I met — and was interrogated by — Marilyn McMahon on Jan. 19, 1987, my first day on the job at Santa Barbara’s late and, at the time, great daily newspaper.

With her fashionably preppy page boy hair style and pearls, I think her curiosity was piqued because I was wearing a starched button-down collared shirt, a tie and khakis on a copy desk not known for sartorial splendor.

We bonded over our sardonic humor — even though I was no match for the velocity and volume of her quick wit — and became great friends over the next thirty-something years.

We were both parishioners at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, and we talked politics and religion, children and dogs, grammar and Junior League of Santa Barbara, football and baseball. If Marilyn wanted to talk about it, we talked about it.

Pretty much everything was fair game, including some of our more endearingly kooky colleagues. And, boy, did we work with some doozies.

Aside from that, Marilyn was a wonderful writer, who was comfortable talking to anyone about anything, and never missed even the tiniest detail. She may have been “just” a features writer, but she had probably the best sources in town.

I walked away from that job 22 years ago, and tried to get Marilyn to leave with me. She had her reasons for staying, even though it made her miserable, especially after her favorite boss, Melinda Johnson, resigned not long after I did.

About 10 years ago, Marilyn called me to complain that her new boss was trying both mightily and pettily to goad her into quitting, even refusing to replenish her business cards.

I made her a job offer on the spot, and then left a stack of Noozhawk business cards tied up with a bow on her porch that afternoon. She loved the gesture, but still wouldn’t take the bait.

Fast forward to late July, when it was Marilyn who provided our Josh Molina with the tip that our former employer had declared bankruptcy and was ceasing publication after 155 years.

A few days later, I called her to again offer her a job. We had a good laugh, but this time she said she was delighted to accept — at age 93 — the opportunity to start over as a Noozhawk rookie.

Alas, we never had the chance to get her first byline on the site or for me to even update her business cards with our new logo. Marilyn died less than a month later, on Aug. 24.

Rest in peace, Marilyn, and prayers to her children and my friends, Kate and Steve, and to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren she adored.

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Of all people, Marilyn would understand how I’ve been feeling about the crap sandwich Google Analytics is force-feeding its clients with its “new and improved” GA4 tracking.

But Google isn’t the only game in town. As it turns out, WordPress keeps its own analytics, and I was able to cross-check random weeks over the last nine months against Google’s previous traffic data. They were pretty close.

So, goodbye Google. Don’t be evil.

According to WordPress, we had an audience of 139,586 readers this past week.

What follows is my own take on the Top Five most-read stories over the past seven days.

And just to be clear: This is my opinion column. It is not a news story.

1. Heat Wave on the Way to Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County has been baking in a blazing heat wave this past week. In other words … checks calendar … it’s August.

Just as our Giana Magnoli had forecast in her preview story, triple-digit temperatures were reported in the Santa Ynez Valley and Lompoc with daytime highs in the upper 80s along the South Coast.

Our Serena Guentz reported that the Santa Barbara Airport hit 93 on Aug. 28 while Montecito reached 90.

Things started cooling down Aug. 30 and, by the time you read this, the National Weather Service is expecting a wave of low pressure to have pushed temperatures down below normal for the period formally known as summer.

No major problems were reported locally, but the weather service issued numerous excessive heat warnings for the area.

2. Carpinteria Dog Making Miraculous Recovery After Harrowing Week Lost, Attacked in Sierra Wilderness

A Carpinteria family’s Mammoth Lakes vacation turned into a nightmare of an ordeal for their dog, Jackson, who was lost in the Sierra wilderness for a week and on the brink of death after a vicious attack by a pack of coyotes.

Ashlan Alldredge, Jackson’s owner, shared the details with our Karin Hill, who reported that he sent his young family home while he embarked on a frantic search for the German shepherd-cattle dog mix.

“He is really smart; he’s a herding dog,” Alldredge told Karin. “He is one of those dogs who’s with you wherever you go. He’s not a dog who’s ever run away.”

Alldredge, a Santa Barbara firefighter, put up posters and talked to everyone he came across, living out of his truck while he followed tips and endured numerous false sightings.

The heart-wrenching hunt finally ended on the seventh day when a U.S. Forest Service worker spotted the dog, weak, dehydrated and severely wounded.

“I grabbed him like a baby and carried him all the way to my car,” Alldredge said.

As happy as that reunion was for the Alldredge family, Jackson was not out of the woods. It took a mammoth effort by veterinary staff in both Mammoth Lakes and Bishop to get him on the road to recovery.

One of Jackson’s medical marvels was Dr. Taylor Ludwick, a Mammoth Lakes veterinarian who just happened to be a Santa Barbara High School and Westmont College alumnus.

Ludwick, a graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, even rode with Jackson on the 40-mile drive to his larger clinic in Bishop.

Karin tells the story better than I can recap it so you should read her account for all of the twists and turns of what has turned out to be a very happy ending.

HT to my friend, Ellen Robinson, for the initial tip on this story.

3. Deputies Take 31-Year-Old Woman into Custody after Man Stabbed in Goleta

After a lengthy standoff at a Goleta condominium complex, a 31-year-old Santa Barbara woman was arrested as a suspect in the Aug. 30 stabbing of a man found bleeding at a nearby bus stop.

As our Tom Bolton reported, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies converged on the Encina Royale seniors community on Encina Road, a block east of North Fairview Avenue, just after 7 a.m.

“When deputies arrived, they found an adult male victim near a bus stop with severe lacerations,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The suspect — later identified as Kebrina Alvarez — was located inside one of the condos, and Zick said crisis negotiators were trying to get her to surrender.

Around 11 a.m., she said, Alvarez was “safely taken into custody” after deputies obtained a warrant and entered the residence.

After undergoing a hospital evaluation, Zick said, Alvarez was booked into County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. As of Sept. 1, she was still there with bail set at $50,000.

According to Zick, Alvarez and the victim are known to each other.

“This was not a random attack,” she said.

No other details were disclosed.

The Sheriff’s Department responded to the incident with a full-court press, including two armored Bearcat vehicles, a SWAT team and a K-9 unit.

4. SpaceX Scrubs Rocket Launch Attempt, Now Aiming for Friday Morning

The launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 13 military satellites is now scheduled for 7:26 a.m. Sept. 1 after SpaceX twice scrubbed Aug. 31 launch times at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

As our Janene Scully reported, the SpaceX crew has been troubleshooting a potential problem with one of the rocket’s engines.

The Sept. 1 launch window will remain open for 59 minutes, and SpaceX plans to return the rocket’s first-stage booster back to Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base.

As local rocket watchers — and listeners — know, that means sonic booms can be expected to reverberate around Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties about 7½ minutes after liftoff.

5. BizHawk: Oppi’z Italian Bistro on State Street Serves Its Last Meal

With its distinctive black pizza dough, Oppi’z Italian Bistro opened in downtown Santa Barbara with great promise in 2019.

Four years and one month later, it’s closed its doors at 1026 State St., unable to shake the black plague otherwise known as COVID-19, whose business shutdowns took a devastating toll.

As our Josh Molina reported, Oppi’z owner Guido Oppizzi wrote a heart-wrenching note announcing the news.

“Due to the pandemic, skyrocketing inflation, abysmal winter season, and all the other adverse situations we have encountered, I am unable to make Oppi’z as successful as I had wished,” he said.

In a 2019 BizHawk interview, Oppizzi said he would serve “upscale pizza with top-quality ingredients, most of which come from Italy.”

Some of that pizza was cooked with “activated charcoal,” which turned the crust black.

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Good Reads

Don’t miss these six stories before you go:

» Santa Barbara to Roll Out Designated Bike Lanes Along State Street Promenade — Staff writer Josh Molina pedals along as the Santa Barbara City Council makes an effort to do something about the bicycles that run State Street.

» Sections of Goleta Beach Park Still Closed from Storm Damage; Pier Reopens to Foot Traffic — Staff writer Serena Guentz tries to clean up some of the mystery surrounding the Goleta Beach Park mess.

» Santa Maria Explosion Leaves 2 Still in Hospital, 8 Homes Uninhabitable — North County editor Janene Scully has the latest on last week’s horrific house explosion in Santa Maria.

» Santa Barbara Man Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison for 2019 Stabbing — Staff writer Rebecca Caraway wraps up the case of an alleged Westside gang member convicted in the murder of an alleged Eastside gang member — even though I know Santa Barbara is only alleged to have a gang problem.

» Mark Patton: Miracle McCann, Former New York Met, Takes Flight with Soaring Baltimore Orioles — Sports columnist Mark Patton catches up with James McCann as the former Dos Pueblos High School and Goleta Valley South Little League star finds new life with the Baltimore Orioles.

» Friday Night Lights: Channel League Season Kicks Off with Key Matchups — It may just be Week Three of the football season, but Channel League teams are already getting down to business. Sports writer Diego Sandoval has the Xs and Os.

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Last Year on Noozhawk

What was our most-read story this time last year? Young Child Dies After Being Struck by Vehicle in Old Town Goleta.

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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week

In today’s California? Not gonna happen: Saving the Salton Sea.

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Here’s What I’m Up To

• Aug. 31 — I had a great time speaking to Dan Lane’s “News, Politics & Democracy” class at UC Santa Barbara. As best we could do with more than 200 students, we discussed Noozhawk’s origins, evolution and future, as well as journalism’s overall role in our country and culture. The students had really insightful questions and enthusiasm. Thank you for the opportunity, Dan.

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Best of Bill’s Instagram

My Instagram feed had its ups and downs this past week, along with some rainbow joy.

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Watch It

Turn up your volume to hear these cute little noisemakers. HT to Best of Bill reader Mary Amos.