Years ago — like 15 or 16 years ago — my friend, Viv Alexander, and I started a Real Estate section on Noozhawk.
Although it was an instant hit with readers, we had bitten off way more than we could chew and the then-manual entries for open-house listings proved unsustainable.
So Viv went back to her full-time career, then with Village Properties in Montecito and now with Berkshire Hathaway in the Santa Ynez Valley, and her part-time gig in a rock band, then with MYNX and now with Stacked.
I went back to the more mundane task of shepherding Noozhawk through its formative years.
Of course, Noozhawk would never have even gotten off the ground were it not for the early and stalwart backing from Renee Grubb and Ed Edick at Village Properties — our very first advertisers when we launched in 2007.
Fast forward to 2025 and I’m excited to finally announce the relaunch of Noozhawk’s Real Estate section, which is designed to make searching for homes in Santa Barbara County easier, faster and more intuitive.
Resurrecting the Real Estate section had been a longstanding goal of Kim Clark, who has since retired from Noozhawk as a partner and our business development vice president, and sales and marketing director Sheridan Taphorn.
Their determination finally was realized last summer, with the help of Gilbert Lin of our web development partner, Hop Studios.
Along with real estate news and information, the heart of the section is an interactive, user-friendly listings map that allows readers to browse properties for sale across the South Coast and beyond.
Whether you’re looking in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Carpinteria, the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Maria, Orcutt or Lompoc, the searchable map lets you explore homes by location, price range and property type — all in one convenient place.
Each listing includes essential details, photos and direct connections to local real estate professionals, giving buyers and sellers a powerful new tool backed by Noozhawk’s trusted local news brand.
From ocean-view estates to entry-level condos and manufactured homes, the Real Estate section brings the region’s housing market into clear view.
Start your search today and discover what’s available in Santa Barbara County — right at your fingertips.
And if you’re interested in advertising in the section, click here to contact Sheridan directly. She is happy to help!
According to our WordPress analytics, Noozhawk had an audience of 149,819 readers poking around the rest of our site’s real estate this past week.
What follows is my weekly recap of the Top 5 most-read stories during that span, as compiled by our Google Analytics.
And as a reminder, this is my opinion column. It is not a news story.
1. Bill Macfadyen: Shock, Questions — and Support — After Sudden Deaths of Good Land Organics Founders
In spite of intense reader interest, we have nothing more to report on the tragic and mysterious deaths of Good Land Organics owners John “Jay” Ruskey and his wife, Kristen.
As our Giana Magnoli reported last week, the western Goleta couple died Feb. 8 at a private home in Cambria.
San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla told Giana that the deaths are not believed to be suspicious, but autopsy and toxicology test results are not yet available.
The Ruskeys were the well-known and highly respected founders of Good Land Organics, an exotic fruit and coffee farm way back on Farren Road west of Goleta.
The couple is survived by their children, 19-year-old daughter Kasurina and 16-year-old twin sons Aiden and Sean.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
As of Feb. 20, a GoFundMe account established to help the Ruskeys’ children had raised nearly $161,000.
Click here to make an online donation.
2. 4 People Injured in Crash at Goleta Highway 101 Offramp
A pickup truck plowed into a concrete pillar beneath a Highway 101 overpass in Goleta the afternoon of Feb. 16, sending all four occupants to the hospital with significant injuries.
As our Giana Magnoli and Daniel Green reported, the collision occurred just after 2 p.m. on the southbound Patterson Avenue exit ramp.
Two adults and two children were transported by American Medical Response ambulances to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the female driver of the Toyota Tundra suffered major injuries, while a male passenger and a male juvenile suffered moderate injuries. A female juvenile was hospitalized in critical condition.
No identities were disclosed.
The CHP is investigating the circumstances of the wreck.
Sgt. Keith Rogers said alcohol and drugs are not suspected but investigators are looking into allegations of “aggressive driving.”
3. Man Dies After Being Struck by Amtrak Train Near Santa Barbara Cemetery
A man was struck and killed by an Amtrak passenger train near the Santa Barbara Cemetery the night of Feb. 13, marking the third train-versus-pedestrian incident on the South Coast this month.
As our Giana Magnoli reported, emergency crews responded shortly after 5:45 p.m. to the 1800 block of East Cabrillo Boulevard, north of the roundabout at Channel Drive, where the man had been hit by a northbound train.
Santa Barbara police and firefighters from the Montecito and Santa Barbara fire departments administered CPR before the man was transported by an American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he later died.
The dead man’s identity has not yet been released.
The fatality follows two other very recent railroad incidents:
- On Feb. 1, a still-unidentified man died after he was hit by an Amtrak train at the Milpas Street crossing.
- On Feb. 10, a man was seriously injured after being hit by a Union Pacific freight train on a Summerland trestle.
All three incidents remain under investigation.
4. Wind Advisory in Effect for Santa Barbara County as Rain Continues
Power outages and a heap of collapsed construction scaffolding marked the latest impacts of a powerful storm system that drenched Santa Barbara County this past week, although the National Weather Service forecast says drier weather is on the way.
As our Pricila Flores reported, gusty winds the night of Feb. 17 toppled scaffolding at a four-story apartment project under construction at 425 Garden St. in Santa Barbara. The debris fell onto a tree and the sidewalk, and prompted temporary lane closures in the area.
Project officials said unusually strong winds likely ripped the ties loose on the scaffolding’s protective netting.
Our Evelyn Spence reported that Feb. 17 thunderstorms also knocked out power to more than 3,300 Southern California Edison customers near Elings Park and the Westside, with some outages lingering into the next day.
The weather service reported wind gusts up to 70 mph in isolated areas and issued wind, flood and high surf advisories.
According to county Public Works Department gauges, seven-day rainfall totals surpassed 3 inches in parts of the county, pushing the region past 100% of normal rainfall for the year. Local reservoirs, including Lake Cachuma, are now full.
Rain and wind were expected to taper off Feb. 20, bringing a dry weekend. Click here for the complete weather service forecast.
5. District Attorney Won’t Pursue 14 Deadlocked Charges Against Convicted Rapist
Back in court for the first time since his ill-footed escape attempt, convicted rapist Arian Eteghaei got some good news Feb. 17 — for himself, not his alleged victims.
As our Rebecca Caraway reported, the 23-year-old former UC Santa Barbara student appeared before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Brian Aronson wearing a jail-issued orange jumpsuit instead of the finance-bro business suit he sported Jan. 16 when a jury convicted him of forcible rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object and domestic violence battery involving two women.
If you’ll recall, and I know you do, Eteghaei made a break for it after the jury’s verdict was announced, ditching his escort bailiffs in the Figueroa Division courthouse and leading them on a chase of at least two blocks before he was re-arrested at the corner of Figueroa and State streets.
The arrest was captured on video by our Pricila Flores, who just happened to be at the scene when she saw the commotion unfold before her.
But I digress.
Eteghaei — who tried to cover his face while our Daniel Green was memorializing the occasion with photos — was in court as Aronson considered the status of 14 remaining counts that had deadlocked the jurors and resulted in a mistrial on them. The unresolved counts involved four additional alleged victims.
Deputy District Attorney Lauren Franco said the District Attorney’s Office will move to dismiss those charges.
Eteghaei, a UCSB freshman in 2020-2021, was accused of sexually assaulting six women in separate incidents, including an ex-girlfriend identified in court as Jane Doe H.O.C.
A resident of Dublin in Alameda County, Eteghaei was arrested and initially charged with sexual assaults involving three women. Three more women later came forward with similar allegations.
Due to be sentenced on April 8, Eteghaei faces 15 years to life in prison.
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Good Reads
Don’t miss these six stories:
» Man Taken to Hospital After Stabbing at Santa Barbara City College — Executive editor Giana Magnoli is on the case of a brazen, daylight stabbing at Santa Barbara City College. There apparently are two suspects but neither has been located as of Feb. 20.
» Los Angeles Man Arrested in High-Value Theft at Carpinteria Valley Cannabis Farm — South County editor Evelyn Spence is following a developing series of burglaries at a particular Carpinteria Valley cannabis operation. And here I thought marijuana legalization was going to end all weed-related crime in California while bringing in more revenue than Santa Barbara County could count.
» Housing Trust Fund Gets Millions for Down Payment Assistance Loans — Staff writer Daniel Green provides the details of some new financing options for first-time homebuyers.
» Commission Grants Emergency Permit for Temporary Cameras Around Lagoon at UCSB — Staff writer Rebecca Caraway reports on the California Coastal Commission actually siding with public safety.
» Goleta Protects Mobile Home Park’s Senior-Only Status with Urgency Ordinance — Staff writer Pricila Flores has an Old Town Goleta mobile home park dispute covered.
» Buellton School Board Votes to Lay Off Dozens of Employees — North County editor Janene Scully sits in as Buellton Union School District trustees approve sweeping staff cuts.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Former California Senate Democrat Gloria Romero Explains Why She Became a Republican.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
HT to my friend and priest, the Rev. Channing Smith, for this powerfully emotional performance: Friend Says Maxim Naumov’s Olympic Debut Was a Dream He Shared with His Parents as He Carries on Their Legacy. Ordinarily, I would embed the video but NBC Sports is justifiably protective of its Olympics license, so click here to view it in its entirety.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
I can never have too much of Los(t) Alamos(t) in my Instagram feed.
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Watch It
A baby goat’s hop culture is a smile a minute. HT to Best of Bill reader Angie Lewis.
