Friends of Bill know how much I love rodeo, and one of my favorite events is the mutton bustin’ competition, in which little kids attempt to ride big sheep — with hilarious results.
As we do every year, Noozhawk is sponsoring a mutton buster in the Fiesta Stock Horse Show & Rodeo, which opens Aug. 1 as part of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days celebration, itself probably my favorite community tradition.
Buckaroos who want to ride for our brand can enter our July 31 drawing for a spot in the Aug. 4 rodeo matinee at Earl Warren Showgrounds.
Contestants must be between the ages of 4 and 6 as of Jan. 1, 2019, 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 for more information on the drawing, or click here to enter. Don’t be sheepish.
It was a wild ride for Noozhawk readers this past week, with 136,147 of you holding on for dear life as our story contestants tried to buck each other out of the Top 5. According to our Google Analytics, there was a lot of competition for the short go, which wasn’t decided until late on July 25.
What follows is my take on those Top 5 stories you were riding, er, I mean reading. Please be advised this Best of Bill column is loaded with my opinion and other B.S., so watch your step.
1. Consultant’s Report Confirms Woes About Downtown Santa Barbara
I wasn’t with our Josh Molina when he wrote the lead to his July 24 story, but I couldn’t have typed it with a straight face:
“The City of Santa Barbara has a reputation for being business unfriendly, having an overly complicated permitting process, and ‘retail is undergoing dramatic changes as a result of the Internet and social media.’”
But don’t take our word for it. Josh was referring to a breathlessly anticipated 87-page report from a Manhattan Beach consulting firm, Kosmont Companies.
As he duly reported, the city paid a whopping $84,000 for these pearls of wisdom — nearly all of which it could have gotten for free just from reading Noozhawk articles the last five years.
Among other gems we’ve all heard before, and said ourselves:
» The permitting process for new retail stores is expensive and high risk.
» The high cost of housing makes it difficult to maintain a quality workforce.
» Some landlords are not motivated to lower commercial rents.
» Vagrancy is hurting State Street’s image and reputation.
» Locals want more police presence on State Street.
» The city’s much bragged-about “Accelerated” Permit Program is anything but.
» The Historic Landmarks Commission’s approval procedures are lengthy, costly and unpredictable.
» An economic development director should be hired to help lead the efforts to revive and oversee downtown, and come up with an actual plan for the rest of the city.
I could go on, but does anyone think this lame report is going anywhere but on a shelf somewhere in City Hall, like the rest of the community’s catalog of complaints that have been ignored for years?
As it turns out, there are quite a lot of people who do, or who at least are less cynical than I am. A standing-room only crowd turned out for the July 25 council discussion of the report and its recommendations.
Dare to dream.
2. Carpinteria Assault Victim Dies of Injuries; Suspect Arrested
In a story that has Carpinteria absolutely buzzing, a 32-year-old man succumbed to catastrophic injuries that had left him on life support after a weekend brawl just off downtown.
As our Tom Bolton first reported, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 1:20 a.m. July 20 to break up a fight going on near Ninth Street and Yucca Lane, a block west of Linden Avenue and south of Carpinteria Avenue.
The victim — identified as Erik Romero of Carpinteria — was found on the ground with critical injuries, and he was rushed by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Authorities reported that Romero’s family made the decision to take him off life support the night of July 23. He died not long afterward.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said investigators working with Ventura police arrested 29-year-old Scott Robert Fleming of Carpinteria as a suspect in the case on July 22.
According to the criminal complaint, the District Attorney’s Office has charged Fleming with voluntary manslaughter, a felony.
The complaint also notes that he’s facing a second strike under the state “three-strikes” law for a felony conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in 2008, when he would have been 18.
For good measure, his record includes a felony conviction for elder abuse in 2009 — when he was 19 — as well as multiple other arrests. I don’t know who was advising him on career goals, but damn.
As of the afternoon of July 26, Fleming remained in custody without bail at the County Jail.
Funeral arrangements are pending for Romero.
“Erik was a loving father of beautiful children, a loving son to honest, hard-working parents, and a great friend to everyone,” said family friend Edward Landeros, who has established a GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses.
“He filled any room with laughter, and filled our hearts with love through humor and friendship. We are all blessed to have shared time with him during his time here, and we should aspire to embody more of his spirit into our daily lives.”
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Hoover asked that anyone with information about the case contact detectives at 805.683.2724, or click here to leave an anonymous tip.
3. BizHawk: Embermill Set to Open at Old Aldo’s Site on Santa Barbara’s State Street
Embermill, a Caribbean Creole-themed restaurant, is due to open any day now at 1031 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara. The landmark location, with its unique outdoor patio just off the sidewalk, is the former home of Aldo’s, which closed several years ago and has been vacant ever since.
“I am very excited,” chef and owner Harold Welch told our Josh Molina. “It’s a pretty awesome location, and the vibe I feel here is really good. This block is a really nice block to be on. It’s been one of my dreams for a long time to be on State Street.”
What’s the holdup? City of Santa Barbara permits, of course.
Welch — a former chef at La Cumbre Country Club, the long-closed Citronelle and several other restaurants — is no stranger to the Creole style; he also owns the similarly themed Hummingbird Café at 453 Atterdag Road in Solvang.
While the patio is a draw outside, the restaurant’s featured attraction on the inside will be a wood-burning oven that Welch had shipped from Italy.
“It was a hustle to get it over here,” he said.
4. Joe Guzzardi: In Immigration Battle, Congress Legislating on Behalf of Foreign Nationals
Opinion columnist Joe Guzzardi writes on immigration issues as an analyst and researcher for Progressives for Immigration Reform. He’s long been one of Noozhawk’s best-read commentary writers.
But his July 21 column on the passage of HR 1044 in the House of Representatives really got the traffic flowing. Among other things, the controversial legislation loosens up tech immigration, removing the 7 percent per-country cap on green cards and more than doubling the family-based visa cap to 15 percent.
Joe’s not a fan, and makes a far more persuasive case than I can summarize.
5. Santa Barbara Committee Supports Crackdown on Undesirable Behaviors in Parks
It’s come to this: The City of Santa Barbara is considering implementing new policies that will prohibit skulking about in public parks after dark and bar adults from playgrounds unless accompanied by a child aged 12 or under.
As our Josh Molina first reported, the package of policies proposed by the Parks & Recreation Department went before City Council members Oscar Gutierrez, Randy Rowse and Kristen Sneddon, who make up the Ordinance Committee.
Parks director Jill Zachary did not specifically mention vagrant loiterers and the homeless, but I think we get where this is going — and I understand completely.
“We want them to be safe, clean and usable,” she said of the parks, “and we want to have stewardship of our natural resources.”
The proposals also call for the parks to be open from sunrise to sunset, except for Franceschi, Hilda Mcintyre Ray and Skofield parks, which have staff caretakers living on site. Portable barbecue grills would have new restrictions.
With a unanimous vote, the new policies were forwarded to the full council for consideration. The enormity of the changes was not lost on the committee.
“Being someone who grew up in the area, where we were very crammed into our living quarters, we needed areas where we needed to be outside our dense living situations,” Gutierrez said. “Some of my fondest memories are being in the park after sunset, looking at the stars.”
Sneddon was concerned that the sunset closures would unfairly punish people, but acknowledged the need.
“I have a lot of fond memories of being in parks,” she said. “I am going to trust that in those evening hours, unless there’s a problem, that we are not going to have park police, but we are going to have parameters.”
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Suspected Gunman in Goleta Rabobank Robbery Kills Self in Nearby Hair Salon.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Grimly photographic memories of James Dean, and his untimely death in 1955: Unpublished Photos of James Dean’s Fatal San Luis Obispo County Car Crash Go Up for Auction.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
Thanks to a chance encounter on the #50thanniversary of the #apollo11 #moonlanding, I had a different — much more sentimental — trip down Memory Lane with that historic milestone. It’s in my Instagram orbit this past week.
• • •
#santabarbaraeyesores
The lovely awning on the backside of 1111 Chapala St. is my #santabarbaraeyesore of the week. You know who you are.
Email your own #santabarbaraeyesores suggestions — and photos and street addresses — to me at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com.
• • •
Watch It
Simba, the bald eaglet I’ve been binge-watching for the last three months, finally fledged the morning of July 23. After one last poop, he confidently flew out of sight from the Big Bear Lake bald eagle cam. Good luck living your best life, little buddy. You birds make America proud. #raptorsrule
(Lady Hawk 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.