In case you were wondering, fire season is here. With California in the throes of another escalating drought, it promises to be an intense one.
Of course, after four of the last five years, aren’t they all?
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According to our Google Analytics, Noozhawk had an audience of 112,552 readers this past week, with a sizable traffic jam coming in the last three hours of the period.
What follows is my own take on your Top 5 most-read stories over the last seven days. This is my opinion column, not a news story. Remember that the farther down you read.
1. Firefighters Battling Wind-Whipped 20-Acre Vegetation Fire on Santa Barbara’s Westside
A wildfire visible from much of Santa Barbara was raging up TV Hill toward the Mesa the night of May 20, with evacuations ordered and at least two houses damaged by the flames.
Our Tom Bolton was updating the story throughout the night, but the fire was first reported just before 9 p.m., burning in vegetation at the base of the tall, extremely steep hill on the Lower Westside.
Fueled by dry brush and fanned by strong, gusty winds, flames from the Loma Fire were threatening the KEYT News television studio at the top of the hill within about 20 minutes.
“It had a rapid rate of spread,” said Mike Eliason, a Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman serving as public information officer for the Santa Barbara Fire Department-led multiagency incident.
“It was being pushed by the strong winds and also, since it was burning uphill, that made it move faster.”
The fire was burning mainly above West Ortega and West Cota streets, Sutton Avenue and Coronel Place, but heading southeast in the direction of Santa Barbara City College.
As of daybreak May 21, our Giana Magnoli reported, firefighters had gotten control of 50 percent of the 10-acre fire and had stopped its forward progress. Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted around 12:30 a.m.
Eliason said 50 homes and commercial buildings initially were threatened by the blaze, which damaged two houses on Via del Cielo, off Miramonte Drive along the ridgeline below and to the south of KEYT.
The KEYT complex at 730 Miramonte Drive was briefly evacuated but its news team was soon back broadcasting from the scene.
Also evacuated were the patients and staff at Serenity House, at 930 Miramonte Drive. A good friend of mine there was moved a couple of miles away to Covenant Living at the Samarkand.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Crews from multiple fire agencies throughout the region responded to the blaze, and Eliason said firefighters were drawing a line around the burned area, “making sure the fire is dead out.”
“We don’t want any embers going outside containment lines with this wind,” he told Giana.
The South Coast is under a National Weather Service wind advisory into the weekend, with winds of 20 to 35 mph in the forecast and gusts between 40 and 50 mph expected.
Many thanks to all of you who shared your photos and video of the fire. We have a terrific crew of Noozhawk photographers but we always appreciate our readers’ help and enthusiasm.
2. Man Declared Dead After Being Found on East Beach in Santa Barbara
A dead man was found just after daybreak May 17 on Santa Barbara’s East Beach.
As our Tom Bolton was first to report, Santa Barbara police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale told him that a passerby called 9-1-1 after discovering the body around 6:45 a.m.
Ragsdale said police, firefighters and an American Medical Response ambulance were dispatched to the 1100 block of East Cabrillo Boulevard near South Milpas Street where they made attempts to revive the man, as per protocol.
He was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he was officially declared dead.
Ragsdale said the death did not appear to be suspicious but it was under investigation.
The identity of the dead man — reportedly a transient — was withheld pending notification of family.
3. Santa Barbara Committee Recommends ‘Sit-Lie’ Ordinance for Section of Milpas Street
Exasperated businesses and residents on and around Santa Barbara’s Milpas Street may finally see some relief from vagrants who commandeer its sidewalks.
As our Josh Molina first reported May 18, the City Council’s Ordinance Committee is recommending that the full council adopt a measure prohibiting anyone from unlawfully sitting or lying on the sidewalks in a 10-block stretch of Milpas Street between Carpinteria Street and East Canon Perdido.
The city has similar ordinances covering 13 blocks of State Street downtown, the Cacique Street underpass at Highway 101 and the first two blocks of East Haley Street. Why every sidewalk in the city is not covered is beyond me, but I’m just a small business owner so what would I know?
The Ordinance Committee — Council members Oscar Gutierrez, Mike Jordan and Kristen Sneddon — voted unanimously for the Milpas Street measure after a presentation by city staff.
In making the case for restrictions, City Attorney Ariel Calonne cited the narrowness of the sidewalks, many of which have been distorted by street tree roots, along with heavy vehicle traffic.
“I think the council has every legal right to enact this ordinance,” he said.
The effort drew support from Lower Eastside neighborhood activist Natasha Todorovic, who said she often has to walk in the street to get around people blocking the sidewalks.
“We’ve got parents with baby strollers walking along the sidewalk,” she said. “The mess that we have had to deal with these years that we have been fighting, we need this ordinance.
“If we allow people to sleep or lie and just do whatever they want, well, we might as well kiss the city goodbye.”
Pucker up because it already may be too late.
4. BizHawk: Starbucks Looks to Open at Former Site of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
It’s been nearly a year since The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf closed up shop at the high-profile intersection of De la Vina and State streets, but it looks as if Starbucks will be taking over for its vanquished rival.
As our Josh Molina first reported May 13, Starbucks apparently is making its way through the City of Santa Barbara’s planning and development process for a remodeled beachhead at 3052 E. De la Vina St. across from the MacKenzie Park Off-Leash Dog Area.
Among the proposed changes to the 1,900-square-foot building are bar seating, outdoor seating, Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades, new landscaping, and new exterior material, paint and lighting.
Officials at Seattle-based Starbucks declined to discuss the coffee giant’s plans, and there is no timetable for a grand — or a grande — opening.
5. County Public Health Leaders Voted to Use CDC Mask Guidelines Now, But California Will Wait Till June
In the latest sign that SCIENCE is subordinate to POLITICS and/or cultural allegiance when it comes to all things COVID-19, California and Santa Barbara County will not lift their mask mandates until the magical date of June 15 — regardless of what the scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.
According to new recommendations the CDC announced last week, fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, regardless of gathering size.
The CDC did note that masks are still recommended for some indoor settings — like hospitals, homeless shelters and prisons — and for people who have not been vaccinated.
That may have been good enough for more than half of the once-united states that quickly dropped their mask decrees, but not California, which has had one of the most draconian approaches to the coronavirus in the country — with little to show for it in the way of data advantages.
As our Jade Martinez-Pogue reported May 18, Santa Barbara County Public Health Department director Van Do-Reynoso told the Board of Supervisors that the state Department of Public Health will instead come up with its own cover-up guidelines. As usual.
I trust you’ll recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s chief scientist, has already announced that his hodgepodge of mystifying, color-coded “reopening” tiers, rules and restrictions — including, presumably, his mask order — will be dropped come June 15, a seemingly random point in time when, I guess, his SCIENCE has determined the COVID-19 crisis will have run its course.
But that disconnect is hard to reconcile for the average citizen who has VOLUNTARILY complied with best public health practices for more than a year, or at least until the extraordinarily effective COVID-19 vaccines reached the distribution stage last December.
Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, the board’s chairman, pointedly questioned California’s masking price.
People heard about the new CDC guidelines, he observed, “and then they’re told what you heard on the news last night isn’t appropriate here because of the authority that we have — not the science, but the authority that we have.”
“For over a year they’ve been told to be team players, but when it comes time for the state to be a team player, we’re not,” he said.
Do-Reynoso emphasized that the county’s public health team dissented from the state’s position, but was ignored as a majority of the 58 county agencies sided with Sacramento.
“We did say let’s follow the CDC and align ourselves and evolve our thinking and our policy,” she said. “Unfortunately, our vote did not count.”
The county deserves credit for making such a lonely stand, and I could not agree more.
My position on COVID-19 defense mechanisms has been consistent. Anyone can go back and read my Best of Bill columns to see that I’ve always advocated for keeping your distance, wearing masks around others and washing your hands frequently.
That’s still my position today, but having been fully vaccinated myself and knowing that the vast majority of our most at-risk populations also has been vaccinated, I believe the onus has now shifted.
I’ve made responsible choices with each phase of the pandemic and most of you have, too — and SCIENCE still agrees with us. There’s no valid reason for the State of California to pretend otherwise, even for just another month.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Santa Barbara City Council Allows Sidewalk, Curbside Dining, Closes Two Blocks of State Street.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
The next time you hear Apple CEO Tim Cook pontificating about social justice, civil liberties and privacy in America, remember that he’s got an entirely different set of principles for China: Apple Built World’s Most Valuable Business on Top of China, Now Answers to Chinese Government.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
@sadiethealaskanmalamute wanted to horse around but “the big dogs” weren’t having it. It’s in my Instagram feed this past week.
• • •
Watch It
When bears stop by to just say “Hey.” HT to Noozhawk reader Karen Hall.
(Patrick Conley 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.
