Noozhawk has a full team of spring interns who have wasted no time in contributing to our community coverage.

The four — Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Jacob Davis, Garret Harcourt and Julia Vaughan — are all UC Santa Barbara seniors pursuing the journalism track of the professional writing minor.

Among their work you’ve been reading are Jacob and Garret’s jointly reported story, “UCSB Students Push Back on Poppin App’s Attempt to Monetize Deltopia Parties.” Authorities have been trying to get rid of Deltopia for years, but never thought to try commercialization. Who knew?

Ernesto found himself back on a high school campus for his groundbreaking story, “Santa Barbara High School Community Celebrates Start of New Visual Arts & Design Academy Building.”

And we sent Julia off to fly a kite or two for her story, “Kites Fill the Santa Barbara Sky for Annual Festival.”

We’re glad to have them, and they helped us run up an audience of 115,112 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics.

What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading during the period. And just to be clear, this is my opinion column. It is not a news story.

Thank you for reading.

1. Wildflower Season in Full ‘Super Bloom’ in Santa Barbara County After Rainy Winter

Santa Barbara County’s unusually wet winter has produced an incredibly brilliant “super bloom” display of wildflowers — some of which is bright enough and big enough to be visible from space.

Fresh off a backcountry flower trip, our Grace Kitayama talked to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden executive director Steve Windhager about the cause and effects.

“It’s not just that we had a lot of rain this year,” he said. “It’s also when we got that rain.”

Windhager explained that because the rainfall occurred when many wildflowers were in the seed stage, they developed more quickly and were able to get through the winter and survive germination.

Some of the best viewing areas in the county are the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden at 1212 Mission Canyon Road, as well as Figueroa and Grass mountains in Los Padres National Forest.

“I think that Figueroa Mountain’s probably gonna be looking pretty spectacular for maybe even next month,” Windhager said.

My favorite destination for California poppies and lupine is Drum Canyon Road, although it’s currently closed between my future home at Los Alamos Cemetery and the east gate of historic Rancho Santa Rosa on the Buellton side — not that that stopped me.

2. Man Taken Into Police Custody After Standoff at Santa Barbara Home

A 64-year-old Santa Barbara man was arrested April 17 after an hours-long standoff with police in the Hidden Valley neighborhood off Veronica Springs Road.

Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale told our Tom Bolton that officers were dispatched at 12:15 p.m. on an alleged domestic violence call at a residence in the 800 block of Cambria Way.

“Multiple officers are on scene, and a crisis negotiation response team is actively working on having the suspect surrender,” he said.

That took a while, however, as the man refused to cooperate. By 2 p.m., the SWAT team, the SBPD Bearcat armored vehicle and K-9 units were standing by outside.

Our Serena Guentz was there, too, and reported that the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody around 2:30 p.m.

Ragsdale said the man was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony domestic battery with bail set at $50,000.

No injuries were reported, but neighbors were asked to shelter in place or stay away during the standoff.

In a case of déjà vu, the Santa Barbara Police Department is withholding the suspect’s name, citing a rather elastic interpretation of California’s Marsy’s Law.

Named for Marsy Nicholas, a UCSB student who was stalked and murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 1983, the law provides key rights and protections to crime victims and their families from defendants.

The law — found in Article 1, Section 28(b) of the California Constitution — makes no mention of withholding the identities of felony crime suspects from the public, including the news media.

My opinion may not be popular, but the public has the right to know who is responsible for the neighborhood inconvenience and the massive deployment of law enforcement resources.

Although not on the same scale, the post-arrest circumstances of this incident bear a troubling resemblance to SBPD’s six-week refusal to disclose any relevant information about the shocking, alleged gang murder of Rob Gutierrez in the very center of Santa Barbara’s tourist territory.

3. SpaceX Rocket Lifts Off at Vandenberg with 51 Payloads for Various Customers

After multiple weather delays, a SpaceX rocket roared away from Vandenberg Space Force Base just before midnight April 14.

A Santa Barbara company’s satellite was among the payload of 51 catching a ride on the latest Falcon 9 rideshare mission.

As our Janene Scully reported, the rocket lifted off at 11:48 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base.

The upper stage reached orbit a little more than eight minutes later, shortly after the first-stage booster landed back just west of the launch site, heralded by window-rattling sonic booms.

The rocket’s cargo included a synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite from Umbra, headquartered at 27 E. Cota St. in Santa Barbara. The devices are capable of delivering high-resolution images despite clouds, smoke and even total darkness.

Early on April 19, Vandenberg itself launched an unarmed Minuteman III in a test of the base’s missile capability.

The successful test launch involved Air Force, Navy and Space Force personnel.

4. Bill Macfadyen: Oprah Winfrey’s Neighbors Keep an Eye on Her Wall

Three straight weeks in the Top 5. Read it and keep.

5. Jack Harwood Dances His Way Into History as 1st Male ‘Spirit of Fiesta’

Santa Barbara’s annual Old Spanish Days Fiesta is proudly steeped in tradition and history, and 19-year-old Jack Harwood just made some more.

The Dos Pueblos High School graduate and Santa Barbara City College kinesiology student earned the title of 2023 Spirit of Fiesta at the April 15 audition at the Lobero Theatre.

Harwood outdanced a field of 11 other candidates for the coveted role, in the process becoming the first male ever selected to be the face — and feet — of Fiesta.

“It’s an indescribable feeling,” the son of Dacia and Riley Harwood told our Tom Bolton. “I didn’t even process it for the first few seconds after they called my name.

“It’s something I’ve been dreaming and striving to be for a long time.”

By a long time, he means starting at age 3½ when he was introduced to flamenco dancing.

My friend, 2023 Fiesta El Presidente David Bolton, was excited about the milestone.

“To have the first male Spirit of Fiesta ever, it is a great moment in the history of our beloved celebration,” he said.

Olivia Nelson, a 10-year-old Roosevelt School fourth-grader and the daughter of Angela and Chris Nelson, was chosen as the Junior Spirit.

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Good Reads

Here are a half-dozen other stories I recommend:

» Rising Deficits Loom as Unfunded Pension Liability Hammers Santa Barbara Budget — Does anyone care about this stuff? Maybe someone should because, according to staff writer Josh Molina, the City of Santa Barbara already has an unfunded pension liability of more than $344 million for its employees and is facing a $1.1 million budget deficit in its $220 million general fund next year and nearly $5 million in red ink in 2025. God help us.

» Body Found on East Beach in Santa Barbara Was 76-Year-Old Man — Executive editor Tom Bolton has an update on the tragic April 19 discovery of a man’s body in the surf off Santa Barbara’s East Beach.

» Police, Good Samaritans Come to Aid of Momma Duck and Her Brood — Contributing photographer Peter Hartmann takes a quack at a good news duck tale.

» Joe Howell, Elisabeth Fowler Honored As Persons of the Year — Staff writer Serena Guentz is on hand for the award presentations for Santa Barbara Foundation “Persons” of the Year Elisabeth Fowler and Joe Howell. Noozhawk is proud to sponsor this event and, in addition to being our attorney, Joe is a longtime family friend.

» Judy Foreman: Danielle Hahn’s Rose Story Is Best Told in Vivid Color — Columnist Judy Foreman helps our friend, Dani Hahn, celebrate a new chapter in her rose story with the publication of her beautiful book, The Color of Roses.

» Erin Graffy: Tiara Ball Sparkles with Cottage Constellation — Columnist Erin Graffy reports that the Cottage Health Tiara Ball is not just back, it’s the Talk of the Town.

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Last Year on Noozhawk

What was our most-read story this time last year? Murder Trial Set for Santa Barbara Man Accused of Killing Solvang Mom, 2 Kids in Highway 154 Crash.

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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week

The Golden State is more and more like fool’s gold: Truancy Has Reached Crisis Levels in California Schools.

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Here’s What I’m Up To

• 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

Lenticular clouds and raccoon tracks are in my Instagram feed this past week.

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Watch It

Now that everyone is using ChatGPT, how does that make you feel?