The Patton name is synonymous with local sports in Santa Barbara County.
Phil Patton was the legendary sports editor of Santa Barbara’s old daily newspaper in the 1960s and early ’70s.
His son, Greg, was a tennis phenom at Bishop Diego High School and UC Santa Barbara, and would go on to be one of the winningest tennis coaches in NCAA history.
But it’s Mark Patton — another of Phil’s sons and Greg’s younger brother — who truly shines brightest.
Mark learned sportswriting while tagging along on assignments with his dad, then honed his skills at Bishop Diego, Santa Barbara City College and the Daily Trojan student newspaper at USC.
After college and a short stint at the Santa Maria Times, he landed his dream job at the Santa Barbara daily in 1976, five years after his dad died at way too young of an age.
Mark would spend the next 45 years at the newspaper — including a decade as sports editor following his father’s footsteps.
When Mark retired and joined Noozhawk as our sports columnist in 2021, he quickly became one of our most popular writers.
And one of the most prolific, including covering regular beats for then-sports editor Barry Punzal and now-sports editor Diego Sandoval.
Having worked alongside him for 15 years at the now-defunct newspaper, I’d forgotten how much I missed his byline until reading his debut weekly column with us.
I’ve made up for lost time. Not only am I one of his most loyal readers, I’m usually the first since I have the privilege of editing his columns each week. Fun fact: Mark’s columns usually require no editing, at all.
Mark notices every detail and keeps readers captivated — whether he’s covering UCSB basketball recruits; current high school stars or locals in the college, pro or Olympic ranks; or mining his vast archives and institutional memory for nostalgic stories.
He is a masterful, enthusiastic story teller, and the gold standard for what local sports journalism should be.
On Sept. 15, Mark Patton will rightfully join his dad and brother in the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame — a fitting honor for nearly 50 years of exceptional coverage.
Congratulations, Mark! And thank you!
According to our WordPress analytics, Noozhawk had an audience of 153,983 readers this past week.
What follows is my recap of what our Google Analytics says are the Top Five most-read stories over that period.
This is my opinion column, by the way. It is not a news story.
1. Sutter Health Criticized After Viral Video of Santa Barbara Urgent Care Staff Mocking Patients
A viral TikTok video showing Sutter Health/Sansum Clinic urgent care staff mocking patients sparked widespread criticism, triggered an internal investigation and led to the swift firing of multiple employees.
As our Daniel Green reported, the now-deleted video showed medical personnel posing around exam chairs and tables with stains allegedly from patients.
In several photographs, the captions refer to the marks on disposable exam paper as “gifts.”
On Sept. 2, Sutter Health confirmed that the video uploader — a dumbass only identified by the “angieuncut” screen name — worked at the nonprofit health care provider’s Pesetas Urgent Care Clinic at 215 Pesetas Lane in Santa Barbara.
A Sutter spokeswoman said the individual is a former employee and was not on staff when the video was posted. She said other personnel appearing in the clips had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
A day later, Sacramento-based Sutter Health issued a statement saying it had “terminated the employees responsible for the inappropriate and insensitive photos posted on social media.”
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients and will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
The organization did not say how many employees were fired, or whether they were all medical staff. At least eight different people appeared in the photos.
“We are using this inappropriate incident to reinforce our comprehensive policies with all our team members across the organization as part of our commitment to providing all patients with high-quality, compassionate care,” the statement added.
Don’t you know that Sutter Health isn’t the only organization hastily beefing up its conduct policies as a result of the public relations nightmare.
Across the country, I’m sure human resources material is being updated to include a new example so outrageously inappropriate that even a bricks-for-brains employee will choose the right answer on the training exam.
Social media backlash has flooded Sutter Health’s accounts with caustic comments calling the behavior “immature and unprofessional,” among other things, while Google and Yelp reviews negatively reference the incident.
Sansum Clinic joined the Sutter Health network in late 2023.
2. Driver Killed in Single-Vehicle Rollover Crash Near Buellton
A minivan driver was killed the evening of Aug. 29 in a single-vehicle crash outside Buellton.
As our Janene Scully reported, the wreck occurred about 5:40 p.m. in the 6400 block of Santa Rosa Road, roughly five miles west of Buellton.
Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Scott Safechuck said the westbound 2008 Nissan Quest struck a tree and rolled over, fatally injuring the driver and sole occupant.
The man, whose identity was withheld pending notification of family, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the circumstances of the crash.
3. Santa Barbara County Could See Thunderstorms Overnight, Then More Heat
Thunderstorms that rolled in after midnight Sept. 2 gave Santa Barbara County a short break from the sweltering temperatures that left a languid overlay on the Labor Day weekend.
As our Daniel Green reported, the National Weather Service had predicted the rain and thunder, which affected eastern Santa Barbara County and extended south into Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
While intense rain in Montecito lasted just a few minutes around 2 a.m., the lightning and thunder continued for more than an hour.
Despite the storms, the heat continued through the week. It is summer, after all.
Of course, Southern California Edison took the opportunity to implement public safety power shutoffs for approximately 2,790 South Coast customers due to elevated wildfire risks on Sept. 2 .
4. Rocket Launches From Vandenberg as U.S. Space Command Gets New Home
Hours before another successful rocket launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 2, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Space Command will relocate to Alabama from Colorado, bypassing the Central Coast base that was once a finalist for the headquarters.
As our Janene Scully reported, VFSB was among six finalists for the U.S. Space Command facility, which would have brought hundreds of jobs to Santa Barbara County.
Local officials and civic leaders had lobbied hard for Vandenberg, but Trump chose the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, over Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs.
Just before 9 p.m. Sept. 2, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, marking the debut flight of a brand-new first-stage booster that also completed its landing.
Another Falcon 9 mission is planned between 8:42 a.m. and 12:42 p.m. Sept. 6.
5. DA Drops Murder, Gang-Related Charges in Downtown Santa Barbara Stabbing
Never mind.
A month ago, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office charged three men with murder, attempted murder and gang-related allegations in an Aug. 1 altercation and fatal stabbing in downtown Santa Barbara.
As our Giana Magnoli reported, the DA’s Office on Sept. 3 amended the criminal charges after new video evidence revealed that the victim — 30-year-old Anthony Bisquera Hartley of Santa Barbara — was armed with a knife of his own.
Bisquera Hartley died at the scene of the attack in the notorious 500 block of State Street around 12:20 a.m. Aug. 1 during Old Spanish Days Fiesta.
Originally, 30-year-old Sergio Rivas and 28-year-old Juan Fernando Rios faced murder charges for Bisquera Hartley’s death, along with criminal street gang-related allegations — all based on what the DA’s Office now says was “the state of the investigation at that time.”
Additional video footage emerged, however, and showed that Bisquera Hartley had a knife when he attacked Rivas, the DA’s Office said in a statement.
According to the statement, both Rivas and Rios acted in self-defense when they stabbed Bisquera Hartley with their own knives.
The amended charges now include assault with a deadly weapon against Rivas for attacking another victim, plus charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
Rios faces gun-related charges from an earlier arrest in July.
A third man, 29-year-old Luis Gerardo Terrazas, was originally charged with attempted murder but now faces charges of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, and personally using a deadly weapon.
Gang-related allegations have been dropped against all three suspects.
The three defendants will be arraigned Sept. 8 in Superior Court.
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Good Reads
Here are six other stories you should read:
» Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara Envisions Grand Redesign — South County editor Josh Molina lays out a far-reaching — and long overdue — transformation of Earl Warren Showgrounds.
» Santa Barbara’s Sales Tax Revenue Falls Short for Fiscal Year — Josh does the math on the City of Santa Barbara’s sky-high sales tax and finds the projected revenue to be well short of what officials had expected to spend. Wanna bet their solution will be to raise it even higher?
» Retrial for Stearns Wharf Murder Case Set for December — Staff writer Daniel Green sets the stage for the retrial of an alleged Santa Barbara gang member charged in the 2022 murder of Camarillo resident Rob Gutierrez on Stearns Wharf. The defendant got himself a mistrial last month when a single juror refused to convict him.
» Tunnel Trail Access to Inspiration Point Set to Close for Restoration Work — Staff writer Nick Forselles has some bad news for hikers at Santa Barbara’s popular Tunnel Trail, which will be closed yet again so Southern California Edison can continue to fix the mess it made five years ago.
» Injured Paraglider Airlifted Out of Toro Canyon After Crash — Daniel follows the dramatic rescue of a downed paraglider in the mountains above Carpinteria.
» Carpinteria School District Unable to Enroll All Eligible Transitional Kindergarten Students — Staff writer Rebecca Caraway reports on transitional kindergarten students being caught in the Carpinteria Unified School District’s budgeting bind.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Old Town Goleta Business Owners Speak Out After Restriping Project.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
The New York Times unpacks the gripping June 21 tragedy on Lake Tahoe: How a Beautiful Summer Day on Lake Tahoe Suddenly Turned Deadly.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
Clouds — and @sadiethealaskanmalamute — made up my Instagram feed this past week.
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Watch It
I don’t know how much product she sold but she got a LOL out of me. HT to Best of Bill reader John Castillo.
