So the Los Angeles Dodgers, preseason favorites to reach the World Series, have overcome extraordinary obstacles to make it to the Promised Land.
At times like these, fans always say, “I never doubted them.” Well, that wasn’t me.
I doubted them for most of the season, dubious that they had the team leadership or the starting pitching, and astounded at their roster-wide fragility.
But facing another postseason of early elimination, they finally transformed themselves into the hungriest, most intense and lethal collection of generational talent I’ve seen in a long while. Or maybe ever.
I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong.
As the series with the vaunted New York Yankees starts, though, I’m heartbroken by the untimely death of Fernando Valenzuela at just 63 years old.
His debut year of Fernandomania is one of my all-time favorites, in large part because my buddies and I were at more than 70 games during that magical 1981 season.
And then there’s Fernando’s 1990 no-hitter with one of the immortal Vin Scully’s most memorable lines: “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!”
So many memories of the first-team Dodgers legend. Now let’s make some more: #win4morefor34.
While awaiting the first pitch of the Dodgers’ first Fall Classic since 2020, Noozhawk drew an audience of 129,324 readers this past week, according to our WordPress analytics.
What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading over the last seven days.
This is my opinion column, not a news story, and I write it in my civic capacity as Noozhawk’s publisher.
1. Chaos Hits Montecito Planning Commission Meeting Over Miramar Hotel Project
A couple of weeks ago, while referring to Santa Barbara County’s oversight of the proposed development project at the Rosewood Miramar Resort, I snidely referred to the Montecito Planning Commission as the “junior varsity” to the county Planning Commission’s “varsity.”
I apologize for the insult … to junior varsity teams everywhere.
It’s far more amateurish than that.
Our Josh Molina was on hand for the Montecito commission’s much-anticipated, Oct. 18 “conceptual review” of the Miramar’s boutique shop and housing project at 1755 S. Jameson Lane.
Josh knew going in that the proposal — which all started with plans to add hotel workforce housing on the 4½-acre property — was meeting fierce resistance from the neighborhood.
Little did he know how uniquely peculiar it would get some four hours into the hearing.
The dramatic turn came after Chris Robertson — vice president of planning, government & community relations for Caruso Affiliated, the resort’s owner — revealed that Montecito commissioner Sandy Stahl had allegedly failed to disclose meetings with project opponents.
Further, he said, she had circulated an 18-page Microsoft Word document apparently authored by a neighborhood foe of the project.
Among those Stahl emailed the document to, along with various questions about the project, was the Caruso team, which promptly looked up its origins through Microsoft Word’s convenient track history feature.
“In my 20 years of working in land use, I have never seen something like this,” Robertson said, questioning whether Stahl and the Montecito commission had “pre-judged this project.”
Stahl abruptly recused herself from the proceedings, citing an unclear understanding of ex-parte communication procedures — something I would have thought would be covered during Orientation 101, if there even is such a basic level of training to serve on a government body.
Her departure left the commission without a quorum since chairman Marshall Miller had already recused himself before the meeting due to his connection with All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, a project opponent.
In addition to the 26 affordable-housing units proposed for Miramar staff, resort owner Rick Caruso’s plans include eight market-rate rental units and 17,500 square feet of high-end retail space.
Caruso expressed disappointment at the day’s developments.
“Integrity is a core value for me and my company, and it should also be for those who hold positions of public trust,” he said in a statement to Noozhawk. “That includes members of the Montecito Planning Commission …
“We have spent two years listening to neighbors — including the church — to make sure their views were incorporated into this plan. We believe that our company, our employees, the many supporters of this plan and the broader community deserve much better.”
The project has faced controversy from its inception, including the earlier dispute that I recapped on Sept. 27. That flap boiled down to whether the Montecito Planning Commission should review it at all after repeated quorum delays by its members.
And then there’s All Saints Church, my church, where I’ve been a parishioner for most of my life and am a past senior warden.
The church appears to have allowed itself to be caught in the neighborhood undertow, only to find its 20-year Miramar relationship potentially washed out to sea.
Maybe Caruso will toss a lifebuoy the church’s way or maybe he’ll decide that ship has sailed.
After all, with the favorable winds of the State of California’s new, more indulgent housing policies behind him, he can legally set a course for the horizon and not look back.
Without a Montecito commission vote, the Miramar proposal will now proceed directly to the county Planning Commission on Nov. 1, followed by an expected Board of Supervisors review before year’s end.
Current First District Supervisor Das Williams supports the project, while Supervisor-elect Roy Lee, has not taken a position but has expressed concerns.
2. Downtown Apartment Living an Early Hit, Despite High Rents, at Santa Barbara’s Soltara
The newly opened Soltara Apartments in downtown Santa Barbara mark a significant shift in urban living for the community.
As our Josh Molina reported, developer Peter Lewis’ 78-unit complex — at 27 E. Gutierrez St., a half-block from State Street — is already 65% occupied despite intentionally slowed leasing.
Built on a former Staples parking lot, the four-story development offers studios starting at $2,750 a month, one-bedrooms from $3,500, and two-bedrooms ranging up to $6,500.
Additionally, 10% of the units are designated as below-market-rate for moderate-income residents.
Early tenants like professional photographer James Ray Spahn, who relocated from Aspen, Colorado, with his wife, Carolyn, praise the building’s walkable location and modern amenities.
Spahn reports saving money, paying $4,700 compared to $5,400 for his previous duplex, while enjoying a more urban lifestyle.
Beth Seversen and her husband, Mark, lead pastor at Montecito Covenant Church, downsized from a four-bedroom house on the church campus.
“The church needs a pitter-patter of children in the home,” she said. “We are so delighted that a young family could have a four-bedroom home in Montecito.”
They’re paying $5,700 a month for a fourth-floor unit at Soltara.
“It is an excellent property,” Seversen said, highlighting the building’s quality construction and security features.
However, she emphasized the need for more affordable housing, noting that “even doctors” struggle to remain in Santa Barbara.
Lewis, focusing on community building over profit, chose housing over a potential hotel development.
“Demand is not the problem in this town,” he said. “The problem is inventory.”
Lewis is one of Santa Barbara’s most connected and engaged housing providers. The project’s architect, Brian Cearnal of The Cearnal Collective, is similarly successful.
“When you realize how many people need the housing, enjoy the housing and are thankful for it,” Lewis said, “that’s pretty rewarding.”
3. Multivehicle Crash Closes Highway 101 Lanes at Gaviota
A five-vehicle collision on Highway 101 on the Gaviota coast set at least one car on fire and caused a significant traffic backup the night of Oct. 20 but, somehow, resulted in just one hospitalization.
As our Janene Scully reported, the wreck occurred around 9 p.m. on the southbound side of the highway just east of Mariposa Reina, drawing a response from Santa Barbara County firefighters, the California Highway Patrol and American Medical Response ambulances.
Fire Capt. Scott Safechuck said one woman was transported by AMR ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with moderate injuries.
At least one of the vehicles caught fire, reports indicated.
No identities were released and the circumstances of the collision are under CHP investigation.
One lane of the highway was closed in each direction as investigators worked the scene and crews cleaned up debris.
4. Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty in Financial-Abuse Case Involving Elderly Montecito Woman
A 56-year-old Santa Barbara woman faces up to nine years in state prison after pleading guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a nonagenarian Montecito heiress.
As our Tom Bolton reported, Nancy Lee Elizabeth Coglizer entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit elder financial abuse and elder financial abuse in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota told Tom that Coglizer admitted to stealing more than $500,000 from the late Constance McCormick Fearing, who was in her 90s at the time.
As Fearing’s bookkeeper and trustee with power of attorney, Coglizer allegedly wrote 104 checks to Santa Barbara private investigator Craig Case between 2018 and 2021.
Prosecutors claim Case, the 76-year-old owner of Case Detective Agency, manipulated Coglizer’s mental health vulnerabilities and alcohol dependency for his financial gain.
Case himself faces more than 50 felony counts and remains in Santa Barbara County Jail on $700,000 bail.
Coglizer, who remains free pending her Nov. 12 sentencing, has agreed to testify against Case.
Fearing lived on her 17-acre Oakhaven Estate in Romero Canyon before her 2022 death at age 94.
An avid art collector, she was an heiress of the McCormick family, founders of International Harvester Co. whose patriarch, American inventor and industrialist Cyrus McCormick, developed the mechanical reaper.
The McCormicks also were owners of the original 84-acre Riven Rock estate in Montecito.
Attorneys for Fearing’s estate are pursuing a civil lawsuit against Case and Coglizer, and Coglizer has filed a civil suit of her own against Case.
5. Student Sent to Hospital After Knife Assault at High School in Santa Barbara
A student at Alta Vista Alternative High School in Santa Barbara was hospitalized with stab wounds following an alleged knife assault by another student in a possible gang fight on Oct. 22.
As our Daniel Green reported, the altercation — which involved multiple students — occurred just after noon on the campus of La Colina Junior High School, at 4025 Foothill Road, where Alta Vista is located.
Santa Barbara police Sgt. Bryan Kerr said the injured student was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital by an American Medical Response ambulance.
The teenager’s wounds were not believed to be life-threatening.
Kerr said two juvenile suspects were seen fleeing the campus but officers caught them both in the 700 block of Cieneguitas Road.
He said one suspect was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a knife on a school campus, and a crime committed in furtherance of a criminal street gang.
Santa Barbara Unified School District spokesman Ed Zuchelli said the fight started at Alta Vista’s Quetzal program, but was quickly broken up by school faculty.
The campus implemented shelter-in-place protocols for 40 minutes during the incident, he added.
The identities of the students were not disclosed as all are minors.
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Good Reads
Here are six more stories you should read before you go:
» Jewish Students, Community Reflect On Year Since Hamas Attack, UC Santa Barbara Protests — Amid the sick and inexcusable explosion of anti-semitism over the last year has been a pronounced reluctance to have — to borrow the title of Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby’s new book — uncomfortable conversations with a Jew. So staff writer Rebecca Caraway started one.
» A Look at Accessory Dwelling Units and Who Lives in Them, Amid Housing Crisis — Accessory dwelling units are often thought of as a vital tool to ease Santa Barbara County’s chronic housing shortage. South County editor Josh Molina explores the data and finds a tale of two counties.
» Federal Grand Jury Indicts Courthouse Bombing Suspect on 3 Charges — North County editor Janene Scully reports on the latest development in the Sept. 25 bombing at the Superior Court building in Santa Maria.
» Dancer, Salon Owner Miye Ota Leaves Behind Lasting Legacy in Goleta — Rebecca writes the final chapter of the life story of 106-year-old pioneering Goleta businesswoman Miye Ota — and what a life it was. Rest in peace.
» Judy Foreman: Keeping Holiday Traditions Alive as We Age — 93108 columnist Judy Foreman sets the table for a nostalgic and bittersweet crossroads this holiday season, and many of us can relate.
» Mark Patton: Babe Ruth’s Barn-Storming Tour Produced a Big Hit in Santa Barbara a Century Ago — Sports columnist Mark Patton hits a grand slam with his tale of the Sultan of Swat’s visit to Santa Barbara.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Coffee Shops, Delis Co-Owned By Embattled Santa Maria Valley Financial Adviser Shut Suddenly.
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What I’m Up To
Although I’m not looking for a free meal, I occasionally do have free time if you’re looking for a speaker for your club, group or organization and want to hear more about Noozhawk. Email me at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com.
- Jan. 7 — I’ll be sharing Noozhawk’s story and discussing the future of local news — and local news in Santa Barbara County — with my friends at the Minerva Club of Santa Maria. The Minerva is one of the oldest, continuously operating women’s clubs in California and a community treasure since 1894.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
How’s your vertigo? Climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
The @dodgers dominated my Instagram feed this past week, but I also squeezed in some #nicotime and a few sky views.
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Watch It
There’s nothing quite like an Alaskan malamute puppy. I know because I’ve had a pack of them.
