By the time you read this, the Los Angeles Dodgers should be in Seoul, South Korea, for the groundbreaking season-opening series against the San Diego Padres.
With the time zones, the International Date Line, exhibition games and Major League Baseball’s general disorganization, I have no idea when the games are being played.
But I can’t remember when I’ve been more excited about the Dodgers and the thrill of the grass.
Play ball!
Noozhawk came to play this past week, with an audience of 133,731 readers, according to our WordPress analytics.
What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading for the period. This is my opinion column, by the way. It is not a new story.
1. Judy Foreman: Driver’s License Renewal Tests Taker’s Resolve — But That Passes
Our Judy Foreman has chronicled everything from grandparenthood to tech troubles over the last 13 years as one of our most popular columnists, but nothing prepared her for the ultimate test: renewing her California driver’s license.
Armed with study guides and a persistent sense of foreboding, she braced herself for the dreaded written test.
Despite her decades behind the wheel, she flunked at first. Ouch.
With the clock ticking on her birthday deadline, she hit the books like a student possessed. Of course, she didn’t learn until later about the DMV’s e-learning classes and online test option.
Her cautionary tale sure struck a chord with Noozhawk readers, who made her column the runaway No. 1 most-read story of the week.
Scores of readers subsequently shared their own experiences with Judy, and you’ll read several of them in our Letters to the Editor column later today.
It all worked out in the end, however, and Judy’s back on the road with a new driver’s license in her purse.
Honk if you see her.
2. BizHawk: A State Street Stroll Reveals an Array of New Restaurants, and a Few Prominent Vacancies
Armed with coffee from Dawn Café at the Drift Hotel, a notebook, his camera and the unexpected company of a cousin, our Josh Molina set out on a walkabout in downtown Santa Barbara.
The point was to get a better BizHawk perspective on what’s happening in and around more than a half-dozen key blocks of State Street.
While mindful of reckless e-bikes, he found plenty of desolation, but some surprising optimism among a plucky group of entrepreneurs.
Josh’s findings and his creative capsules crammed with details are worth the read, especially since he did the legwork so you don’t have to.
3. Owner of Overturned Kayak in Ocean Near Isla Vista Contacts Deputies
An overturned kayak discovered in the ocean off Isla Vista triggered a large-scale search for its possibly missing owner, but the canoe apparently had just been left unsecured on the beach and floated off with the tide.
As our Janene Scully reported, emergency services were alerted around 8:30 a.m. March 10 to a potential water rescue near Del Playa Park on the west end of Isla Vista.
An empty kayak was spotted floating in a kelp bed about 400 yards offshore, prompting Santa Barbara County firefighters and a helicopter from the sheriff’s Air Support Unit to spring into action.
No one was located after an extensive search, however.
The next day, Janene reported that the kayak owner had been located — safe, sound and apparently unaware that anything was amiss.
Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Raquel Zick said the individual told authorities that the “kayak had been left out on the beach and washed out.”
4. Latest Vote Tally Cements Roy Lee’s Victory Over Das Williams in First District Supervisor Race
As Santa Barbara County continued with its unending counting of ballots from an election held now 11 days ago, a March 13 update confirmed that challenger Roy Lee has won the First District seat on the Board of Supervisors.
Our Josh Molina broke the news that Lee, a Carpinteria restaurant owner and city councilman, eked out a narrow but historic victory over incumbent Das Williams, who apparently will be embarking on a new career for the first time in forever.
According to the county Elections Office, Lee won 12,670 of the March 5 votes to Williams’ 12,116 — a margin of 50.95% to 48.72%.
“These latest results fill me with both humility and hope,” Lee told Josh. “It’s been a long journey, filled with hard work and invaluable support from our community. This campaign is a testament to our shared commitment to positive change and progress.
“I am deeply honored to serve, and promise to dedicate myself to the betterment of our district, listening to every member of our community and fighting for the needs of all its residents.”
Williams conceded but won’t be leaving anytime soon. Lee’s term doesn’t start until January — nine months from now.
Hopefully, the county’s 1,745 remaining ballots will be counted by then.
5. Sheriff Reveals Suspects in 2022 Alleged Murder for Hire of Elderly Montecito Woman
In a bombshell announcement, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown revealed March 7 that detectives had arrested four suspects in connection with the 2022 murder of 96-year-old Violet Alberts of Montecito.
At a sheriff’s headquarters news conference attended by our Rebecca Caraway and Giana Magnoli, Brown said investigators suspect Alberts was a victim of a murder-for-hire plot.
According to Brown, the investigation revealed a complex scheme targeting the victim who, did I mention, was 96 years old?
“The case was revealed to be a tangled, evil web of financial exploitation against the victim,” Brown said.
Alberts was found asphyxiated in her bed at her secluded home in the 900 block of Park Lane after deputies responded to a welfare check request on May 27, 2022.
A Coroner’s Bureau investigation ruled her death a homicide.
Brown said the alleged “mastermind,” 48-year-old Pauline Macareno of Porter Ranch, used fraudulent means to gain control of Alberts’ assets, including her 4,400-square-foot house.
He said the murder motive was likely to accelerate Macareno’s acquisition of the house, which is worth an estimated $6 million.
Macareno was previously arrested for financial elder abuse against Alberts.
Last month, she pleaded no contest to identity theft, residential burglary and forgery-related charges, and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
As of March 15, she remains in County Jail with no bail set.
According to Superior Court documents, Macareno was charged March 1 with soliciting the murder of a co-financier in her reverse mortgage scheme against Alberts.
Macareno was not charged with soliciting Alberts’ murder, but three hapless henchmen have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Brown identified the trio as 58-year-old Harry Basmadjian of Van Nuys, 41-year-old Ricardo Martin Del Campo of Los Angeles and 33-year-old Henry Rostomyan of Tujunga.
As of March 15, Martin Del Campo and Rostomyan were being held without bail at the County Jail, but Basmadjian was no longer in custody.
• • •
Good Reads
Don’t miss these six stories before you go:
» Santa Barbara School District Issues Notices of Potential Layoffs as COVID-19 Funds Run Out — The Santa Barbara Unified School District learns a hard lesson that COVID-19 funding eventually runs out. Staff writer Rebecca Caraway reports on the pain.
» Supervisors Debate Changing Santa Barbara County’s Cannabis Tax Structure — Executive editor Giana Magnoli tries to get a whiff of Santa Barbara County’s still-elusive cannabis tax windfall. I wonder if it ever even existed.
» Santa Barbara Council Praises Work of Police Department After Hearing Commission Report — South County editor Josh Molina reports on the back-patting at City Hall over a patently opaque review of Santa Barbara Police Department transparency.
» Santa Barbara Airport Looks to Soar Into the Future with Proposed Master Plan Update — Rebecca is tracking the ETA of an ambitious set of improvements at the Santa Barbara Airport.
» Santa Barbara Sky FC Officially Announces Plans to Begin Play in 2025 — Sports editor Diego Sandoval follows, or tries to, the Santa Barbara Sky Football Club’s uneven progress as a startup soccer organization.
» Stephanie Elizabeth McPhee of Santa Barbara, 2001-2024 — I didn’t know Stephanie McPhee, but her untimely death at the young age of 23 has hit hard for the many, many people who did.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Lamborghini Driver Fighting Infraction Charge over 152 mph Incident on Highway 154.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Well, ’chute. This is amazing news: Plane Deploys Parachute and Crash Lands in Remote Mendocino County, Sparing Parents and Toddler.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
We’re overdue for some #nicotime in my Instagram feed this past week. Also, #rip Bill Levy.
• • •
Watch It
They know us so well.
