I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to this year’s NCAA Final Four. It’s refreshing to see March Madness end with a field of mostly underdogs.
While Auburn and Texas Tech aren’t technically Cinderella stories, they’ll do until two come along. And perennial powerhouses Virginia and Michigan State actually seem like upstarts, given the caliber and reputation of teams that won’t be playing basketball this weekend.
War Eagle!
Cutting down the nets at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis may not be in your kid’s cards this year, but Noozhawk’s got you covered with our 2019 ParentNooz Camp Guide.
Our popular annual program of youth activities features helpful profiles, comprehensive listings of available camps and organizations, and display advertising of the options.
Click here for our 2019 ParentNooz Camp Guide. And click here to contact our Kim Clark, Noozhawk’s business development vice president, who can help your camp get in it. It’s never too late to advertise.
Before you’re inspired for someone to break a sweat, you can sit back and take a leisurely look at Noozhawk’s Top 5 stories of the previous week. This column is my weekly take on those stories, as determined by what 144,185 of you were reading most, according to our Google Analytics.
1. Stricken Swimmer Dies After Being Pulled from Ocean in Santa Barbara
An ordinary Sunday morning ocean swim ended in tragedy March 31 when a former All-American swimmer, triathlete and popular local teacher died after encountering some kind of trouble off Santa Barbara’s East Beach.
Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau, confirmed the victim’s identity as 50-year-old Marcie Fuller Kjoller of Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara police say Kjoller had gone ocean swimming with a group of friends, who later noticed she appeared to be in distress in the water out beyond the volleyball courts.
She was brought to shore, where emergency personnel administered CPR and made other livesaving attemps, but she could not be revived.
Hoover said the Coroner’s Bureau is investigating the cause of death, but added that laboratory and toxicology results can take several weeks.
An experienced ocean swimmer, Kjoller was a three-time All-American in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and helped UC Santa Barbara earn four consecutive Big West Conference titles between 1987 and 1990. In 2016, she was inducted into the Gaucho Athletic Hall of Fame.
Kjoller taught first and second grades at Santa Barbara Charter School.
“Marcie was a wonderfully enthusiastic, caring and kind teacher,” Laura Donner, the school’s director of education, told our Tom Bolton. “She was a teacher in our SBCS HomeBased Partnership program for 11 years, before moving to the classroom program this year.
“She brought so much joy with her each day through her bright smile, loving hugs and warm sense of humor. Marcie dedicated each day to helping the kids in her class and being the best teacher she could be for them.”
Counselors were meeting with teachers, staff and families at the school, which is on the campus of Goleta Valley Junior High.
In 2001, Kjoller and Dawn Schroeder, a former UCSB teammate and fellow triathlete, co-founded Moms in Motion to help women train for triathlons. The two teachers later started Momentum 4 Life, a now-defunct triathlon club.
Kjoller is survived by her husband, Kevin, and daughters Alanna and Liesl.
She and her daughters were members of the Santa Barbara chapter of National Charity League, and The Red Piano in downtown Santa Barbara was considered her “happiest place on Earth.”
A memorial will be held at East Beach beginning at 1:40 p.m. April 7, followed by a paddle-out. The celebration of her life will continue at The Red Piano, 519 State St.
In lieu of flowers, donations are requested in Kjoller’s name for the Marcie Kjoller UCSB Women’s Swimming Most Inspirational Award, The Red Piano Marcie Musical Scholarship at the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, Heal the Ocean or Alpha Resource Center.
Prayers of peace and strength to the Kjoller family.
2. First of 2 Santa Barbara-Area Target Stores Opens on State Street
Santa Barbara finally has acquired its Target.
After years — if not decades — of wishful thinking, throngs of shoppers swarmed Target’s brand-new store at 3298 State St. for a preview opening the night of April 2.
“We are so excited to celebrate the opening of the very first Target,” store manager Allie Lopez said. “This store has been a long time in the making.”
Target mascot Bullseye joined a crowd of more than 100 people at the two-story, 34,000-square-foot store. The festivities included DJ Skip Stecker, egg rolls, chicken strips, cupcakes, popcorn and other refreshments.
This Target is a small-scale store, but it still features beauty items, baby and children’s products, men’s and women’s apparel, portable technology gear, food and beverage items, and a “grab-and-go” Starbucks.
“It’s wonderful,” shopper Sandy Kopitzke told our Josh Molina. “We’ve waited a long time. It looks bigger than I thought it would be. There’s a lot here.”
Target opened officially on April 3, and its small parking lot was absolutely crammed when I drove past the next morning. Later this year, a second Target is due to open at the site of the old Kmart store, at 6865 Hollister Ave. in Goleta.
3. Bill Macfadyen: Highway 101 Double Hit-and-Run Leaves Behind More Than a Death
I have nothing more to report on Russ Spencer, my friend the Santa Barbara documentary filmmaker, who died on Highway 101 in Montecito in the middle of the night March 23 after having been struck — apparently twice — by hit-and-run drivers.
I do know that he’ll be honored with a Celebration of Life at 10 a.m. April 14 at Arroyo Burro Beach County Park, 2981½ Cliff Drive in Santa Barbara. Friends initially had planned to hold it at Leadbetter Beach, the 58-year-old former journalist’s favorite surfing spot.
4. Body Found Near Santa Barbara’s Mission Creek an Apparent Suicide
An apparent suicide in Santa Barbara ignited a frenzy of readership March 28, but authorities were short on details, which resulted in our very brief report.
According to Santa Barbara police spokesman Anthony Wagner, a body was discovered in the area of West Montecito Street and Mission Creek, near the Union Pacific railroad tracks at the west end of the Amtrak station parking lot.
He told our Giana Magnoli that the incident appeared to be a suicide, and said the Coroner’s Bureau would be investigating the cause of death.
No further information was released.
5. Driver Injured in Rollover Crash in Downtown Santa Barbara
I can understand a rollover wreck if it involves high speed and an unexpected turn, but many of the crashes we report on … don’t — at least not discernibly.
A case in point is our latest rollover, which occurred around 10:30 a.m. March 31 in the 300 block of East Victoria Street, a sleepy residential street bracketed by stop signs at the Garden and Laguna streets intersections.
Somehow, the driver managed to flip the vehicle, which landed on its roof about midblock, according to Santa Barbara fire Battalion Chief Mike de Ponce.
He said the driver was able to self-extricate from the wreckage, and was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with minor to moderate injuries.
Santa Barbara police are investigating the circumstances of this phenomenon. The driver’s identity was not released.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? 1 Killed, 4 Injured in 2-Vehicle Collision in Western Goleta.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
The crime of poaching is still senseless and inexcusable, but this unintended consequence actually makes sense: African Elephants Are Evolving Without Tusks Because of Poaching.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli and I made it into my Instagram feed this past week because we’re excited to be speaking later this month at the 2019 Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim. I also stopped by to see my friend, Josiah Jenkins, the day before he turned out the lights at Jedlicka’s Santa Barbara store.
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Watch It
Not only is this a rare — and a killer — whale sighting in Monterey Bay, the symmetry and scope are positively majestic.
(Monterey Bay Whale Watch video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk and Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.