Regardless of how you feel about “endless war,” the U.S. leadership’s rush to the exit in Afghanistan is a stain on America that won’t soon be washed away.
The Aug. 26 tragedy at Kabul airport need not have happened, even if it was sadly predictable. Now, 12 more U.S. Marines and a Navy medic are dead, and 13 more Gold Star Families join a list that is far too long.
What’s happening now is as grotesquely reckless and derelict as it gets.
The 13 service members killed in Kabul deserve better. The hundreds of thousands of men and women who served and sacrificed in Afghanistan dating back to 9/11 deserve better.
America deserves better.
May our latest heroes rest in peace, but may those responsible — all those responsible — never know it again.
Noozhawk had an audience of 132,522 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics. What follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading over the last seven days.
As should be obvious by now, this is an opinion column, my opinion column. This is not a news story, and I am not a reporter.
1. 4 People Killed in Vehicle Crashes Along Highway 101 West of Goleta Early Wednesday
Carnage on Highway 101 west of Goleta left four people dead in the middle of the night Aug. 25, three of them killed in a fiery head-on collision near Dos Pueblos Canyon.
A third wreck on Highway 154 further snarled morning commuter traffic into Santa Barbara from the North County.
As our Giana Magnoli first reported, emergency personnel were dispatched to two collisions on Highway 101 — 10 minutes and a few miles apart.
In spite of coincidental circumstances, and a California Highway Patrol incident log suggesting that one of the vehicles was involved in a high-speed chase starting in Ventura, the CHP is treating the collisions as unrelated.
“At this point, we don’t know if the two crashes are connected,” CHP Officer Jonathan Gutierrez told Giana. “It’s still under investigation.”
The first collision was reported at 2:10 a.m. in the right lane on the northbound side of the highway near the Winchester Canyon Road exit.
The driver of one vehicle — identified by the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau as 31-year-old Cameron Martinez of Solvang — was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver of the second car sped off into the night.
Eight minutes later, a second collision was reported near Dos Pueblos Canyon Road, three miles west of the first crash.
The CHP said the driver of a northbound Volkswagen Jetta, which reportedly had been the subject of a high-speed pursuit earlier, crossed through the grassy median and slammed into an oncoming Ford Expedition. Responding county firefighters arrived to find both vehicles fully engulfed in flames in the southbound lanes.
There were no survivors.
The Coroner’s Bureau identified the dead as Daniel Garcia, 25, and Eryka Lopez, 23, both of Santa Maria, and 28-year-old Natalia Stallworth of Santa Barbara.
Lopez’s aunt, Nora Rodriguez, said Garcia was her niece’s boyfriend.
Family members have established a GoFundMe account for the couple’s funeral arrangements. Click here to make an online donation.
Southbound traffic was rerouted over Highways 246 and 154, or just parked in a miles-long traffic jam while the wreckage was cleared, the scene was investigated and Caltrans crews repaired the roadbed under the firepit. The lanes were reopened around noon.
At the same time, Highway 154 was shut down in both directions for nearly five hours after a utility truck overturned in a collision with a car at Windy Gap below San Marcos Pass above Santa Barbara.
Three people were injured in the 8:30 a.m. crash, according to county fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli.
One was extricated from the wreckage by firefighters and transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with critical injuries. Bertucelli said two others with minor injuries also were taken to the hospital by an AMR ambulance.
No identities were released, and the CHP is investigating the cause and circumstances of the collision.
In a final coincidence, another overturned truck, also at Windy Gap, forced the highway’s closure for several hours the day before.
2. Bill Macfadyen: Amid Unimaginable Tragedy, Community Rallies Around Abby Coleman
Matthew Taylor Coleman, the 40-year-old Santa Barbara man charged in the gruesome killings of his young children in Mexico, is still facing an Aug. 31 arraignment in federal court in Los Angeles.
Coleman was arrested Aug. 9 as he tried to re-enter California from Tijuana. He allegedly confessed to FBI agents that he had killed his two children — son Kaleo, 3, and daughter Roxy, 10 months — out of some kind of conspiracy theory compulsion.
Left behind is his shell-shocked wife, Abby, the children’s heartbroken mother.
Family and friends established a GoFundMe account to assist her with funeral expenses and other needs. Her brother, Amory Droogsma of Arlington, Texas, has been named the designated recipient.
As of Aug. 27, the account had raised nearly $103,000. Click here to make an online donation.
3. Frustrated Santa Barbara Airport Neighbors Sounding Off Over Jetliner Noise
For months now, local residents under and “adjacent” to the Santa Barbara Airport’s flight paths have been complaining about the noise of commercial airliners.
As air travel has emerged from last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns, there have been more takeoffs and landings. That’s a good thing for the local economy, but a loud and house-rattling intrusion for neighbors — especially when planes are overhead at the crack of dawn. Or before.
Our Tom Bolton took a long look at the issue, and I’m afraid that what he discovered isn’t terribly satisfying to those “in the way.”
Basically, regardless of flight paths designated under voluntary noise-abatement procedures, pilots can fly where they want.
“There is a preferred approach for pilots to take into the airport if they are able to fly it safely,” airport director Henry Thompson told Tom. “But just like the name says, it’s voluntary.”
Tom’s got the whole story, and it’s the kind of investigative journalism that we’ve been trying to do more of but … you know, the coronavirus. Now that we’re starting to see a reprieve from that topic, we’re turning our attention to others in need of a thorough exploration and more sunshine. Keep an eye out for them.
4. Three Santa Barbara-Area Restaurants Added to Elite Michelin Guide California
The latest Michelin Guide California is out with its latest recommendations of where to dine out in the Golden State, and three Santa Barbara-area restaurants have been added to the list.
As our Serena Guentz reported Aug. 24, the new additions are Bibi Ji, at 734 State St. downtown; Loquita, at 202 State St. in the Funk Zone; and Caruso’s at the Rosewood Miramar Beach, at 1759 S. Jameson Lane in Montecito.
“I’m very honored,” Alejandro Medina, one of Bibi Ji’s owners, told Serena. “We’re grateful for everyone who’s supported us. And just for Santa Barbara as a whole, it’s great.”
There are 13 other local restaurants already on the Michelin list, including Los Agaves, itself a perennial presence on my #bestofbillrecommendation list. Maybe I should publish my own guide beyond Instagram.
5. UCSB Students Frustrated with University as They Face Huge Housing Shortage
A severe housing shortage has UC Santa Barbara students scrambling to find accommodations just weeks before the 2021-2022 school year begins.
As our Jade Martinez-Pogue first reported, a perfect storm of circumstances is presenting incoming and returning students with few options — on top of the COVID-19 chaos that continues to wreak havoc.
“I was literally crying on the phone with the university housing department,” third-year transfer student Alexandria Matthews told Jade. “What am I supposed to do? I’ve never been homeless in my life.
“My education is my No. 1 priority, so I’ll just sleep in my car if I have to.”
There are a number of factors at play in the crisis. Among them are UCSB’s high enrollment rates, limited inventory of university housing and the South Coast’s chronic housing shortage.
According to many students, however, an even bigger obstacle has been UCSB’s lack of communication about if and when in-person classes would resume. The decision to go back to class wasn’t made until July, the students say, too late for them to secure fall housing.
Michelle Roberson, owner of Sierra Property Management Co., a major Isla Vista rental property company, says all of its leases were filled by mid- to late July. There’s nothing left at this point.
UCSB spokeswoman Shelly Leachman says the university is “planning to maximize our campus, including the use of triples, and are exploring several options to assist students who are having a difficult time finding housing.”
Margaret Klawuun, vice chancellor of student affairs, adds that first-year and transfer students are the priority.
In an unusual move, UCSB has reached out to Goleta residents to ask them to consider leasing any empty rooms to students.
I’m not sure that’s a winning strategy. Turns out I’m not alone.
Nick Thomas, a housing-less third-year environmental studies major, has had to trade his UCSB fall term for online Santa Barbara City College classes.
“I thought a top UC would be able to accommodate their students by giving them housing options instead of taking in more than they can put into housing,” he said.
“The school then continues to put the responsibility not only on the students, but also the surrounding community members by asking for people to open their extra rooms for students.”
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Smoke From California Wildfires Prompts Air Quality Warning in Santa Barbara County.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Well, I feel better already: Taliban Vow to Tackle Climate Change.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
The biggest rooster I’ve ever seen is in my Instagram feed this past week.
• • •
Watch It
After a week of dreadful news, here’s a baby elephant playing in a bathtub.
(elephantnews video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.