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Noozhawk had an audience of 104,006 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics, and what follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading during the period.
As always, I must remind you that this is my opinion column, not a news story.
Thank you!
1. Oprah Winfrey’s Montecito Neighbors Raise Concerns about Boulder Wall Built Along Creek
Oprah Winfrey may be Montecito’s most famous resident, but she’s largely invisible in the community. A newly built boulder wall along her property — apparently constructed without a proper permit — has put her squarely in the spotlight.
In a Noozhawk exclusive, our Josh Molina reported that the wall was installed along the west bank of San Ysidro Creek to protect Winfrey’s estate from flooding and erosion.
It’s not clear whether Winfrey, a part-time resident, authorized the work or even had any knowledge of it, but her neighbors in the Ennisbrook enclave sure took notice. They raised concerns about whether the wall could redirect the creek their way.
On Feb. 1, Carpinteria-based Jimenez Nursery obtained a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a “like-for-like” reconstruction of the creek bank after the powerful Jan. 9 storm.
According to the permit request, the project was to “place boulders along creek side that have eroded and washed away.”
The Corps of Engineers often grants emergency permits during flood events to protect properties, but homeowners are only supposed to rebuild with the same materials and restore the original conditions.
Video that Josh reviewed showed a crane on Winfrey’s property lowering the boulders into the creek.
Until this week, the Corps of Engineers had not followed up with a review of the construction.
Crystal Huerta, a biologist and senior project manager with the agency in Ventura, did not return Josh’s calls.
On April 4, Santa Barbara County officials, a California Department of Fish & Wildlife contingent, Ennisbrook residents and a handful of other people made a site visit to see the wall work.
The Department of Fish & Wildlife has its own process for approval.
“We are seeking information of how it was constructed,” Steve Gibson, a senior environmental scientist for the agency’s South Coast Region, told Josh.
“We don’t know if it was dug and trenched in with larger rocks that we would like to see with certain banks.”
Gibson said he spoke with Winfrey’s property manager the next day.
“The property manager is working with us to comply with our Fish and Game Code requirements for this new wall,” he said. “We are going to review what he has given us.”
After that, he added, the agency will decide how to proceed and whether any remedial action is required.
Sharon Byrne, executive director of the Montecito Association, said the case is an example of the many local, state and federal agencies that have overlapping creek jurisdictions, which leads to a complex permitting and oversight process.
She said Ennisbrook residents contacted the association with their concerns that the Winfrey wall goes too far.
“The main concern is, are you creating a higher velocity situation to someone else’s property?” Byrne said.
“You can’t alter creek channels and not expect there to be results. Don’t change the creeks. They are going to shift and move on their own.”
Gibson said he is sympathetic to all involved.
“A lot of people are scared about the threat of floods after the 2018 debris flows,” he said. “I feel for them. They are trying to do their best.”
2. 2 Residents Appealing Montecito Segment of Highway 101 Widening Project
Two Montecito residents who objected to the absence of sound walls along a short stretch of the Highway 101 widening project saw their long-shot appeals run over by a unanimous Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
As our Grace Kitayama has been reporting, neighbors Bruce Mackenzie and Scott Smigel live near the highway, on its north side between San Ysidro Road and Sheffield Drive.
The pair challenged the walls’ removal from the project’s fourth phase, which is underway between Olive Mill Road and the Romero Creek bridge west of Sheffield, and includes new roundabouts at Olive Mill and San Ysidro roads.
Although sound walls have been built along much of the 11-mile widening project’s north side as the highway traverses residential neighborhoods from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara, Caltrans is using chain-link fencing for this Montecito section of slightly less than a mile.
Caltrans officials cite the very real risk of flooding from the four creeks that cross under the highway there.
As someone with more than just a passing familiarity with those creeks, especially Montecito Creek, I can tell you that none of the four has more than “adequate” passage going under the highway.
Officials knew that after the 1995 flood that destroyed our house on Montecito Creek, and did nothing to enlarge the culverts. And they sure as hell knew it after the deadly 2018 flash flooding and debris flows, and did nothing to enlarge them.
Rather than make those admittedly costly upgrades, the new solution is to have any overflow actually run across the freeway, not underneath it! I’m no civil engineer — or a doctor or epidemiologist, as you know — but how is that safer?
In arguing that the sound walls should not have been dropped, Smigel cited the project’s environmental impact report and the county Flood Control District’s assessment of new FEMA flood maps.
Mackenzie took a different approach, noting that the flooding risk to his house is far less than the air and noise pollution from the highway.
In a marathon April 4 hearing, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to deny the two appeals and to uphold the project approval.
3. Emergency Personnel Respond to San Marcos High School on False Active Shooter Report
An April 3 report of an active shooter at San Marcos High School near Santa Barbara turned out to be a hoax, but the anxiety from the disruption hung over campus for hours.
As our Tom Bolton reported, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said the dispatch center received a report of a shooter at 10:26 a.m.
“Deputies were on scene within minutes,” she said, “and quickly suspected that this was a ‘swatting’ incident.”
With a massive emergency presence surrounding the campus at 4750 Hollister Ave., the school was placed on lockdown while law enforcement teams searched the property.
Nothing was found, and Zick said the lockdown was lifted at 11:20 a.m.
“School has been searched and is safe,” she said, advising frantic parents to check in with the attendance office.
Parents and school officials were already on edge amid the backdrop of a murderous rampage at a Christian school in Nashville one week before.
Zick said investigators are trying to identify the individual responsible for the local hoax.
Hundreds of cases of swatting are reported each year in the United States, and several Santa Barbara County schools have been victimized before.
The calls typically claim that a shooting is imminent or that explosive devices have been planted at a campus. Of course, the reports prompt a massive mobilization of emergency resources.
“Swatting calls are not only illegal, but they put the lives of innocent people at risk,” Zick said.
“Anyone found responsible for making a swatting call will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
4. BizHawk: Zodo’s Transforms into Bowlero in Goleta
Zodo’s Bowling & Beyond has found a new lane under Bowlero, which bought the place in 2021 and embarked on a dazzling redo of the popular bowling alley and restaurant at 5925 Calle Real in Goleta.
As our Josh Molina reported, the makeover and rebranding are now complete.
“Totaling over 24,000 square feet, Zodo’s is equipped with 24 lanes, a full-service bar and lounge area, and an interactive arcade,” according to Bowlero, a Mechanicsville, Virginia, company that describes itself as “the world leader in bowling entertainment.”
I haven’t been to Zodo’s in years, probably not since my daughter, Kirsten, and I bowled together when she was in high school. But now I’m in a frame of mind to roll a few strikes again.
5. Rob Raede: Third Window Seizes Opportunity in Beer, Smashburgers and More
My friend, Rob Raede, is on a roll with his new Noozhawk column, Let’s Go Eat. He’s been knocking on the door of my Best of Bill Top 5 for the last few weeks, and finally climbed in through Third Window Brewing Co.
He may be here for a while.
Rob puts a lot on his plate to write about with each restaurant visit, but his approach gives readers a good sense of what they’re getting into when they follow his lead around Santa Barbara County.
It doesn’t hurt that his personalized style is accompanied by mouth-watering photography.
And what’s better than a smashburger with cheese at Michellene and Kris Parker’s Third Window at 406 E. Haley St.?
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Good Reads
Here are a half-dozen additional stories you should read before you go:
» Santa Barbara County Supervisors Vote to Pursue Ambulance Contract with Multiple Providers — Rather than make an unpopular decision, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors weasels out to have it both ways. Staff writer Serena Guentz chases the county’s ambulance services contract choice(s).
» Santa Barbara’s Namesake Navy Ship Commissioned in Port Hueneme — Executive editor Tom Bolton catches up with the USS Santa Barbara’s commissioning.
» World Champion Steer Wrestler from Los Alamos Named to ProRodeo Hall of Fame — Congratulations to Luke Branquinho, my favorite rodeo cowboy and a scion of Santa Barbara County ranching royalty. The Los Alamos native is now retired and — sadly — recently relocated with his family to Texas, but he’s got a bright future as a rodeo commentator and host of a truly entertaining YouTube podcast. North County editor Janene Scully rounds up the details.
» Dan McCaslin: Despite Flutters of A-fib, My Heart Aches for the Trail — You can tell from his writing that outdoors columnist Dan McCaslin puts his heart into his popular hiking reports. He explains just how serious that is.
» Solvang Finds New City Manager in Leader of Homeowners Association — There must always be a City of Solvang. Janene opens the book on a new chapter.
» Autopsy: Lompoc Teen Found in Santa Ynez River Died of Accidental Drowning — Prayers of strength and peace for the heartbroken family of Lompoc Valley Middle School student Alberto Corona Cabrera, whose February death was determined to be an accidental drowning. Janene has been working the story since the 14-year-old was reported missing.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Deltopia-Related Calls Keep Emergency Personnel Busy in Isla Vista.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Clever revisionist history? Iconic Architecture Reimagined in Different Styles Using Artificial Intelligence.
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Here’s What I’m Up To
- April 5 — I was the luncheon speaker at the Kiwanis Club of Santa Barbara. HT to my old friend, Jim Langley, for inviting me.
- April 22 — Speaking to the All Saints Men’s Group at All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito. It’s a home game for me, but HT to Richard Scheef for the opportunity.
- April 26 — Emceeing the EconAlliance Energy Forum at Craft House at Corque in Solvang. This year’s forum features “Evolving Global and Local Renewable Energy Alternatives,” the current global energy picture and a roundup of local energy projects.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
California poppies, Los Alamos and @plentyonbell with @missygmac and @sadiethealaskanmalamute. It was a good day in my Instagram feed.
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Watch It
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