The Los Angeles Dodgers’ second four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants in as many weeks should be cause for gloating, but my penchant for such gestures was tempered by the Aug. 2 death of legendary broadcaster Vin Scully. As well as the absolutely first-class tribute the Giants themselves gave the Hall of Famer, who actually was one of their fans first.
I’ve heard Scully’s voice almost my entire life, and will hear it in my head until the day I die. There are very few of my Dodger memories that don’t have him narrating them.
He was a masterful storyteller and the greatest baseball announcer of all time, and it was truly a privilege to be within earshot for so long.
Although baseball is my favorite sport, rodeo is not that far behind, and Noozhawk is excited to again be a sponsor of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta Stock Horse Show & Rodeo. The 98th edition of the rodeo takes over Earl Warren Showgrounds with Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association performances the nights of Aug. 5 and 6 and the afternoon of Aug. 7.
Each year, Noozhawk holds a drawing for one lucky youngster to ride for our brand in the mutton bustin’ competition, and this time we put a couple of dozen entries in our Resistol and pulled out the name of 5-year-old Rylee Raines.
Rylee’s dad, Justin, calls his homeschooled daughter “an absolute force of nature,” who loves racing go-karts in Santa Maria, paddleboarding in the Santa Barbara Harbor, martial arts at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in Nipomo, pepperoni pizza and french fries. She’s already a winner in my tally book, and she hasn’t even climbed aboard a sheep yet!
While Rylee’s preparing for the ride of her life, Noozhawk was riding herd on an audience of 102,874 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics.
For greenhorn readers of my Best of Bill columns, all I’m doing is recapping — in my own words and opinions — the Top 5 stories you were reading over the previous seven days, based solely on our analytics. Sometimes I can guess correctly, but most of the time I never know what to expect until I run the numbers.
This is not a news story; fortunately, for all of us, Noozhawk pays professional journalists to report on local news separately from this. This is an opinion column, which I write in my civic capacity as Noozhawk’s publisher.
Most of you know this, but some of you don’t. Regardless, thank you for reading.
1. Stabbing on State Street in Downtown Santa Barbara Sends Man to Hospital
A Friday night stabbing in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara triggered a massive wave of readers that is just beginning to crest almost a week later.
As our Tom Bolton was first to report, and our Peter Hartmann was first to photograph, Santa Barbara police say one man stabbed another after an altercation about 9 p.m. July 29 at the corner of State and West Anapamu streets.
Police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale told Tom that emergency responders found the victim lying on the sidewalk outside the Old Navy store at 1137 State St., across the street from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Benchmark Eatery, and a half-block from The Granada Theatre.
Ragsdale said the victim was treated at the scene by Santa Barbara firefighters, then transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The man’s identity and medical condition were not disclosed, but his wounds were not considered life-threatening.
According to Ragsdale, witnesses said the suspect ran off toward Chapala Street and disappeared into the night.
He told Tom that the altercation did not appear to be gang-related or connected to “other recent violent incidents” around Santa Barbara. Given the sustained interest in the incident, I’m not sure those statements are as reassuring to readers as authorities think they are.
2. Local Surfers Relaunch Ahi Board That First Rode a Wave of Popularity in Hollister Ranch in 1986
The Ahi Wave Sled may look more like a boogie board than a surfboard, but it’s neither. What it is is a whole lot of fun, and more and more surfers are raving about the unique ride, regardless of their ability and experience or even wave conditions.
The story also is a local one, involving the late Dr. Dennis Shanelec — a Santa Barbara dentist, ardent surfer and perpetual tinkerer who invented the board back in the mid-1980s — and business partners Matt Van Dyk and Aaron “Johnny” Foster, who resurrected it more than three decades later.
Our Josh Molina wrote a terrific news feature on the Ahi board and the personalities behind it. I’m not going to snake his outstanding work, but you should drop in and read it for yourself. Not only will you be catching a wave of the future, you’ll get a glimpse of Santa Barbara’s surfing innovators and its own rich history in the water.
3. Bill Macfadyen: Montecito Murder Victim Apparently Ends Up All Alone
To date, there still has been no publicly disclosed break in the case of the 96-year-old woman found dead in her Montecito home back on May 27.
The Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau identified the woman as Violet Evelyn Alberts last week, and authorities say “suspicious circumstances” surrounded her death in the 900 block of Park Lane.
The county Public Administrator’s Office has not yet been able to locate any of Alberts’ kin.
4. BizHawk: Santa Barbara Food Connection Coming to Former Dave’s Dogs Site on Milpas Street
After a half-dozen years running around town with his food truck and catering business, Joseph Silva is putting down restaurant roots on Santa Barbara’s Eastside.
As our Josh Molina reported, Silva’s Santa Barbara Food Connection will be serving an eclectic menu of queso birria tacos, asada chicken pastor, burritos, quesadillas, asada fries, fish and chips, fried chicken sandwiches, clam chowder, and Greek salads with chicken or tri-tip. I don’t know where I would start, but most of that sounds pretty good to me.
The restaurant will be occupying the old Dave’s Dogs space at 900 N. Milpas St., two blocks from the campus of Santa Barbara High School, Silva’s alma mater.
“We are excited to have a grab-and-go menu for the students,” he told Josh. “I like the area and hope to make it a busy location.”
Speaking of busy, Dave’s Dogs owner Dave Reynoso vacated the Milpas Street store earlier this summer to consolidate his various businesses at the Turnpike Shopping Center, at 193 S. Turnpike Road.
In 2019, he had opened a second store at the shopping center, conveniently located across the street from San Marcos High School. Just in time for the start of school, he’s about to open Dave’s Drip House, an ice cream and cereal bar, next to Lighthouse Coffee right across the parking lot.
5. Big Rig Driver Injured After Crashing Into Highway 101 Exit Wall in Santa Barbara
A tractor trailer slammed into a low, concrete wall at a Highway 101 exit ramp in Santa Barbara just after 7 a.m. Aug. 3, injuring the driver of the tractor part of the rig and leaving the trailer part stuck atop the wall.
As our Giana Magnoli first reported, the truck driver didn’t quite make the short, sharp turn at the Hope Avenue exit of the northbound freeway across from Santa Barbara Auto Group, and the wall didn’t budge.
According to Santa Barbara fire Battalion Chief Jim McCoy, the impact “basically tore the front axle off” the truck, while a road sign slashed into the cab.
The driver, whose identity was not disclosed, suffered moderate injuries in the incident and was taken by an American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment.
There were no other vehicles involved in the collision, but it took a couple of hours to clean up the mess.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out how to get the trailer free, because it was ripped from the truck,” McCoy said.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the circumstances of the crash.
• • •
Good Reads
Here are six more stories you should read:
» Firefighting Crews Reach 50% Containment on Vegetation Fire Burning North of Goleta — Managing editor Giana Magnoli has the latest on the Aug. 4 wildfire that ignited in the Goleta foothills along North Glen Annie Road.
» Mark Patton: Saying Farewell — With a Mea Culpa — to Hall of Famer Vin Scully — I can’t help it: I can’t let Vin Scully go just yet. Neither can sports columnist Mark Patton.
» Jury Finds Santa Barbara Man Guilty of Second-Degree Murder for Triple-Fatal Highway 154 Crash — Giana Magnoli delivers the verdict in the murder trial of John Dungan, the Santa Barbara man now convicted of intentionally killing a Solvang mom, Rebecca Vanessa Bley, and her two young children.
» BizHawk: Fresco Café Moving to El Centro Building in Downtown Santa Barbara — Our Josh Molina provides a taste of Santa Barbara’s Fresco Café, which is trading its Outer State Street-ish location for the freshly renovated El Centro Building next to the Lobero Theatre. He also stirs in some of the unfortunate ingredients that led to the move.
» Rower Sought More Than World Record During Her Epic Voyage to Hawai‘i — I’m still fascinated by the trans-Pacific row that Adrienne Smith and three crew mates completed in record time. Our Mark Patton checks in to see how she’s readjusting to the lay of the land.
» Old Spanish Days’ La Fiesta Pequeña Draws Big Crowd to Santa Barbara Mission — Staff writer Grace Kitayama reports on the return of La Fiesta Pequeña and other Old Spanish Days highlights. Viva la Fiesta!
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Three Proposals Under Consideration for Empty Restaurant at Goleta Beach County Park.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Vin Scully’s death really hit home for National Review’s Dan McLaughlin, one of my favorite writers: Vin Scully — A Personal Remembrance.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
What was in my Instagram feed this past week? Legends. @thevinscully, @sadiethealaskanmalamute and #myfavoritepalmtree.
• • •
Americans Held Hostage: Day 342
It’s now been 342 days since the U.S. government fled Afghanistan, abandoning thousands of American citizens and green-card holders to the Taliban, which wasted no time resurrecting the country’s standing as a terrorist beehive. But we finally got around to taking out al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who apparently had been living openly in an upscale Kabul neighborhood since we moved out. Rest in pieces.
• • •
Watch It
Kirk Gibson’s game-winning home run for the Dodgers in the 1988 World Series was the greatest moment in sports history, in my opinion, both for the drama and the narration of Vin Scully. Gibson’s entire at-bat is a master class in broadcasting brilliance, culminating in the loudest and most articulate 60 seconds of on-air silence ever experienced.
(MLB video)
• • •
How You Can Help Noozhawk
Noozhawk is proud to be the go-to source of news for locals like yourself. You trust and rely on us to provide timely, relevant and thorough coverage of the issues that shape Santa Barbara County.
And we get up early — and stay up late — excited to report what’s going on in our community so we can keep you informed and engaged.
While most of Noozhawk’s revenue comes from advertising and sponsorships, we believe that reader contributions are a vital source of support — financially and fundamentally. We believe that if we ask our readers to contribute what you think we’re worth, we can build a sustainable business model for local news.
Your loyalty membership helps us continue to provide you with unmatched local news and in-depth reporting on the issues that you care about.
Please note that personal contributions to Noozhawk are not deductible as charitable donations.
Thank you for your support.
