: The public eager to hike up the public trail to the historic hot springs; neighborhood residents frustrated by often out-of-control visitor parking and associated “activities;” and Santa Barbara County and other federal, state and local government officials who have just enough ownership of the issue to not be able to wriggle out of their involvement.
Officially, county agencies and law enforcement have taken legal steps to restrict and control street parking. Unofficially, a few residents have taken questionable steps to protect their property. But at least one neighbor had once offered to work with the county to provide a few additional parking spaces on a very conveniently located corner of his own estate.
Meanwhile, someone at the county — there seems to be some implausible deniability going on — hatched a plan to line East Mountain Drive with more than 60 public parking spaces in the rights of way.
While all of Montecito was choking down that news, several East Mountain Drive property owners were notified by the county that they allegedly had unpermitted private encroachments on the right of way and that said violations must be removed. Forthwith.
Four residents filed a legal petition in Santa Barbara Couny Superior Court contending that the county had not properly considered the environmental and emergency evacuation impacts of its parking scheme. On May 6, Judge Donna Geck granted an injunction stopping the county from moving forward until the environmental review question had been answered.
Are you still with me?
Good, because this is where the county peels back its mask to reveal its true arrogance.
Rather than use the time to try to defuse the situation, the county doubled down, with the Public Works Department singling out 11 homeowners for alleged right-of-way violations.
As our Josh Molina was first to report, the ominous notices plastered all over the neighborhood threatened “civil litigation and/or criminal prosecution, a $350/day penalty, a $500/day fine, and liability to the county for all expenses and damages” if the alleged encroachments weren’t removed within 10 days.
Attorneys for the residential plaintiffs went back to court, where Judge Tom Anderle promptly upheld Geck’s injunction against the county.
“The letters undisputedly violate both the letter and spirit of the preliminary injunction,” Anderle said in his ruling, which also was first reported by Josh in a story that actually would be Noozhawk’s fourth most-read of the week if I hadn’t combined it here.
“By June 29, 2022, county is ordered to notify homeowners who received the letters that it is withdrawing the letters, and that they do not have to comply with the letters’ directive.”
Publicly, the County Counsel’s Office declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Privately, it would behoove County Counsel Rachel Van Mullem to hold an all-hands meeting with county employees — unelected and elected — about the meaning of judge-issued legal injunctions. Because the cost of the consequences is likely to get dumped on taxpayers.
“The letters were the executive branch thumbing its nose at the judicial branch, a breakdown of the very foundation our legal system is built on,” David Cousineau, a partner at Cappello & Noël LLP of Santa Barbara, told Josh.
“Ultimately, the letters only demonstrated the county’s ham-fisted approach to Hot Springs and increased our attorney fees, which the county may have to pay,” he rightfully noted, referring to his clients.
Stay tuned for the next episode of As Montecito Turns.
2. Bill Macfadyen: Deadly Highway 101 Incident Takes an Unexpected Turn
Occasionally, stories change dramatically. This one sure did, but it still ends tragically.
3. Man Arrested on Stalking, Burglary Charges at Montecito Home of Singer Ariana Grande
I knew that pop star Ariana Grande had been married in Montecito, but I didn’t realize she lived here. Then again, I’m not a member of the Stalking Fan Club so I’m a bit out of the loop.
Evidently, a guy named Aharon Brown was in the loop, however, and he allegedly broke into Grande’s Miramar Avenue home the evening of June 26. According to Santa Barbara County sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick, the 7:45 p.m. break-in triggered the security alarm, which prompted a quick visit by deputies.
Zick told our Tom Bolton that deputies found the 23-year-old Brown on the property and arrested him on suspicion of stalking, burglary and damaging power lines, all felonies, along with misdemeanor allegations of violating a court order, tampering with a fire alarm and obstruction of a peace officer.
This isn’t Brown’s first Grande-zvous.
He was arrested last September at Grande’s Hollywood Hills home after allegedly brandishing a large hunting knife and threatening to kill her and her security team.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a restraining order, which authorities say Brown violated. Apparently, he was supposed to turn himself in in Los Angeles on June 28 but he went to Montecito instead.
Brown pleaded not guilty in Santa Barbara County Superior Court and is due for a preliminary hearing next week. As of July 1, he remained held without bail in County Jail.
Grande was not at home at the time of the break-in, which occurred on her 29th birthday.
4. Santa Barbara Solstice Parade ‘Shines’ in Post-Pandemic Return
Like far too many other things, the COVID-19 crisis took a tough toll on Santa Barbara’s Summer Solstice Celebration. But after a two-year forced hiatus, the popular parade returned to downtown Santa Barbara on June 25 and was just as creative, fun and zany as ever.
The one thing that was different was the location. Because State Street is now closed to parades as well as vehicles, the Solstice Parade had to travel up Santa Barbara Street to its post-procession party at Alameda Park.
Our Giana Magnoli was among the thousands of spectators who turned out for the revelry and borderline bacchanalia. Our Marcia Heller was in the parade with World Dance for Humanity. Judging from our Fritz Olenberger’s colorful photos, everyone seemed to be having a good time — a welcome change from the last two years of dour austerity.
Although I support the concept of the State Street pedestrian promenade, I’m not a fan of parades being rerouted elsewhere. Even though there are only about a half-dozen a year, they’re still an important part of Santa Barbara’s identity, and that identity courses through its main artery.
The Solstice Parade is one thing, given that much of the merriment originates at the Community Arts Workshop at 631 Garden St. and ends up at Alameda Park, which is split by Santa Barbara Street.
Old Spanish Days’ upcoming El Desfile Histórico is quite another thing, and I foresee a Fiesta fiasco for my favorite parade.
I hope I’m proven wrong on Aug. 5 but East Cabrillo Boulevard is a terrible — although beautiful — location. There is no parking, there are no services, there are no restrooms and, most important, there is no shade.
Furthermore, spectators will have no choice but to cross the street, and pedestrians and horses are a perilous combination — for the pedestrians and for the horses. At least the roadway is far wider than downtown.
The Solstice Parade seemed to work, however. We’ll see soon enough if Fiesta’s Historical Parade does, too.
5. Motorcyclist Critically Injured in Suspected DUI Crash on Highway 101 in Montecito
A motorcyclist apparently riding the wrong way on Highway 101 — and allegedly under the influence — crashed in Montecito just after midnight June 27. The 24-year-old Ventura man severely injured himself in the wreck but, fortunately, didn’t hit anyone else.
As our Tom Bolton reported, California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Fabila said the man was riding a Harley-Davidson south in the northbound lanes around 12:20 a.m. when he crashed near San Ysidro Road.
Suffering from critical injuries, he was transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where Fabila said he later was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The suspect’s identity and medical condition were not disclosed. The CHP is investigatng the wreck.
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Good Reads
Here are a half-dozen more stories I recommend:
» Fourth of July Festivities Back with a Bang Throughout Santa Barbara County — Our Serena Guentz has a roundup of Independence Day festivities in Santa Barbara County, which will be bursting Fourth with patriotic pride.
» Santa Maria Adds Aerial Tool to Help Nab Those Who Violate Fireworks Restrictions — The City of Santa Maria is putting the high in high-tech surveillance … of illegal fireworks users. While North County editor Janene Scully locks on the aerial target, I wonder what else Santa Maria will be spying on the rest of the year.
» Divided Santa Barbara Council Rejects Proposed Moratorium on New Hotel Development — The Santa Barbara City Council shelved a kooky proposal to put the brakes on new hotel construction. That sentence isn’t entirely accurate as, actually, three council members prevented the super-majority required to pass the urgency ordinance. Our Josh Molina checks in with the details.
» Santa Barbara City Council Stalls on Future of State Street — A hundred years from now, our Josh Molina will be reporting on the debate over the future of State Street, my Best of Bill column will be recapping it, and we’ll be no closer to a solution.
» Santa Barbara Cyclist on Cross-Country Ride Talks Detours, Moose and Kindness of Strangers — Our Serena Guentz caught up with retired Santa Barbara County firefighter Ed Rodriguez during his 4,200-mile trek to fulfill a bucket-list quest after wife’s death from cancer.
» Chris Parrish Returns to Coach Water Polo, Swimming at Dos Pueblos — Local water polo legend Chris Parrish will be back at Dos Pueblos High School in the fall, teaching in the classroom and coaching boys and girls water polo and swimming. Sports editor Barry Punzal has the pool report.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Collision in Carpinteria Closes Northbound Highway 101 Lanes for Second Time Monday.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
I just don’t see this taking off: Inside the Nuclear-Powered “Fying Hotel” That Can Stay Airborne for Months.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
My Instagram feed goes to the walls with Santa Barbara artist Miguel Rodriguez’s striking murals.
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Americans Held Hostage: Day 304
It’s been 304 days since the U.S. government abandoned thousands of U.S. citizens and green-card holders in Afghanistan, and it’s looking like I’m the only one who cares.
• • •
Watch It
Anything you can do I can do better. HT to Best of Bill reader Ashley Humphrey.
(KwesBLOX 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.