Although I always want to be No. 1, I’m excited to announce that Noozhawk has earned third place in the Local Media Association Digital Innovation Awards for Best All-Around Local Website.
Ours is just a small company covering a relatively small community, but we were competing in the largest category of 250,001 or more unique monthly visitors.
The winner, the nonprofit Texas Tribune, is an outstanding and widely respected news organization that dwarfs us in national recognition, staff size and resources.
Second place was another large Texas outfit, Community Impact, which has four sites covering the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas.
Given what we were up against, I’ll take this as a win.
Noozhawk is an active, avid member of the LMA, a network of more than 3,000 news websites, newspapers, TV and radio stations, and related media organizations focused on developing sustainable business models for local news.
We don’t need an award to prove we belong in that vanguard, but the recognition from our peers is gratifying.
I’m proud of our team for the achievement. My partners, executive editor Tom Bolton and business development vice president Kim Clark, and all of our staff work tirelessly on your behalf — and we think we do a pretty good job.
Of course, we could not do it without your support, so thank you for that. If you’d like to help us by joining our Hawks Club, click here to make an online donation.
According to our Google Analytics, Noozhawk had an audience of 93,786 readers this past week.
What follows is my own take on your Top 5 most-read stories during that stretch. By that I mean this is my opinion column. It is not a news story.
1. Chick-fil-A to Close Santa Barbara Location for 8-10 Weeks
Santa Barbara’s most popular restaurant is closing temporarily for major improvements. But the changes are not for its product; they’re for the parking lot.
In a May 15 Noozhawk exclusive, our Josh Molina broke the story of Chick-fil-A’s plans to shut down its operations to reconfigure the entrance, exit and drive-through lanes at its location at 3707 State St.
The closure begins May 20, and is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
The move follows a series of permitting threats from the City of Santa Barbara over customer vehicles backed up into the street — even though the city itself had approved the original traffic patterns for Chick-fil-A to even open a decade ago.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point, and we are glad that we are here crossing this bridge together,” franchise owner Travis Collins told Josh.
“We’re hopeful that not only will we create a greater experience for our community, but our neighbors, our guests and team members, too.”
As part of the project, the entrance will be widened to three formal lanes as part of a new, three-lane drive-through operation; four handicapped parking spaces will be relocated to the east side of the building; and the exit will be reoriented to prevent patrons from turning left by mistake.
City Councilman Eric Friedman, who represents the neighborhood, commended Chick-fil-A for the creative solutions.
“This is exactly the outcome we hoped to achieve, that they would make permanent changes on the traffic configuration,” he said. “This is what we wanted them to do.”
Friedman added that complaints about vehicles spilling onto State Street “have gone to effectively zero” since restaurant employees and security guards have been out in the parking lot directing traffic.
“It’s nothing like it used to be,” he said.
According to Collins, the restaurant serves up its delicious chicken and waffle fries to 1,700 to 2,200 customers a day.
A second Chick-fil-A is planned for 4765 Calle Real, at the former home of IHOP, just east of North Turnpike Road. That project is wending its way through the approval process.
If you don’t want to wait, and don’t mind the drive, you can always go to Chick-fil-A’s Enos Ranch location at 605 E. Betteravia Road in Santa Maria.
2. Fatal Crash Shuts Down Northbound Highway 101 North of Ventura
A Ventura man was killed in a fiery collision in a Highway 101 construction area near Faria Beach in Ventura County the morning of May 15.
The California Highway Patrol said a 30-year-old Lancaster man was arrested after the wreck, which shut down the northbound freeway for about five hours.
As our Tom Bolton reported, the five-vehicle pileup occurred about 9:30 a.m. near the Padre Juan Canyon Road overcrossing, about seven miles north of Ventura.
The crash scene was just beyond where the two northbound lanes split into separate, narrow tracks through the highway construction zone.
According to the Ventura County Star, CHP investigators said Cody Garrett Zornes was speeding through the 55-mph zone in a Ford F-55o commercial truck when he rear-ended a Toyota Tacoma pickup driven by 50-year-old José Zarate.
The CHP said Zarate’s Tacoma slammed into a Tesla ahead of it and burst into flames. Two trailing vehicles hit the commercial truck.
Zarate was pronounced dead at the scene.
Zornes was charged with one count of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and three misdemeanor counts of reckless driving with bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty in Ventura County Superior Court and was released on $50,000 bail.
The fatal collision occurred in the same area where 76-year-old Richard Vincent of Santa Barbara was killed last week when the motorcycle he was riding veered into K-rail along the highway and he was ejected.
3. Hiker Rescued After Rattlesnake Bite on Montecito’s Romero Canyon Trail; Bear Spotted Nearby
A rattlesnake bit a hiker on the Romero Canyon Trail above Montecito the morning of May 12, spurring an all-out rescue operation complete with a helicopter airlift.
As a bonus, Montecito Fire Protection Department crews spotted a bear in the area as they hiked back down the trail with the woman’s unhurt dog.
As our Janene Scully reported, the 26-year-old woman was bitten on the foot by the rattlesnake in an encounter about 1½ miles from the Romero Canyon trailhead.
After reaching the woman, Montecito firefighters had the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Air Support Unit Copter 308 hoist her to safety and fly her to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment.
The woman’s identity and medical condition were not available.
The dog was unharmed in the incident and firefighters turned it over to county Animal Services to be reunited with its owner.
During the rescue operation, firefighters spotted a bear moseying down an arroyo on a nearby trail, prompting a warning to hikers about the presence of rattlesnakes and bears on local trails.
4. When Will Highway 1 Fully Reopen Along the Big Sur Coast? It Will Be Awhile, Caltrans Says
As bad as the winter deluge was for Santa Barbara County’s roads, things were much worse on the majestic Big Sur coast.
Several massive landslides closed significant sections of Highway 1, perhaps America’s most scenic roadway — when you can use it.
Kathe Tanner, a staff writer at our strategic partner, the San Luis Obispo Tribune, provided an update on the uphill battle to repair the downhill damage along a 70-mile stretch of the highway north of San Luis Obispo.
Caltrans officials say two sections — landslides at Dani Creek and Gilbert’s Slide north of Ragged Point — could be open by mid-July.
Unfortunately, there’s no timetable for Paul’s Slide, 22 miles north of the Monterey County line.
It will take at least “several months for Paul’s,” Caltrans District 5 spokesman Kevin Drabinski told Kathe.
5. Rob Raede: Shoreline Beach Café Makes the Most of Its Sandbox
Let’s Go Eat columnist Rob Raede had a beachin’ experience at Santa Barbara’s Shoreline Beach Café, filling up on the famed Baja-style fish tacos, mai tais and margaritas. I wasn’t invited.
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Good Reads
Here are a half-dozen other stories worth your time, too:
» Santa Barbara County Supervisors Give Themselves a 5% Salary Increase — You may not be getting a raise in this economy but at least you can live vicariously through the one you’ll be paying for for our penurious public servants on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Staff writer Josh Molina does the math.
» Economic Development Manager Leaving Santa Barbara as City Spending Cuts Loom — Josh begins writing the last chapter of the City of Santa Barbara’s economic development story. To no business owner’s surprise, it’s a tragedy. As my closest friends in the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce can attest, I predicted this exact ending when Jason Harris was hired.
» Investigators Identify Off-Duty Officer, Release Video from Fatal Shooting Outside Orcutt Market — North County editor Janene Scully follows up with more details on the Santa Maria police officer-involved fatal shooting of a suspect who had opened fire outside an Orcutt convenience store.
» Sheriff’s Data Reveals Continuing Rise in Drug Overdose Deaths — Fentanyl deaths are out of control in Santa Barbara County. Staff writer Serena Guentz has the shocking numbers.
» Santa Maria Police Seeking Identity of Man Who Stole Rings from Store — Janene shares how you can help Santa Maria police solve a jewelry store robbery.
» Westmont Roars Into Second Straight NAIA World Series — Sports editor Barry Punzal fills out the lineup card for Westmont’s return trip to the NAIA World Series. Go Warriors!
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Launch of Starlink Satellites Aboard Falcon Rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Delayed.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
My kind of place: 100-Year-Old Ghost Town for Sale in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest.
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Here’s What I’m Up To
- June 2 — I’m honored to be participating again in the annual sixth-grade exit interviews at Mountain View School in Goleta. This is one of my favorite things I get to do as Noozhawk’s publisher, and the school’s Cougar cubs are always inspiring.
- June 2 — Speaking to the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara. HT to my friend, Steve Baker, for the invitation.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
My Instagram feed this past week sweeps up from the crystal-clear Whitewater River on the 107-degree desert floor of the Coachella Valley to lingering snow atop 10,834-foot Mount San Jacinto. In one picture.
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Watch It
More than 111 years after the Titanic sank into history, fascination with the wreck endures. Just wait till you see the latest imagery.
