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Noozhawk had an audience of 119,268 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics, and what follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading during the period.
I must remind you that this is my opinion column, not a news story. It’s astonishing how many people confuse the two, but Gavin Newsom is still governor so perhaps I shouldn’t be that surprised.
1. Burglary at Mesa Home Presents New Challenge to County Fire Department Information Officer
My friend and former colleague, Mike Eliason, has been in thousands of Noozhawk stories over the years.
Most of the time it’s because the Santa Barbara County Fire Department public information officer is commenting on everything from catastrophic emergencies to changing the batteries in your smoke detector.
He’s also a gifted photographer, and we often publish his pictures.
On Sept. 13, he was in another Noozhawk story but, this time, he was the story.
As our Tom Bolton first reported, Eliason and his wife, Kathy, were out of town Sept. 12 when their Santa Barbara home’s surveillance system alerted him to an intruder at 6:45 p.m.
“The guy pulled right in and parked in the driveway,” he told Tom.
With an astounded Eliason watching on his cell phone from afar, the unsuspecting suspect roamed around the property and then broke into the house. He called Santa Barbara police.
While on the phone with the dispatcher, Eliason provided a description of the man and running commentary on where he was inside.
“He was going through drawers, opening cabinets and taking down pictures,” he said. “He went into the garage and got into my car.”
Eliason’s house is a “smart” home, but his intruder was anything but. The suspect refused to come out when officers arrived, so Eliason remotely opened window blinds to enable police to keep an eye on him from outside.
The standoff went on for about two hours. Police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said sheriff’s deputies were called in to assist and a K-9 team eventually went in and detained the intruder who, by then, had donned one of Eliason’s SBCFD uniforms.
The suspect — identified as 21-year-old Trey Von Duus of Buellton — was bitten by the police dog during a brief struggle with officers, Ragsdale said, and he was treated at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
He said Von Duus then was booked into County Jail on suspicion of felony burglary, vandalism and possession of a stolen vehicle after it turned out that the car he was driving had been reported stolen in Santa Ynez. He also was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest.
Bail was set at $50,000.
“I’m used to providing information about fires and crashes, but this was something I’d rather not do,” Eliason said in an understatement.
2. SpaceX Rocket Blasts Off from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 51 Starlink Satellites
The latest SpaceX rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 13 may have been eclipsed by another SpaceX mission two nights later on the other side of the country, but our launch is important to the internet so … local news wins again.
As our Janene Scully reported, a 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket roared away from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base at 8:55 p.m.
The rumbling launch was shrouded in fog but Central Coast skywatchers were able to watch the streaking rocket with its rainbow contrail once it pierced the marine layer.
A payload of 51 upgraded Starlink satellites was aboard the rocket as SpaceX continues to build out its high-speed internet network in low-Earth orbit. So far, the company has launched roughly 1,800 of the satellites, with coverage primarily directed at rural and remote regions around the world.
After sending the reflown Falcon 9 on its way, the first-stage booster separated and returned to Earth, landing on a drone ship floating in the Pacific Ocean.
The launch was Vandenberg’s third in 11 days, and the first of two SpaceX launches this week. On Sept. 15, the company’s Inspiration4 mission blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The private Inspiration4 flight is the first orbital trip featuring no professional astronauts. Instead, two contest winners, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski, are joining bone-cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux and the billionaire sponsor, Jared Isaacman, on the three-day ride.
3. BizHawk: Vons Grocery Store in Montecito Soon Will Become Pavilions
I hope this is more than lipstick on a pig, but Montecito’s Vons market is to be renovated and rebranded and will re-emerge as a Pavilions, a more upscale grocery store in the constellation of Vons’ parent company, Albertsons.
As our Josh Molina first reported, the market — at 1040 Coast Village Road in the Montecito Country Mart — is expected to make the transition next month. A store employee told him that shoppers can expect new aesthetics, wider aisles and more elaborate end-of-aisle displays.
The grocery store has been an enigma for as long as I can remember.
On the one hand, the late Julia Child considered it one of her favorite markets, and the world-renowned chef could often be seen browsing the produce section. Many of its employees are unfailingly friendly, personable and helpful.
On the other hand, shoppers have to run a gauntlet of cartons and pallets in the aisles because the store seems to do its restocking during daylight hours instead of in the middle of the night. And the place can be downright revolting if you’re not into bare feet and dogs in the presence of your food.
But maybe that’s just me. I’m looking forward to the Pavilions improvements.
(Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina video)
4. Santa Barbara Talks Podcast: Ex-TV News Anchor Paula Lopez Talks Recovery, New Career as Mentor
For the last several months, our Josh Molina has been conducting weekly interviews of local newsmakers on his Santa Barbara Talks podcast.
Josh is one of the best interviewers on the Central Coast, and his podcasts are really good. A new episode posts each Monday, and they’re well worth your time.
His latest guest is Paula Lopez, a former KEYT News anchor who gained unfortunate notoriety a few years ago — and frequently appeared in these Best of Bill columns because of our readers’ interest in her saga.
Lopez was always forthright about her troubles and gracious about our journalism obligations, though, and today she’s got a new career as a local real estate professional and activist.
Watch it or listen in.
5. Condo Project Proposed for East Micheltorena Street Draws Early Design Criticism
The design masterminds behind a milestone Santa Barbara condominium project took their proposal to the Planning Commission, where a conceptual review indicated they’ll need to go back to the drawing board before they return for real.
As our Josh Molina reported, the planning commissioners got their first look at the project proposed for 533 E. Micheltorena St. on the Upper Eastside. The site contains a three-story, mixed-use building with two existing residential condos and several medical office suites.
Representing the property owner were DesignARC and Dudek, Santa Barbara architectural and environmental consulting companies, respectively. Their plans envision a four-story, seven unit condo project built where a surface-level parking lot sits today, along with a 31-space parking garage.
The condo project is the first proposed under Santa Barbara’s high-density housing ordinance that the City Council approved in 2013 to ease the chronic housing shortage. The ordinance permits infill development to maximize lot use, but previously approved projects have all involved apartments.
Commissioner Lesley Wiscomb kind of summed up the mood in the room.
“I like the fact that this is an infill project,” she said. “… these are just the types of projects that we need.
“But I do think that the number of modifications and the type of modifications that the applicant is asking for are too great and too extensive.”
Among the requests are a front yard setback to allow encroachments into the required front setback on the first three floors of the new structure; an interior setback modification to allow the third story to encroach into the required 10-foot setback; a smaller open yard area; and a parking modification.
“I just think too much development is trying to be squeezed into it, with way too many modifications, so I can’t present it in its current form,” commissioner Sheila Lodge said.
There is no timeline on when the developer will return with a revised project.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Santa Barbara County Now Urging All Residents to Get Tested for COVID-19 to Help Move to Next Tier.
• • •
Americans Held Hostage: Day 17
It’s now 17 days past the Aug. 31 “deadline” to leave Afghanistan, and there are still hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Americans and green-card holders we’ve abandoned to the Taliban there.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
I’m surprised Santa Barbara hasn’t gone there: San Francisco’s Bizarre, Costly Quest for the Perfect Trash Can.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
With all the local space stuff going on this month, did you catch the International Space Station’s Santa Barbara County flyover? I did, and it’s in my Instagram feed this past week.
• • •
Watch It
Deadpan Norm MacDonald died Sept. 14 at age 61 after a nine-year battle with cancer that few people even knew he had. He was one of my all-time favorite comedians, and here’s why:
(StandUpy PoPolskuPowróciły 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.
